@DMV301 I think that might be worse.
QOTD: Dās list has shuffled a bit. The bottom of the list is still the bottom of the list. But the top ones have shuffled around, with those with later decision dates, even though former favorites, getting pushed down as she gets tired of the whole process. Sheāll likely end up at a school that was in her original top 5.
We just figured out his mom lives in South Carolina, and USC has fairly relaxed requirements for in-state tuition qualifications, and the deadline is TODAY!!! So D is going to help him apply there today, just to get the ball rolling. We have a good friend who has a daughter there (for the international business program) and she likes it a lot.
Thanks all for the help-I think Kennesaw would be a good option, as well. The food there is amazing (weāve done some robotics and science olympiad stuff there on campus). Any other suggestions are welcome.
Also, his dad is puerto rican, so he qualifies for any hispanic scholarships. D is hunting for those today with him, too.
The two of them just added Flagler college, although I donāt know if it will have his major (heās not super sure of what it should be).
QOTD: re:changing lists- D has remained fairly consistent but she has wavered on some early front runners that she has not followed through on the completing the application yet - and now questions IF she will be doing them at all. The problem with this is that one of the schools did not appear to use the common app (or D messed up and checked - direct to school on Naviance) so the GC and recommenders have already sent hard copies (ie - real lettters with cover sheets and stamps and looking up address). As a result her GC and also one of her two recommenders have asked her if she has heard back, if she needs anything else, etcā¦ This along with the scores that have already been sent (at a cost) and I have said that she MUST follow through, finish those essays, and get the apps submitted. She is feeling meh about it and there has been no movement.
As for the other schools - the order has not changed much but I suspect that may change in a few weeks - months when the final EA decisions come out. Her last EA decision will be released in late Jan (UVA) and it seems like forever. Hoping that she still loves her safeties and others if she decides for that RD lottery ticket since that wait will be until April.
@MotherOfDragons ā I think his SAT score is quite a bit too low for Bentley. Do not know the others, and do not know anyone pursuing that major, so cannot be of any other help. An U/W 3.5 GPA seems within range for Bentley, assuming that is on a 4.0 scale. Can he sit for the SATs again? Some schools will accept Jan scores.
QOTDāno movement on list b/c still submitting apps and will not hear from any until mid-December. I am really not sure what his #1 choice is, and I think he might not be allowing himself to fall in love with one school, as his top choices are all complete long shots. If he should happen to be admitted to more than one of the ātop choicesā, we will return to campuses for an even deeper dive than we conducted last Feb & April.
@stlarenas ā Folioing up on @STEM2017ās comment. My older son dedicated SO much time attempting to improve his grade in the one challenging class that it took time away from his other studies. Once he dropped down to the lower level of the same course, his homework allocation time was much more balanced. However, my son made this change in late October, so he was able to salvage the semester grade. I do think it matters at some schools if a C appears on the final report card. And I know that some schools require reporting any change in course registrations (if the course roster had been communicated during Early Application round). A search of the CC forum for the individual schools may uncover someone who has asked the same question. Good luck!
MOD - I promise I am not on their payroll and I know I recommended the same school on the class of 2018 thread, but check out Champlain College in Burlington. My niece had a great experience there in a computer information related field. She is LGBTQ as well. They also have video game design if he should decide he wants to try that.
@MotherOfDragons a good match school might be Montclair State in NJ which has a combined BS/Master in Computer Science. I know a few people who went to Montclair State and loved it. Great school, close to NYC. Northern New Jersey and NYC are very gay friendly. A couple of others, not sure if theyāre reaches: Rutgers University and Syracuse University. Also, a quick match search popped up SUNY Albany.
@MotherofDragons If heās full pay then Iād recommend Drexel. Game Design in College of Media Arts and Design, Information Systems major in College of Computing and Informatics they use to have a strong HCI program but Iām not sure the professor that led that is still here. Scores on the 25%ile end but a combination of URM, geography and full pay would probably get him in.
RE: Prom - how much are we talking? We told D she had to go so she made plans to go with her GBF. Heās a nice looking kid so the pictures should be great 
D will be up late getting that BU app submitted. She had her Arabic final last night so that class is done and her Monday and Wednesday evenings are back. She has her MIT interview this weekend and I want her to get that app finished along with 3 more that are basically done.
RE: The list #1 to me is Pitt as sheās accepted and itās affordable so until something changes along those lines itās staying #1
QOTD: My S17ās list has only changed at the top, school 1 and 2 have switched places. He hasnāt even applied to his second choice yet app due Jan 1. He has 4 apps in so far, Dec. 15 is the first notification date and the others are in January.
My D17 keeps adding colleges to her common app but hasnāt started any more essays. I imagine she will just stick with the 4 applications in.
My D17 is overwhelmed with the amount of homework she is assigned. Everyday it seems we are trying to decide which class to focus on and which she can do minimal work and keep her grades up. The AP Lit teacher is relentless in assigning work. She is in a Governorās school that has internship and community service commitments weekly (some during school hours) and she dances 7 hours a week. Thank goodness the book she didnāt finish reading for class was Pride and Prejudice! We have watched several version of the movie and play. I told her to just do the workpacket and move on. She turned in a rough draft of a 10 page research paper 1 day late and took a one point penalty from her final project grade. She asked to go back to her therapist to help with her anxiety. I wish I could do something to help.
Her twin brother is keeping his head above water but he doesnāt have the extra commitments she has. They both have one last application that will be sone over Christmas break, which isnāt a break according to them as they have mountains of school work already assigned for that time.
We are not having a fun senior year!! Anyone else?
QOTD: School Lists.
No real change, but son added 1 more school to his list and applied last night to RPI, Lally School of Biz. He likes business, tech stuff, nerd stuff and lax and that school fits the bill. Heās going to visit soon.
Thatās it we are done. Again 
I sort of wished we applied to only 1 safety, kind of wasted time and $$ on a few.
We talked about his realistic chances on his list and really felt heāll get into all safeties, is solid match for a few, but has 3-4 schools now where he is 50/50. Might get in, might not. So he threw RPI in there to add another 50/50 into the mix. He has one safety admittance, 2 pre-reads from coach/admins saying heās good, and then the rest we just keep fingers crossed I guess.
Just trying to keep him focused on this terms grades again. Heās getting Aās in everything, except for AP stats and Precalc which are challenging him. He needs to put a lot of focus on them to do well. The other classes he just breezes thru. I keep telling him to āhold it together man!ā
This year has been stressful for D as well. Second semester should be better as there wonāt be any college essays to write (which means no nagging from mom) and no online classes, but she is doing an independent study project that will be the equivalent of a class (her choice), so sheāll still have 8 academic classes. Then work, her ECs, and increased volunteering will continue. I gave her a savings goal for college expenses so sheāll have to pick up a few extra hours on Sunday to meet it. No rest for good involved students, I guess. Sheāll be well prepared for college, thatās for sure.
QOTD
Who knows! In his mind there are a few higher up and then the rest but he really has no definitive order at this point. We will wait for acceptances, money and then visit. On the positive side I donāt think there are any he regrets or is ambivalent about applying to. In his case, never having seen most of his list, itās more a matter of which ones have made a deeper impression or connection through interviews that have risen up. I expect things to move around for quite some time. Which is ok. He is in at the safety which is affordable and the rest is gravy if you ask me. If one works out both admissions and money wise (and justifies more than the safety) I will be thrilled for him but either way the kid is definitely going to college.
This year is very stressful for S. Heās doing ok, for him with his course load and his ADHD we arenāt expecting all Aās. He isnāt bringing his GPA down but itās not likely to come up much either. Not impossible but it would be a stretch. He is juggling a lot, more than I would like. Almost completely self induced but had our first true fiasco yesterday when he found out heād read the work schedule wrong and missed a shift on tuesday. Spent half of his school day yesterday completely freaked out that he was going to get fired. Itās all ok now but he has really been a hormonal stress case much of the time and UGH!.
Re: workload - Thought my D may have bitten off too much with a full high school workload, Calc at Penn and Arabic at Drexel. It seems her high school teachers are well trained not to go overboard on the Seniors first quarter. Most of the work has been reading and papers and fortunately for her only 1 book she hadnāt read before even though as she says she has to re-read them all for analysis as compared to reading them for pleasure. She has her Calc final in a couple of weeks so she needs to get cracking and make sure that turns out well.
After the break no more college applications but sheāll need to go hot and heavy on her Senior Capstone due in May. Too bad itās not a Junior Capstone as it would be something great to have on a college application. Hopefully if sheās in any Feb/March scholarship interviews sheāll have something big to talk about.
QOTD2 or fun question: Holiday plans? We just booked a trip to London for after Christmas for 8 days. Christmas shopping complete, D and W birthday shopping complete, D graduation present shopping complete Now we just have to see if there is anyway we can get tickets for Harry Potter and Cursed Child.
DD17 met with her CC on Tuesday. I read the notes from the meeting and it comes across that she is totally trying to lower DDās expectations via directing her to apply RD to some more ātargetsā or āsafeties.ā I donāt get it. DD already has 2 safeties, 1 target and 3 reaches (all EA.)
DD was planning on adding some schools RD but it was going to be another mix of schools, not all target.
Do you think the colleges give the CCs a headās up? The next couple of weeks are going to be very long.
QOTD2 - No plans whatsoever. I usually love this time of year but the admissions process has been a bit draining for me this year. Just not feelin it. I doubt weāll do anything big as we already have a big summer trip planned and will most likely go skiing spring break or Iāll send D on school spring break trip. Thatās enough major travel spending for me for now. I suppose I need to get out of my Scroogey mood and go buy presents soon and put up a tree at least.
@MotherOfDragons for UX design and human-computer interaction your Dās friend should definitely look at Cognitive Science degree. That is what my D is planning to major in and UX design is one of her possible career goals. List of schools with Cog Sci degree here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_institutions_granting_degrees_in_cognitive_science (note this is a list of all countries with Cog Sci but it is separated out by country)
QOTD: Is there supposed to be a preference? :)) S doesnāt seem to care whether he ends up at WUSTL, Alabama or South Dakota School of Mines (or, really, any of the others on his listāI just picked those to highlight the differences). He hasnāt even seen two of those, but weāre working on that. Glad to hear weāre not the only who still havenāt seen a lot of the list, @eandesmom.
We allowed (OK, encouraged) S to take a shop class each semester of senior year. He also dropped jazz band, backed off the number of hours he works and decided not to participate in winter rec soccer. Heās staying on top of honors and scholarship applications around homework, pep band and social activities before the craziness of spring starts. Sounds like those may have been good choices. Good thoughts to the over-stressed kids and their folks. I donāt really care for the smarmy smile on this emoji, but virtual hugs to you. >:D<
@cleoforshort If your daughter is happy to attend either of her safeties, then it is a waste of time to apply to more. I would have her spend her time applying to reaches and targets that she likes more than her safeties. Good luck!!
@Testingearly Thank you, exactly what I thought too. The schools the CC is pushing are schools DD visited and said āMehā to. Frustrating.
QOTD2: We are going to NY for a few days, Palm Beach for a few and in between my kids want to see their friends. All of my holiday shopping is done, just waiting for it all to be delivered. The only shopping I havenāt done is for teachers. I usually give a gift card and bake a treat so thatās easy.