When I read posts on CC by kids who say that they had a Dream School since elementary, I often wonder how they even know enough about colleges in elementary school to have a Dream School. I also think that it is a lot of pressure to have a Dream School and as a parent I would try to dissuade that thinking as much as possible. However, it may be easier in some areas of the country than others to not have a dream school. In my area, most people couldn’t name 4 schools in the Ivy League, let alone all 8. That, imo, has many plusses.
My S17 is done, but I am already dreading gearing up for round three with D19.
@STEM2017 oh I know. And mom seemed to as well, it wasn’t her first rodeo. Most of those schools have some major supplemental essays. Reed is his top choice and their essay is it’s own monster animal and is weighted VERY heavily. He hadn’t even looked at the prompt! I’ve no idea where he is on the LOR’s, transcript, stuff but sense from mom that part may be under control but who knows. The kid though…definitely in for a rude awakening. Poor mom was smiling and nodding…I think she gets it.
@Dolemite Yesterday we had a NO posts from 10:38am to 8:30pm. I had to refresh the page a few times to make sure I wasn’t missing some.
My DS has a “dream school” from before he was born. I think it’s clear that term is not based on school fit when they are wearing jerseys as a toddler. Hopefully, parents discourage kids when they get closer to the application season if the student doesn’t fit into the student profile.
My DS’s friends: deferred Yale, deferred Brown, deferred Notre Dame, admitted to Penn, admitted MIT. Quite a group! They had a “deferred dudes” thread going on their texting app. It was nice that they had company.
My S17 was just talking this weekend about the mood at his school from those kids that have been deferred or rejected by the Dream Schools. He was glad that he never had a Dream School, he just wants to go to a school with a good program and good opportunities for successful, lucrative employment once he graduates. He has always worked hare and done well, is very active both at school and in our community through Scouts and typically sets a goal and works hard to attain it.
Hug your kids tight. Life can change in an instant. Our parish community is in deep mourning right now. A little 10 yr old boy died Saturday in a tragic accident that claimed his life in a horrific way (fire). His father and older brother saw it happen and were unable to save him. I am overwhelmed with raw grief for this family. Their pain is so devastating that I can’t even begin to express it.
Re: dream school - I’ve always felt that the “dream school” idea, by and large, originated with parents. D had a dream school very briefly when she was at the top of her sport. The school was #1 in the sport and that’s why she wanted to attend. But even then I made her understand that she shouldn’t fixate on it because the only way she would attend is if she received a full ride athletic scholarship (no merit scholarships offered there) and she’s always understood how unlikely such a scholarship is for anyone. (I was always the parent on the team encouraging parents to not focus so much on athletic scholarships.). When D left her sport, it brought a sigh of relief for both of us, because she no longer felt that going elsewhere would mean she hadn’t “made it” or her hard work wasn’t rewarded. She instead enthusiastically got behind our academic scholarship strategy, which many pooh-poohed.
I agree x1000! I want them all to be happy. Even the ex-bf of D18 who I had to bully into taking the PSAT-I almost want to email his mom and ask if he did well. But I think I’ll let that one go, lol. I’m just glad he took it.
Waiting on WPI and Sat 2 Math II this week. H keeps making me bake cookies (this weekend was white chocolate cranberry oatmeal which was a smashing success), and I am 6 lbs overweight, and it’s not even Christmas yet! Gah! I’m done with school so I have no excuse not to exercise more. Which reminds me I need to go sign up for a class at my gym…
I did notice it was quiet here yesterday, but I was working on Christmas cards and we went to see Rogue One all together, so I didn’t have much to post about. Rogue One was amazing-a delicious mix of the familiar (all your nostalgia neurons will be firing like mad), and the new and unexpected. D17 was grumping about how early we left for the theater (10 min from the house)-we were out by 9:20 for a 10 am showing, and she rounded the corner into the theater and stopped dead-30 minutes out and the place was packed.
We got the last four seats that were together! She had to eat crow, lol. The unexpected upside of such a packed theater was that the tons of kids that were in there (usually a recipe for disaster) were SO quiet and well behaved. Everyone was just completely rapt. It was a little magical.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I’m so sorry to hear about the boy and the fire. So tragic for the family and the whole community. Peace and sympathy to all involved!
@STEM2017 My S17 s in a similar place. He didn’t really have a reach, and his “dream school” was my alma mater which he’s watched sports for since he was born, and it just happens to have a good program in his desired major. His safety also has a good program for him, so now that he’s accepted to both, he’s all set–just weighing options (and filling out honors college & law program apps). He’s in all IB/AP classes, and his classmates are getting deferred or rejected left and right from Ivies and big reach schools, and he feels for them because he already has a place. The classmates have other apps in, but most are RD, so they’re in for a wait. His best friends are more the A-/B+ kids, and some of them have local and good match options in hand, and some are waiting still, but it seems to me that the less academically competitive kids are a happier bunch because they don’t have their heart set on prestige or a big name school.
It is possible to have a dream school that is not influenced by your parents. My S17 decided he loved Vanderbilt when he was 9 or 10 years old. There is a story.
My wife left me with the boys for the weekend while she went to Las Vegas for a girls weekend. The boys were young and we had never had a video gaming system before so we went to Gamestop and purchased a gamecube and some games. One of those games was NCAA Football. S17 LOVED that game and he played it all the time but only picked Vanderbilt as his team. He would throw a hail mary on every play and usually scored over 100 points winning the championship. Years later, he still follows Vanderbilt and sent an application to them even though we have never visited the campus or even the state!
If he is accepted to Vandy and the $$ work out, he will go there in a heartbeat.
RE changing majors: D2 is chasing the merit (and tuition remission) so she only applied to three schools. UMD and UA would have plenty of other options should she change her mind on majors. UAH, on the other hand, concerns me. If she remains an aerospace or mechanical major it’s a wonderful place for her to be, and the $$ situation is great. I am concerned for what would happen if she decided engineering wasn’t for her…
On a different subject, she had intended to apply for CBH at UA, but it looks like that won’t happen. I’m rolling with it, because she’s consciously trying to manage her stress to help with her Crohn’s, and that program sounds pretty intense! It also sounds wonderful.
@STEM2017 Your son sounds like a compassionate young man. A number of my D’s friends applied ED; so far only one got in. We haven’t heard anything from one, so I suspect the answer was no.
Interesting twist for S17 at one of his early super selective reach schools to which he was deferred. He was contacted by his college counselor who informed him that the school had reached out to her, letting her know that they wanted to admit him, but didn’t love one of his (1 of several!) essays; they are asking him to rewrite the essay and send it as an update. CRAZY X_X
" Should you wish to submit a letter to the Admissions Committee to re-confirm your interest in attending XYZ, it will be taken into consideration"
So, I’m taking that as if you have been deferred and don’t send in a letter begging us to let you in RD, “then you will just S#@& out of Luck and rejected. If you send one, we’ll look at it if you have decent enough scores/gpa”
OK, so what do you write in this type of letter? He already submitted a supplemental essay on Why XYZ school.
The school is probably my son’s 1 or 2 top choices, he’s a good match for it I thought, and still would like to go there. I guess we’ll write the damn letter and submit it sooner than later.
I think it’s clear that term is not based on school fit when they are wearing jerseys as a toddler. Hopefully, parents discourage kids when they get closer to the application season if the student doesn’t fit into the student profile.