@carachel2 that was definitely a factor in us choosing not to do it-no way to tell where, when and if the girls would go to college.
It seems to be turning out ok with D17 having some good merit aid offers already, and D18 likes a college that will be affordable for us if we move in-state (and she does her dang homework and gets in).
@Fishnlines29, that is what I have learned from CC. My child does not have the personality to be on the GO all the time and being a leader in school. Nor do I have the money for expensive summer enrichment camps. So auto merit is what is best for us. She is only in 8th grade. But I am laying the foundation down by âafterschoolingâ. It is already paying off with her being the top student in each grade for the last couple of years. And slaying PSAT 8/9, Duke Tip SAT, etc.
So this is our road. Auto Merit!!!
Still catching up, my S/O is like, what on earth is taking you so long!! I told him, well, I need to keep up with my new friends!! They are important to me!
@MotherOfDragons Congrats on your D for getting her braces off! She must feel a weight lifted! Sucks they both have to get their wisdom teeth out. I never had to do that but did have a tooth crack a few years ago, that was not fun.
Thatâs funny about Dâs boyfriend getting such a good score! I can totally relate, my daughter is irritated her b/f has little âdriveâ and theyâve been going through a break up this week.
Paying for Dress: D informed me she WILL be going to the prom with her girlfriends! Speaking of which â is it really the norm for the kids to take off for a night away after prom with no parental supervision?! I mean Iâm not a party pooper or anything but it just seems like youâre asking for all sorts of trouble!! D is already trying to prep me. She wanted to go to the shore last year after prom (with friends/boys inc. b/f and girls) and I said no way. This year, sheâll be 17 1/2, should I be considering this? Supposedly just all girls as they anticipate all being single. Even soâŠ
@eandesmom is it the girl you mentioned on another thread, I think you said flute player with pink hair or something?! Thatâs cute.
@itsgettingreal17 Wow, congratulations on the Scholarship and good luck with the Fellowship, thatâs a huge deal!!!
@whataboutcollege Congrats on GIT!!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Just saw your original video from last year. It kind of makes me sad and brings back feelings of annoyance on how much studying/h.w. my child has gotten over the past 10 years. And very little sleep. Itâs really just awful for these kids nowadays. No down time. Also, congratulations on the Truman interview! Iâm sure youâll work it out, sounds like an important one to attend!!
@LoveTheBard I havenât watched the video yet, but do you think the LEAP program targets a specific sector, like corporate business? Or do you think it is more broad?
@Fishnlines29
âSpeaking of which â is it really the norm for the kids to take off for a night away after prom with no parental supervision?!â
This does not happen at S17âs school. If it did, I would not permit it. I am no party-pooper either but, in my opinion, nothing good can come from an unsupervised overnight of large numbers of kids. For kids who want to hang out after prom, there are plenty of parents willing to host the students at their homes. As it has turned out, most of the kids just want to go home. Last year, jr/sr prom was on the same day as science Olympiad so the STEM kids were exhausted. S17s school did do an overnight 3 days/ 2 night senior weekend to the beach at the start of the school year. I would also say itâs easy for me to say I wouldnât permit it because itâs really not S17 and his friendâs type of thing anyway. Theyâll be happy to go to PROM and, at most, stop for something to eat after prom and call it a night.
@Fishnlines29 Our school has a supervised after-prom, which is very popular. I would not allow an unsupervised night away with a large group.
@Fishnlines29 wrote
Oh hell no, not in my house itâs not.
For my senior prom we all drove down to the cape (cape cod) and hung out in a friends house all night after prom. Half of the kids were drunk, the other half were exhausted and cold (it was a chilly spring night and the house was a summer house with no heat). I was with the cold and exhausted half, and still remember vividly falling asleep in a corner in my prom dress, no jacket, wishing for morning to come so I could drive home.
I related this story to the girls and added ânothing good ever happens after midnight, so plan to be back by then.â Theyâre fine with it. Iâd be more than happy to let as many girls who wanted come over after prom and stay here, and Iâd feed them until their prom dresses busted at the seams.
The school does an after-prom party in the gym, but neither one is interested. After 3 hours of dancing and noise, theyâve both had enough.
@MotherOfDragons =)) Tell us how you really feel? Iâm not sure your feelings were clear. Thanks for the laugh.
@MotherOfDragons USCal does this often as well the kids who they want but donât want their stats factored into public numbers. Another game of admissions officesâŠ
@CA1543 Congrats on GT!!
@thermom congrats on first admit your DC is going to college!!
@lbf you can use the âsave draftâ button when youâre composing a reply and itâll save your post from page to page so you donât have to make individual posts each time you want to mention someone.
It took me a while to figure this out (along with how to star stuff so I could find it again), please donât think Iâm picking on you, the thread just gets so huge so fast that this is one way we save space 
@MotherOfDragons Thanks!!
@CA1543 Not sure if I said this out-loud yet, but congrats on GA Tech!!
@thermom Congrats on Stony Brook! It is such a relief, I know how you feel!!
@cleoforshort Oh that made me laugh when you said S19 got his first college mail! Yikes!
@BingeWatcher yep, thatâs great, I just wish I had known it then too!
Second Semester Admits: This does seem to be a new trend? And @CT1417, I hear what you are saying, but I donât really understand it - itâs like an unexpected gap semester. Canât imagine thatâs good for the psyche. And the defer for a year while you go to another college? Forget it!
@paveyourpath NUIN doesnât sound bad as an option if studying abroad is important to you anyway.
@paveyourpath @itsgettingreal17 @MotherOfDragons
PROM: Oh thank god, itâs not just me! I told her this morning flat out no, but with the number of kids doing it, I was questioning myself! Ok, Iâm back to a position of strength!! Incidentally D and I just watched the HIMYM episode where they stated, nothing good happens after 2am, so make sure youâre in bed by then! Iâll have to remind her of that one lol.
@thshadow (I still donât know how to quoteâŠ)
âWRT Spring admits - itâs very unlike me to not be cynical , but I think it makes sense even without USNWR. Because you can stagger when the kids are taking the basic classes. Which would help reduce the ginormous sizes of the basic freshman classes, reduce the competition for enrolling in classes, etc.â
Yes, and as I commented yesterday, it also allows the university to fill the beds of freshmen who do not return to campus after the first semester.
The second year admits (go elsewhere for first year and then enroll as sophomore) seem to be a more obvious move to avoid NSWR rankings, although this strategy also avoids the overcrowding of intro courses, as students are often required to complete their intro courses elsewhere. Again, the issue of freshman housing comes into play as these second year admits are not housed with the freshmen on some campuses. It is all a businessâŠmaximizing revenue.
Editing as I just saw @Fishnlines29âs question. I have been hearing about this trend for at least four years (friends of family friends). Some schools (Middlebury & Cornell are the two I know of) have sizable, established programs.
As to good for the psycheâŠit works for some, doesnât work for others. I know of one woman who is thrilled with her second year admit to Cornell and another who decided to apply to other schools as a transfer, after being offered the second year Cornell admission. She ended up with other wonderful options and transferred elsewhere for her second year. Definitely on the upswing though. Have heard of same at Brown, USC and others that are escaping me now.
There were a couple of women in my sorority who apparently transferred in. I never knew it at the time as we always had a handful of sophomores pledge. The conversation arose in recent years when we all started chatting about our own children applying to college. My point in mentioning that is to say their second year status was transparent to me!
@CT1417 I just feel like if the student goes elsewhere first year, they likely wont want to transfer once theyâre all settled in. Iâd be curious to know how many kids actually do that.
First year Study Abroad = Gap Year. Same issues joining your cohort a year late. Still a good option for some kids. Still not understanding the negative aspect of delaying admittance. Seems better than outright rejection for many kids.
@Fishnlines29 --I do not know the numbersâŠcan only quote anecdotally! Knew of another who absolutely wanted to attend Columbia, was not offered a guaranteed transfer, so enrolled at NYU abroad freshman year. Knocked it out of the park, and applied as a transfer. Now very happy at Penn, and decided not to attend Columbia even after gaining admission as a transfer.
Know of another who was offered the GT to Cornell, but did not want the hassle of moving after one year, so turned it down and is happy at the school where he enrolled as a freshman.
It really depends on the student and perhaps their mindset when they enter their first college. I think it would be difficult to enter knowing that you will not be staying, not wanting to immerse yourself in clubs or Greek life or whatever, but it does work for some.
It seems to me that more students transfer in general than in my day, but that may just be my perception.
Prom- I was one of those kids out all night and up to no good. No thank you. My son as a senior two years ago had his girlfriendâs mom pick them all up and make pancakes after prom at 2:00am. I was fine with that. My daughterâs boyfriend is indiwn with very strict parents, he will not be staying out after prom. 
Automatic scholarships- I never knew this was a thing until CC. Obviously Iâve now hear about UA, what other schools have good auto awards? My daughter got nice merit from 3 so far, sheâs a weighted 4.0 with mediocre test scores, so I was pretty happy with the merit amounts. Now to decide if a lesser school is worth going to for the scholarship if she gets into someplace she likes much better?
Last year D was dating a senior for a short period - but they broke up before prom. She decided to go anyway. Itâs a small school, so everyoneâs friends with everyone anyway. There was this talk about lots of kids going to some beach house afterwards / overnight. DW and I werenât exactly sure how we felt about it - and neither was DD to be honest.
Ultimately, for her afterparty, she chose to go to taco bell with me at 1am⊠:x :x
Our school has an after-prom at a local bowling alley run by the PTA where they are essentially locked in until morning if they decide to go. There are lots of activities, raffles, and itâs supposed to be fun, but I donât know details. Some kids attend after-prom but not prom. I donât know whether DS17 will attend either one. It isnât until the first weekend in May. (Yes, between the 2 weeks of AP tests, and DS is thinking of taking the AP Physics C tests on the Monday following.)