@ynotgo I think dd’s perspective is probably unique to this group since she has never sat in a classroom before. 
Thanks for the info @Gator88NE.
For those looking at FSU’s OOS waivers, I did find several posts from people who spoke with admissions there and the consensus seems to be that you need a 3.7 GPA and an ACT of 30. That’s not a guaranteed award, but it gives you an idea of where you need to aim.
(WAY too much time on my hands because this is day 4 of a fever/cough for me. Not how I wanted to spend spring break, sigh.)
@Mom2aphysicsgeek That is an interesting and unique perspective, I agree.
Having two kids that attend(ed) TCU, that’s a TX thing and a Southern thing (we are not from either) and, in many cases, a private school thing. If that’s an issue for you (how about your daughter?), cross off the South, TX and most private schools. My kids and their friends weren’t/are not glammed up, but, they aren’t dirtbag grunge either.
@terriw … Yes. Very much a southern thing. And that is why D won’t have those schools on her list.
Yes, about the southern style thing. My mom spends a few weeks each year in Florida, and when she comes home, she’s very relieved to not have to fuss so much about what she wears to go grocery shopping, lol. Not saying it’s bad! It’s just a different culture than what we’re used to up here in cow country.
I keep sending FSU’s president e-mails about my proposal to move his campus closer to a major airport, say in Alaska, or perhaps Siberia (I heard the weather’s nice)…but all of my e-mails are getting blocked as spam. 
I’m sure that’s some sort of mistake by FSU’s IT team…but when I send them e-mails to complain, I get the same spam error message!
I wouldn’t generalize about the South or Texas or eliminate all schools in those areas based on that stereotype. I haven’t seen that at as the typical dress where we live (TX) or at the schools in the south that we’ve visited. But then I did my research and eliminated those schools everywhere and they were all over the country.
My D could use some glamming-up! Some manners wouldn’t hurt either!
ETA: 
@itsgettingreal17 …well yes and no. I live very close to TCU and I can tell you without a doubt there is a different vibe to TCU and Baylor than say…UTA, Texas A&M and UT. All good schools and I’m sure there is a place for everyone.
Yeah the glammed up thing is really variable here in the south, especially as the south becomes less “southern”.
Older D tends more towards, uh, industrial edgy yet feminine chic (not a lot of that anywhere, lol), but her BF is southern Preppie. People mesh and mingle a lot more in the south than you’d think (and more than I saw in the NE growing up).
We were at a state engineering conference last week and there were cheerleaders who still had those crazy big bows in their hair running around replacing gears on a robot (they hadn’t had time to change their hair, lol). You can look like one thing without it limiting what you do, is definitely what I see with kids these days.
Younger D decided to go for 50’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s-inspired for the conference, pixie blonde haircut and very 50’s tea-length black dress. Their video on demand almost made it to the finals, which is not bad for a bunch of first time sophomores and freshmen.
Older D had a very good day today, got a 98 on a physics exam on quantum mechanics, got invited to prom in a very adorable way by her BF, and made Governor’s Honors Program. Hat trick of a good day, I say! She is just grinning from ear to ear, and we don’t see that a lot from our very serious older kid :).
@MotherOfDragons that must have been so exciting for your younger D’s video to almost make it. She must be proud. woo hoo to your D’s physics exam honors program! Do you mind sharing how her BF asked her? I love hearing adorable ways. My D16 is hoping her friend will ask her. It’s not for another month though so there is still lots of time. She already bought a dress!!!
@greeny8 He had a bunch of red roses and a stuffed Toothless The Dragon plush, and he conspired with the Lit teacher to get her to leave the room for a minute, and when she came back he was there with the flowers and the dragon. She was delighted
Yep, younger D saw how the winning videos were done and is already planning next year
@MotherOfDragons What a lovely day! You must be just brimming with joy
I love seeing my kids happy.
I have a question for you all regarding senior year scheduling. DS has to choose which science class to take and he has two options: Forensics (not college track) and AP Bio. (Yes, small school.) So far he has taken Regents Bio and Regents Chemistry (high 80’s) and is currently taking Regents Physics (currently a 97 avg). However, last year he tried to take College Chem (our school doesn’t offer AP Chem) and dropped it because he was failing and was completely lost and miserable in that class.
This would be his first AP class. Our school only offers 4: AP World History for 10th graders, APUSH for 11th graders, and AP Bio and AP Eng Lit for 12th graders. Would taking AP Bio be enough of a boost in rigor to make a difference to his more reachy schools (thinking meet full need LACs that give a boost to boys) to risk dropping his GPA below the cutoffs for merit awards at his non reach schools (like St Bonaventure)?
Current GPA is a 90 which our GC says is a 3.5 (doesn’t that seem high?) and while we have no SATs yet, his PSAT was 1280 on the new one. Of course, this doesn’t directly compare to anything but they said it was 93rd percentile, and 93rd percentile on the old SAT was about 2000 according to prepscholar. FWIW.
@mcdmom 90 is a 3.5, that is correct. While this is new to me, my understanding is the GC will weigh in on “rigor” with the information provided to the colleges applied to as the available rigor varies widely among schools. Your GC will let the schools know how your son stacks up at his school, which is important, versus necessarily comparing him to kids from other schools who have more opportunity for rigor. Basically it’s not apples to apples and colleges know that. What does his math track look like?
Is Regents the same thing as Honors? I’m not familiar with that term. What does he want to take? Did he like Bio? If he hated it then Forensics is likely the better option. What does he think he wants to do in college? Major choice (if he knows) can also influence what is the better fit from an application standpoint. My son has similar stats though more options for classes. It’s a tough call. He has avoided Chemistry so far, which I think will bite him in college given his interests but is doing AP Physics now and will do APES for senior year instead of any chem. Part of it, in his case, is related to the Chem teacher options at our school but overall course-load concerns played a part as well.
He really debated taking AP Lit and was planning on regular English for exactly your reasons and at the 11th hour of registration changed his mind. In his case I don’t think it will kill the GPA and the AP will outweigh the “regular” English but I also think that if he could have picked what he really wanted to take…it would have been Creative Writing. Which, according to our GC, the colleges don’t like to see for Sr. Year. His concern (and my husbands) was balancing that with his other coursework. My concern was him being bored in the regular class. For him, I’d rather have him get the B+ or A- in the AP class (or even a B) and work and be challenged then be bored out of his mind in the mainstream one and get an A.
There is a 3.0-3.4 thread for the 2017 kids in the main parents forum (versus the class of community) that I hope will get moved here but in the interim you may find parents with similar stats that have good input.
I think AP Bio is pretty difficult. If he had an A in Regents Bio then maybe, but having a B in Regents could mean a C in AP. Not sure if it’s worth it to take the AP and have GPA suffer.
@MotherOfDragons that’s adorable! I’m glad she had such a wonderful day. There is nothing better than seeing our kids happy! I had asked my D16 who is still waiting on colleges what she wants me to pray for and she said her happiness. Done!!!
@mdcmom I agree with what @eandesmom said. My D17 took AP bio in 10th grade and is currently taking AP chem. She found the bio class to be easier than the Chem. But she can’t compare the tests yet.