Lovin’ all the acceptances! It’s going to be time to start the Class of 2019 acceptance thread soon, if it hasn’t been already. 
@gallentjill Thank you for your response! I forget that this is a supportive thread and not what I face in the real world. I interact with people at both extremes some criticizing for any parental involvement. I actually received an eye roll from someone when I asked this question. As if I shouldn’t be helping at all. I’m with you! I would never have her submit without me proof reading everything.
@Momof3kidz I’ve seen a FB page saying" little Susie has applied to 5 colleges tonight, when I say Little Susie I really mean that I have applied to 5 colleges for Little Susie tonight"( name changed for privacy) What amazed me is that maybe 2 or 3 people on that whole FB thread saw this as a problem. I agree that proofreading is very important because errors can have extreme consequences. This just seemed over the top to me. What happens when Little Susie goes to college. Supposedly Little Susie did her own essay, so I guess that’s a redeeming point.
I’m more troubled by the parent who would throw little Susie under the bus that way. Especially on FB which is not anonymous. We all have kids who need different amounts of support. Maybe little Susie is headed towards a supportive college that will help her develop independence. Who knows? Maybe little Susie is one of those excellent students who for some reason hit a wall and freeze like a deer in the headlights when it comes to college applications. There are lots of them. Just because you might need some help getting over a bridge doesn’t mean you won’t be fine once you get to the other side.
We all know our kids best and we generally know what they need. I don’t think any parent should be made to feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, advertising the fact to the entire world seems like an act of pure self agrandizement from a parent who needs to take credit. Poor Susie.
@gallentjill it was in a private group , not an open FB page. There is a difference between " a little help" and completing an entire college application while they are on vacation. If a student is unable to engage in the process, they are not ready to go to college IMO. I’ve seen firsthand what happens to students who aren’t ready to go to college go. It’s not pretty. This student is a high performing student who is able complete a college application with oversight and works.
I do recall that I more or less filled out D16’s Cal State application, but it was also just entering classes, grades and general info. I don’t think it even asked for activities/ECs, so it was pure data entry. It opened after she had done her “main” applications and she considered herself done. I didn’t post about it on Facebook though!
S19 finally let DH read his essay and I think I’m going to leave them to it (although I have a sneaking suspicion that DH doesn’t really know what a college essay is supposed to look like in 2018). I am a terrible editor and would just re-write it, so I’m keeping my hands off. His schools are mostly safeties based on his stats and the audition is the most important piece for him, so an average essay shouldn’t really hurt him in this process.
I did the majority of the data entry on my D19’s applications to Arizona State and Northern Arizona. They’re auto admit safeties for her and the most tedious part is self reporting grades. No LOR’s, essays or EC’s. She knows it’s up to her to do the applications for the honors colleges and any other college applications. She’s created her own CA account and I haven’t seen it yet. I’m worried that she is falling behind on things like getting the packet to her GC for the counselor recommendation and other LOR’s. I worry she isn’t doing everything she needs to do on schedule and I keep reminding her of these tasks. But what keeps me sane is knowing she has those two auto-admit safeties.
You raise a great point @eh1234 about the importance of the essay (or lack thereof) compared to the audition. (This is especially the case for non-tippy-toppy schools.) In my opinion, there comes a time when the essay is simply good enough and let’s be done with it already.
I have not done it yet, but am considering entering the self reported grade section on the Coalition App. The potential for data entry error makes me twitchy.
@Momof3kidz for what it’s worth, I was probably more involved in my kids college search/applications than many others. Neither of my 2 older kids seemed to have a clear vision of just how much work it entailed, and my daughter in particular approached anxiety issues whenever it came up.
So I helped. I’m a mom, it’s what I do. And besides, I love this stuff.
I did the research and helped compile a list of schools. I helped with the idea for her essay- the one she wrote and checked with her English teacher-- and then asked one or two people here whose opinions I particularly respect to take a look at it.
She’s now happy as a lark at the school of her choice. And she’s getting to class and turning in homework and doing all she should, without my help. She’s fine at schoolwork; she had 12 years of prep for that. But finding the right college is a project absolutely out of the wheelhouse of most kids. I see no issue in a parent helping.
Writing the essay? Actually filling out the application? No.
But proofreading? Finding schools they think would be a good fit? SURE. Isn’t that what other people pay consultants to do?
It’s been a great week here - D got her school club leadership post, was inducted into NHS (really brought up her grades between sophomore and junior years), and hit “Send” on 4 EA apps! You better believe I proofread them. In fact we sat together to go over each one, and of course she needed my credit card for two of them. Like @bjkmom , I have been super involved in her search and application process, not because she couldn’t, but because she already has a lot on her plate, she appreciated the help and I enjoyed it (mostly). Also, at least one of her schools requires EA to be considered for Merit, and EA is also important for helping her secure a team spot for her sport.
@bjkmom my approach has been similar to yours. Helping research schools, scanning the application for errors and reviewing the essay once it’s done. I have not filled out any applications or written any essays. That’s on DS19. I also see no issue in a parent helping, it’s the completely filling out an application that seems unusual to me.
If it were left to my kid, I cringe at where we’d be in the process. I also proofread - AND caught an incorrectly entered grade in the Common App for D19’s No.1 school, WVU, the only one that requires self-reported grades.
She’s getting all these cool videos from WVU - the video game is strong with that one - and does anyone else feel like me by this point: I WANNA GO BACK TO COLLEGE.
Seriously, I’m so damn jealous.
Just put in what I hope is the last order for SAT scores to be sent to several schools. Assuming no more schools get added to the already lengthy list, this part of the process should be complete.
My D19 has a fake Twitter account (that is, she doesn’t use Twitter, but she has one attached to her college junk email address so that she can follow schools she’s interested in), and she’s consistently impressed with WVU’s stuff, and particularly the videos they make (as @Gatormama noted). Mississippi State and Bradley are quite good, too, though both of them have this weird tendency to tie even the straight-up academic stuff to their athletic programs, which seems particularly odd for a school without a football team like Bradley.
On the other hand, her big reach school is WPI, and they have a tendency to have really painfully boring if not just bad social media posts and videos. You’d think a school full of hands-on-oriented techno-nerds would have some skills with video editing to call on, but apparently not…
2 apps in tonight! (And I sat with her as she did it- no essays needed, just personal info. I ordered the ACT scores too.) We had a thorough talk about what her options really are. Made a list of her wants. We did the two apps and there wasn’t any other place she wanted to do because all the others she likes either don’t have her major, are too far away or are too expensive. So maybe we’re done? She’s not completely sold on either of the two schools yet. But one of her good friends plans to go to the cheaper, closer one so I’m hoping that influences her positively.
@bjscheel What if she doesn’t get in to either of those 2?
@bjkmom They are safeties, directional publics where her ACT is 2 points above the 75th percentile and on Niche she ranks higher than 90% of applicants. I’m not worried 
Rolling admissions so we will know this month anyhow.
I dreamed last night that Twin B was accepted into her safety, but had accidentally checked the ED box so we were locked in.
This past weekend was so busy and fun. It was nice to step away from the stress of apps. So excited for everyone’s progress. We can’t submit until essays are complete in class Oct. 16. I think I need to shop more Oktoberfest Beer fun. Oy! The waiting is rough.
@carolinamom2boys, I am one of those parents who completed applications for my kids. I see it as acting as their Secretary. I’d rather my kids spend time on writing the essays and narrowing down the list of schools. I’m sorry you feel it is out of bounds to help my student. I, or my husband, also went on every college tour except one with our kids. We have our feedback from tours to our kids if the kids asked.
My heart breaks for kids who go through the process alone. I was one of those kids, and parental involvement would have relieved me of some stress.
My kids have a friend who never saw their college until registration. The kid was on edge for months. And the college was within 2 hours of home.