@fwtxmom Our recycling bin has become much more colorful! At first I was setting the mailers on the kitchen counter for D19 to look at when she got home from school, but they really began to annoy her so now they go directly into the bin. I have to wonder about the return on investment for these marketing campaigns because we have not found a single school this way. What’s even more curious is how little mail she gets from the schools we actually visited.
They send you and your children marketing mail and email because it works. Maybe not in your case, but overall it works well. The marketing helps to drive up applications, which helps to make the schools more selective, which helps the perceived quality of the school.
All the mailings that S receives from colleges will now go straight into the recycling bin. We had been saving it for while but it was just piling up and he was not even looking at it so it all just got dumped this past weekend. A couple tidbits from the pile: the school that has sent him the most mail is University of Chicago, a school that he has zero chance of being accepted at, and he received a mailing from Mount Ida college, advertising how great they were, that was dated about 3 weeks before they announced they were closing and were selling their campus to UMass.
My D17 checked the boxes on her PSA/SAT/ACT, and we saved every scrap of mail she got so as to measure linear inches at the end of the season: 31. And most of those were postcards (either single thickness or doubled over), which makes that number kind of scary.
D19, OTOH, has been pretty aggressive in unsubscribing from all forms of communication (including postal mail) when an email link has given her that option, and so has gotten substantially less by this point in the cycle. (Still some ridiculous ones, though—I mean, what is Yale doing sending a recruitment brochure to a kid who got a decent but certainly not mid-30s ACT?)
So many Yale mailings (act of 34 but its still a NFW) and so many of them about affordability. We are even getting QuestBridge stuff for some apparent reason and we no way qualify to apply!
Looking for suggestions for spreadsheet templates for college search, info. Thanks!
@eandesmom . As far as your timeline goes, PLEASE request those LORs before school breaks for the summer. Those September requests are a killer! After 2 months off, it makes me crazy to be hit with a slew of requests at a time when I’m busy with my new classes.
We’ve had a shocking lack of mail. Which is just fine with both of us. S19 deliberately did not check boxes to recieve things so what little makes its way here, at least so far, is often of interest.
After the first PSAT there was a small rush and most of it elected comments about the names of the schools (apparently names like Kenyon, Bentley and Skidmore don’t sound “real” to S19) but other than that, not much and almost all goes straight to the recycling bin.
I am a bit intrigued that two of 4 schools that got free score reports have sent nothing, especially given that they were good scores but since one of them is already off the list I guess it doesn’t matter. And of the 2 free score reports that have contacted him, one is off the list as well so…who knows.
I did send 3 score reports today (like to spread out the $$ lol) but he is getting some mail from those schools already.
The easiest way to get info on the schools you or your kids are interested in it to go to the website, hit the “contact” button, and request info. They’ll be happy to send it.
@fwtxmom In my very limited experience-- a 19 and an 18 year old-- the best place to look for scholarships for the non-typical-CC kid is to use local resources.
Your kid’s school guidance office has a list of local scholarships. Either they’re on the website or they’ll be posted as bulletins. And here’s something else I’ve learned: you can look at other local schools (public, private, religious, charter) to see whether their websites have some that your local district doesn’t list.
@eandesmom Thank you for saying that. My son is getting nothing and I kind of wondered why. He is exactly the type of kid to not check the boxes…mostly because he probably just raced past them. 
@SwimmingDad he may be getting tons of email however he has that all sent to his school gmail account where he can ignore it. Which is both good and bad as fee waivers can show up in emails! I’ve asked him to subscribe to all his schools via his “real” email to ensure things don’t get lost but I don’t think he has yet. The only other mail he gets is from a few that scanned his badge at a NACAC fair.
We are not allowed to request LOR’s now. This is our 4th through the process and how our SD does it. Trust me, he will be fine. I’d agree it’s crazy but on the flip side most of our kids will go in state. And none of the instate schools needs LOR’s. So the volume may not be as bad as it sounds though for the popular teachers I suspect it’s a bit nutty. They tell the kids at the end of September to ask then, basically assuming no one is doing EA or ED and to give at least 3 weeks notice. He will ask right when school starts and will have a resume to give to the teachers for reference as the school really doesn’t do brag sheets for the teacher LOR’s only the counselor one (and only kid input, no parent). It worked out fine with the last kid and one of his LOR’s was a known procrastinator who told the kids to remind, nag and then repeat until he got theirs done. He may give those teachers a heads up for the request but I know neither will be surprised to be asked.
He has however requested his LOR from his GC as she will be out on maternity leave and she is doing some of the kids before she goes, thankfully he is one of them. Whether or not he has given her everything she asked for is another questions
Quick update on S19.
We still have (UGH) almost a month of school left here. This week is silly state testing, science today which is in class and then math tomorrow and Friday which delays the start of the rest of the day both days. The grades, while significantly better than last semester still have room for improvement. In part they reflect assignments missed during AP testing that have YET to be given credit for but in part, the horrible February of not turning in work is still showing it’s impact. He has the potential to up all classes about a half a grade between now and the last day, we shall see. 2 of those grades really really need to come up to help offset first semester. Ugh. I am ready for the year to be over, that’s all I know.
Overall the kid is doing pretty well. Some increased social activity, generally on top of work (not 100% but much much better), started a new club a couple of months ago that is going well and started attending a 3rd. Generally happy and more self confident. The internship seems to be going well, I wish we had a clue what the summer hours looked like but I don’t want to press. They did issue him his own laptop which apparently is easier to get than the official staff t shirt, which he hasn’t “earned” yet. Busy EC time of year, his marching band won the Victoria Days parade a couple of weeks ago (and had a nice weekend in Victoria BC to boot) Wind Ensemble concert is tonight and Jazz concert next week. AP’s seemed to go well, or at least 3 out of 4 did. Sadly the 4th is the one we really “need” so I’ll be on pins and needles till that score comes out as it will impact the class grade (Physics). He felt “meh” about it. I hope “meh” means a 3 but really have no idea. We are requesting that his middle school math grades be moved “up” onto his transcript. It’s not a huge bump but right now .03 is something we will take. Assuming I did the math correct, that’s the impact it will have.
College wise he has cut the list to 8 and there are a few on the bubble so it could go down further. He did ask his school to nominate him for one of the junior year nominated scholarships at one of his schools, which they did and he received the award. Which was kind of funny in the sense that we both assumed he’d only recieve it if admitted and then at that time. But no, it was an actual shiny medal that they delivered to him in class, which was kind of neat.
We have our summer trip/tour planned. I hope it’s not a very expensive waste of time but I don’t see much alternative. We are only visiting 2 schools, though one includes a day and a half long “colleges and careers” event that seems fun. We will do some vacationing around the visits as a result and are both looking forward to it. I sent 3 score reports yesterday just to spread out the $$ and check a few boxes. He does need to get his GC the LOR stuff she asked for so she can do it before school ends as she will be out on maternity leave all of fall. Which is a bummer as she’s been a good resource for him, far more than for his brother.
I keep crunching #'s and while most of his schools “could” come into range, there are more financial unknowns than I’d like (and more PROFILE schools than I’d like!). He does have financial safeties he would be happy to attend so it’s my issue I guess but again, bleh, I hate this part!
@eandesmom Our last day was last week, but reading your post took me back a month to my ‘silent freak-out’ over D’s grades, and growing list of things to do over the summer. We are still waiting for grades to be posted but I do think they will come in where we realistically hoped. I’m still confused about how our school calculates GPA (we are an IB school with a 1-7 grading system). D took an online class this year with a letter/% grade, and IB HL courses get a point bump, but I’m not sure her IB SL courses do. Colleges probably recalculate anyway (sigh - why does it have to be so difficult?). Then I read an article from the Atlantic recently that indicated grade-inflation is rampant in US public high schools to help more kids get to college. I don’t think that is the case for us, but are we up against those kids in the admissions race?
D’s list of schools is holding steady at 6, but only 2 real contenders as far as she is concerned. We will do at least one more visit this summer, and maybe some phone/face time interviews with coaches.
Sounds like your son is doing well and hopefully the additional accolades are incentives to soldier on and stay engaged - he is so close!
D19 is limping to the finish line this year. Still 2 more weeks to go but don’t expect much work to be done the last week. Looks like she will finish with a 3.45 GPA (3.73 W). She is taking the SAT tomorrow but honestly not expecting much as she has down virtually no prep. Last test in March was a 1290 (680 M/610 EBRW). We were really hoping she could push over the 1300 hump, maybe she will get lucky. She has already declared she is not taking again.
We are visiting Elon and High Point next Friday. We will also likely do self guided tours of UNC and NC State since we are in the area.
No other tours planned but trying to convince her to visit Pitt this summer. They have several Blue & Gold days in June and July. If you visit on one of the days they waive the application fee in the Fall.
As of now her top three choices are Delaware, JMU and Towson. I don’t think the first two are locks.
Good morning all and happy SAT Saturday
Our D19 is looking to study physical therapy for her DPT and would like to do one of the freshman direct admit programs, so it would be 3+3, plus summers vs 4 yr undergrad then apply to PT programs. Wondering if anyone else has a student with similar plans Our biggest challenge is that this 3+3 option is almost exclusively offered at smaller, private colleges and universities $$$. There is only one option through State system but that requires leaving the school after 3 years and heading to another school in a different city. So far we have visited 3 schools with this 3+3 option and have been impressed with all of them. We are in Northeast and D would like to stay within 4-6 hour distance range. Our other challenge is visiting the additional 8 schools on the list! I am thinking she needs to cast a wide net as these programs are competitive and only admit about 40-60 students. She has the required coursework and the rigor. Not sure how the GPA will pan out.
My son didn’t really need LORs for his college application. But he definitely needed them for his local scholarships.
@EENYMum, I think St Francis U in Loretta PA has 3+3 DPT program. Not sure about Slippery Rock.
They give some merit scholarships depending on stats, and I would recommend applying early.
@EENYMum we are looking at a similar path but for OT, not P.T, where there happen to be fewer choices at the moment. If you are willing to cast a wider net driving distance-wise, I’d suggest St. Louis University. Also Western Michigan in Kalamazoo has a fantastic Health Sciences college. They currently offer only OT, nursing, speech pathology , and PA programs but I heard they are adding P.T. For certain programs, that school is a hidden gem — and extremely affordable.
(Edited to say: Whoops, just re-read your post and see you weren’t looking for additional schools, just concerned about visiting schools already on your list. I’ll leave this here anyway in case it helps someone )