@Marcie123 It has been the exact opposite here! Oldest wrote the first draft of the common app prompt very quickly, chose a prompt fairly quickly too (choosing the prompt was trickier than the writing, lol) I know what the topic is but haven’t been asked to read it…did hear from O. that AP Lit teacher loved it (also a recommendation writer for O.)
But the Why Us essays I think have been a bit trickier because trying to capture the personal combined with how that relates to what is specific within each college (in 250 words or less) requires such a clear framework (for O. at least…that’s what I have been hearing when we are out on longer drives…any other time besides long car trips, “It’s fine, mom!”)
My oldest chose a couple of aspects that were important to her in a college and then structured her why us essay around those aspects. She applied to Tufts and their essay was only 50 words. My middle child’s why us essay was a little more tailored to each school. Her favorite essay was from LMU on climate change, her opinion and what could be done.
Thanks @MuggleMom and @ITBgirl. We had never looked at Olin, but it certainly sounds interesting for him! Probably still out of our budget, but we’ll check it out. He loves “creating” but can get lost in the details and do other required bits. We toured UNCC this year and he like the campus A LOT, but wished it had something more aero in the MechE area. It’s very heavy on race cars, understandably.
@MAmom111 Marist and Hobart both required a supplemental essay but both were short. Marist’s essay was a “why us” type of question. Hobart was something like “How will Hobart prepare you to ‘lead a life of consequence’?”
Also, if Hobart stays on the list, it requires a personal interview so be prepared to schedule that. If you go for a visit, you can do it then. S19 was able to do his locally when a rep came to our area (Dc/Baltimore region). He was pretty nervous as he’s not much of a talker but the guy who interviewed him was only a couple of years out of college and made it very easy for S19.
A bit of good news here this morning - S20 took the CAASPP (California state assessments) this spring. He “Exceeded Standard” in English and “Met Standard” in Math. This is really only important for Cal State schools (which he is interested in), because it means he can directly enroll in college level classes (if accepted of course) without any remedial English or Math classes.
And just like that, S20 is now a Senior. OMG! And we are celebrating this evening as he has managed, in the last month, to pull his semester GPA up from around a 2.8 to a 3.5. Did really well on his finals which shows he can do it when pushed a bit.
Summer will be busy as he has an SAT prep class for a couple of weeks in early July, we have 6 college visits set up (all relatively easy drives), wisdom tooth removal and he’s actively looking for a part time job.
Hope everyone else’s summer starts off well!
@4kids4us thanks so much for the heads up on Marist and Hobart. Exactly the type of information my D needs. Those are her only two definites at this point so at least it will give her a starting point. I did know about the interview with Hobart but kind of forgot about it so thanks for the heads up. Our Adcom doesn’t live far from us so it should be relatively easy to set up. We already visited in Feb and really like it, would love to see it again when it is above 20 degrees out but even then it was really pretty.
Some good news - my DS20 who had a 1.6 in November of his sophomore year just finished junior year with a 3.9 for the year. This will raise his cumulative GPA from a 3.14 to a 3.4. I am really hoping that colleges are serious about weighting junior year more heavily!
@MAmom111 regarding applying early, my D19 applied to two rolling admission schools over the summer (early August) before her senior year. Neither had a required essay and both accepted self-reporting of grades/SAT scores which eventually would need to be formalized. She was accepted before the end of her second week of school senior year. So when everyone else was stressing about essays and applications, she was already walking around with two acceptances.
@eb23282 my son has two schools on his list that have rolling admissions. One is self-reporting grades and test scores. He’s going to apply in early August. I told him he will be relieved to have some early acceptances on hand.
He finished finals and took the SAT a week ago. I’m giving him about another week off before I start giving him essay deadlines. Goal is for the common app essay to be finished before school starts in early August.
@1stTimeThruMom that is really great news!
Regarding early applications, I believe my S20 has a couple on his list where apps open in July or August, but he is taking an SAT prep course in July and re-taking the SAT on 8/24, and so we don’t want to apply until those results are in. Most of his apps do not need essays so we are hoping to get them completed soon after the scores come in.
If he likes UC Merced when we visit in July, then he will need to complete their short essay questions (4 of them) and I will urge him to get that done during the summer before senior year starts.
He was very stressed out this past year and I definitely want his senior year to be a bit less stressful if possible.
@1stTimeThruMom That’s awesome! I’m sure they will give him some extra weight for the big improvement.
@eb23282 That’s my S20’s plan as well. He’s already written his common app essay - they did them in English at the end of school.
Can’t believe my S20 and D20 are now rising Seniors!! D20 completed her 3rd SAT and 2nd ACT and S20 completed his 2nd SAT. Waiting on June test scores now and they are hopefully done with testing.
Both S20 and D20 will be applying over the summer to VA schools with rolling admissions - that way they start the fall with hopefully some admissions already under their belts.
They received their Senior Packets from school and are now working on getting a jump start on student questionnaires and teacher recommendation requests.
End of June we have visits planned for W&M (actually, D20 was accepted to the W&M Leadership by Design summer program) as well as CNU, which includes an admissions interview!
FYI - CNU offers this great admission interview process where rising high-school seniors who are applying as first-time freshmen may interview beginning June 1 after completion of junior year!! We have an admissions interview set with CNU followed by a tour of the campus. I haven’t come across any other college that offers this.
Then it’s time for D20 and S20 to hunker down and work on college apps and essays!
Starting to book our summer tours. It does feel
like it’s getting real. Hoping my D finds some schools she really likes. She has very little criteria beyond a smaller school with a pretty campus near a nice town or city. Her potential majors (psych & English) are so generic it does nothing to narrow down her choices. She thinks she wants out of New England but we’ll see. Booking some plane rides and hoping i’m not just throwing $$ away on these trips because either the campuses will be dead so she won’t get a vibe or she doesn’t like any of them. I keep reading about kids who refuse to get out of the car when they get to a school or they leave after the info session before the tour. Feel like I’d get so annoyed if my D did that, these trips aren’t cheap! Trying to make sure we see at least 2-3 schools on each trip.
We are also starting college tours - sticking to those we can easily drive to for the summer (we live in the Bay Area of CA). Next week we have San Francisco State and Sonoma State, followed by Cal State East Bay the next week. Then we have UC Merced and San Jose State in July and will do University of Nevada, Reno at end of July/beginning of August. We don’t plan to go to Oregon State, Arizona State or Humboldt State unless he is accepted and seriously considering them.
S20 is doing a Kaplan SAT course at school in the beginning of July to try to improve his SAT score, and will retake it on 8/24. Hoping to get all college apps done in September once the new SAT scores are in. Most of his do not require any essays (aside from some personal insight questions for UC Merced), so the apps themselves shouldn’t be too time consuming.
It is becoming very real now - yikes!
@MAmom111 I took my D21 to a college fair last weekend and one of the reps told her to find a college that has programs in four or five things you’re interested in. That will give you options, especially if you are undecided. I thought that was a great point.
With those majors your D is thinking of, I think that would make the selections a little easier because it’s one less factor to have to consider. Hopefully she enjoys the visits and gets a lot out of them.
We received June ACT scores and DS was up in all but math. 28 Composite. Really got his reading up which was important. So we may be done with testing. But he did this with no real prep, but did work with coach on reading strategies, so husband’s comment was - think of what he could do if he studied - he should take again. We will see what he thinks. He is at Jazz camp this week so I haven’t told him anything yet.
Hope everyone is enjoying their summers!
@ITBgirl congrats to your son! That is a great score!
June SAT scores won’t be out until July 10. I think my son would like to be done regardless of his score. We’ll see. All his schools superscore so hoping math goes up even just a little.
We got June ACT result as well, and happy to report that S20 was able to bring his score up to 26. That brings him in the range for many of the schools on his list, but still below average for some of his top choice schools. It is up to him whether he wants to take it again in September (I suspect he is going to say yes). I would be so happy for him to be done with testing, but at least this takes the pressure off a bit.
Are scores released randomly? By location? Highest to lowest? I’m just curious because we have no scores and for the SAT she didn’t get her scores until late into the evening of the release day. It’s both strange and frustrating.