We plan on touring Boston University on Spring Break. I couldn’t figure out why some dates were unavailable on their calendar in April when all other days were open. So I googled and it’s the Boston Marathon. Yikes! May be a few extra folks in town? Uh, yeah. So now we’ve got to adjust plans and not sure if we’ll get to other colleges in the area. Also, the hotels are pretty pricey.
We’ll also have to consider the possibility of snow.
@SoccaMomma thanks for the reminder that the Boston Marathon is Monday, April 15th! We will be visiting Boston later in the week.
Our spring break is the first week of April. Crossing fingers that upstate NY doesn’t get a late snowstorm as we are driving to Rochester and then Cleveland.
The other thing to look out for in booking April visits for juniors is that a lot of schools focus on admitted students (seniors) that month. Some have dates that are reserved only for admitted seniors. So check their calendars now before you make your final travel plans.
Hmmm. I guess we are kind of lucky that we have a ridiculously early spring break in mid march.
Given the choice, I would rather have my D20 visit a Safety vs. a Reach (although she doesn’t really have any Reaches on her list) is that she needs to be willing to attend her Safeties. I sometimes see comments on CC similar to: “S/D got denied from XYZ, but doesn’t want to attend either of their Safeties…” Love thy Safety.
Regarding the issue of applications – this might be a weird question, but when an application is submitted for Early Action/Regular Decision, for example, is there a box to check to indicate which one the student wants? Or does the date submitted determine what type of application the student is submitting? In other words, if the ED or EA action date is November 1, but the Regular Decision deadline is January 1, can an applicant still submit a Regular Decision app before November 1, and check a box so indicating??
@amsunshine At least using the Common App, there is typically a selection of “preferred admission plan” that you can use to make a choice. So, yes, you can submit it under whichever plan you wish. If is different for each school section on the CA.
@amsunshine, yes, the applicant indicates what type of application they’re filing. ED actually requires that the student, parents/guardian, and school (IIRC) all sign the ED agreement.
@SoccaMomma When is the Boston marathon? I registered for BU on April 18th. I can’t seem to get Boston College for that week.
^ Ignore both questions above - found both answers:)
We don’t have any plans for school visits during spring break. S20 tagged along on many of D17’s trips and he is not that excited about looking at more schools. They all kinda blended together in the end anyways. Also the tennis season would have already started by then. He might want to be around to play some games.
Midterm is coming up. Son has been very relaxed for the junior year so far, even though he had some not so hot grades for MP1. He is doing well in MP2 so I am not too concerned. But should juniors be as relaxed as he is? Like spend less than 1-2 hours on school work during week days, and barely do any study on weekends? Also, where are those summer program applications??? I want to refrain from nudging him as I don’t want to help him get into that habit. He will get into where he can get into based on his own efforts. His decisions!
I agree, up to a point, that it is also my D20’s decision as to what school she will attend in Fall of 2020. My only criteria will be the $. Does your kid know, explicitly, what their budget will be for college? If loans are involved, do they know who will be responsible for repayment? I had this discussion with my older D17, but need to do it again with D20…although she has a vague idea.
I’m wondering how naggy/nudgy to be about studying for ACT/SAT scores in order to go after merit (we’re full pay). Current PSAT and practice ACT scores probably aren’t within merit range at schools on her list, but some slightly higher scores might well be. She has no interest in tutoring or other prep, and notes that most of schools currently on her list are test optional. Yes, but…but…but…(merit dreams go up in poof of smoke).
@Itisatruth All kids are different. My D17 was self-driven when it came to test prep, although she says that I did in fact pressure her to do well, just not overtly. I would let your D know the amount she saves in college costs can help to fund things like study abroad, or a spring break, or a sorority, etc. I would have a very hard time coming up with any extra money for her to do fun things if she isn’t going to put the effort into some test prep. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but it should probably be well-defined…maybe 3 hours a week or something.
Higher stats can also open doors to things like honors colleges, if that’s of interest. This is where discussing a budget can also be important. If she is going to be on the hook for loans, maybe she would have more incentive to study.
@bigmacbeth re: $$$. Yes, we have told D our number. We are full pay so we decided that we would pay up to a certain amount which would cover the state universities or part of a private school. I am hoping she will qualify for some merit $ at a private school. A friend’s kid chose a private school over a top state school because she was accepted into their honors program and offered $ that was hard to resist.
So, @Itisatruth, it is worth nudging if you think your D can raiser her score. It looks like she hasn’t taken a full test yet. The sooner she does, the more motivated she may be to practice for a second sitting. (If necessary)
My d20 is 1 point away from our state flagship’s highest automatic merit award so she is doing a bit of prepping for the February test. She also has a mandatory ACT at her school that she will take in April so she has a couple of chances. The problem we are finding is that it is very hard to find time to prep with her course load, ECs, and training for her spring sport.
@Itisatruth My dd17 became serious about studying/prepping for the SAT/ACT when she had a target school in mind and saw their merit range. If she is looking at test optional schools, can you still find any information about the range of students who receive merit? I found it useful to scroll through past years’ decision threads here on CC as well as other college search sites to see the amount of $ offered at different score/gpa combinations. This was especially helpful for schools that had score ranges published. We were able to then look at the other factors that may have impacted larger merit awards (exceptional/national ECs, recruited sports, hooks, etc…) Since she had none of those things we concentrated on students who matched closely to her and then checked out the scores/gpa needed to secure $$$. Once my dd saw what was needed she became very motivated. She took the June ACT after her jr. year and passed her target for all 3 of her top schools.
@whataboutcollege
DS just told me that the junior year is not as bad as he was anticipating. However, his second semester will start in a week and then he will lose his one study hall period. Will be interesting to see how the second semester goes.
He is applying TASP, with ZERO hope of getting in (I was told the acceptance rate is 3%! Lol). He told me some of the essay topics and I found them to be pretty good. A prep for the college essays I guess.
@Itisatruth Also, ‘test optional’ does not mean applicants don’t send in test scores. It may be test optional for admission, but not for merit. I’d lean on her a bit, for sure.
DS did not study for ACT despite my nudging. I got prep books and said on the day before to please at least look at a sample test since the format is different than the SAT. He may’ve done that. His composite score was 33. Not that I’m complaining but here’s my issue - how much better could you have done if you’d studied? It’s the lack of effort that’s irksome. He took SAT prep and had the SAT test a couple of weeks before so with school work he was probably burned out. I get it and am leaving it alone (mostly). :-S
He won’t be retaking it. Turns out SAT is probably the better test for him anyway. He will retake the SAT for superscore.
In regards to cost: We are full-pay so we’re chasing merit. Our main goal is to not take out a loan. Savings will take care of in state tuition so we’ve told DS if anything is over that he’d need to get a loan. Not to be taken lightly given he’s planning MD or PhD. He has some high cost private schools on his list and I’ve run the NPCs. Not great but not terrible either depending on the endowment. He’s applying for outside scholarships too. DH and I have discussed if he gets in a top choice and the difference is say $4K/yr would we pay it? $5K? Even if it means a parent loan? We’re discussing the threshold at which we’re willing to fill the gap. We have not told him this tho. He needs to work towards the no loan goal.
On another note, he did get the internship. Was notified last week. Just waiting on details. When, where, how much? Had to sign a consent form including him having his own transportation. I guess he needs to pass the driving test soon.