http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1837440-college-tour-bingo-p1.html
Drop down menu for our names (really trying to make this as simple as possible!)
Fields for answers for: School name, Things I donāt want to forget, Specific things I liked, Specific things I didnāt like, Questions I want answered
Final question - Should D20 apply? Yes, No, Other (and that other does get used!!!)
I created this back in 2016, so I think if I did it again, Iād have some more specific fields regarding food, dorms, etc. But this works for us! Five schools next week over spring break . . . so this form will get a lot of use!
@Octagon I should also add that the ability to complete the form on our phones makes a big difference! At first a friend gave us worksheets that her private school provided to students - I looked at them and thought āno way!ā
@MommaB123 Thanks for the info! One more thing I found helpful to note on visits is when they have to declare a major, how easy it is to switch etcā¦
@Octagon We had a college panel discussion at school with several college AOās from both state schools and selective private schools. They all seemed to agree that rec letters should be from junior year teachers only. They all also stressed that the letters simply support what is in the application, they said that they have never accepted or denied a kid based on a rec letter.
@MAmom111 Thanks for the feedback. His sophomore teacher says that he is in the top 1% of students she has ever had but his junior year teacher in the same subject is still very positive but I doubt will be as effusive. But obviously he doesnāt want to hurt the app by asking his old teacher. The current year teacher is also a bit eccentric so hard to actually know how everything will come across. I think I am overstressing about this so it helps to know what they said.
I think in a smaller school junior year teachers get a lot of requests so ask early if you have a short list.
@Octagon we are in a similar situation with a freshman professor vs. junior year professor (D20 is doing DE). Her freshman professor loved her. She was in four of his classes that year and will be in one for senior year. But Iām afraid itās not recent enough and she will get a more neutral recommendation from her calc 1 & 2 professor from this year instead. Sheās in the top of the class but he doesnāt know her like her other professor does.
This would make me never want to be a teacher of a junior-level class in HSā¦
@bigmacbeth There are some teachers at our HS who will not teach 11th grade courses because of that. Others enjoy it and look at writing letters as a labor of love.
Our school has rules and a system. I donāt remember all the details but I remember D17 telling me about it. You canāt ask teachers for a rec letter until a certain week of junior year and then each teacher can do no more than a certain number so on the 1st day you can ask thereās a mad scramble to get the best teachers.
In DSās school - the general advice is to get LORās from junior year teachers but no real rules or system. Also our public school system is flexible in terms of when to take a course - i.e. there is no set of junior year classes (for example in math, many students take calculus BC in junior year but some might have taken it in soph and others in senior). But since the school is kind of big (500 graduating class) - still lot of letters to be written - heard that only top students get quality letters.
MAmom111: āThey all seemed to agree that rec letters should be from junior year teachers only. They all also stressed that the letters simply support what is in the application, they said that they have never accepted or denied a kid based on a rec letter.ā
The 11th grade teacher LoR, almost exclusively 11th grade, is something I have not heard before, particularly if a 12th grade teacher has seen the student over time and was, perhaps, the instructor in a prior year (not necessarily 11th).
I find it most helpful to hear that the LoR has never (āneverā?) carried so much weight as to kill an applicantās chances. Iām sure lots of kids would love to know that.
@fretfulmother: āIām a teacher and if Iāve written for a kid, itās not hard to update the letter several times. That said, itās a lot of work to write in the first place, and itās volunteer work, so I always appreciate kind words of thanks from students.ā
Oh, yes, fretfulmother. I buy special packs of Thank You note cards every year just for this reason! My kids find it so old fashioned, and I get that. I know that a note of thanks in an email is acceptable, but I want my kid to make an approach and look a teacher who has taken the time to consider kidās strengths and contributions to the classroom and school community in the eye, and deliver that āthank youā up close.
So, fretfulmother, āThank Youā.
@Waiting2exhale thank you!!! :)
D17ās year the HL chem teacher had 30 kids ask for a LOR. On top of teaching HL chem, it cannot be done in a quality way! I would guess the AP Calc teacher gets similar number of requests.
Any one else received the āAll-Expenses-Paid Trip to Swarthmore College: Apply to Discover Swarthmore!ā email?
We donāt fall into any of the preferred categories ( maybe small town 
but not rural ) , so figures no point of applying. Thoughts?
Nope.
We did get a weird folding mailer which I found uncomfortable to touch about two weeks ago, though.
What are the dates?
@whataboutcollege Iāll ask her. She did get a few QuestBridge emails and asked me what they were. I told her we donāt qualify.