@socaldad2002 My understanding from college admissions presentations is that colleges will hold it against a student who takes the SAT or ACT more than three times.
@socaldad2002 Glad you liked The Carolina Inn! FYI, UNC is 20% Greek while Duke is 34% Greek. We also didnāt like Durham. Thereās no college town street. And my D said she really didnāt like how isolated the Duke freshman are. Doesnāt want to have to ride the bus. It is pretty and we had a good tour guide. Fortunately she had a great tour at UNC. They had the biggest crowd of prospective students that I have seen anywhere. We toured Granville Towers dorm as well and my D loved it. Great walkable location, near Franklin Street, has its own gym and cafeteria. UTK had the best tour guides. Knoxville is ugly but has nice pockets. The school is beautiful though.
@chb088 Is you daughter keeping UTK on her list?
@janiemiranda yes she is. Nice honors dorms. Good honors program. Good sports. Itās a safety for her, but she can picture herself there and thinks sheād be happy.
@ITBgirl not all in one week! 4 in a week last summer. 3 this week. The others were one offs. My S18 is at NCSU.
@chb088 Good to know! Was there anything special about the Honors dorms?
Visited U of Iowa with D20 today. We had visited last year when she was looking at pre-PT/OT, but came back for a visit now that she has switched gears to nursing. It was āJunior Hawkeyeā day, so pretty busy. Beautiful, crisp sunny day. We skipped the campus tour, since weād done it, but went on a dorm tour to a dorm we had not seen before that is close to the school of nursing. Attended the nursing presentation at the SON, followed by an awesome tour of the simulation labs across the street in one of the hospitals on campus. Pretty much all clinicals can be completed on campus, which is a big plus. In addition, nursing students get priority class scheduling so that they stay on track. The admission requirements for nursing are the highest for any of the direct-to-major programs on campus, and the highest we have seen so far at any school, so itās very competitive. The Rec Center, as well as Iowa City consistently show up in the top 5-10 lists for colleges nationwide. It definitely cemented itself as the #1 school for D20.
@janiemiranda they were newly renovated, centrally located, food cafe in it. Very pretty. Google Brown Hall at UT and check it out.
@chb088 Great! Thank you I will take a look!
We toured William and Mary and the first thing DS said about the school is āthis is the pretties campus I have ever set foot onā. Good first impression. Campus is walk/bike friendly, old town Williamsburg is right down the street, which means lots of tourists around.
DS had heard that W&M was rumored to have high suicide rate and students were cutthroat. We didnāt get that feeling, saw many students in groups happily chatting/eating together and the students at the office/stem panel/tour guides (there were more than a dozen of them, the most we have ever seen!) all seem very well poised/happy. Our tour guide did acknowledge that school is focusing on physical and mental health, so there might be some truth to the rumor.
DS could definitely see himself there.
PS: study aboard is pretty popular, you could do it during summer/school year. Pre-professional tracks are popular, many students have double-majors.
@socaldad2002 My kids have never scored tippy top scores on the ACT or SAT. I, for one, am incredibly thankful that schools look at far more than just a test score to determine top competitive scholarships and admission. My kids have crossed whatever the threshold for consideration is and have then been awarded those awards based on their academics and other awards. They have gone on to to have 4.0 GPAs (or close to it) with stellar college accomplishments.
I am one who believes that standardized tests reward speed more than anything else and I donāt value them at all.
My S just heard from another student who said he has already taken six subject tests and is working on taking more! This sound like way overkill to me. Would colleges appreciate this? I know that the ones on Sās list require two so my S is scheduled to take 2.
There is no reason to take that many subject tests. Thatās insane.
@VickiSoCal Yes - I thought so. I told my S that it risks creating a bad, rather than good impression.
Advice on the following would be appreciated:
For senior course load D20 is thinking of taking AP Comp Sci instead of AP Calc BC. Sheās done really well (solid A all math classes thus far). For her senior year, sheād like to be exposed to some new ideas, hence the AP Comp Science interest.
Question ā many top schools are looking for 4 years of math. Does AP Comp Sci satisfy that requirement in a reasonable way, or does it look like an escape from AP Calc BC and hence a less rigorous course?
There is a thread on here somewhere a student opted for comp sci instead of BC and posters warned them that it would be seen as decrease in rigor. The student was posting about disappointing outcomes and posters replied that this could be a reason why.
Did she already take Calc AB and what is intended major?
My daughter has the following
9- precalc
10- AP comp Sci
11 - AB
12- BC
I dont think she will be dinged for only 3 years of math.
^i agree
@fencingmom The safest bet would be to take AP calc.
@fencingmom I think with most schools, that would be fine. Did she take Calc AB this year as a junior? If so, that means she probably starting taking HS math in middle school and has technically taken 4+ years of math already. Or, if you want to get another math in there, she can take AP Stats if she hasnāt already.
Mine is taking AP Calc AB this year and does not want to take AP Calc BC senior year. She will be taking AP Stats instead. Yes, I consider it a decline in rigor; however, Iām fine with it. If she wanted to be an engineering major, or was applying to MIT, Cal Tech, etc., I might advise her differently. However, I think she will be okay without it.