@amsunshine and @ShrimpBurrito good luck to all three of our kids with their FSU honors applications! Those essays were rough! Other than my DD’s presidential scholarship application for Robert Morris, that was definitely the toughest application she had to do. Her ACT score is on the lower side for honors, though GPA is solid (but not super high as she is not a straight A student and not all AP/honors classes) so we know it’s a bit of a long shot for her, but are of course hoping for the best. I’m just glad their turn around is closer to 3 weeks and not over a month.
Speaking of rough essays, what was the most difficult essay topic that your student wrote? Which essay topic did they enjoy the most?
my S20 hated hated hated writing any essays. . Because of that, there are several schools, honors colleges and scholarship apps he wouldn’t apply for. 
Including that Florida State honors college app. And the minute Colorado School of Mines and another college sent an email saying “no essay required” - he applied! would love to hear about some clever interesting essays though.
Wow! Haven’t been here for a while. Glad to read about all your kids admissions and scholarship awards! Your parents must be so proud!
DS20 just applied and got admitted in Sep from Pitt, SCI. He will major in cyber security. Yes, he only applied only one school and only did some 200 words answers. He never even filled out his Common App. Lol. His previous GPA is 3.6, with 1460 SAT. Currently, with 5 AP classes, he has a 4.0. I am happy with his growth, and I feel reasonably confident that he will not flunk out in college. He will get to graduate with the highest graduation honor, as his weighted is higher, with total 12 AP classes.
Any your kids really into fitness and healthy eating? DS20 is driving me crazy with his “do you think this is a cup of chicken?”, “how much broccoli do you think this is?”. I cook egg white for him now! I told him that he needs to learn to cook and I am giving him a measuring set for his graduation. Imagine that he goes to the dining hall and asks the cafeteria worker to give him exactly a cup of chicken! Lol
@SincererLove I think you might be surprised. Most dining commons give small serving sizes so that there is less waste. Virtually all dining commons have nutritional values and allergens posted. They also have vegetarian, vegan and many more options available to the students. For example, at Pitt: https://pitt.sodexomyway.com/explore/nutrition
@lkg4answers this one was the worst:
https://www.towson.edu/honors/admission/
(I’m including a link because it was so long.)
Also maybe the Ohio State one that asked what fictional character you identify with most? It just seemed very specific and random.
My dd preferred the ones that were focused AND gave her a chance to tell her story.
Overall, the hardest thing was that there were so many essays that were enough different from each other that she couldn’t use any of her many existing essays but similar enough that it seemed like she could re-use parts of them…
@threegirlpileup UUUUGGGGHHHH. My boy would have given up on a college if those were the essay prompts! (He did give up on Wake Forest for that reason.) He’s a really smart guy, but not intellectual.
His favorite essay was the “Write whatever you want” for the Coalition App. He wrote about his journey as a rock band drummer. He analyzes bands like Led Zeppelin and Rush and tries to replicate the best rock drummers of all time.
His most difficult prompt was for FSU Honors, asking what college course he would teach, and what the required readings would be. This was one of six essays, and they all needed to connect to tell a cohesive story.
@threegirlpileup OK, most of those were pretty bad, but both of my Ds would have been super psyched to do the Harry Potter prompt, lol.
To me, the worst part is just the endless quantity. My dd wrote an essay to get admitted to VCU. Then another essay to be admitted to the honors college. And now in order to apply for honors college scholarships, she has to answer four questions with statements up to 300 words. I mean, don’t they have a decent enough picture of her by now? I get wanting them to do a little something extra, but when you’re dealing with so many applications, it really piles up.
@lkg4answers my DD’s favorite was her common app essay where she talked about how her experience with Girl Scouts has shaped her into the person she is today. And I’m not sure which of the six FSU honors essays was the toughest on her, we were just glad to see them all done LOL!
@threegirlpileup those Towson essay choices are tough!
Six essays for honors is just bonkers.
I think my D was able to revise some essays she had already done for other apps for most of the FSU honors essays, which was good, I suppose. She is definitely essay fatigued, though, and even editing/revising essays that are already written takes a good amount of thought and work. And now, she has two more short essays she needs to write for another program she just got invited to (different school) that are due at the end of the month. Ugh. It’s never-ending.
One of our favorites was from the Blount program at Alabama. It asked you what your name would be if you named yourself onomatopoeically. And to explain why. Also in that application you were the RA for Mr. Clean and Pigpen and have to mediate their roommate issues.
D20 finally has a clear list in her mind of her top three schools. For a while it has been this ‘but I love all three!’ refrain, but she was granted some clarity this weekend. She still has to wait for a few decisions (scholarships and financial info) but she has a Plan A, B, C, & D now so as soon as information comes in she knows what she is doing. So relieved!
I actually appreciated the schools that had multiple (small) essays. I feel like it’s hard to include every facet of a person in one essay so it’s nice to be able to share your philosophical, intellectual, fun and passionate sides with different questions. There were some essays that were mediocre and others that were amazing.
Yes, but I think it gets overwhelming for the applicants when they apply to a dozen plus colleges and trying to really show they know the school and demonstrating that they would be a great fit.
These kids are slammed senior year. For example, my D20 has 4 AP classes, academic decathlon (500 hours since summer), student government activities, school district student council rep, and part-time job. I’m hoping she can somewhat enjoy the last semester of HS after running hard these last 4 years : )
I agree that some of the essays were difficult but the end is at least in sight here! She has gotten in line for housing at 1 school that warned us to do so. At another she has qualified for the LLC she wants and just needs to confirm it. She will know more about scholarships at her top 3 schools before that date arrives so she can relax a bit for now. Local scholarship essay due dates are still a way off and prompts are not even available yet.
Wow – your local scholarships app is so late! The local scholarship app here was due February 5. I’m not sure how D would feel right now if she knew she had that still hanging over her head. She already has 2 more essays that we didn’t anticipate she’d have to write for a cohort based scholarship. :-/ But I agree, I think the end is in sight…I hope she doesn’t get many more surprise essays.
The local scholarships are awarded in late April to Mid-May and are not large enough to sway anyone’s choice of school. Every bit helps and is appreciated but I think the evaluation period was intentionally moved later in the year to spread things out a bit.
Well since I need something to pass the time until the RD come out in March, I thought I would start putting together a list of dorm items. I know it will be amended many times, but one thing I understand would be a huge help are IKEA blue bags. Thinking about taking the ride this week. Any btdt parents know how many/what sizes would be good?