I don’t have any kids taking AP tests this year fortunately, but hearing so many say they had to keep the family off WIFI while their student was AP testing makes me wonder what happens to those kids who don’t have this capability? fortunately, my oldest stayed away in her off campus apt but I still have three at home: two high schoolers who have live Zoom classes daily and a college student who is in the middle of finals this week online. No way to prevent overlap with who needs to be online simultaneously. Dh is also WAH but he can stay off WiFi if necessary.
The AP testing sounds like it was a mess for many, from all the complaints I’ve seen here and on FB with kids who weren’t able to submit or finish their testing and now face retakes. I’m so sorry for all the students who studied, followed the suggested protocol and still could not get their tests properly submitted.
@fencingmom: Would you be willing to make post 10199 its own thread?
I found it immensely well worded, and covered so many of the concerns many parents may not know how to verbalize and approaches for remedy that many students may not know how to take/are able to be taken.
Oh boy! S20 finally got into his first choice school off the waitlist! Just perfectly caps off what a stressful year this has been. He isn’t going there, as he got off a better waitlist in April. What a roller coaster!
Is my D20 the only senior who really is not the least bit upset about missing prom, graduation and all the year-end festivities? I honestly think she’s much more disappointed that the summer camp, where she works, may be cancelled. She’s so low maintenance and “chill” about everything. Its just does not seem to upset her in the least.
Aw – good for her. Glad she is handling it so well! My D20 is super bummed about everything. Prom, Grad Night, graduation, and in addition, her summer job as a swim coach is probably not going to go. But she is resilient and is hoping to still be able to find a summer job as a lifeguard at one of the local pools.
@momzilla2D : She is not alone in being so “chill”.
Somehow I believe that is just how some of these kids roll ( to use the vernacular).
I believe my sense of disappointment for my son far outweighs any he may have considered could settle in (but did not). Each day I ask him how he is doing, how he’s feeling about things , if he is alright. Today he looked at me as if something were wrong with me.
Mine has been bummed about the senior things being cancelled, but has taken it all very well. But she was devastated when she got the news not too long ago that her sleep away summer camp is cancelled. She’s been a camper, CIT, and counselor there and has spent either part or all of her summer there for six years. It was her summer home away from home and she had been looking forward to her last summer there pretty much since camp ended last summer. Not being able to go absolutely sucks.
@momzilla2D - My son is not really upset about anything…except the fact that he might have to start college online. He was REALLY looking forward to moving out.
They are getting to have a graduation ceremony and walk for their diploma this Friday though, so at least he’ll have that. His school really went out of their way to pull this together and make it special for them. I just wish he could get a hair cut before!
@cshell2 How is your son’s school pulling that off? That’s fantastic.
Spouse thinks this situation will simply become part of the identity of this class and these kids. They have no closure and an uncertain future. Without the usual milestones they have very little, besides themselves, to usher in their young adulthood. It’s hard to compensate for that.
My D’s school did a drive through graduation tonight (their originally scheduled graduation date). Families and faculty/staff decorated cars, cheered as everyone drove through the parking lot, etc. I ordered car decorating materials from Michael’s and Party City yesterday and did curbside pick-up this morning. Despite the constant rain most of the day ( weather let up shortly before the event started), it was the most fun we’ve had in two months! The formal ceremony will be later in the summer, but today was a HUGE morale boost for everyone involved. ?
@fencingmom : “Spouse thinks this situation will simply become part of the identity of this class and these kids. They have no closure and an uncertain future. Without the usual milestones they have very little, besides themselves, to usher in their young adulthood. It’s hard to compensate for that.”
S20 has handled this all very well, seemed to almost enjoy the extra sleep. Now that AP tests are over I think it is sinking in more, this would’ve been a fun time and it’s not. His graduation was supposed to be at the end of June. We’re still not sure what the school will do.
@momzilla2D my daughter isn’t terribly upset either. I don’t know if it is because she has known where she is going since last November (yay ED!) so she was already looking forward to this upcoming fall or what but it has been nice not to be managing the grief I know other students have been feeling.
I will say I think her college has been really proactive in keeping students/families informed and going above and beyond in terms of reaching out to incoming 1st years. She has already spoken with the heads of the two departments she is most interested in majoring in; they both reached out when it was clear that contact wouldn’t be in person til (best case) fall and the have worked out a plan for what her 1st semester will most likely look like, as well as giving her some additional resources to take advantage of during the summer (as her first set of plans isn’t going to happen). As a family, we are even more certain she made the right choice of what college to attend, and I think we are all just trying to move forward.
@fencingmom - He goes to a small private school. There are only like 55 students in the class and a bunch of them were international students that already went home, so maybe only 40 or so. They’re doing a parking lot ceremony. Each grad is allowed one car with his/her family in it that has an assigned parking spot (every other and then the rows are staggered so we all have a view of the stage). Everything will be broadcast so we can listen to the speeches over our radios. Then the grads get out at the end and they proceed one at a time to the stage using the cars as the marking points for social distance between them. They get their diplomas from the president, get their pictures taken, then come back to our car. The entire thing will be livestreamed for other family members to watch. It’s not ideal, but better than the other schools in our area are getting.
Sleep away summer camp (her first year as a full counselor) was the first ax to fall. This was followed by the huge disappoinment of cancelled prom, senior spring, and graduation. And now the worry that college may start online- it’s been week after week of disappoinment. But she’s hopeful things will go her way in the fall and shell be able to move in. Any scenario where she can move in (Beloit model, hybrid model, any model!) Will make her very happy!
At D’s public CA HS, the seniors (450) most popular colleges not surprising are the mid-tier UCs (UCSD, UCSB, and UC Davis) and 2 public flagships (UC Berkeley & UCLA).
In addition, many kids will go to community colleges for 2 years and try to transfer into a UC.
USC and Tulane are very popular along with the CSUs Cal Poly SLO and San Diego State. As is OOS Michigan, UC-Boulder, Indiana University, ASU and UofA.
For the very top students (we have multiple Vals & Sals who reach certain GPA milestones) are going to Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, NYU, Brown, UPenn, Rice, Vanderbilt.
My D has also been relatively chill about the changes in senior year. She’d been to a bunch of senior proms in prior years so was not really upset about missing her own (although had a dress she was looking forward to wearing). Senior trip cancellation means a refund which she would rather have & we are figuring out graduation as it comes.
I’m struggling to find the right section/thread on CC for this question - trying to determine how many days ahead of move-in /orientation most families plan?
D is going to a school that’s a plane ride away and I’m trying to book car rentals and an air bnb (while knowing it could all change depending on the school’s social distancing approach).
Do you usually get there two days before the orientation/move- in? I’m planning to ask D to order any dorm supplies online at Target then pick them up once we get to the college town. So thinking at least one or two days before?
I had an older son go through this 10 years ago but seemed to have completely blocked all that out LOL