@homerdog we only have 4 periods a day…each class is 1 hour and 35 minutes long. So 4 classes in fall semester, 4 new classes spring semester. It’s accelerated block scheduling set up like college. By taking gov’t and/or Econ before the start of senior year (Which is a popular thing to do in our neck of the woods), through the district’s virtual learning for AP or dual credit through the partnered community college, it gives them free spots in their schedule Senior Year. Leaving school for the day after 3rd period (roughly 2:00pm) gives those who want to hold down a part time job or pursue other EC’s more time to do so.
Another pro he was looking at was the potential to beef up his GPA and class rank. So far he’s hovering around 15%…since we’re in Texas and being in the top 10% for auto admit is so important, in competitive districts like our own, playing the GPA game is rampant. Our district only reports weighted class rank…the more AP & DC you pack in the better.
@Momof3B Ah! I get it! That all makes sense. And I feel for you all in Texas with this auto merit situation. Is there ever talk of that changing? I don’t know why UT doesn’t get what it means in practice at the high schools with kids having to game the system and all of the stress that comes from that. I think it’s just lazy on their part because they don’t even have to look at those apps (or at least not closely) and then I’m assuming they fill a large percent of their class like that.
What are the chances of a student getting into UT Austin without being the top 10 percent from Texas?
@homerdog for UT-Austin it’s top 6% for auto admit. I have no idea what your chances are if you fall below that. Other public universities in TX have somewhat more generous thresholds. Talk about stress!
UT is now top 6% for auto admits…and that’s for the university, not major lol. You still have a wait to see if get your first choice major. Chance of getting into UT outside of top 6% is iffy…the closer you are to 6% the better the chances but it’s a crap shoot…last year was awful…you had kids within Top 10% of their class with 1450-1500 SAT scores getting CAP (coordinated admissions at another UT system school for guaranteed Sophomore admission)…the problem with CAP is that you’re only ensured a spot in the College of Liberal Arts…if you have another desire major you have to apply like any other external transfer. And if you have a boatload of AP & Dual credit, there may not be enough eligible courses left to take! It’s a mess.
My son will apply to UT, but is not looking at it as anything but a reach…he is mostly targeting Texas A&M…being in top quarter and meeting the 1360 SAT or 30
ACT will make it a Match and I think he’ll Have a good shot at full freshman admit at TAMU.
@homerdog when’s your break? We’re debating Elon and Richmond…my friend’s son applied to Elon so hoping to see if he gets any merit before making our final agenda! D wants to see High Point just because she’s heard so much about it! I said fine - but it ain’t happening unless they give her a ton of cash - wish I gather doesn’t happen there! LOL
I wouldn’t touch High Point with a 10 foot pole, no matter how beautiful it may be (and from what I hear it certainly is). There are plenty of reasons why listed on various threads here, plus the 1-2 first-hand experiences we’ve heard.
@NJWrestlingmom break is the last week of March into April. Poor D will be with me and my husband without S19 since his break is earlier in March. It will be interesting!
@eb23282 I’ve seen those threads and tend to agree…I’ve had the talk with her and she knows we won’t spend the money for HPU. She wants to see it to see it (she loves touring colleges - so the opposite of her brother!). And we’ll be right there so I’ll indulge her. It might be asking for trouble, but she has a good head on her shoulders so hopefully it works out. TBH she’s very cautious about the South in general, so I’m not sure how productive this trip will be overall anyway! @homerdog we don’t get break until later in April. S17 didn’t want to tour for his own schools, he certainly wouldn’t want to go on hers! LOL
We’re not doing any in March since we’ll all be on the Band Spring Trip during Spring Break.
April & May we need to go do a formal tour of UT, considering Texas Tech as well, although I’m not sure Lubbock will be a good fit
The last two are local for us, UTD and UNT, we can pop in for those two anytime. The Boy still hasn’t given me any word on Oklahoma schools or Univ of Arkansas Fayetteville. He may just apply and see about admitted students day if he gets accepted.
I’ve mentioned to D that I’d like to take her to Miami OH and Denison before we go to NC/VA and she is not interested plus super busy school. I guess we can change up those plans and just go in the summer or try to find a weekend in April or early May to swing down there. If we go late enough, I can drag S19 with us. I think he’s done May 6th. I think maybe he wouldn’t mind! He’s been much more reasonable with D21’s list. Ha. He’s trying to tell her that she could make all kinds of schools work for her and be great. Where was this kid when it was his turn? He was so picky!
@homerdog, we’re planning to visit Denison (and Kenyon and Wooster) in April, so I’ll report our impressions FWIW! I think our daughters are similar in some ways but yours is probably looking for a slightly more vibrant social culture/school spirit than mine.
We also don’t have the issue with the “I don’t want to go there because that’s where anyone can get in” thing because we come from a poorer/less competitive school system. The places where “everyone” goes is the local directional and a neighboring state’s flagship and a few regional schools that offer a lot of merit/financial aid, none of which are on our list. Our mid-tier Flagship is usually the top choice for our top students. Anything else is seen as fairly exotic! I’d say most people haven’t even heard about the LACS we’re looking at one or two states over. So wherever she ends up, our daughter will be a woman of mystery
BTDT parents - when should juniors ask teachers for recommendations? I have always heard “Spring of junior year” but was wondering what that means - after Spring Break? I don’t want her to ask too late and have a teacher be maxed out.
One of the teachers she wants to ask should be fine (AP Chem teacher - she doesn’t have that many juniors, so won’t have too many asking her), but her other choice is her English teacher, and he is the head of the department, so while he’ll likely write a great letter, he’ll also likely be in high demand.
This is probably going to vary a lot by school/teacher @3kids2dogs At my kids’ schools there were a few teachers who had a specific process that began fall of junior year and they limited the number of rec letters (this was the IB English HL teacher and was in high demand) Most seemed to expect it in May of junior year so they could work on them over the summer. She might want to ask around at her school from the seniors to get a better sense of what is expected at her school.
D21 asked me about recommendations the other day. I think S19 asked right before spring break. D has a teacher who asked her if she can write her rec for her (last year’s chem teacher). I’ve had teacher conferences with this teacher and we know she will write a very specific and wonderful rec for her so, even though it’s a teacher from sophomore year, we’re going with it. Her second rec will be her English teacher from last year who is also her Yearbook teacher for this year and next year so she will have had D as a student for three years. We also thought it would be good for D to have one liberal arts type rec and one STEM rec even though she won’t study STEM subjects much in school. She’s had a few B’s in science but has always challenged herself and we think it’s good for colleges to hear from a science teacher of hers…especially one who reached out to both of us and said she’d like to write that rec.
All schools are different but kids should be thinking about this now. Some teachers only write a limited number of recs and it doesn’t hurt to ask soon. When S19 was a junior, his AP Lang teacher told them he will write 15 recs and will take the first 15 kids who ask!
I think if you ask teachers to write Letters of Rec in May, you should be fine unless the teacher has a reputation for limiting the number of requests they will accept.
@inthegarden Can’t wait to hear your reviews…and your D’s! I’ve been to Denison and Kenyon twice with S19. We spent a LOT of time at Kenyon. When he stayed overnight the second time, parents had their own cocktail hour and dinner with a slew of professors and the president himself. I actually spent quite a bit of time talking to him. I love that place.
I really like Denison too but it’s WAY different than Kenyon. Not as isolated and right in the cutest town ever.
Yep, when I saw photos of that cute town a few years ago (and the classic, pretty campus, and it’s proximity to Columbus, and the fact that Columbus seems to be an up-and-coming town for young people and jobs)…well, let’s say Denison has been on my radar almost since I joined CC. Whenever I mention it to my D, the response is “OHIO? I’M NOT GOING TO COLLEGE IN OHIO!” … and I think, “just wait til she sees that cute town!”
I never understood the bias toward Ohio, btw. It’s not as if she’s an urban hipster.
