@Mwfan1921 We visited Fairfield last Fall on a tour of several Jesuit New England schools. It was a self-guided tour with a map. What struck us was the campus was virtually empty on a sunny Saturday afternoon. We saw groundskeepers blowing leaves and a handful of the cheerleaders getting off a bus. That is it! The campus itself was pretty, but desolate.
D21 is also picking away at her application and essays. The first draft of her personal essay opened with a strong first sentence but fizzled from there. We are not working with an essay coach, but Iâm not ruling it out. She has a lot of summer work and is spending more time on that, rather than application work. I am trying to remain calm, seeing that some students of the group here are so far ahead!
@NateandAllisMom D is applying to around 10 as well. At lest 2 of those are safeties that she says she would be happy to attend, so she hasnât added more, even though sometimes I think she should, since this admissions cycle will likely be all over the place!
Probably more than 10 but with an asterisk. All of her safeties are easy to apply with basic essays she can do in an hour for each. She will probably apply to 5 of those type schools. Our goal is to get her to 3 reach schools that she wants to go after and nail those apps. There will also be some RD apps that we can do in December.
@Solstice155 D21 has a lot going on this fall and itâs best she get as much done now as possible. So itâs not that she is far ahead, itâs that she doesnât have the time she needs to do all this properly once September kicks in.
Families are on all different timetables, so donât fret. Your teen still has five months.
My D attends a magnet HS that required rec letters, middle school transcript, a panel interview and an in person essay following the interview. The director of the program loves to tell the story at the Open House when potential families are touring of how they denied a candidate that looked ideal on paper. The parent called her to ask why her son had ben denied when he appeared to be a stronger candidate than others they knew who had gotten in. The director shared the boyâs essay with the parent. It went something like this: âI like your school well enough, but I donât want to go here. My mom is making me apply.â
@NateandAllisMom we are currently over 10, trying desperately to get it down! The goal was 10, but weâll see. Hoping for a few application fee waivers to help take the sting out! At this point itâs hard to cut because we havenât had visits. Was hoping visits would have cut at least a few but now weâre not sure what to do.
@1Lotus This might not be helpful, since I am one of the people who says use the schoolâs app, but I think you hinted at it by saying convenient. Itâs easy to just check a box to apply through common app, but to take the time to fill out a schoolâs app might mean you are a little more serious. Or it could be that using the schoolâs app is just easier for them and more direct. It could also be faster- I know some kids who apply to UCF have missed out on Top 10 Knights because the common app took longer to process. I would love to hear otherâs thoughts as well!
D21 submitted her first app. One of the schools on her list sent her a free one. It asked for a personal statement. She does not love writing. After her topic and first draft was done, D18 read and asked questions to get her to elaborate. When D21 said something really good, she was told to write it down. It ended up being 870 words. I then sat down read it and highlighted what I would cut- my kids love to repeat themselves! If she agreed, she cut it or reworked it. 650 words exact, Iâm sure itâs not perfect, but Iâm thrilled one is done!
Weâll probably be at 10 schools or a few over that. D21 really wants to leave TX unless she gets into UT but weâre also keeping COVID in mind and keeping close ones on there just in case. And we were supposed to visit the high-merit for stats schools over spring break and this summer so she could narrow them down to one or two sure things but that plan went out the window. So a broad net for now with the hope that sheâll get to visit next spring prior to committing.
D has her senior pictures scheduled for tomorrow (along with family pictures). Any reminders on what to bring? It will be all outdoors and may be cancelled if raining which looks likely. I have been collecting things to bringâŠhairbrush, mirror, letter jacket, blanket to discreetly change in car and decorative blanket with our hometown name and zip code for her to sit on for a photo, probably should bring waterâŠother ideas besides a couple different outfits?
Substantially over 10 unfortunately, unless ED works out.
I think this year will be particularly random, but D also has a few things that I think are very appealing for the right school. The problem is knowing which school is looking for a kid like her.
S21 is applying to 9 schools but only 2 have application fees for him (1 decided to drop it for this year, 1 waived his fee due to participation in a variety of online info sessions/interview etc., and 5 were already without application fees). His schools arenât the most selective, and I feel good that heâll get into a few, but we want to have financial comparison options in the end, so thatâs why heâll apply to more than just a few (if we could find 2 or 3 more that we thought were fits, we might expand the list, but to date nothing else seems as good an option for him as these 9).
The list of schools my daughter wants to attend is 5, but that list doesnât include an in state school, so she will apply to 6 unless she applies to an instate public AND an in state private, then it will be at 7. But thatâs the max.
I think she is at 14 or 15, but three are substantial reaches at this point she says she wants to try. They have Jan. 1 deadlines, and she will put them last, likely over Thanksgiving/Winter breaks. Will be interesting to see if they are still in the mix at that point in time. A few have $0 fees and some we know will grant waivers. Our goal all along has been to cast a wide net, and the importance of that has only increased.
All this talk of TulaneâŠguess what arrived in the mail for S21 todayâŠa love letter from Tulane inviting him to take advantage of a free application/waiver, set up a one on one interview, apply TO and automatic âconsiderationâ for scholarships up to $32,000 annually lol.
I knew my phone was listening in on conversations but this is the first time something has shown up in snail mail ???
