First day of school today as well (all remote). Everything went well. They’re keeping with the hybrid schedule for now, so she only had (long versions of) periods 1-4 today and was finished by 12:30
My daughter said she’s a little intimidated by her AP Spanish Literature class. Until the kids get to AP level, the school has two Spanish tracks - Spanish as a foreign language and Spanish for heritage speakers. AP Spanish Lang had an even mix of both heritage and non-heritage speakers, but she is one of only two non heritage speakers in this Lit class.
The teacher teaches in the heritage track, so all the other kids in the class have had her at least once before. I’d probably be intimidated too, but I’m sure she’ll do great once she gets her brain thinking in Spanish again.
Please don’t worry about the UW GPA. I was so concerned about this last year with my D20. (Also 4.0 UW student). Colleges know and adjust for it. Your D will do great in the application process.
As a side note, I feel the rural advantage is over inflated. We didn’t see that really and we are extremely rural. There are enough disadvantages that make it a bit harder to compete. My D had her heart set on LMU. The kids that got the most money last year all had essays about working for start up companies and volunteering at huge corporations. Not to mention just the amazing opportunities in the cities, easier access to testing, tutoring etc. She found it harder to compete. I have yet to see it be an advantage for S21. We have less access to football ranking camps, testing, ability to travel etc. But one can hope I guess! This has just been my personal experience. That said D20 ended up a NMF, so that helped with her choice of where to go (spoiler: Not LMU).
Anyway, just wanted to say your D will do great. She will get lots of acceptances and the UW GPA will be fine. Best of luck to her!!
My D19 had a similar situation when she was placed in the pre-AP lit class at our school (she asked for pre-AP Lang, but GC messed up). D is a strong Spanish student, but not compared to our heritage speakers. D dropped the class due to her other tough classes, but if she had stayed I would have suggested a tutor or study group. Maybe one of the heritage speakers would tutor if your D still feels a bit intimidated. Hope it goes well!
Even though the start of this academic year is so different, I’m finding everyone’s tales of the first day/first week to be a nice normalizing anchor amid the general chaos and uncertainty.
Can someone here with a lot of Naviance experience share some info with me ? (@homerdog ? others ? ) I don’t have Naviance as of now, but a friend of mine who is going through this process also just found out that her school is using it for the first time this year. School started last week, the family just found about this and was already a bit overwhelmed by how much needs to get done for college applications, none of the students even have Naviance accounts yet. There are two things I’ve picked up on about Naviance on these boards -
it can be a (limited) help in helping make a balanced college list (this kid’s list is already determined, though) and
I think some schools use Naviance for teacher recs?
So my questions are:
If the school is using Naviance for teacher recs (is there a chance that they wouldn’t be if they have Naviance)? how does that affect the student’s process ? Do they still “invite” and “assign” teachers and counselor via the Common App ? Or no ? Does the Naviance uploaded teacher recommendation also get used for non Common App schools ?
How else will Naviance potentially affect the process ? Is there anything else that is potentially done differently during the application process because a school has Naviance ?
This kid’s school list is already set, but even if it weren’t, would Naviance even provide any data re: likely chances at various colleges if it’s the first year the high school is using the system ? (or will next year’s seniors be the first to benefit from that feature) ?
My understanding is the EFC is for each student. When I ran the FAFSA in 2019 and we just had S19 going into college, the EFC was way above full cost at a private college so we did not apply for financial aid, never filled out CSS for the schools that requested it.
Also back in 2019, I ran some NPCs with two kids in college just out of curiosity, he got work study.
Now, I haven’t run the NPCs for D21’s schools or for Bowdoin again but what if it’s the case that it looks like the kids get either work study or a little something even if FAFSA is still so high?
I guess I would want to file CSS then to see if w
recs - the student should just ask his counselor. For us, D21 asked her teachers, told her GC which teachers are doing her recs and she doesn’t have to do anything else. I don’t know if the GC “invites” the teachers or how it works but, when S19 was applying, he just saw them show up in the common app when they were submitted. Could be different at each high school. He only used the CA so I don’t know how it would work for other apps.
Again I think the student has to talk to his GC. We have junior meetings and the kids are told what their responsibilities are for the apps and how the rest is handled. Naviance can be used in different ways for each high school.
And this would be up to the school as well. They could load the last three years of info or not.
We are four days in with in-person school. Small private, so we will see how it goes. It hit the news yesterday that another local private is now going home for virtual for two weeks after 12 tested positive for COVID (they were in person for 1 week). 11 students and one faculty member.
On a happy note, D21 played her first volleyball game of the year. I teared up as they took the court because A: Senior mom emotions B: She got at least one game. I know she will not play club or college level after this season, so it was a relief to get at least one game. And they won!
D21 on the second day of remote school. So far so good. She likes her teachers and she seems energized by having more structure to her day. Short periods just to get started so class ended at 11:30 today and yesterday but she had about three hours of homework yesterday and about the same today and yearbook work has picked up too. She was busy yesterday but still made it to a yoga class. Was asleep by 10:45 - about two hours earlier than her summer bedtime!
@nichols51 Our school uses Naviance. The student has to talk to teachers for recos and mention their names in naviance once they accept to write one. Then whatever colleges the student lists in Naviance, the recos go directly to the college thro common app. (for which our counselor asked student to use the same email id for naviance and common app, at which point they both get matched). I was little bit hesitant at first as my D19 used coalition app for UT, but still the recos reached there since she added UT in her Naviance college lists. Same with MIT which uses its own college app, even then the recos reached thro naviance. The only recos that won’t work are not the teachers’ ones but some ‘other’ outside school recos, which need to be initiated/invited in the common app by the student. Hope this helps!
Good news—our school district has begun talks with UnitedHealth Group to discuss adding SARS-2 testing to the reopening plan! Maybe they were listening to those of us who’ve been blanketing their sites and emails with questions about testing.
Who knows whether they will be able to work something out before school is supposed to start on 9/2, but I am more hopeful than I have been for f2f school.
I like the first day stories, too. I hope our kids get to feel like seniors (leadership, special roles, soaking up this time together).
Question for those whose kids took classes at community college… My daughter has 4 classes on her CC transcript that her high school agreed to put on her HS transcript and give her credit for. The problem I am running into is that her HS classified the classes as “regular” (as opposed to access/honors level) so these classes are effectively bringing down her weighted GPA even though she got A’s in all the classes. Does this seem right? Or should I take it up with the school? I would think that college level classes would count for a higher weighted level than regular, but what do I know!
Omg what a hot mess this post is of mine. Ignore the top part. I started a post last night and decided it didn’t make sense but forgot to delete it. Oy.
D has an SAT test scheduled for 8/29. Her test is scheduled at one of the local public schools, but not the public HS she attends. However, all the local public high schools are closed until 10/9. The test date at the public HS hasn’t been canceled yet.
OTOH, the nearest local private high school holding the 8/29 SAT test has canceled their test day. I would think it would be the other way around.
We’re a little more than 2 weeks away, I’m crossing my fingers the public high school will allow the test to be held. We also have reserved the October and November test dates. And the October test date we reserved is being held at the private HS that just canceled their August test date. ?♂️
Did you call the school to ask if the test is still on? Do not rely on CB? It took three weeks between the time I found out D’s test was cancelled and for it to show up on CB.
@3kids2dogs i hope it happens! Our all school SAT isn’t until Oct. I wonder why we would have two different dates.
@DOTexe omg exact scenario as my S21. But we haven’t added his 5 CC courses on his HS transcript as he checked with his counselor last year and she said if the courses at CC are at the same level as offered at school, then it won’t be counted as weighted even though CC courses are always weighted. So my son decided not to include in his HS transcript but instead will send CC transcript to every colleges that require HS transcript as well. That way colleges will know that he has taken courses at CC.
Our school is supposed to go back hybrid, but nobody will be in person until Sept 10 (opening Sept 3 virtually). They sent out an update that we will be hosting the SAT in Aug, Sept, Oct and Nov and are actively trying to secure an ACT date at the school (which we’ve never hosted).
Teacher’s union is pushing for an all virtual opening so I don’t know if that will change the SAT plan.
@DOTexe – yes, take it up with the school! Any DE class should be weighted like an AP – they’re both college credit. There are likely state guidelines around this so keep that in mind.
If they won’t weight them appropriately, I’d ask them to remove and you can submit two transcripts. You don’t want those classes to be counted as ‘regular’ and bring down your D’s weighted GPA and class rank.
D’s class is making a new tradition. Senior sunrise later this week. They are organizing to meet at a local park to watch the sunrise. No food or drinks to encourage everyone to stay masked. I think they’ll pull it off and keep it safe.