Parents of the HS Class of 2021 (Part 1)

@Aguadecoco - no, it did not. It came about 3 weeks/a month before regular decisions came out. I found the NPC at Williams on target. I ended going back and asking for additional grant funding and received it as well. (Caveat that I had a personal situation that dramatically impacted my financial situation btw the time the application was submitted and acceptance time).

UC apps canā€™t be submitted until 11/1 but there is no use waiting after that if they are complete. Just submit and cross it off your list.

Montana State, woohoo?

Is anyone elseā€™s kid just DONE with the virtual college stuff? When is enough truly enough?

Her schools just keep repackaging the same content under different names and inviting her to attend. Student panels, conversations with a Dean, admissions advice - she and I have been watching all of these since March.

Neither she nor I are learning anything new anymore - but donā€™t want her ā€œinterestā€ to be perceived as waning as the most holistic of holistic admissions seasons is starting to officially kick offā€¦

Tulane is the absolute worst offender at this - their invitations just keep comingā€¦weā€™ve watched multiple webinars with admissions counselors, but now thereā€™s one specifically with the counselor for our area who will read her application first. Is she really going to learn anything new? No. But sheā€™s feeling conflicted between ā€œjust saying noā€ and ā€œwhatā€™s the harm - canā€™t hurt, might helpā€.

This made me LOL:)

@3kids2dogs Yes! D expressed the same sentiment about a month ago, yet still feels the need to attend the virtual sessions, particularly with the schools she didnā€™t visit pre-Covid. Iā€™d have D attend the Tulane one if itā€™s with the counselor in your area.

We are still a week away from the first day. The high school is divided into two cohorts and they will go for a full day every other day. D is so excited to go back!

Last attempt at ACT this Saturday. I called the host school yesterday to make sure it was still happening and so far itā€™s a go. Weā€™re hoping, but not sharpening pencils just yet.

Best wishes to all who have started their senior year, both remote and in-person!

Iā€™m so tired of staring at a computerā€¦ although we havenā€™t done any live virtual college stuff since June. Most schools D21 is looking at donā€™t look at demonstrated interest for much.

@3kids2dogs Absolutely the feeling around here! I tried to encourage her to do the sessions over the summer because almost every school on Dā€™s list considers demonstrated interest important. Now that the ā€œFall Open Houseā€ events are starting to happen, weā€™re trying to figure out how much is necessary/helpful. There is SO much content! Surely these schools understand that most kids are spending 6 hours a day staring at their computers for school and donā€™t want to log back on for any reason (okay, except maybe Netflix!) after that.

D is doing interviews wherever theyā€™re available, and at her top choices, she has followed up to ask if she can connect with a professor or student in the departments that interest her most. Weā€™re hoping that conveys a similar sentiment as attending endless 1-hour sessions about every aspect of college life.

@3kids2dogs My S is pretty burned out of the virtual sessions. He is so swamped with school work right now all of the college stuff is taking a back burner. I agree that some of the schools inundate the kids with stuff and make them feel obligated to participate. If she has what she needs, I wouldnā€™t bother with the sessions any more. Itā€™s just not productive.

Thatā€™s what I think we will do because the stuff in her CA essay isnā€™t coming through in the MIT short essays. Weā€™re planning to heavily edit the essay, might just rewrite it, down to the 200-250 word limit they set for the other questions. They donā€™t limit the open ended essay, but we thought (maybe incorrectly) that the CA essay was too long.

@3kids2dogs Tulane is the WORST! D is no longer interested; I need to get off there list ASAP! LOL At least itā€™s just email; High Point has to have killed an entire forest at this point on mail that goes straight into the trash!
D was never a fan of the virtual stuff. She looks more on You Tube for videos!

I doubt they can track the You Tube videos, though!

@inthegarden Iā€™m sure they canā€™t! Most of her schools donā€™t track interest anyway. And if that gets her rejected, oh well!

Obviously it depends on the school, but I am convinced that demonstrated interest matters a lot more than the schools let on. They track it for a reason. HYPSM donā€™t care, but everyone else is interested in yield protection. Also, I think public schools look at it when theyā€™re deciding on competitive scholarships. Plus this year is crazy, and schools will be looking for as many new data points as they can find.

My D and I sign up for a lot of these zoom calls, show her face, and then turn off the video. btw, we did one for Southern Cal yesterday, and the AO asked everyone to turn on their video so they could say ā€œHi!ā€, and we noticed she looked down and did something on her computer once she had everyone on video. We were convinced she too a screenshot to record who was actually there because about 1/3rd never went to video.

ETA: we only do one per school for sure, and then we sometimes watch one for the specific college/degree she is interested.

S21 is no longer doing the info sessions. He attended one for each school he is interested in and thatā€™s it.

So far we (both) have watched through the end, except when we had technical problems with zoom. For schools D is really interested in, sheā€™s come up with a question to type in ā€¦then thereā€™s no doubt that sheā€™s participating. Not leaving any stones unturned since there are so many variables we canā€™t control!

Wow, my S is pretty slack signing up for these virtual sessions. Heā€™s done one at each school but I think thatā€™s it. Iā€™ve encouraged but heā€™d much rather stalk YouTube videos and such.

He did two do interviews at the two colleges that offer them. To me that should count for more than virtual sessions, but who knows.

Iā€™ll encourage but Iā€™m not going to make him do them. Heā€™s got a lot more essays to write, sigh.

[quote=ā€œNateandAllisMom;c-22922279ā€ In other news, even news publications are starting to project that we wont have any testing in California this fall.
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Thanks for that info. Dā€™s ACT scheduled for this weekend was cancelled a few weeks ago. ACT did not offer an option to ā€˜cancelā€™, just rescheduleā€¦and the next available seating within 100 miles was December. No, thanks. Emailed ACT two weeks ago about getting a refund ,no response yet. Anyone have luck with getting an ACT refund?

On another note, D21 attends a different high school (public) than D19 attended (Private). D19s school announced it will hold an SAT sitting for late Septemberā€¦ for its students only. I truly hope these colleges know whatā€™s going on in terms of the sheer inequity in accessing testing this Fall.

I heard on a podcast that itā€™s good to attend virtual events for tracking schools and follow them on social media.

When S sat down to write a why this school essay, he couldnā€™t even remember for sure if he attended a virtual event for that particular school in the summer. LOL. So I guess he didnā€™t get much out of that event. I think I will ask him to sign up if his tracking schools do something through the high school he goes to. Luckily we visited some of those before Covid but still a good idea to do the virtual for the major. Honestly we havenā€™t been seeking those out lately.

Which schools are demonstrated interest important? I find the info on the website/youtube interesting. D watched a couple virtual visit type sessions at 2 different universities but most content seemed to be available on the websites or youtube.