@AOP1925 Yes, good idea about contacting the AO directly. I had thought about that at one point and might ask S21 to do that himself as he really should if he is that interested. Anyway, I don’t think he should do ED because there are just too many unknowns. I am encouraging him to apply EA with interest in NUin. He might get accepted with that qualifier, or he might get deferred to RD. In any case, he’s already into Pitt Engineering, so all will be OK in the end, even if he gets rejected outright from NEU.
@jeneric So sorry to hear about the math teacher and the GC. S21’s private school seems like they will not be releasing transcripts much before deadline and S21’s recommendations are not in yet anyway. We are so grateful for Pitt’s process, and so glad it worked out for TO students, as it should!
So my son just got an email from College Board about his SAT for tomorrow. Huh, he is signed up for the SAT NEXT Saturday, October 3rd. Did anyone else get an erroneous reminder email like this?
Three birthday’s in my immediate family last week- kind of hectic! Lots going on here to catch up on!
D got her first good news last week. On a whim (enticing email!), she applied to a 100% acceptance rate school not far from home that has her major just so she could mentally know she was in somewhere. No fee, they just wanted an official score report to offer merit aid. So I paid $13 for her peace of mind. Then a few days later the really good news came. Her advisor suggested a rolling admission school, so she applied to Pitt and not only got in, but was admitted into the GAP (Guaranteed Admission Program) with a direct admit into the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Took 3 weeks from application to letter. E-mail came 4 days later. Now she really has a bit of pressure lifted!
She will be submitting scores everywhere since she did well. First try, pre Covid score was good, but not good enough (25-50% most schools on her list, a few lower than 25%). I had an email campaign going all of June and most of July with our school system making sure they were doing everything required by the state health board to offer the July test. I knew she needed higher scores to validate her GPA and transcript from her average performing school. Thankfully it happened! July score is in the 50%-75% range or higher at all the schools on her list. She took the ACT one final time in September without any pressure, just to see if she could get her one lower section higher. We’ll know scores soon enough.
I haven’t even contemplated how this could all play out for D’22 who is not historically a strong test taker. She has a solid GPA and above average transcript, but nothing stellar. She would definitely be applying TO were this her year. I haven’t had her do an ounce of test prep. I’m really hoping TO goes really well this year and many schools extend their TO policy.
Edited to add: D had her Wake interview last week, so now she can take a tour. We set it up for early October. It says we get 1 hour on campus, can not walk around before or linger after, can’t touch any doors (guide will open any building we go in, but tour will not include dorms or Library). Temps will be taken, 3 people max from our family, must fill out health forms and waiver and hand sanitize at the station provided prior to the tour.
@ChillyCow, nope, my D is taking it tomorrow. Any chance your son could or would go to the test center tomorrow, just in case?
Good luck (and a good night’s sleep) to all the kids testing tomorrow! I made my D a dinner guaranteed to make her sleepy (turkey) along with a vitamin B tablet for good measure (great for stress). Also made her do an extra-hilly walk with me this afternoon …she is laughing at the way I’m coaching her through this. She’s showered and soon will hit the sack extra-early with a copy of -The Great Gatsby-. Hope she doesn’t find it to be a page-turner…she could use 8 or 9 hours of ZZZs.
Like I said, CB sent D an email about tomorrow and then sent a second email saying the last email was incorrect and they meant Oct 3, so I’m sure you’re all good.
Good luck to all of the kiddos testing today! I almost regret not having S21 study all summer to bring his verbal score up, but I was so unsure that testing would actually happen that I didn’t think it was worth it. I think he will be OK with his December 2019 score and there is no point second guessing now!
Yesterday S21 received the Northeastern email that says it all: they expect to fill half of their incoming class with ED candidates. They also flat out say that the ED rate is 32 percent vs. 20 percent overall so ED is a significant advantage. I am still not sure it is wise for S21 to do ED this year even if it’s his first choice. Too many unknowns.
@momandslp we got a similar communication from Denison. A letter in the mail really pushing ED, making it sound like it’s only to the student’s advantage when we all know it’s to the college’s advantage. Their new “perk” is that they’ll do rolling ED so you find out your decision about two weeks after you send your app. In the past, they’ve had a mid-Dec decision date. They also emphasized that merit is given at the same level in ED as it is in RD.
It might be good to go ED this year but I don’t know if the schools are going to get as many applicants as they hope.
Dropped D21 at the SAT this morning. Her second in four days. Lol. She seemed in a good mood. Maybe knowing that TO is still an option takes the pressure off?
She texted me at 8:01 and said that someone came outside the school and told the long line of kids that 250 were registered but they are only taking 100. Told the kids to all check their email right now and see if they still have a seat today. They sent the email last night so some kids didn’t get the message and had to go home. D and her friend got in. I think CB must have prioritized seniors who had tests cancelled on them in the spring and summer.
@Rue4 congratulations! D21 has not even submitted an application yet, what a good feeling it must be to have a few acceptances.
@momandslp If you are unsure about ED, than I think EA is the way to go. Maybe the very selective do not have to worry about filling all the seats but all the others do.
These are uncertain times so I am sure schools will want to use ED as much as possible. A lot of schools had lower number in ED last year before the pandemic, this year with so many people not being able to visit I would think they will be lower this year as well.
Well, I’ve been following along with all of the discussions but haven’t had anything to contribute for a while. Now I do! And I have to thank everyone here AGAIN for the support and insight you have provided.
S21 has been accepted to the University of Pittsburgh! His first acceptance.
And some of you might recall my freaking out about his decision to go TO as he (still) has no test scores and about Pitt’s decision to go TO. Apparently, they really meant it.
He applied undecided to the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences.
Anyway, this is a biggie. We are in-state for Pitt and it’s within budget. And S21 has always had Pitt and Loyola U Maryland (Mr. InfiniteWaves’ and my alma mater) as his top two. So he’s pretty much thinking he’ll apply to Loyola, see what happens (merit is most definitely needed!) and decide from there.
If he ends up at Pitt, we will be a PA house divided with one at Penn State and one at Pitt. And if he ends up at Loyola, the one at Penn State will have to hear about it constantly.
@homerdog that is unbelievable! I’m glad your daughter got in. I do think College Board and ACT should be reserving seats only for seniors through the end of December.
Congratulations to those receiving acceptances already! D21 is focusing apps all weekend. My idea, not hers. Only a handful of her friends are applying ED and as such, have two extra months to complete essays and applications. For some reason, I think she believes she has more time than she actually does, and I’ve had to push to get things done. I feel like a broken record here, this is all I post about. Hoping she makes big strides this weekend.
So, D is home from the SAT and feels pretty good about it. Said there were only eight students in her classroom, staggered/distanced in a checkerboard pattern (which I feel better about). She felt it was pretty easy, in fact, with only a couple of math questions that she truly had no idea how to answer, and felt solid about most of her answers. On the other hand, we’re both holding our breaths in case that means there will be a harsh curve. I’ll be very curious today to find out if others report the same thing. They did have to stay for an experimental extra fifth section that won’t be graded…hate that SAT feels the need to keep these kids a moment longer than necessary in an enclosed space though. Having said that, she may be going back for more next Saturday, same location. By the time of her third registered test mid-October she will at least have a score. I’m going to let her decide which, if any, to take from here on.
D thought math no calc was harder than the test she took on Wed at school. Seems to be the consensus on that “other website where kids gather than shall not be named”. She thought reading was easier than her school SAT but it seems a lot of kids thought is was a little rough. Both of my kids always seem a little surprised when they get standardized test scores back though. I don’t think they are very good at predicting how they’ll do. Time will tell. D isn’t shooting for a perfect score at all. She’d be thrilled to get to most of her schools’ 75th percentile.
Congratulations @InfiniteWaves! YIPEEEE, I’m so glad to hear about a great school admitting a TO student. It surely makes me hopeful because after 6 cancellations here in California, I am DONE. Can’t take it anymore.
Yes, time will tell, no perfection expected or needed here, either. Applying to fairly selective schools but no tippy tops. D would be thrilled to get her math score to around the 50% mark of her schools, just enough that it Is neutral and doesn’t drag her down … .relying on her old ERW to pull up the composite. Thank goodness for super scoring.
