@homerdog believe me I beg D to drop Academic Decathlon, since we are only looking at schools that would not care but It means so much to her. She has been in it since 8th grade and gets so much personal satisfaction from it. I am hoping she will drop it her senior year. Anyway the schools we are looking at this time are schools are known to give huge NMF packages. Have not really looked at merit if not NMF yet.
@burghdad sorry to hear that your D will have to have shoulder surgery when the softball season is over. It sounds like if perseverance is what it takes to get back to 100%, thatāll be no problem for her! Congrats on the unweighted 4.0 and I hope her shoulder doesnāt bother her too much for the travel season.
D21 is finished all her classes. A grades in everything except AP Calc AB, in which she got an A-. She is now studying for two SAT2 exams which she will take this Saturday, and then she is done. Iām not sure about how she will do on the SAT2 exams. She forgot a lot of the things that are on Math2 and has been frantically reviewing things these past two weeks. Also, she had a bad cold for the AP Bio exam and lost a few minutes to a quiet-as-possible coughing fitā¦she is taking the SAT2 Bio as a back upā¦and now here she is again, fighting a (different) bad cold. I think the end of the year is making her sick and she just wants to be done already. I donāt blame her. 
Her schedule next year will be solidified as soon as we hear back from our local state university about her registration for Advanced Spanish. Weāve done our part, now we are just waiting for the registrar to officially approve. Her schedule, assuming the Spanish course is finalized, will be AP Physics 1, AP Calc BC, APES, and three in-person college courses for fall and another three for spring (economics, US Govt, two Spanish courses and two English courses). The Spanish will be at our local four-year state uni and the others at our local cc.
Good luck to those taking SAT2s on Sat. Happy end-of-the-year or almost-end-of-the-year to everyone!
D21 almost done. Finals next week. Looks like she should manage all As again except AP Euro will be a B. Lots of kids get Bs in that class and still get a 5. She can report the AP test on her apps (which will be all CA) so it would be great if she could temper that B with a 5. No SAT2s over here. None needed. PSAT score came back a little lower than expected. I did a little analysis and she got two more right on the reading section than S19 did on his PSAT10 and her score was lower. I guess the PSAT is now following SATās lead and making questions easier and having a harder curve. She also didnāt do that well on the writing section (the one with the grammar rules) but I know that can be fixed pretty quickly with studying. S19 went from 11-12 wrong to none wrong with just a smidge of studying.
Her list is kind of all over the place. Sheās talking more and more about wanting to be a psychologist which requires grad school and Iāve been reading that programs have low acceptance rates. Makes me wonder about her applying to places like Davidson (her current favorite) because of grad deflation there. She wants smaller classes and a tight community like S19 but maybe bigger sports, more school spirit, possibly Greek life. Wake Forest fits that as well. She has a friend leaving for Colgate this fall and sounds like she might like it there too although sheād prefer warmer weather. Richmond still on the list too. I had someone suggest Case Western as it has a strong dance program she could take advantage of even though itās not a huge priority right now. Itās also strong in the psychological sciences. She hasnāt seen any more suburban/urban schools like that yet. She also has two friends going to Boston College and she feels like sheās a lot like these kids and would like any school that they like. Iām also wondering if she might like a place like U Texas with big sports and Greek life. Austin is a terrific town. Maybe Rice for a big reach? Maybe TCU or SMU for more safeties. Yikes. Good thing itās early since this list is a little nuts. She can dig into this a little more this summer.
Are you all doing any summer visits? We havenāt decided yet. I really felt like S19 got the most out of visits while the students were in sessionā¦
@homerdog We are visiting Colorado College and Whitman College next week. Those are the only colleges on D21ās potential list that require flights. Weāre fitting those two in with a road trip/small hiking vacation.
We are heading to Cooperstown for a weekend in June so may try to fit in a couple of visits, but canāt decide where. Maybe Colgate and/or Hamilton, but I donāt know if they will fit the budget so may not bother! They arenāt that far that we canāt fit them in another time. I think weāll try to hit Clark on a trip to Boston as some point. Sheās kind of all over the place right now with major, so I think we might be in a holding pattern for summer.
Sheās taking the August SAT and September ACT so weāll have more to work with at that point.
My S21 surprised me with his choices for junior year. He decided to not pursue the IB diploma, not a surprise, but signed up for AP Language and AP Government, which was a surprise. Heās a math/science kid, but as the school doesnāt offer honors, only AP, IB or regular, he decided on AP. Heās also taking IB Physics HL, AP Comp Sci, AP Stats and Spanish 4. I think he also still needs art, not sure which one heās taking. He took AP Calc BC this year, but canāt fit in Calc 3 next year as heāll need to take it off campus. Heās planning on taking that senior year when he can drop Spanish and be done with general ed requirements and have more flexibility.
@homerdog My D17 dancer seriously considered Case. She was impressed with the university overall and also the dance program. At the time, however, she was told that youāre far less likely to be cast in shows unless you minor or major in dance. An alternative your daughter might want to consider are more urban schools with strong dance in the community (which will be much less expensive than paying private college tuition for a 3 credit dance course!).
Wash U had reasonable depth in ballet (as well as St Louis Ballet). A reach for all, but CWRU is becoming increasingly reachy also.
If sheās willing to consider a less urban area and schools that are larger or smaller - the U Mass consortium has strong dance offerings and ticks many of her other boxes. Thereās good merit at Mt Holyoke and Smith and OOS merit money at U Mass if she wants to consider their (increasingly competitive) honors program.
No college visits this summer. We are going to try for some during Spring Break in 2020 and into the following summer after test scores are in place. Too bad because I really liked the college road trips with my older kid.
@janiewalker Have fun on your upcoming trip and Iām looking forward to your report. Never got to visit those and they look interesting, especially for kids who love outdoor recreation.
My dancing daughter toured Case and was lucky enough to have a dancing tour guide. She probed her hard on ballet specifically. FYI, thereās limited pointe for those who are classically trained and are interested in continuing pointe work. The good news is the program seemed extremely flexible and open to students other academic interests.
@mamaedefamilia @Darcy123 So where did your Dās end up? Or are these your 21ās? I didnāt think of Wash U and, even if she got in, I think sheās looking for somewhere more fun. Lol.
Mine is a D20, so weāre in the thick of figuring it out! Sheās having a really tough time finding a good academic and dancing fit. Sheās going to have to sacrifice something! She is considering WashU as well as Barnard/Columbia (but doesnāt love their core curriculum). Sheās also looking at schools that are close to cities where she can dance there instead of on campus. Weāre also going to check out University of Utah, University of Iowa and University of South Carolina - theyāre more on the likely scale from an academic fit, but weāve heard the dancing is strong and the ability to double major may make them more interesting.
@Darcy123 ooooh! Iāll be following what happens. Good luck!!
@darcy123. Regarding western schools: Utah is superb for ballet as is Iowa. If you are open to western schools, also take a look at U of Arizona, which is building up its honors program to compete with ASU, and has merit money for strong OOS students. I believe that an audition is required to major in dance at either university and U of Arizonaās audition assesses both ballet and modern. U of New Mexico has a strong contemporary program and is world class for flamenco. Ballet training includes pointe work although classical balletās not the emphasis there. Itās relatively easy to major or minor in dance there and UNM also offers OOS merit. All of these are located in cities of some size so your D could probably dance for a regional company if she wanted.
@homerdog D17 ended up at Oberlin. The town now hosts an interesting contemporary ballet company called Neos that offers low cost lessons to Oberlin students. The collegeās program is primarily modern/contemporary in emphasis. However, it doesnāt sound like Oberlin would be a good fit for the preferences you listed . Dickinson might be worth a look, although itās in a relatively small town and is not mid-sized - itās one of the few LACs that has strong dance offerings and its Greek life is said to be fun but does not overwhelm student life. Merit up to 20K is possible.
@mamaedefamilia Thanks! I know Dickinson. S19 applied. D21 will not but I do appreciate the ability to do ballet there through a company nearby. She wouldnāt match Oberlin but I"m glad your D found her spot! We have a friend whose daughter was a dance major at Arizona. Loved her time there. Got a job in a regional contemporary company and, after a year, decided the dance world isnāt for her. Sheās at home now trying to decide what to do next. D21 not interested in majoring or minoring in dance but it would be a bonus if she could be on a dance team or take modern/contemporary class. Honestly, I donāt think college is for ballet. If someone wants to be a ballerina, she needs to audition for companies as a teenager. I donāt see the kids we know majoring in ballet at Butler or Indiana doing anything but teaching ballet in the end.
@Darcy123 Have you considered UMich SMTD?
@homerdog As it turns out, my D17 who danced with a regional company for many years isnāt actively doing ballet any more other than drop in classes. Sheās branched out into numerous other creative and performing outlets, for which I am very grateful because thatās what college should be all about!
@homerdog you not knowing anyone who has ONLY applied to auto merit schools is a world I am not part of and a world I envy. Dās father is a high earner and well as his wife (both MDs) but will not pay(refuses) and not required to pay for college. So CSS is off the table (such a shame ) and I as her single mom who went to undergrad and grad later in life do not have much money set aside for college. With a EFC that is higher than state schools in Texas. So even though she could/would get accepted to UT Austin and in engineering (top1% 1590 SAT) it is not affordable. Texas A&M is not affordable. So merit chasing we go. D was known the reality since 6th grades, sure it is hard when kids at her school go top 20, but that is not in the cards for her.
@BingeWatcher I admire your plan and your D is such an academic star! I know plenty of kids in our town who are taking advantage of merit at places like Alabama and are very excited about next year. Iām sure your D will be going places! Interesting that dad wonāt chip in for college especially since he obviously had years and years of schooling himself after high school and you would think that he puts importance on educationā¦but your D is in good hands with you and you guys have a solid plan.
@bingewatcher - it makes me so angry when a divorced parent wonāt do right by a child. I have friends and relatives who have been in this situation but the kids did not have the kind of tippy top stats for significant auto-merit. So community college, commuting, etc. is what they had to do.
Regarding your daughter, there are still some very good privates that have full tuition (and more rarely still) full ride scholarships through separate application. So if room and board is doable and your daughter wants to dream a little, in addition to auto-merit schools, maybe she can try for some of those long-shot full tuition scholarships at places like Wash U, BU, or Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt, BTW, doesnāt require non-custodial paperwork for its financial aid review. Nor does U Chicago but I believe its engineering offerings are limited.
@sushiritto I hadnāt - Iāll check it out. Thanks!