Parents of the HS Class of 2021 (Part 1)

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
1201

Loving all the updates! D is studying hard for the Spanish Clep. She did not really learn much at all in Spanish I, 2 or 3 at her school. I thought the clep would be easy but her practice test are running at 50-55% percent correct. Trying to get 2 semesters of Spanish credit. before she forgets it. . She has Zero desire for anymore foreign language.

Still no desire to practice driving although she has her permit. Frustrating for me. She goes to “Explore Engineering” camp at local university (Texas Tech) for 5 days.

We took the “Scholar’s Tour” at OKlahoma State (had to send her 1590 SAT before they would schedule the tour). They rolled out the red carpet. We both loved the campus so much. Very high on her list now. but dang it. The darn department engineering course fees are 159.50 per credit hour and NOT covered by the full tuition scholarship. She has decided no more tours this summer as she has so will be at her Dad’s for a month and then needs to prepare for the PSAT as NMF is only way we can afford college. She is scared she will jinx it if we tour before the PSAT.

1202

Interesting to see how kids approach things so differently. My S21 has no interest in looking at schools this summer. He’s seen a bunch already when dragged along with D19, but currently as no interest for himself. Said he’ll start next spring. Right now just wants to focus on being a kid. Props to him for self-awareness.

1203

@JESmom my D21 is doing a week at Georgetown also, she is doing Mastering Leadership July 21-26. She is so excited, it’s through NSLC, is that who your son is doing the program through?

School is almost done here, 4 more stare exams and she is done and officially a Junior.

1204

@AndreaLynn - his program is one of the Georgetown summer programs for HS students through their School of Continuing Studies. It’s a 1-week “academy” on Intro to Data Science, the week of July 29.

1205

@BingeWatcher that 1590 SAT will get her the red carpet at lots of places…Good luck to her on the PSAT/NMF in the fall. I’m sure she will do great.

1206

@burghdad Thank you so much…Well D got her Jr year schedule and got all the classes she wanted.

AP: Lang
Psych
Chem
Physics 1
Calc BC

and UIL Math (class to prepare for contest)
Academic Decathlon (class to prepare for contest)
Data Structures ( post APCS)

1207

D21 finished school a few weeks ago, busy with lots of socializing, part time job at town offices, driving lessons with auto school. We did get the books etc she needs for AP and some SAT prep but she hasn’t started yet, that’s ok she deserves some down time. Finished the year with a 4.59, career to date 4.41 GPA. Heavy course load next year but she thinks she’ll handle it.
APUSH
AP pmmm Physics
AB
AP French
AP Lang
Photography elective
Religion (Catholic hs)
We saw TCNJ when in NJ for family event but won’t see any other until a spring break trip. All her schools are down south, we’re in mass. Hope everyone enjoys the summer!

1208

@BingeWatcher My D is the same about driving. She won’t drive unless we force her to.

1209

Same! It took my daughter six months (after her birthday) to get her license!

1210

@eb23282 I think your son has a huge head start because he has been on college visits before. Our daughter is our oldest, so this was her first. She’s been to colleges for sporting events and things like that, but this was her first trip to take actual tours. This trip coincided with a work trip for my husband, so that was the rationale for the timing. I think Spring Break 2020 will be a driving trip to visit other schools. Doubtful there will be any before then.

But, we were somewhat at a loss of where to start because virtually all the schools we had been to were either HUGE (mostly Big Ten schools) or tiny (various camps, events where she stayed in the dorms). Unless your son has a completely different vision than your D19, he likely already has a preference for size and location (urban, rural) and geography, which is so helpful when putting together a list.

1211

@3kids2dogs you’re absolutely right. He already has an idea of what he wants, but now actually needs to start looking because soooo many schools fit his current desired profile. BTW, I say “current” because what he gravitated to as an uncommitted and uninterested 9th grader might not be the same as when he’s looking in 11th grade.

Anyway, with a lot of schools fitting his profile, he’ll need to actually look at them and I’m curious if he’ll have enough time to do so. My guess is we’ll be one of those crazy families that applies to 10-15 schools (many sight unseen) just because they all fit the profile of what he wants.

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@eb23282 I could not get D18 to apply to more than 6 schools as she couldn’t be bothered to write all the essays. 10-15 will be quite a heavy lift even with common app.

1213

@burghdad I hadn’t thought about the essays as D19 didn’t do any. In that case, he’ll probably just pick the one school he already kinda likes and completely bag looking at others altogether. Which honestly wouldn’t be the worst thing.

1214

@eb23282 I could see my S21 doing that. This spring break we visited a few VA colleges. Of those, he liked VA Tech best but is, so far, not really interested in exploring a lot of options. I can see him wanting to apply to VA Tech and then calling it a day, although he’ll also need a safety, maybe JMU. He looks like he’ll be right in line on his stats for a math or statistic major at VT but you never know, esp with them over-enrolling this year.

1215

My friend just finished a VA tour with her S20. Stopped at VA Tech because it was on the way and really liked it. JMU also high marks - NJ kids are the most represented state there other than VA, which doesn’t surprise me at all!

D21 officially done today! No summer job has panned out yet, so keeping fingers crossed! She is taking her financial lit requirement over the summer so she can fit in a full year elective next year, and she’s prepping for the SAT and has summer homework in 3 or 4 classes, so she’ll be busy regardless! I am happy to have a slight reprieve from the crazy for a couple months!

1216

That’s great you can fit in the financial lit requirement. We looked into doing that for S21 but seemed like, even though it’s an online class, would be too much on top of his FT job, vacation, 1-week academic program, SAT prep, and don’t forget the driving practice! He really doesn’t want to use a class period for it but his summers are so busy. But, his counselor said he could do it as an online class senior year, during the school year which might end up being the best option.

1217

Reading everyone’s comments about the pressure these kids put on themselves - I can completely relate to the feeling that they need to have some downtime over summer break. My D21 used to dance and go to a fair amount of practice and competitions on the weekends. However, she had a serious injury in 7th grade and had to stop. This opened up her time to explore other things. Honestly, I’m glad she had to leave dance because it helped her to re-calibrate her ECs to a more reasonable level. The ECs she took on in its place are smaller time commitments.

When I look at everyone else’s description of what classes their juniors will be taking next year, I’m in awe, truly. Your childrens’ high schools seem to offer a lot of AP classes. I don’t believe our HS has as many and almost no students (I believe) take that many APs during 11th grade.

D21 just finished up the school year on Tuesday. She has a clear idea of her career objectives–she wants to work for the U.S. Foreign Service. I think she’s doing the right thing and on track, but there are so many things that she won’t be able to do this summer or this coming school year:

She won’t be able to work a summer job, prep for the SAT, or learn how to drive. She won’t be able to go on any college visits. She won’t be able to take APUSH next year, or (likely) math that would keep her on track for AP Calc senior year.

She will be on scholarship with the U.S. State Department studying abroad in India. (She won’t have a summer break really at all because she departs this coming Tuesday.)

She will be taking classes at a high school in India (with English as the language of instruction) and she will be living with a host family. She may possibly learn some Hindi or the local language of her host state, if she puts effort into it. Her U.S. HS will give her credit for her coursework, but the course listings will most likely be more generic such as “Science” and all the courses will be recorded on her U.S. transcript as Pass/No Pass – so she’ll get credit but her GPA will not be affected.

My mind is swirling with how many things we will have to do next summer to ‘catch up’: SAT prep, college visits, driver’s ed.

I suppose it just illustrates that: No, you can’t do it all. All opportunities involve choices and trade-offs of your time.

P.S. Looking at how much she’s missing. I’m seriously considering whether or not she should take a gap year instead of trying to apply for colleges during her senior year, esp. since ED is in the fall. Any thoughts about that strategy?

1218

@saga9497 Wow! What a great opportunity for your child. Is this for the entire upcoming academic year as well as this summer?

In my opinion, this is far more important for her future goals and for her development as a person than the alternatives. Learning to drive can wait. College visits can wait (or don’t have to happen at all; there are plenty of youtube campus tour videos to give you an idea about what a campus is like). SAT prep can wait and can also be done by self-study either from books or on-line. My older daughter prepped on her own time and took the SAT in the Spring of her Junior Year and the ACT right before she started her senior year. It worked out fine.

I think it’s way too early to start thinking about a gap year. See how she feels as she’s wrapping up her program.

There are plenty of statements from admissions officers at elite institutions (think MIT and Stanford) that are very clear about affirming that it’s not the case that he or she with the most APs has better chances of getting in. Also admissions officers will contextualize your child’s record according to what’s available at her school. She’s not going to suffer if her school offers fewer courses and sets caps on how many can be taken compared to other schools. My older kid’s HS did not offer AP courses at all and she did very well with admissions at good schools.

Your daughter sounds amazing. She will do just fine. Admissions officers probably will remember her and refer to her as “the applicant who got a State Department scholarship to study abroad in India.”

1219

@saga9497 What an absolutely amazing opportunity for your D.I agree with mamaedefamilia. I don’t think your daughter will be behind at all. Her experience will transcend AP classes.

My D’s father is from North India. My D went when she was in 5th grade, she was really too young to appreciate the experience. Wished she could go back.

1220

Not liking this new look, finding it way more difficult to navigate, not user friendly at all.
In other news, D is at “Explore Engineering” camp at local state U. She is getting exposure to all the different engineering majors. She is finding it very helpful in seeing what she likes and does not like. And the best part is, it only cost 325.00 for 5 night/ 6 day camp! Carry on.