For those of you who have had kids receive an honor or award or something unexpected have you been having them update their application portals? And if so, are they just going to the applicant portal and just submitting a short summary with an update? How are they doing it? Is it just similar to a loci?
My son just qualified for DECA internationals for our state in a really competitive category so it was quite unexpected. Wondering if it’s worth updating or not, especially for schools that have later notification dates and what else he should be sending (ie an update on his grades, or other honors or things he has been doing since he applied)?
Naming two universities as ‘13th grade’ just really isn’t a nice thing to do in this forum. Different kids have different goals, abilities, etc., and there are probably plenty of kids who were excited to be admitted there. That’s what I’m saying.
We lived in TX for a decade and it is sort of in a unique place geographically. Every single border state is smaller and less developed and less economically vibrant (New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana). Even second tier Texas cities like Austin and San Antonio are larger and more vibrant than the largest cities in any of the surrounding states. Which means that Texans have to go a LONG ways to find anything equivalent. Usually all the way to California, Atlanta or the Northeast. None of those places are remotely within driving distance.
So Texas just kind of holds kids captive and they tend not to escape. The border state schools like OU, LSU and Arkansas are mostly satellite state schools for TX because the big residential state schools in TX are all overcrowded and a lot of kids don’t want to attend commuter schools like UTA or UTSA. I taught at a big TX high school that was something of a football factory and since I mostly taught seniors I tended to have a lot of D1 athletes who were being recruited from schools around the country. Most parents and friends were encouraging them to stay home and play at UT, Baylor, TCU, TAMU, etc. I would always give the exact opposite advice. Texas is always going to be here for you to come home to. If you don’t leave for college someplace else you will probably never leave. So I would tell kids to take that scholarship offer from Oregon or USC or UCLA and don’t look back.
@srparent15, if it were my son, I’d have him update…I think that’s a pretty big deal. When my D signed up for a mock trial team for the first time In November (Not even an award, just a new EC, and just weeks before ED 1 decisions) she sent off a FYI email to her area admisssions counselor (we didn’t know about updating the portal) and he emailed right back saying that it’s a great thing to try something new. May or may not have helped but it sure didn’t seem to hurt!
That’s great news! I round recommend both updating the portal and sending an email to his AO. Not sure how close they are to decisions given there’s a few weeks left til april?! But the email can’t hurt.
I grew up in Texas and lived there for 30 years (Dallas, Austin, Houston), so I understand the mentality. What I meant was that often people haven’t heard of small colleges that are in other regions. I’m in Virginia now. I guarantee people here have never heard of the small colleges in Texas. There are so many small colleges around the country (and tons of great ones) that people don’t really know about if they aren’t from that general area or have sought out that particular area.
I totally agree with you about kids spreading their wings! If the finances work, they should go for it. My eldest son goes to college close by and although he loves the school, he wishes he was further away. Sometimes it’s a good thing to get out of one’s bubble
You can choose to take that tongue in cheek comment as a negative towards an institution and/or its students…I’m telling you it’s not but you’re welcome to your perception of my comment.
The “13th grade” means that “everyone” goes there/you’ll be in college with the same kids from your high school. And by the way, our school district is extremely competitive and very rigorous. Our 5 high schools have brilliant kids that go on to do great things…my comment wasn’t a dig at anyone’s aptitude.
Got it, thanks for explaining. When I’ve heard that expression before it referred to rigor (often a reference to community college) rather than a situation where you would know a lot of kids from high school. I’m happy to hear that your district has a lot of brilliant kids, that’s wonderful and I’m sure they have bright futures. You have a great weekend as well!
I visited a friend who was going there way back in the day. They took us to a gathering in a field with a barrel fire and a keg and people were literally riding a pumpjack (it was amazing)
two of my brothers went to Trinity and absolutely loved the school and SA. My oldest brother is still so close to all of his college friends. Great choice if your kid ends up there!
Yep! Heard similar:) I especially get comments of- why would you pay so much more for that college when you can go to UT. We qualify for financial aid from the more selective private school and none from UT and they cost almost the same with the cost of housing and other social/ food expenses we anticipated at UT. Everyone needs to find their fit. I don’t my kids choices are better places just hopefully the best for them!
Need this month to be over so I can stop secretly hoping they are admitted to, and choose, certain schools that intuitively I can see them attending. I will be annoyed when the universe doesn’t follow my suggestions.
yes 13th grade just means everyone from their high school goes there. Like Lubbock kids at Texas Tech, Tuscaloosa kids at BAMA. Denton/Lewisville/Lake Dallas at UNT.
I hate that the CSS was off the table for us. But I am glad truly for your kids. I am sure they are incredible students to get into such great schools (that I learned about on CC).
Thank you although I view it as we as parents were lucky to have children who researched what they wanted and worked to get in to colleges with high endowments allowing choices that met our financial need. We told them to evaluate schools closely and plan accordingly. We knew we could swing UT and they either needed to get into schools that could be right in that range, or go to a state college. They busted their tails to do it and were sometimes asked why they worked so hard, but we were clear on what was possible at our income level. The next tier down would not have been feasible at all. Sometimes my kids friends told them they were sooo lucky we got financial aid which they found amusing because we certainly did not lead the lifestyle of those friends. They have not had luxuries or travelled. We have chosen to save and pay for their undergrad with sacrifices ourselves. They will be on their own and hopefully happy in a life and a plan after that! Fortunate indeed.
(it was amazing)