I don’t remember any “autonomous zones” created in CA. Every location has its share of both natural and man-made problems and/or disasters.
I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
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Haha me too!! After August, I’ll be shifting my focus there for the twins 
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Good read in today’s NYT - imagine you can google if you don’t have a subscription: “When normal life stopped”: College essays reflect a turbulent year" by Anemona Hartocollis.
NYT received over 900 personal application essays from seniors when they asked for submissions and highlight 10 or so in this article. The essays are for all different prompts - article not specific - could be Common App essay, Covid section or additional school specific.
Article starts by stating - this year perhaps more than ever before, the college essay has served as a canvas for hs seniors to reflect on a turbulent and, for many, sorrowful year. It has been a psychiatrist’s couch, a road map to a more hopeful future, a chance to poor out intimate feelings about loneliness and injustice.
Some beautiful writing - in my opinion 
Proud of the HS Class of 2021.
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Lol, we also gave birth to the Green River Killer and Ted Bundy went to UDub!
I know…part of me wants this all to be over and another part of me is dreading the decisions and very real possibility of WL. The idea of not being accepted does not seem to bother me as much. D21 is not with me on this but I feel like once all the decisions are in make a choice and don’t mess with WL.
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No kidding. Of course a lot of it is going towards hiring extra readers and OT I’m sure but regardless they’ve definitely got to be making money and I wonder how much of it has to do with trying to make up for all the loses suffered last year.
I feel like this is a safe place to say that the UChicago forum is fascinatingly predictable. Every post seems to be derailed to the same topics of the greatness of the core, the admissions is the most selective, and their love/hate with the surrounding neighborhood. I know what is going to happen but I can’t stop myself from following the thread!!! 
I feel better getting this off my chest.
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but they always end in a train wreck! lol.
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My daughters Apush teacher went to UChicago for undergrad and she would always joke with the class how their slogan was “where fun goes to die”. I can’t help but wonder if she’s part of the reason they wouldn’t apply lmao. Also because it’s so close!
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What really attracts me to their forum is that they “write good,” incorporating eloquent quotes from the great philosophers. You just can’t get that anywhere else.
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S23 is already working on his essays. 
Please tell me you are joking.
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We have a S23 and D27 and this is our first rodeo! Can’t wait this to be over for S21 but like I told him, this will not be over until mid/late summer. We all have been reading NYT/WSJ articles, long WL’s and dynamic nature of WL are going to get real for some of us!
Your sophomore is working on actual college essays? Or just practice -essay-wrting in general, like for the college counseling office(our school has that requirement in 10th).
@skkm0906 whenever I am greeted with a paywall, I just search the title of the article in my search bar and, voila!
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Here we are from Mississippi and so easy to drive around. It is so pretty with green everywhere and my D is so interested in CA schools, mainly UCLA and USC. If she gets in and goes, it is going to a surprise and a shock for her when she reaches there.
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I mean going to be a surprise.
I am so addicted to whining here at Parents of HS class of 2021, I may have to adopt a child before it is time for S24!
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@anaray UCLA and it’s surrounding area is beautiful. Actually, most UC’s are amazing. The only exception is UC Riverside which is boring and reminds me of the Midwest and I’ve never been to Merced because it’s not a place I have on my list (but my cousin who went there said the campus is amazing, which I wouldn’t doubt since it’s new and shiny). USC surrounding is meh but then as someone who’s traveled around the world, I just tell my kinds to be mindful. I wouldn’t walk around the area at night but then, I wouldn’t be caught dead walking around Cincinnati at night, either.
Thank you for the information. Personally we never set our foot into USC or UCLA. We have been to UCB, which she is not crazy about. Is USC surrounding similar to that of UCB? If she gets into USC most likely she will go due to NMF scholarship unless she gets into any Ivy League schools. It will be interesting to see how that is going unfold.
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