Parents of the HS Class of 2021 (Part 3)

Not just the course catalog, but the schedule of classes being offered. Sometimes ‘special topics’ courses will be offered on a short-term basis that are not specifically listed in the catalog.
Also, how small is your daughter’s school? I agree that with large schools reading the whole course catalog is probably not realistic.

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Books turned in, last day of school came and went last week, senior sunset in the books, I had an outdoor party for about 40 seniors, took formal pix of them like a reg grad on Sunday since grad was split up among the group, and voila…they all officially graduated last night.

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Thanks so much for the good advice. Her school is small and she has spent days reading over the catalog. I also see an unexpected benefit of this process is that it is getting her to connect with the registrar and faculty early and advocate for herself before getting there.

The replies this am have helped quell my concerns. They always seem worse first thing in the am pre-coffee. I so appreciate this group!

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It’s called Coursicle.

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She attends a SLAC, student population ~2000.

And yes, I agree, really going over the schedule of classes being offered is also a great help. Also, feel free to contact professors if you are interested in a class but cannot fit it into your current semester schedule. In my daughter’s experience, professors will let you know if/when they plan to offer that class again to better help you plan for future semesters. They may also recommend other classes you didn’t know were on the horizon.

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Or, in the case of a really small school/department, they might offer to change the time to fit your schedule. That’s actually happened to my D19 twice so far in one of her major departments. The professor will poll everyone already registered and find a time that still works for them, but also for my daughter. It’s been above and beyond- both times it was the professor’s idea.

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You begin to wonder - when will this all end :slight_smile: As if 2021 Admissions hasn’t been enough. Time to enroll in Meditation classes. Go directly from the various bars.

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Do you mind sharing the class tour D took and major? Just curious!

Well, since this is my third rodeo I can confirm that soiling the nest happened way before 2020/2021 struck :wink: But yeah, it just adds to the fun, doesn’t it??

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Good point on the financial aid appeals. Just one more anomaly to consider. Putting myself in admissions shoes though, if I’m worried about one thing, it’s internationals. A place like Northwestern gets 200 internationals/year. If 100 of them reside abroad, it’s entirely possible that the majority of those 100 won’t be able to get over through some combination of visa issue, travel restrictions due to new variant and lack of vaccine access.

Schools can manage waitlist trickle downs, financial aid appeals, double deposits over the next two months. And as painful as it is, applicants can too. What they can’t manage is what could happen to 5% of their enrollment a few weeks before classes start.

And I think this is a big reason we’re seeing schools hold on to waitlists with little to no movement to date. This could have far ranging impacts on the financial state of many schools. Large state flagships and the most selective private schools will have no problem solving a late July/August under enrollment crisis. They can woo enough students quickly. The other schools will be left holding the bag. In my area, Missouri and WashU and Missouri S&T will be fine. The other Missouri publics and even a school like SLU (very international dependent + selective but not incredibly so) will struggle.

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Yep. It’s called soiling the nest, and it’s a thing.

ETA - apparently I should have read the entire thread before posting!

Yes, they will. My daughter has had the same experience, as well as being offered a private tutorial for a course that wouldn’t ever work for her 4 year schedule, so the professor offered to teach it to her one-on-one at a mutually agreed upon time. We, too, have found it has been above and beyond.

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Wow! Just wow. So generous.

Georgia Tech has 10 percent of its first year class as international which is roughly 350 kids. As a strong state school they can likely find kids in late July and August who can be there immediately but not so easy for most. My thought is this is why they are holding onto their waitlist as well.

Happy to report that my S survived the double calc/physics AP day and is headed to Universal Studios today for a day off. He has another week and a half and yes, with finals, but it’s downhill from here. :tada:

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It really varies by region and how embassies are operating in those countries.

The embassy in my neck of the woods is limited but still processing student visas, giving priority to students who have a start date in the next 60 days.

Having said that, there are other regions that from my understanding are a mess. India would be a concern, and thats certainly a country that sends out a high number of students to American universities.

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Thanks for all the support from everyone about last Friday’s misadventure. Soon after I posted about it here the teacher involved texted the students an apology…a rather stiff and curt apology IMO but he did say he was in the wrong. So that is in the rear view mirror.

Graduation today!!! Outdoor, not-distanced stadium seating (everyone wanting to be vaccinated has probably had the chance). The kids marched in masked but were allowed to unmask after being seated (the seats were spaced…maybe not six feet, but no crowding). Amazing how normal I am able to feel compared to just a few weeks ago! Very humid day…made mid-eighties seem like mid-nineties but I’ll take it! D didn’t want the fuss of a graduation party but will go to a few in the coming weeks. Lunch afterward at an outdoor eatery, home for personalized ice-cream cake. BF came over for awhile and now they went back to spend some time with his family.

D got the job she interviewed for Saturday and already had a training and a day of job shadowing…will work tomorrow and Saturday. So that just fell on her lap and came together quickly…how fast life can change…from almost constant isolation for 1+ year to a job at a popular eatery where she’ll be working most days alongside a couple of good friends. For now, all customer contact will be through an order window. The interior is a cute olde-fashioned ice cream parlor/deli so no crowded fast-food ambiance either.

The icing on the cake is an email from W&M announcing pre-orientation adventure trip options for August! All students have to be vaccinated to do it, so I hope that means no masking required in most situations. So thrilled she will have a chance to do this! Options are Appalachian backpacking, canoe and camp, bicycle and camp, and beach camping/surfing/stand-up paddle boarding. The two water options would be for her…she thinks hiking is great, but not carrying a heavy pack! Her dad is a avid cyclist and hasn’t been able to win her over to it in all these years…even though we have one of the longest rails-to-trails bike paths in the US running though our town. I think it’s because we live in the middle of a very long, very steep hill, and her memories of bicycling all end with pushing that bike… Up,up, up the last exhausting mile before collapsing at home🥵

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

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Congratulations to your daughter and to you!

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Thanks, @Creaky!

Congratulations! Let us know which trip she ends up picking, they sound like a lot of fun.

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