Wow, that is terrible. Those parents should be ashamed of themselves!
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Thatâs great, I didnât know there was someone else on here going to CU! 
What is her major? D21 is currently Environmental Science but she is wavering a little bit.
I had heard somewhere Boulder was going to have a huge freshman class but maybe they donât have the numbers they thought they would so they are giving away more money?
I was happy because I had been kicking myself for having her send her SAT scores. Other kids we know with slightly better SAT scores but lower grades/class rank/ecâs got the merit right off the bat. I know it isnât a ton of money and we said yes anyway, but I was annoyed thinking maybe she would have had a chance at it if she had gone TO.
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Sheâs interested in Linguistics. She couldnât take the SATs, so submitting or not submitting them wasnât a decision we had to make.
I havenât actually heard about the size of next yearâs freshman class, but I am curious how theyâve dealt with making room for both students who are coming in after a deferral and a new group of HS graduates.
Now comes the waiting for housing assignmentsâŠ
Itâs complicated, and not a good situation. My younger daughter doesnât call it cheating of course, she prefers to say âreferring to your notes.â she is a sophomore at a HS that went back hybrid. We saw it play out when she failed her first math test when she was back in the classroom. She couldnât ârefer to her notes.â She said some kids chose to stay home that day so they could take the test from home. I wonder how this will play out for her next year in AP Calc?!
My kidâs school has encouraged kids to stay virtual if they donât feel well, have been travelling, etc. Well, letâs just say, there are also a lot less people in person on exam days⊠Most teachers have adjusted to this, giving final projects instead of exams
DS is taking an online course at a regional university, the next state over. Almost 3/4 of the class cheated on the last exam. And this is not an intro course, itâs Differential Equations, so you would think anyone taking that would actually need to learn it for their major?
In the case of our school, kids are staying home on exam days because school is now very loud - with open windows, all classroom doors open and different schedules - there is always some movement in the hall with different grades coming and going. I think kids are choosing to stay home on exam day or even for that specific class, if they have access to quiet study/test space.
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Logging in and attendance is definitely not an issue here - at all.
@2Devils Yuck mandatory and weekend practice exams? What about kids who play sports? Mine was gone all day yesterday from 7:30 until after 5 for a Quad. I couldnât imagine him then having to do a mandatory AP practice. Have barely seen him today other than the few tax return questions I had for him.
@cmublue Yep. You nailed it. A lot of parents donât know what is going on, some know way too much what is going on. Teachers canât really call the kids out without âproofâ but they know it. I have a whiny neighbor with only a hs freshman complaining to me all the time about the kids who have continued to stay at home and how their grades will be so much better for âcollegeâ etc. I told her to only worry about her kid and her kid being in school and thatâs all she can do about it. The teachers DO know and are aware. Our district has hired so many interventionists, where I work theyâre having to do summer bridge programs, etc. It is going to bite a lot of these kids in the butt next year, whether itâs college or high school. Our hs only went back full time after Spring Break and kids couldnât be happier for those who are back. Some physically couldnât be back for a variety of reasons. I donât know which kids have had grades go down or not at my sonâs school. It hasnât impacted him at all, being remote or in person. I think tbh itâs just time to get back in person before the attenion spans for everyone is gone on remote. Anyone who chooses remote AP exams by choice IMO isnât taking an easier option either. 3 hours of a remote exam. That is brutal.
@Aguadecoco It is terrible but some parents will do anything they can if they think it gets their kids ahead.
@annegp You got it. Some really good professors (this is happening in college too) and teachers have allowed all to use their notes whether in person or remote. This has actually worked out well because strong students know you still have to study even when something is open note. You donât just have unlimited time to look something up and when youâre not prepared it shows. So, if they make everything open note but set a time limit, you spend too much time looking things up, etc. and ultimately run out of time. Someone who studies and prepares for an open note test, is ready for it and doesnât rely on their notes as well. Itâs good that your younger daughter learned that early, but this is exactly what I mean above by teachers knowing this too. They arenât all that stupid. Some really are that stupid and some just donât care unfortunately. But for those that care, they will make note of it. Our high school for all math classes required 2 devices during remote be on students at all times during assessments. It was brutal for the kids. They had to have one device on their desk area while taking the assessment and then the device showing their face/front during the assessment. They had more success than other classes, and using lockdown browers helped, but there are still ways around it.
@Zinnia203 The school I work at has much lower attendance on Thur/Fri because thatâs test days. However, after spring break they went back to 5 days in person and if you were in person then you had to come every day. Same with our high school. You couldnât just pick and choose when to show up. So if you were doing that, you then would be booted to remote only and couldnât participate in other things. Generally the school has good attendance now. But for us, Mondays are always remote and asynchronous, the next 2 weeks are AP days and the last 2 weeks for Seniors. Grades are done for the most part. I think mine said there is nothing left. If you have an AP class then you donât have a Final exam. So I think as Iâm typing I realized, my kid is officially done with all high school coursework. Just the remaining AP Exams and thatâs it and the rest of his sports season which doesnât end until June and some chill time.
Mom on the other hand is stressed with trying to get two girls packed up to return home, watching airfares go through the roof for one who has to leave again on June 1 and trying to figure out a mini long weekend vacation in July but almost just happy to want to sit on my butt while I have the summer off and no more high school or college applications. As my one kid is applying for grad school she is on her own, lol and was already told she would be accepted. I donât even know what that app entails and happy I donât know!
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School sports are canceled for the mandatory weekend tests(they are for all AP kidsâŠso D21 has 4 and my â23 has some too), and I guess if you have another obligation you make them up? I am not sure!
Hereâs to all the 2021s being almost done!!
There are 3 AP administrations this year so maybe they have them making up in relation to those administrations? But they must do something youâd think for people with religious reasons too. No differently than the ACT having Sunday testing etc. But so interesting how itâs done differently everywhere. Mine has two this week and then during the second administration 2. The teachers let the class choose when they wanted to take them as a whole. There are some that are only in person and not sure if theyâre even offering them remotely at his school. I stay out of that wheelhouse as much as possible.
Youâre totally right: my google search failed me and I wasnât reading closely enough. Oh well. Guess Iâll just wait and see what our tax person says way down the road. We wouldnât let her even try to withdraw it for several years, after weâre 100% certain that she wonât need it for grad school. I sense a long, meandering path before she figures out what she really wants to âbeâ when she grows up. Which is just fine.
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Yes, we live in Los Angeles and my son got his license last November, but because of the strict lockdown here heâs had nowhere to drive for over a year. Youâre supposed to have 50 hours of driving experience with a parent before getting your license, but my son only had the 10 hours of experience with the professional driving instructor (which doesnât count towards the 50 hours) at the time he got his license. Weâre still keeping track of his driving hours with me and heâs about to hit the 25 hour mark now that things have opened up. I have not let him drive alone yet because heâs still too inexperienced. Driving on the freeway with him is so nerve-wracking because of all the lane changes needed to switch freeways and the traffic is back now in LA. He rock climbs at a gym thatâs about a 50 minute drive with traffic and 3 different freeways so is gaining a bunch of experience right now. Iâm hoping he hits the 50 hour mark before he leaves for college (where he wonât have a car). So yeah, I wouldnât feel comfortable with a brand new driver from out of state driving in LA!
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They do the required final as a practice exam before APs every year, and there is very little flexibility. Just how the school works, and many schools around here do similarly(weekend tests). Each classroom teacher has chosen the AP date from the first 2 dates. No class has the 3rd national AP date. The final exam(weekend AP practice test) is one set weekend day about 10-12days before the set AP date. Kids say an illness is the only thing that would change it to a different day, but I agree I bet religion could too. The school has a >90% pass rate on APs and some classes are essentially all 4&5 results so they take it very seriously(kids too!) .
Right that is probably where I read it
We cancelled all AP tests. They donât get her anything useful at Colgate. Prom was this weekend - photos with friends, a few hours outside on the football field with music and other entertainment, dinner out at a nice restaurant and then off to a lake house. Itâs all downhill from here. School work lightening up. Graduation in two weeks.
Things opening up here too. Part of prom was supposed to be a cruise on Lake Michigan and that had to be cancelled but then Lightfoot changed some restrictions very recently so the boat is back on! Prom number two! Lol! I doubt the kids will dress up again. The boys certainly are not going to go back out and rent tuxes again. But super fun surprise and additional tradition saved for the 2021 kids.
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S21 just left for AP Gov test, I did tell him he didnât have to take itâŠbut he is going to give it a try. He needs a 5 for credit, so unlikely to happen.
He also has AP Calc tmr, on that test he needs a 4 or 5 for credit.
Good luck to all the AP test takers the next few weeks!
@homerdog So good to hear that the boat prom is back on, woot!
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That might have been me. I heard through a friend the class will be bigger, but I donât think it will be so much bigger that it causes you problems. He made it sound like a few hundred kids bigger, and they had it managed. I hope that helps.
Our prom isnât until early June and we always had a huge after party. They havenât announced details about prom yet, but now all of a sudden they just announced the after party is ON! The prom is outside I think on our football field for seniors only, no outside guests, or juniors, etc. My son could care less and of course doesnât want to dress up, but, thatâs what the girls voted for, naturally. The after party is super casual, etc all night long, so Iâm hoping even if his group of friends doesnât go to prom they will head over for the after party. It is a blast and they have tons of giveaways and such. Iâm happy to not have to rent a tux, deal with pictures and all that nonsense and Iâm so happy itâs after graduation which is in only 3 weeks.
We were talking last night and as he took a break from studying for the Physics Mechanics AP test (noon today) for dinner, I said I canât believe heâs done in 2 weeks. I donât think he can either. In some ways, this year has really gone fast. In other ways, not so much.
We made it through is the bottom line.
@Mwfan1921 Itâs so hard on them IMO to have an early morning AP exam on a Monday especially. Next Monday even worse since Motherâs Day is Sunday. Iâm so out of it I asked mine if he still has to go to school all week, lol. He replied something like âyes mom, itâs a normal week other than when I have my 2 this week and then the rest in 2 weeksâ. Lol. Chem I think he said is Friday am so review all week in that class. Oh joy. The good news is for him is that after originally thinking he would need a 5, he now only needs a 4 and theyâve covered all the material and heâs done very well. He should, his father was a Chem major, so he has those genes. Fortunately, he did not get my science genes. Mechanics weâll see how that goes. His brother did well, his sisters who really didnât study and had really checked out in that class, did not. Being the only girls also didnât help.
@AlwaysMoving I would think one issue with Boulder is that it is an outrageously expensive state school that other than a few programs isnât as highly regarded as some other public schools and they just donât give a lot of merit. It also unfortunately still has that huge party reputation and is easier to get into than other state schools. They also arenât really that generous for merit so in a year where kids are looking for merit or may have better and less expensive options, that could hurt a school like Boulder as far as OOS students. I know from here they canât attract the top students. There is no interest from our district whatsoever. Now if they offered them full rides maybe they would consider but for the students that usually go, the reputation of the school sort of trumps the reputation of the program and some donât want to be lumped with the other kids that go there. Simple snobbery I guess you can say. Only later do some realize maybe they shouldâve considered it. Beautiful school.
@AlwaysMoving It might have been here, or I might have seen it on the parentâs page. Either way I am just happy to get any extra merit money.
Our prom was cancelled a while ago. A few kids/moms decided to rent out a hotel ballroom and make their own prom which in turn caused a bunch of problems in town because only certain kids were invited, they were probably way over whatever the gathering limit was, they had no masks, etc. My D21 had no interest in that one, not her group of friends. She is going to a âpromâ party next week, just about 15-20 friends who will dress up, take pictures then have a small get together at the house of a girl who lives on the water.
The past few weeks D has been trying to find a dress she likes and couldnât find anything. I told her yesterday that she didnât really have any more time. I went to my closet and handed her three formal dresses I had just so she could try them to see which style might be best - she ended up loving an old, simple but formal dress I had worn to a function back in 2002!
She has AP Gov exam today, Iâm not sure about the rest of her schedule. I asked her if she was allowed to skip any and she said probably but she was going to do them all anyway, even the ones she is sure she wonât pass. 
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No prom here, but the some kids are having âpromâ parties and S is going to 3 of those.
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From our Dallas area HS, CUâs admitted student stats are similar to Oklahomaâs but CU would have more cache due to cool location and better overall ranking. However, itâs nearly $40K for OOS tuition and little merit. OU, as well as Arkansas and Alabama which are lower ranked, state on their websites how much merit theyâll provide at different test score and GPA levels. Many can get the $$ down to Texas in-state rates. Itâs interesting that an Alabama AO came to our campus and said not to expect big scholarships and theyâre like Arkansas (#4 school for us) in that they donât give a bunch of aid. Just trying to get people used to less merit unless theyâre top students.
Around CUâs #103 ranking, you also have the UC schools (Merced and Santa Cruz) which are more expensive OOS. Oregon is also close to CUâs level of $38K+ while Arizona is $37K but apparently gives a lot of aid. #103 USF is only $17K for OOS tuition. The Florida school tuition rates are amazing. Do they all feature some online courses to save money like U of Florida does?
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