That makes sense! 1/1 seems really unreasonable for having grades available, I think some schools even do finals after winter break. So I’m certain you are correct.
Our school’s first semester does not end until Jan. 20 so transcript could not go out until about a week after that when all of the teachers have submitted their grades. I’m guessing Feb 1 earliest. We can’t be the only HS with that kind of schedule so I’m guessing colleges do not expect those transcripts to show up until later.
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Thanks
Many colleges have Resume optional. I am not applying to any Ivy Leagues and I don’t think there is anything more to add than what’s already been captured in my common App. With that being said, any particular reason I need to add the optional Resume? Thanks
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Many schools with rolling admissions or an early deadline do a first read of the apps as they come in. The recommendations can be admit, deny, read/hold for 7th semester grades. When the grades are available, they are sent in by the counselors and admissions will review. Final grades are also sent to colleges and are reviewed for all admitted students.
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@CCagain I don’t really understand the resume, either. It seems like all that stuff is covered under the activities area in the common app.
I am leaning towards not submitting one as it would be one more document for AO to read unless I am strongly advised otherwise.
High Point I hear works with kids at their pace, builds them up.
I think an optional resume allows the student to highlight areas of interest or strength.
If you were promoted at a job, or learned to train others, if you have certain skills / volunteer work / travel/ foreign language /hobbies outside of school, that you wish to emphasize, a resume may do that.
This is not an unusual reaction by your D22. I had similar with my older kids.
Keep calm, it’s a process, she will come around. It’s still early.
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Hey y’all, I have a few questions about the Common App for any of you who have been down this road before (I know some of you are on your second or third go 'round). Posting here since you are my people here.
D22 has a GPA of 3.78 weighted through the end of junior year. I think it is around 3.53 unweighted. This is with .5 weighting for honors classes and 1.0 weighting for AP classes, so top students who have taken all honors and APs can have a 4.xx GPA. I think this is pretty standard?First question, on the Common App, is that a 4 point scale or a 5 point scale?
Second question, D22 is a little more focused this year and is taking 3 AP courses and one honors course. If (big if) she got all As she could have a 4.59 weighted. In the unlikely event that this occurred it would boost her overall weighted GPA quite a bit. I do want her to apply to some schools EA (there is a sizable scholarship for doing so at one school she’s interested in), which means those schools would only be able to look at her first quarter grades. How much, if any, impact do senior year grades, or first quarter/first semester senior grades have on admissions?
And I also have a question about listing a more unusual activity that she has done. She is interested in majoring in Creative Writing and has been writing since she was in elementary school. She has been mentored by a fairly well known author (award-winning, has published 20+ books for kids and adults, repped by Simon & Schuster). She has been part of a small writing group that this author has organized (just two or three kids for most of the time). I’m sure the author will write her a glowing recommendation, but I’m just wondering how to list this writing group as an activity? Does she just say something like “Writing Group with Well Known Author” for 8 years? Under the “other” category? I am thinking it would be good to mention it because it shows the depth of her interest. Thoughts?
You should list the GPA as being on a 4-point scale. I’m honestly not sure what they use these self-reported numbers for, so I wouldn’t worry too much. They are obviously going to refer to the transcript to get the most accurate and up-to-date info.
We are planning for my son to wait for RD round of applications. He had poor grades last year, however I think he has finally hit his stride. I am optimistic that this will be his best semester yet and if so, it will quite possibly impact his admission and merit aid. On the other hand, my D20 had grades similar to yours and she did all EA/ED and she went 3 for 3 on admissions and got some great merit aid.
Just FYI we had an adcom at a SLAC tell us the EA bump is a myth. The kids that apply EA tend to be stronger applicants (better grades, more organized/focused). It’s not any easier to get in early, nor do they offer more merit aid to them. YMMV of course.
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There are two safeties I would like her to apply to EA, not for the bump, but one just to have an acceptance in pocket and the other because there’s a $10-12k scholarship if she applies by Nov. Not wanting to leave that on the table!
Thanks for the advice on the 4.0 scale. I thought that was correct, but then I got confused.
We might wait for RD on the other schools depending on the details. I am hoping that a strong 1st quarter might have some impact in acceptances and merit.
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@Sweetgum – on the activity – name it something that explains what she did during this writing group. Limited characters means you need to be creative 
It’s good to mention, especially if she liked it. (Activities should be ordered in importance, etc.)
As for EA vs RD – we are currently aiming for all EA, but partly due to getting auditions scheduled. We found with our oldest it was easier getting most of the auditions done in the fall to limit weather issues and delays.
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I agree with @OrangeFish, come up with a descriptive name that gets at the crux of her writing workshop/circle thing. It’s an excellent activity! 1. she’s been doing it for a long time, 2. it directly speaks to how she’ll contribute to a college, 3. it’s cool! AOs see 1 million activity lists with the same activities and this is a unique and interesting activity that reveals a lot about your kid!
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I would love to see the schools your kids are planning on applying to. D22 is not super enthusiastic about any schools right now and I’m wondering if I’m missing some hidden gems that are good for B students. So far on her list, in no particular order, are:
• VCU
• UNC-Greensboro
• Hollins
and she was thinking about
• Mary Baldwin (but a couple of other people she respects have told her she could do better, which I appreciate because I don’t think it has a good program for her.)
I want her to look at
• Agnes Scott (she seems kind of interested)
• UNC-Asheville (not very interested)
I think now she is sort of interested in checking out schools that are farther away from NC and VA, but doesn’t have a good idea where to start (even though I have a spreadsheet of schools). I’d love to see some more mid-sized schools. I’m a little worried about LACs and SLACs feeling too small for her, but afraid that a big state university may be overwhelming coming from a small charter school.
If y’all want to post the schools on your kids’ lists that would be awesome! Hope you all are faring well through this process so far.
And @OrangeFish, @packacards, and @murray93 thanks for your answers to my questions and advice on the writing group. Much appreciated.
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Some mid sized schools farther away
Marist
UDayton
Xavier
Dickinson
Mercer
Stevenson
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Thanks @beebee3. Are those on your kid’s list?
We have a D23 coming up (we are big planners here and learned a lot with D20) and we started working on her list this summer. She has somewhat different criteria than your daughter, so there won’t be a ton of overlap necessarily (my daughter not looking at many midsize schools, and also not looking primarily on the east coast) but she does have Dickinson and UDayton on her preliminary list.
All the schools I listed we did some investigation on, even if they didn’t end up on either of my daughter’s lists.
D23 is planning on going test optional with her application, which has led us to do a lot more research on a bigger number of schools than many people might. Currently, she is leaning towards the west coast…so if your daughter decides she is more interested in going far away, I can share my daughter’s current favorites on the west coast. 
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Most of the schools S22 is applying to are small LACs, but a couple of mid-sized schools on his list are Elon and University of Denver. We visited Denver this summer and we both really liked it! Haven’t visited Elon. If it becomes a serious contender we’ll have to go check it out, he’s never been to NC.
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