Just visited Xavier, Butler, Indiana U, Miami Ohio, and Univ of Dayton. Son really liked all of them. Left some reviews on the “Colleges that Moved up” thread if anyone is interested. Some of these are great schools for kids in this range.
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Look at UNH, too. Beautiful, traditional NE campus, lots of things to do on campus and close by. Lots of majors for undecided student to choose from once there. They had special sessions during orientation just for those who were undecided.
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We visited Xavier (recommendation from a post), Miami Ohio and Univ. of Dayton. My husband and I loved all three. My son thought Miami Ohio was in the middle of nowhere. He liked Xavier and Univ of Dayton quite a bit.
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S did a virtual info session at Ithaca and I logged on as well. We were both favorably impressed. There were some interesting programs I had not seen elsewhere. I am going to have him do a virtual visit at Oberlin as well (complete long shot), but then I feel we will have hit all the liberal arts colleges with really strong music programs.
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Yay! First acceptance today, notified by an update on the portal. 
I am glad he has his first acceptance so early. It eases the anxiety levels all around.
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Congrats! I bet it feels good for you, too! Do you care to share where he got in? Still trying to get D22 to do her first app here. I think she wants to look over stuff on the Common App together this weekend.
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Congratulations. I think S20’s first two acceptances were UAz and ECU. Both broke the ice and put smiles on his face. It made it easier to start the long wait for other decisions.
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@Sweetgum and @EconPop – his acceptance is at Roanoke. He loved the campus when we visited and is a big fan of the location in the mountains. (“It’s not huge like Virginia Tech.”)
We have a looooong wait for other notifications.
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Nice! We drove by there the other day and got some bubble tea! We were doing a little road trip to Staunton to see a friend who goes to Mary Baldwin U. MBU has fallen off D22’s list (they don’t have her major), but we wanted to go see the friend anyway. Staunton is such a cute little town. I wish the school fit her better. (It’s perfect for the friend who is getting a masters in Shakespeare). We went through Roanoke to stop and charge our Chevy Bolt and detoured over to Salem to do a drive-by of Roanoke College and find the bubble tea shop. I like the cities of Roanoke and Salem. That area has got a lot going for it.
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That is awesome! My S plans to apply to Roanoke as well!
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Hallelujah school has finally clicked with S! He is working like I’ve never seen before and I think he may end up with all A’s this semester. This is in stark contrast to the B’s and C’s he got the other three years of high school.
For this reason we are holding off on applications to be sure colleges see the change on his transcript… My question is, should this be addressed anywhere in the common application — in the “other comments” section? I wish there were a reason for it other than maturity, but there is not, although I suppose covid could explain last year’s dip. His GC loves him, so the thought crossed my mind to have her say something? But I guess I’m not sure what would even be said.
My other question is S is involved in an activity where there is typically a lot of guidance and instruction from a teacher but for various reasons, there is not this year. He is doing an incredible job and putting in an enormous amount of time leading this group. His group even earned an award this weekend and again, there is typically a paid teacher providing lots of technical guidance. How can this he shown in the application? I will definitely have a teacher who is familiar with his work write a recommendation, but is there anything else he can do to clarify what an exceptional job he has done?
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These are things he can add in his essays. The activity where he is showing leadership and keeping the momentum going for the group is something colleges want to have on their campus. After dealing with Covid pausing normal activities last year, it is great to see his resilience and engagement! Yay!
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Thank you, that is a wonderfully positive spin. I just saw that there is a 650 word “additional info” section in the common app so I will have him put in more detail there. He has given lessons over the summer, spent hundreds of hours studying his craft online… The 50? words he gets in the activities section just doesn’t do it justice.
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@murray93 – I think adding in specifics in the Additional Information section and having the school counselor address the difference this year would pair nicely together. It would also likely address the maturity issue with his grades at the same time. Congrats to him for everything coming together now!
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I also have a question about the activities section, too. D22 has been pretty active in theater (as COVID allows — canceled shows last year). She is not interested in majoring in theater though. She has had big roles in several productions. Would you list the productions separately or just say something like “lead roles in 5 productions” (or however many it was)? We’re thinking the latter, but just thought I would run it past y’all since you are our people.
She doesn’t have that many activities. Doesn’t have “cured cancer” or “on the Olympic team” on her list. She’s got theater, writing, literary magazine, her job, and animal shelter. And I think that might be it. She also does some upcycling of clothes and embroidery that she sells. Should she add that too? Or is that too much of a stretch?
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Most college admissions officers I have seen present have said 4 to 5 ECs and combined with a job is great. They want to see true involvement, not just showing up at a meeting. She can keep theater under one entry. She can also upload a resume that could highlight more things about her entrepreneurial spirit or write about it in an essay if relevant. The resume should not regurgitate the same info but add more depth or context.
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I would put it as a single activity. She has a nice list!
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@Pathnottaken and @murray93 Thanks for your comments on the activities list. I think we will keep it as one thing and list the number of productions. Appreciate the feedback.
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Maybe this would be a good topic for his essay, how he’s taken ownership and led this group without much guidance and what they’ve accomplished.