midwest mom9
What UMich program? DS applied to the Data Science program there and it was cancelled. Wondering if we will be hearing something too.
@Luanne He is doing the MMSS program. They said they were able to run some of the classes virtually, but not all of them - probably dependent on the instructor and topic.
S22 has had a full online curriculum. Some teachers post lectures every day, some just give assignments. He says it is easy but in some ways better because he can focus on the lectures. No exams, so school will end in 2 weeks Otherwise, he runs every morning, completes a soccer workout from his club coach, works out, plays piano and is online with his friends. Weāve been letting him see his girlfriend more, though still socially distancing. His club soccer team will get going in June, so at least he will have that activity. He is also looking forward to the DMV opening at some point so he can finally get his driverās license!
My son had a mother/son trip to NYC planned for later this month. That, obviously, is cancelled. He was also going to take classes on campus at the University of Alabama. That is still an unknown, but since term one has moved online and the university is aiming to bring back students in the fall, it looks like it is cancelled, too. He could still do the classes online, but he wanted the on campus experience. He is scheduled to take the ACT in Juneā¦I guess that is still on but will be still on. He has a prep class for that. We talked to him about what he wants to do, for what is now a wide open summer. He wants to take some online coding classes to help his robotics team and read. He has been biking a lot lately with his '24 sister. Frankly, I am fine with that. I wish things were different, but heās rolling with it (at the beginning he wasnāt). His school is still going. Their switch to online was and is not perfect. There are too many platforms and too many turn in times. But, he is managing it (we worked through a week of issues with his sister). If nothing else, he is learning how to manage his time and deal with this. His isnāt an easy schedule: Honors Physics, Honors Chemistry, and Honors Math.
@Rue4 It would be so annoying to have that B+ stand when it was likely she could have raised it to an A, but I guess it is what it is.
My daughter had one B+ at the end of third quarter because of the absence of makeup work that was to be turned in when she returned from Spring Break. Of course, they did not return and the district froze grades. There ARE 4th quarter grades though, and a policy that though one can improve oneās grade from 3rd quarter, students are guaranteed that the 4th quarter grade will, at minimum, equal the 3rd quarter grade. Many students have struggled with the online format, and there are a number of students without resources at home to facilitate completing the work. The district did give out a number of Chromebooks to students in need.
D22 has been absolutely miserable in the quarantine situation (which has been fairly loose in our location, relatively speaking.) She is a social creature. I homeschooled all my kids, but she is the one who insisted on public school starting in 5th grade. 
And, of course, no siblings at home so it was just her and her parents. She has done fine with the academics though and is plowing ahead to finish early. I mandated PSAT prep too, which she has done halfheartedly.
There was a fair amount of drama with my college senior as this whole thing was ramping up. Ultimately I flew across country to move her out of her dorm in NJ and quickly drove her belongings to NM where her adult sister lives. This is the daughter who has had various health problems this year and was pretty emotionally distraught by the whole thing. She is fine now, for the most part and done with her major assignments. College grad is online with an in-person ceremony scheduled for next spring, hopefully. I was sad about her senior year, but in some ways I think the seniors had the best case scenario. A lot of uncertainty for upcoming college classes.
I donāt really know what summer will look like here. Our state is one of those with low case counts and is opening up again. Our local economy has been hit hard on a few fronts. D22 had hopes of a coffee shop job but the one she had been talking to is cutting staff. An academic program would have been nice, but I am just not going to stress about that. Hopefully she can do a lot of healthy outdoor activity and volunteer work.
New to this forum. D22 is a deep thinker and enjoys school. Great grades, but a little light on ECs. Has a very strong interest in chemistry and had hoped to do a summer lab internship in forensics, but it was cancelled (isnāt everything?). Zoom school is ongoing, but even for her introverted spirit, the quarantine is getting old. Also have D16 who is graduating this spring with a BM, and supposedly heading to grad school in the fall (see my avatar), but she is a musician and the process is very different. Looking forward to meeting you and sharing this journey!
@songbirdmama , hi I recognize you from the music board, as my S18 is a music major. S22 loves piano but I thing that will be more of a minor in college and a lifelong habit rather than a career. Sorry about the internship. Isolation is wearing on my S22 as well. I think he plans a summer of doing nothing but spending more time with his girlfriend and his buddies. Our suggestions of volunteer work are so far falling on deaf ears.
@vistajay Hello! We live in the Philly area, and EVERYTHING is cancelled/closed/locked-down. Only volunteer opportunities are for food delivery, and D doesnāt even have her permit. D attends an all girls private school (sister went to a large public schoolādifferent schools for different personalities), and D22ās buds all live far and wide. Itās shaping up to be a long, lonely summer.
S22 had his first AP test yesterday (Physics 2), the only one for this year. Started out saying he felt pretty confident, then he realized he made a typo on one question (said bottom when he meant to say top), and now heās talking about how awful he did. The more and more he thought about it, the upset he got. Heās feeling better today. Apparently his teacher told the kids that One of the questions he got was one of the hardest questions.
Heās so bummed to have to wait till July for results!
@songbirdmama , hello and welcome. It will be interesting to see how this summer plays out.
@Lovetogolf , thanks for the AP report. I was hoping that people would share how that was going. My daughterās exam happens next week. I think she is overconfident, and am not seeing much prep going on.
Sophomore year work is officially done except for that AP exam. D22 cruised ahead with the online work to get done early. Another 4.0 year, so that is positive. Sheās put in some job applications and we will see how that plays out. Things are opening here, but businesses not hiring so much.
@GoodGrief16 My sonās AP on Monday (US Gov) went smoothly. I have no idea how well he did (I also thought he should have prepped more), but at least the uploading was OK. I have read lots of reports of problems with calc and physics - most seem to be with uploading handwritten work, especially from newer iPhones, and some issues with not having enough time to upload work in the 5 minutes. Poor kids and parents are not happy that their work wonāt count, and that they have to re-take the test in June (assuming the request will be approved). Good luck to your daughter, and all other students taking them!
I know the pandemic has thrown a curve, but is it too early to start college road trips? Will colleges have tours this summer? I can not imagine they will allow too many visitors in the fall, even if open and we certainly will have time on our hands for a day or overnight driving trip. Thoughts?
@songbirdmama Weāre hoping schools open in the fall for tours, I think this is summer is likely not going to happen. Fingers crossed for fall!
@goodgrief @midwestmom My son did not have any issues uploading his Physics test, but it wasnāt handwritten, maybe that made it easier?
Itās good to hear that the uploading is going okay for the AP exams. I guess we will see how it goes here. I have a feeling she will not want a second try in June if the upload fails.
@songbirdmama , who knows but I suspect formal college tours will be a no-go this summer.
@songbirdmama I have D21 and D22. We started tours the summer after freshman year for D21 and used spring break of her sophomore year for more tours. All my friends thought I was crazy for starting early, but thank goodness we did! We had 4 cancelled for this spring break and had 3 more aligned with summer travel plans. At least she already got the chance to visit some. D22 came along on 2- but neither were schools she would be interested in. They did help her realize she wants a much bigger school than D21 does. I hope we can visit again in the fall- though the logistics will be much more difficult to manage and chances are there is no way we will get to see all 7 we had planed on touring. For now, so many are offering virtual programs. Iāve had D22 listen in in a few.
We were planning on doing my ddās first university tours spring break, and that obviously never happened. She came along to a couple of tours seven years ago when her older sister was looking at colleges, but she was only nine.
She has finished her two AP tests. The European History exam went well. The AP Bio did not. She claims that the first question included a theme they had said it would not be part of the exam. Also, her teacher who is very much on the older side had a lot of difficulties adapting to the online teaching format and they were pretty much on their own. Everyone she knows claims they did pretty badly too.
This week she is busy putting together her band leadership application and doing school assignments. School finishes June 11th.
For the summer, she basically would like to vegetate if none of the things she loves are available. I signed her up for a couple of short online workshop style classes hoping that she may find something inspiring. She also has to finish the last 3 units of her Spanish 3 online course, and start driving lessons.
Similar nothing-to-do summer for S22. Signed him up for SAT prep via Varsity Tutors, figure he can work on his PSAT in his free time. PSAT will be in October. Still want something else for him to do though.
Our D took the AP Bio test yesterday as well. She felt pretty good about it, no problem with logistics. Weāll see. She had been accepted into a few summer programs at some colleges that she wanted to attend (to get the feel for college), but those are all online now. Weāre still considering those because she needs something to keep busy with.
School is out here. APUSH exam went well. S22 was concerned about the limited format but he felt well prepared. DMV and driving schools have reopened, so he can finally take his driving road skills test and get his full license this week. His summer is starting to look like the kind of summers I had as a teen: driving around and hanging out with friends and his girlfriend, training for cross country season, doing chores around the house, and working on his personal hobbies. Not so bad really.
A friendās twins were thrown off by a couple of questions on AP Bio too. My D22 only had AP World History, and that occurred today. She thought it went well, but does have a tendency to be overconfident 