Parents of the HS Class of 2022

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
1082

Re: liberal arts and engineering, I think it is worth checking out how each school handles them. Olin teaches some of its liberal arts themselves, but a great option is to cross enroll. She has taken three courses at Wellesley, which have been terrific. Another option is to pick a liberal arts college. Many now offer engineering, but I do not know how that experience would compare with somewhere more focused on engineering.

@MuggleMom: hello! My kiddo is a junior and has loved Olin. She has a great internship lined up for this summer and is looking forward to things opening up more this fall.

1083

Congrats to her!

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1084

Wow congratulations to your daughter, and to you! Being done w/ ACT/ SAT testing is huge. I totally get it! My D22 takes the SAT next Wednesday, so it will be a harsh reality for her as she is slacking on the studying for it.

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1085

Has anyone done any campus tours yet? We are going on 3 next weekend and so excited to get this process started. Just went through it with my D20. I actually enjoy all of it, except the nagging to get the apps done.

1086

Thank you! She might surprise you. I thought the same thing and actually sign her up for another test in April just in case and then she surprised us :slight_smile:

1087

We toured JMU and UVA last week. JMU was very accessible, admissions had a ton of information out and there were a lot of people on campus. UVA was a ghost town and very much on our own. We are planning two more weekends later this Spring. Pitt/Duquesne/WVU and then Temple & Villanova.

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1088

Good luck and have fun. We already done with all the tours. We were able to visit 5 universities without breaking any COVID rules and had so much fun. For us, not growing up in US, it is completely new process and very fascinating. We might go to Boston since we have 2 more we wanted to see, but they are long shot (reach) universities, so we probably going to wait and see if she gets in, before visiting.

1089

@DreamerMom Brag away! That is fantastic! Where is she thinking of applying?

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1090

Thank you!!! She is going for cyber security degree so we are looking at schools with separate cyber programs or large cyber centers. On her list: Purdue (first choice), UIUC, UofMD College Park, Georgia Tech, Northeastern, Florida Tech, U of Alabama Huntsville and MIT (this one is purely for my benefit).

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1091

@DreamerMom have you looked at the Security and Privacy concentration at CMU? If the rest of her stats match her ACT score CMU may be an option.

1092

Thank you for mentioning it. We did consider CMU for a brief moment, but then realized that they had some age related restrictions for students living in the dorms under 17 (which she will be 16.5). We probably could’ve tried, but coupled with low admission rate and possibly nonexistent merit, decided against it.

1093

My son came home and was a little worried because of the same thing. They said it counted, but when I looked it up I don’t think it did. They were each given different sections within the room. My son got Math, but others got Reading. They did not tell him it was experimental and told him they were going to count some of the answers.

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1094

@DreamerMom I think UNC-Charlotte has a cyber security option too if you haven’t already checked that out. Congrats on the 36 ACT — that is impressive!

@AgeofAquarius that is definitely not my DD’s area of interest, but here in NC, NCSU is a pretty good school for that sorta thing.

My dd22 is thrilled with her 28 ACT and doesn’t plan to take any more tests. I’m fine with that. She is focused on Creative Writing. She got a 36 on the reading portion, and a 30-something on the English. I can’t remember exactly and don’t have the scores handy. She did okay on Science and not so great in Math as expected. She is not a Math kid, but that’s okay. She did find the English and Reading super easy and that is what she is interested in studying.

She is really interested in going to university in the UK right now. It is surprisingly not that expensive compared to private schools in the US. It will be a little more than in-state tuition in North Carolina, but on par with the private schools and out of state schools she is planning on applying to. Tuition is around $17000 - $25000. Sometimes the accommodation is included, sometimes it is separate. Depends on the uni.

She will apply to some different schools here in the US too, but she is not that thrilled with any of them. We are sending her to a writing camp at Hollins this summer which she is looking forward to so I am hopeful that might spark a little more interest in going to college at Hollins in case she gets cold feet about the UK or it doesn’t work out for whatever reason. She has a friend who is a year older who has been accepted at Hollins this fall. I’m also going to have her look at Roanoke College on the front or back end of the writing camp week.

I don’t mind her going to the UK at all, but just worry about her getting homesick and not being happy. She’s pretty good at advocating for herself and I wouldn’t call her shy, but she is a bit of an introvert and it could be a difficult transition into a whole different culture, but that is a huge part of the appeal for her too. I could see her making friends right away at Freshers week or being too nervous and feeling like she made a mistake. I don’t want to project anything on her, though, so am keeping my counsel for now. We are hoping to get over to the UK when the COVID travel restrictions lift over there, ideally that would be in August when she has time off from school, but we may have to look at winter break instead if things aren’t happening that soon. She needs to get her AP scores, but the 28 ACT should be fine for all the UK unis she is looking at.

And OMG she is soooooo done with online school. Luckily it is her Spring Break next week and the week after she goes back in person for one week on (with masks and social distancing) and then one week remote.

And we all got our first round of vaccines, so it is feeling like there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

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1095

We haven’t done any tours. The places closest to us aren’t offering them right now and S22 has zero interest in walking around on our own. We are hopeful that this summer we can do a few visits. Have fun on your visits!

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1096

My DS will potentially be looking at UK schools as well. We’ve been looking at US schools via virtual tours and info sessions (which frankly all sound the same to me). Is there anything comparable to explore UK schools?

1097

We will all be done with second vaccinations by mid-April. If colleges open for tours our D will be on many campuses this summer. Tentative plans for an east-coast tour followed by a south and central tour.

1098

@christinelin, yes you can do virtual tours of many UK schools. Just dive into their websites. The system is a lot different than the US system. You go straight into your major with no gen ed classes. Different tuition for different majors and 3 years in England and Wales and 4 years in Scotland (not sure about N. Ireland).

The NACAC virtual college fairs have UK universities participating, too. You can filter by “international”. I’m never sure what I can link on here and what I can’t but it’s just “virtual college fairs . org” (no spaces).

Also check out “study across the pond” which is a free service that helps place North American students in one of about 40 different UK unis. They will help walk you through the process of filling out the UCAS app and everything. I found them linked off some of the university websites themselves. Legit organization.

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1099

This is great info. Thanks!

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1100

I just looked up the virtual college fairs and there is one tomorrow afternoon. You might check it out if you don’t have other plans. My dd22 did some in the fall and got to talk to a few reps from different universities.

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1101

My kid is booked, but I hope to make it.

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