By open campus, do you mean Senior Off (that’s what we call it) where you have an off period/no class and can leave early/come late?
If so, then that’s pretty common in our area. My kids are above this gpa range and are in all AP/Honors classes, but both my twins are taking advantage of having off periods in their schedules for 12th grade. I kind of feel like they deserve the break lol and it’s not going to make any difference for their college apps/acceptances. They both are in marching band and they both are holding down part time jobs.
Open campus is leaving school early (to go work at the grocery store or other school-arranged employment).
My son and I decided this morning that he would go see the counselor himself to re-do his schedule.
It is pretty ridiculous because he has been in choir for 3 years and all of a sudden, no choir? He also does not like to drive and does not have a vehicle so how is he going to leave school to get to this job? And working at a grocery instead of taking a full senior schedule? No freaking way.
The no choir thing is odd. And I would email the GC to let them know he does not have a car so getting to and from a job co-op during the school day is not going to work well.
I am the odd one out who is letting my senior be a bit lax in his senior schedule.
I am allowing my son to make some choices for next year too regarding classes and intramurals. For example, he told me he is not taking a fourth year of a foreign language. I agreed to it. He told me he only wants to do Cross Country/Fall (his favorite ) and not do winter/spring track. He wants to give his body a break senior year and work instead to make money for college. Told him no problem. So you are not the only one.
Hi there, thanks for starting this thread! I’m not sure exactly where S23 will end up. We’re waiting for weighted/unweighted GPA and class rank to be released and I have not tried to calculate. This year he is doing very well, but pandemic schooling went poorly.
He’s very interested in being a vet, but not selling down and researching programs yet.
So, we did two school visits in Philadelphia yesterday. The first was at St. Joseph’s University which is in suburban Philadelphia. It’s a Philadelphia address but about a 15 minute drive/train into the center of the city. Beautiful leafy green campus with old stone buildings. You park at the admissions house in a little parking lot (welcome since even though it’s a suburban environment the streets around the campus are very busy) and we walked into a beautiful Victorian house, were greeted by a perky young lady who gave us a folder and free SJU baseball cap. The admissions office is beautiful and has an art gallery attached to it. We are not really Catholic (I’m catholic but was not raised religious. We attended an Episcopal church for a few years because I liked the rector, but stopped going when he was transferrred. So D23 is not religious at all.) I told her the school was Catholic, but Jesuit, and the expectation was that it would be inclusive and in line with our values, if a little religious. Which it was! Really good admissions presentation plus video about the school. There were about 20 of us in the room, they divided us into 2 small groups. The presentation was very nice and hit on diversity and inclusion and their efforts on campus. We had a very sweet tour guide who hustled us around the campus. It’s a really nice campus - not too big, not too small, everything in good repair. We were not allowed to go in the dorms but went in the business building, the dining hall, the library. Gorgeous library! I really liked it because it’s a smaller school (4500 ish undergrad) and I think D23 would get a lot of personal attention and they would really push her to grow. Alas, D23 thought the campus was pretty but not what she wants. She also did find the school too religious for her, there are a ton of pictures of the Pope everywhere (he visited in 2015) and some religious statues. There are some core theology classes and the guide said you can study any religion in them. I want to be clear that I don’t think the school is pushing Catholicism in any way - just living the values - and that if you’re a Catholic kid you probably wouldn’t even notice. But we are just too agnostic so I guess this cuts out every Catholic college in America for D23. That narrows the pool, eh? I was glad we went though-I really wanted to show her that kind of beautiful, contained campus, with a focus on the whole person. She just does not want it and now I know she’s making an informed decision.
Then we went to Drexel which is in the city proper of Philadelphia. 14,000 undergrads. I have read a lot of negatives about the neighborhood but I thought it was great! Lively, beautiful buildings, lots of spots to eat, lots of cute outdoor spaces for studying/meeting. Very close to the Philly train station which would be super convenient for us since we are in NJ. Very diverse students. There were about 60 people there for tour/presentation. The main building is beautiful and old-fashioned if a little down at the heels. For Drexel, we had to fill out a health form online first and then be masked for the tour. We checked in and they led us like a squad of ducklings from the main building to another building for the admissions presentation. The video didn’t work. The room smelled like exhaust to me. The admissions rep did a good job rolling with the tech issues and was entertaining. She explained their coop program which lets students do paid internships during their time at Drexel. That means that instead of two semesters they have quarters, and they go to school year round so no long summer break. She talked about some of the Philly partners students can work with - and that they can also do coop in other countries. There is a Coop 101 class that coaches kids on creating a resume and interviewing. Then they divided us into 2 groups of 30 each and took us out to see the campus. We were lucky in that it was a GORGEOUS day. I thought the buildings were beautiful. Drexel has a lot of space in what felt like a walkable area. Our tour guide showed us a dorm and a dorm room - very nice. D23 would rather be in Boston than Philadelphia but she really liked Drexel, could imagine herself there, it is the urban atmosphere/diverse mix of kids/pre-professional focus that she is looking for. I would be happy if she added it to her list since Philadelphia is only 90 minutes drive/an easy train ride from where we live. Of course, it is ridiculously expensive so…we’ll see. But I can see her thriving there.
All in all it was a fun day. I had a really hard time finding the Drexel parking garage…I don’t know why as we were using GPS but with one way streets and some construction we had to circle it three times before we could enter. So that was funny. We went to a cute French restaurant called Louie Louie after the tour and I had an aperol spritz because it was a hot day and we had some appetizers before getting on the road home. It was a good experience.
I’m not a parent of a class of '23 student, but i always love following the 3.0-3.4 threads as they seem much more down-to-earth and have so many heartwarming stories.
@2plustrio. My college roommate is Jewish, but not religious and her daughter goes to another Jesuit school - Loyola in Baltimore and they all love it. I feel like it could go in the stupidest reasons for rejecting a college thread…when you reject a Catholic school for having too many pix of the Pope!
Thanks for your review. I’m a big fan of Jesuit schools and would like my S23 to consider SJU. I know someone there who needed accommodations and extra help and he is thriving.
I remember when a 3.0-3.4 would be “easy” for you to get admitted to public school in state and bordering states. Now it feels so hard! My son does well but struggles with a few things. Alg 2 this year is quite hard, and he plans to major in computer science. Competitive program and he’s quite particular about the schools he’s open to. Good options and realistic ones I think, but I’m still nervous for him.
Don’t need math??? Even if they have what they need to graduate, the more math they take, the better they will do in the long run. Even if they have to take math in college, they will do better and get to a higher level of math.
I’m shocked my D23 is taking 2 math classes next year - Honors Calc and Statistics. The Honors Calc is the first honors class she will take in HS. But she’s taking 2.
I understand that. D23 originally thought she might want to be a theatre major, but now she’s also thinking pre-vet, maybe communications.
For her, math comes more easily. It makes sense because she’s also musically inclined - she can read music from her involvement with choirs and theater. She taught herself to play ukulele and bass guitar during the pandemic, and has written a bunch of songs. Math and music are apparently left brained.
So we are spending that last year to get her more prepared- especially if she decides to go to vet school.
ACT score in.
Gpa 3.4. Diagnosed with adhd and started on meds 4 days prior. PreACT tests predicted 30. No studying beyond what they did in class.
He got a 35.
