Parents of the HS Class of 2023 3.0-3.4

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
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Back from our trip to Boston and RI to look at a few schools. Here are some thoughts on schools that don’t get a lot of attention here on CC.

-Suffolk University in Boston. Beautiful school right in downtown Boston, with buildings off of Boston Common. Very urban, no private quad or enclosed campus. Nice tour led by a very self-assured young woman who did a great job leading us around and telling us about the school. GORGEOUS dorms. (That we saw - maybe there are some that are dumpy!) I believe housing is guaranteed Freshman/sophomore year - our tour guide told us that after that most kids want to get apartments with their freiends and the school also has a website to help find off campus housing. She did not think housing was an issue, did not know anyone who was unable to get the housing they wanted. Something to check up on. Not too many buildings - I want to say we toured 1 dorm, and 3 academic buildings. Their grad school (law school) seems like a big draw and it was a very urban, independent atmosphere. D23 liked it. If she went here, it would really be on her to find her way socially - the tour guide seemed to really like her academic advisor and did her studies and really did not talk about the social part much. Great access to internships that lead to employment after graduation. Starbucks in every building. Nicely diverse on our tour. Lots of perks to being a student in Boston. They gave D23 a drawstring backpack bag with marketing materials and a t-shirt. In their welcome center, they had snacks and drinks and disposable rain ponchos. (Should have grabbed one because we had huge thunderstorms during our trip!) She will definitely apply. I think she should get in this one, her stats are right in line/a little higher than their average.

Bryant University in Smithfield RI. Only about 15 minutes outside of Providence, this is a real gem of a school. Small, beautiful campus. They relocated from the city of Providence in the 70’s so the campus is new-feeling but WOW - nice buildings and landscaping. It is a small college with a focus on business and practical applications. We were really impressed! Their classes sounded interesting and engaging - they make a point to say that the classes won’t be lectures for the most part, lots of project based assignments and classrooms with walls made of white boards. Lots of great technology. Lots of personal attention and direction and a very strong alumni network that is active with helping students intern. D23 wants to go to school in a city, and does not like “rah rah” stuff - but she liked the vibe here and couldn’t help but be impressed with the beautiful campus. She said she will apply. No swag from admissions but they had delicious Del’s lemonade and snacks for us and a folder for D23 personalized with info about her area of interest.

Providence College. They direct you to come in through the back gate, closer to the parking garages. This end of the school faces an extremely depressed/sketchy neighborhood. I took D23 to Drexel in Philadelphia and thought that looked fine. I’d have real reservations if she had wanted to go to this school. The address is Providence, but it is nowhere near the downtown and as far as I could tell, there was nothing walkable as far as pizza or pubs or anything on either side of the campus. (The other side of campus, away from the parking garage, was nicer with old houses and such - but just very residential. Perhaps there was a nicer area that we missed. A pretty, big green campus. It felt like time stopped in 1995 here. If there is a focus on technology or internships they were not mentioned. Tour guide only took us into the athletic center/student union type building. We did not go in a dorm or any classrooms. We stood outside. We could not go into the dining hall because it is being renovated. I had the impression that this school will get 8K apps for 4k spots and they could care less if anyone applies or not. She will not apply.

Johnson & Wales -Lots of people know this school for their hospitality and culinary programs but they also have other programs. D23 is interested in event marketing - and they have a Marketing major that focuses on Sports and Entertainment Events Marketing - they have a partnership with TD Garden arena and the Boston Bruins and D23 loves hockey. The program chair saw us touring and came out and spoke to us and she was great. D23 asked a lot of questions and really came alive during this tour. Lots of older buildings, pretty campus - but they have built some really great new buildings for business and design that we toured also. (Technology!) Our tour guide was a really involved, responsible young woman from Texas. The area around the campus was nice with a theater and lots of cute cafes and shops. Providence was really great. We took lots of big walks the two days we were there. The JWU area is called Downcity and then across the river is Federal Hill and the area where Brown is and that was also lovely. The only negative was that the dorms in “Downcity” that we toured were not great - just cinderblock cubes, basically. And then there are more, newer dorms and some culinary buildings a ten minute bus ride away at “Harborside” - we drove over there to check it out and it is right on the water, which is kind of cool. Buses back and forth every 15 minutes. Adjacent to some big windmills. Still in Providence, in a neighborhood not as nice as “Downcity” but not as alarming as Providence College. But this was a really good tour - they were getting ready for student move in, the vibe was very peppy, they have a welcome back party on their quad called Light Up The Night where they basically put fairy lights and lanterns all over and have food trucks, I think. It definitely had a nice community feel. D23 pointed out that admissions mentioned working with kids to transfer their HS iep’s and she liked that. I think she would be very successful at JWU. And I would like to eat my way across Providence as it looked like there were so many great restaurants! She will apply.

I’ll throw out disclaimers that I don’t really know much about Boston or Providence, as far as neighborhoods - so these are just my impressions. I’m glad we went, especially for Suffolk and JWU as it helps to get a good idea of what the surrounding neighborhoods and opportunities are like at each school. I was surprised at how Starbuck’s is EVERYWHERE at these schools. Kids love their frappucinos…

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Thank you for such wonderful, detailed reviews! It would be great if you would share these on this thread, too, as it’s great to read people’s impressions of campuses that don’t get a lot of attention here on CC.

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I was thinking the exact same thing and should have taken the time to respond as you did!

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Thank you for the detailed reviews these are seriously priceless especially because these are schools that are reviewed less frequently here!

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@Poochie21 has since posted it on the other thread!

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Yes, posted an abbreviated version there.
Things feel like they are really happening here. We did the trip to see the NE schools. D23 took the last SAT on Saturday. We are pretty sure she will be test optional everywhere, but she gave it one last shot. I actually forgot that she had taken the SAT in school last fall. I logged into Collegeboard to get the details on what she needed as far as ID and her saw that she had already taken them once. I thought she had only taken PSAT’s, or what she took in school wasn’t official. I feel like - for all that I am very interested in getting her into college - I’m missing some big things.
She finally found a car to buy - used cars are really outrageous now. She and DH just found a good one and it looks like it will be hers by Friday.
School starts in a week!
I am really hoping that she will get her applications in by Nov 1 and have acceptances by Christmas, I don’t like not knowing what will happen next.

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Question about “required High School Courses” on applications- S24 is interested in several state flagship schools (ASU, FSU, Alabama, NC State, USC Columbia, etc.). Its seems they almost all require at least three years of lab and/or natural sciences. At our HS, juniors can take engineering instead of physics. He has already taken Bio and Chemistry and really did not want to take physics. But now it is looking like he may have to take it senior year as I imagine these schools will not consider engineering a science class, even thou it is considered a science course at his HS.

Anyone dealing with this right now since you are a year ahead of us? Curious how rigid these schools are or if they look at other courses taken and a more holistic approach. S24 plans on reaching out to admissions at these schools for more info but would love to hear from anyone in this situation currently,

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Any thoughts on college transcripts? I had an issue with my older D as her HS was very slow to get out transcripts for EA applications. Thinking of just asking or having my D ask the counselor now. I would assume no harm in colleges getting transcripts before the app?

My D says she is getting recommendations now. A little worried about her being on things. Know she has started essay. Have list of schools she is applying to and has at least started common app.

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We have to request through Naviance for both. With S21 he asked for them officially in August (his apps were complete) and nothing was sent until right before the deadline. I would think the counselor won’t send if app isn’t in. It may not be the counselor is slow, but a school policy to send all at once. S23 asked for a few that he completed apps in July and nothing has been sent yet either. Good luck!

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I think if your D is going to ask for transcripts now, she needs to make sure that the counselors can actually submit them or know how…if it is through Common App, I think the app has to be at least started, and maybe completed.

For app deadlines, what is important is that the app is done…“supplemental materials” such as transcripts and LORs can come later. No harm in doing it early though, especially for EA because there won’t be any more grades to report (unless your HS reports quarter grades).

I agree that the school/counselor probably has a process of when they submit transcripts. But I understand your frustration! With one of my older kids, the counselor was out of town (and she doesn’t do email when she’s out of town) several days before and including the EA deadline! I couldn’t believe it.

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We are on hold this week for college stuff. It’s D23’s first week back at school after being gone for a year. So she’s super anxious but overall happy. I told her the rest could wait and that she’s got a good start anyway. Plus because she has a lighter schedule she has AP support/study hall every day and can maybe use some of that time to work on apps over the next month.

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We have 2 acceptances in the last few days. Bowling Green State University (submitted 7/2, transcripts arrived just last week, a special request from HS counselor) and West Virginia University (Submitted 8/3, uploaded unofficial transcripts). Test scores were submitted for both, and mine is in the 50th % tile for those at these 2 schools. The rest will go through Common App and official transcripts uploaded in mid-September. So it is starting! So exciting.

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My D21 had no interest in taking physics, so took AP Environmental her junior year. Then we began seeing that schools really wanted to see that Bio-Chem-Physics trio (particularly the big schools), so she took Physics (reg, not honors) her senior year. She ended up at an LAC so I doubt it made a difference in the end, but for all my daughters, I’m strongly encouraging physics. My D23 took is last year and she plans to study elementary education.

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Thanks- I think he is going to bite the bullet and take it next year.

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Our school uses parchment for transcripts and they submit directly to the common app. We got that in. The only thing he’s waiting on now is 1 of the 2 LORs he requested (asked last spring but they couldn’t submit until the common app opened and school just started this week) and the counselor letter. The counselor isn’t starting this until mid Sept at the earliest so we just wait. All schools he’s applying to are on the common app. 1 school hasn’t opened the app yet but the others are submitted. Fingers crossed!

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Let’s Go Mountaineers…sorry my old stomping grounds. I would love for my girls to attend but we live in NC and they are all about NC schools. Congrats on the acceptances.

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D23 does not want me to look at her essay. I want to respect her wishes but it’s very frustrating. I don’t think her essay would really impact her admissions one way or another but I would still feel better taking a look.

So…another serious thing has come up. My mom is undergoing tests and so far her situation is very concerning. D23 and my mom are very close. We live five minutes apart and D spends a lot of time with her. She is the person she goes to when she’s down, and she can talk to her about things in a way she can’t with anyone else. In the next week or so we will have more information, but I’m already worried for my mom and D23. :disappointed:

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That is so hard! Our son didn’t want us to see the essay either but he finally caved and we were glad. He needed a bit of organizational assistance. Some feedback and edits polished his good essay to a great one.

Hugs to you and your family! I hope it all turns out ok.

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Big Hugs! Life can be so very hard. One idea: if she won’t let you look at it maybe someone else could? A teacher at school? Counselor? Even your mom?

Hang in there!

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She had her sister, friend, and grandma look at it. The feedback I got about it gave me the impression that it was deep. I just hope it’s positive enough.

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