For summer tours… I think they can be worthwhile just to see what the area is like. That’s something that’s hard to convey via virtual info sessions. My D23 definitely ruled out a couple schools after just seeing the area (too urban for her tastes).
I think we are done with tours at least for a while. Had a wonderful visit at St. Mary’s College of Maryland at their open house. Absolutely beautiful campus, really nice people, strong opportunities for her interest in biology and environmental science. Has the ECs she wants. And, to top it off, ran into a friend who will go there next year and learned another friend is a freshman, which definitely moved it up in her eyes as they all have common interests. It has everything she wants, except a cute town close by but that’s probably the lowest priority of her “wants.” And, I like that it’s only about a 2-hr drive from home and she’ll likely get merit to be on par with her best in-state public option. I think it is now top of her list. We’d planned to visit W&M but some pretty poor grades in her latest report card make that seem really out of reach and she didn’t want to do the visit.
A friend of my D21’s was accepted into the direct admit PA program at Valparaiso, and seems to love it. It also has the typical college experience that you’re looking for.
Oh thank you! Yes, that one is on our radar and she saw them at a college fair. Probably a little smaller than she’d like, but this would be a relatively easy one to go visit. Thanks!
We did our first 2 college visits over spring break to Rhodes College and Vanderbilt. The tours were a big help in getting D23 to start to identify what she really likes in a school and both are staying on the list for now!
Ours has 6, 3 of which are on the same day… His AP classes mostly switch to be projects after the example. They don’t get out until around 6/20 (and started later so they had less time to learn the material for the test than many).
I’ve been on CC for years, graduated from an East Coast SLAC, live in NYC, and WASP is new to me. My D attends one of these schools and is most definitely not a WASP, as in White Anglo-Saxon Protestant!
My son is taking all advanced classes but only has one AP this year: AP Psych. He was very confident he did well and felt he prepared well. Next year it will be AP Bio, AP Stats, AP Gov, two SUPA (Syracuse University) English classes (portfolio assessments, not exams) and he’s deciding whether to take AP Calc or AP Computer Science. So much for a blow off senior year! Lol.
On another note, he is signed up for the June SAT. He scored a 1450 (with minimal prep) on the October test and is hoping to bump it up a bit. I offered to sign him up for a few tutoring sessions, more on strategy than content, and he was almost offended. He told me not to spend any money on tutoring because his content performance should automatically be stronger due to the math and ELA he learned this year and he can explore strategy tips on his own. He’s stubborn when it comes to us spending money on things like SAT tutoring. After raising a daughter who loves to shop and spend, I welcome this frugal attitude from my son
Final grades are officially in! And as hoped, she got a B in physics and an A in everything else.
She’s amidst the week-long “Junior Seminar” right now, which is a half-HS-credit life skills sort of class and graded P/F (and she’s attending all the sessions, so no worries there), and then after tomorrow she’s done til August.
Bit of a parental brag: So that means that going into college application season she’ll have a high school 3.95UW (including DE classes), with a 3.88 in college courses. The school district doesn’t weight college courses (go figure!), but most colleges recalculate GPAs anyway, so no idea what her real weighted GPA is anywhere anyway.
And now to the brass tacks of where things go from here: Add in her 32 ACT (a very pointy 32, with a 35 English/26 math), and here’s how her current likely list of applications breaks down, with reach/match/safety taking into account her intended program (music tech), not just general admission.
Seton Hall: match
Rowan: safety
American: reach
SCAD: low match
Florida International: match
Middle Tennessee: low match
North Texas: match
Colorado-Denver: low match
San Diego State: reach
San José State: match
(Of course, what counts as a reach/match/safety for Big Merit Aid™, who knows?)
One nice thing about this: Probably the best programs out there for her field are San Diego State, Middle Tennessee, and UCDenver (plus Seton Hall as kind of a dark horse with lots of minuses and pluses). Looking at the list, that means that two of the best programs for her are low matches, which bodes well for the aforementioned BMA™.
@dfbdfb = what all does it take to get into a music tech program? is it similar to dance/artsy/MT majors that look more at talent/auditions/portfoloio rather than grades/gpa? middle TN sounds so . . . middle . . . but maybe because of it being in TN its music programs are pretty hard to get into? curious on this.
our D23 will have a 4.0 this year. she’s at a small school, only 2 APs this year; and a DE physics class. fingers crossed she does well on her calc AB test. If not . . . not sure what she’d take next year. they are getting a new math teacher who can offer DE for calc . . so while she might not like it, that’ll be her option - to retake for DE credit if she doesnt pass the AP Calc test.
and fingers crossed to all your kiddos with APs coming up!
It depends. A few places (and usually those that are pretty selective to begin with, e.g., American) admission to the university is all you need to get into the music tech program, but most programs require a portfolio ranging from a few pieces the student has mixed to evidence of a wide-ranging set of abilities from mixing to performance to notation/composition. Middle Tennessee (which is a regional public, but has leveraged its proximity to Nashville and well-targeted faculty hires into a solid program) also has a premajor, which is unusual.
ETA: And, of course, many require a full-on audition even if the student isn’t going to take any performance classes. But that requirement annoys D23, so she isn’t applying to any of them.
So D23 definitely liked Vanderbilt but I loved it. Nice midsize school with beautiful campus that felt set-apart despite being right in the middle of Nashvile. Definite focus on being diverse and the value that brings to student experiences. Big focus on research and inquiry, and not just for STEM students. I also liked their house system and solid programming for freshman and that students live on campus for 3 years. Saw lots of kids hanging out both alone and in groups everywhere we walked.
Thank you very much. That paints a good picture of Vanderbilt. We may be in that area over the summer (I know not the best time to look at colleges) but might be worth a visit. Appreciate your detailed description! Can you remind me if they are a meets-need college or if they give any merit aid?
