Think AP scores are out July 6? Pretty much last data point for which schools are realistic to apply to, though presumably much less important than the GPA and ACTs which are both done and baked… Guess the summer research and recommendation from that is another minor point with some possibility of moving the needle, but after next week think we have all the info to move to a final list…at least final To present to college counselor.
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Good luck, recruited athletes! Next month or so will be crazy
as our players do musical chairs. I hope your players sit where
they want to sit. One ED1 and 3 EAs and done by Dec 15.
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5th and 6th, but always possible to get on the 5th with a VPN.
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School sent an email today saying twins’ guidance counselor is leaving the school. She isn’t leaving the district, moving to a middle school.
Boys are a bit freaked out and she can’t be contacted for at least a month. She is the only one they would allow to mention their Dad’s illness and death in her LOR. She knows them well after 3 years.
I told them not to worry because I hope/think she would still be willing to write them a letter. Please tell me I am right, since I am also concerned. A typical brag sheet won’t cover this and twins’ won’t write about their Dad. Obviously, their Dad’s situation had/has a huge impact on them.
My S20 had a favorite teacher switch schools; that teacher agreed to write a LOR. I can’t imagine this GC not agreeing to help kids she knows well. good luck; rooting for your kids.
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Lots of adventure this past couple weeks!
As you may or may not recall, on Sunday the 19th I dropped D23 off at her 2-week music camp at the University of Colorado Denver, where her focus was on music tech and music business. (Which was what a slight majority of the students were also doing. One of the emails that came to the parents noted this, with a comment that they seem to have pendulum swings between more or fewer students doing performance vs. behind the scenes stuff.) After that I and the rest of the family drove off to see my nephew get married the end of that week. We got very little in the way of updates from D23 over the next few days, but what we got was positive.
And speaking of positive, let’s talk about covid!! (See what I did there?) Early in the week, one student tested positive for covid, but that one was a local student (i.e., commuting, not in the residence halls) who almost certainly contracted it away from the camp. Then at the end of the week they had another positive case. So on Friday the 24th, they tested every student—and there were two positive cases, one of which was my D23. (For the record, they ended up with two more positive cases early the next week, which meant they had 6/80 catch covid during the camp, which is rather fewer than I’d feared they’d have.)
So that meant that my D23 went into an isolation room in the dorm for five days, where she was brought her meals but couldn’t go to her classes (and couldn’t go to Boulder for the Saturday social excursion, or run around Denver on Sunday at Pride) in the meantime. She was completely symptomfree, which I thought would drive her extra crazy (feeling like there was no reason for it or somesuch), but apparently she had made good enough friends by that time that lots of other campers kept in touch with her, and in fact they made plans to go to the new Minions movie at a nearby theater after the camp ends this Friday (tomorrow), and apparently one evening lots of them had a long conversation with D23 staying in her room and the others tens of feet away (no idea if that was actually following the rules, but there you are).
She remained symptomfree during isolation, and tested negative Wednesday afternoon—which meant that she could rejoin the camp Wednesday evening, when a band made up mostly of alums of the University of Colorado Denver’s program came by to perform a set and do an informal Q&A with the students—and if the pictures the camp put on social media are any indication, D23 was very, very involved with that.
Haven’t heard from her today, but I figure that’s a good thing—no news means she’s busy. There’s a closing showcase tomorrow afternoon (and the family is currently at a hotel a couple hours from Denver, we’ll drive in to be there and see it), and then the camp is over—well, aside from the addendum of D23 still hanging out with other kids from it.
So on the whole, a successful camp experience despite (who knows, maybe even in part because of) difficulties. And if she was going to test positive for covid during a 2-week camp, when she did was kind of the most perfect possible timing—enough into it that she’d made friends, and not so far into it that she’d be missing the end of it. I honestly have no idea what she thinks of music tech and business issues now, but finding that out is what tomorrow evening is for.
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i like the tone of your post. it sounds positive, despite the setbacks. i’m glad for your D.
My D wanted to apply to the purdue engineering camps this summer, but they didnt have them as they didnt have ways to quarantine kids. SO - it’s good that CU-D had that foresight.
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My sons GC is now gone as well. I’m guessing in your case yours would definitely write a letter! My son only saw his GC for naughty things so it isnt a huge loss here. 
My daughter’s GC changed three times in her HS tenure, with the second leaving unannounced over the summer before senior year. Her new GC had never even met her when she had to write a LoR.
It’s one of reasons the practice of mandating that one of the letters of rec should come from a guidance counselor makes no sense. It only should if there’s a meaningful relationship. Kids should be free to find the people who they do have closer relationships with, from any year or aspects of their high school tenure. We often talk about the ways standardized tests are socioeconomically biased, but it’s even more so for GC LoR’s. Public school A may have GC’s with 600 kids each who they usually only see if there’s a problem. Private school B may have a ratio of >100:1 with GC’s who mentor kids or were hired because of their strength writing LoR’s. At many schools kids that don’t have problems may have almost no relationship or history with their GC’s.
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Did the Kansas engineering camp work out for your D?
Yes, she will most likely write something wonderful and supportive for them. At the school where I work teachers and others have been happy to help after they leave. The new school counselor will hopefully be grateful to have some help with the seniors they do not know well. The counselor rec will need to come from the school as it also verifies grades, etc…but they should incorporate the info shared.
If for some reason she is not responsive, understand there may be HR things or job directives at play- do not get involved in the politics. Just help the twins navigate things with the new staff and help them communicate their strengths in their applications.
Hugs to you. Enjoy this time with them this year. And ask people for help when you need it.
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Anyone else have a kiddo pulling together an optional arts supplement? My D is applying to BA programs at LACs and a few national universities, but wants to minor in studio art. Any advice on what to include in an optional supplement? Any “hidden gem” colleges with strong studio (digital, not traditional) arts programs? She has strong grades and test scores.
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My D23 is working on an arts portfolio supplement, too—but hers is in a different field than your kid’s, so I don’t know that I have any suggestions, just empathy for the roller coaster I’m finding it to be.
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Agreed. My son will be recording songs for possible music performance type degrees (or for music merit). He has been talking to his voice teacher and the plan is to do it at her studio. Right now his focus is on the musical he is doing in 3 weeks so hoping to attack after Aug 1st.
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Mine is, but it is a video for dance.
thanks for asking. No, things popped up and shes not going to any engineering camps this summer after all. hoping there are some open houses this fall though.
D21 did a music supplement for all schools that allowed it, and included a music resume for those that allowed it. D23 will do a dance supplement. Have them look on each website and see what each school wants: they are all fairly specific (at least for music, dance). Just an fyi: many top schools (outside of BFA) do not consider the supplement unless the student is already past the first read or two and is truly a top contender, while other schools (LACs in our experience) say they review all supplemental material on every applicant.
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The public school that my S23 attends (and D17 attended) has a good system for the GC Rec. Every student is placed in an Advisory and the Advisory group is together and the same Teacher for all 4 years and the Teacher gets to know all the students in his/her Advisory really well so the Advisory Teacher writes the GC Letter of Rec.
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Pomona College impressed us with their generous financial aid and incredibly diverse incoming class.
Applications are now open for their FREE fly-in program.
Pomona is a small liberal arts college within a larger community of 6,000 students in the 5 College Claremont Consortium near LA.
Pomona, Pitzer, Claremont McKenna, Scripps, and Harvey Mudd are all adjacent to each other. There is cross registration for classes and combined sports teams, arts ensembles, clubs, etc. It is modeled after Oxford University… but with sunnier weather!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfW3JpnpPdR/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
We toured the Claremont Colleges last summer. The campuses are beautiful, especially Pomona! The town of Claremont is very nice, and walking distance from the school to a ton of great restaurants. The train station is also right by campus.
My 2023 has decided she wants out of CA…so she is no longer considering them. But I would have loved her to go there, great schools!