Haha. True! But his blog is great. Was definitely helpful to my D when tackling all the supplemental essays.
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I did get his College Essay Essentials book for my son Looks like he has some good free resources on his website as well
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With all the talk of LORs in other threads Iām feeling really stressed for S24, but trying not to telegraph that to him. His LOR situation is pretty bad and I donāt see anyway to remedy it. 
And it is so frustrating because he is actually a really great asset to any classroom or community, in most ways more than his older brother who ended up with great LORs.
He is great in a classroom setting in person, but hasnāt had that . (Long story, but we homeschool and mostly due to Covid he hasnāt been able to take in person classes. This year he probably could have, but I had to decide on this yearās plan 6 months before it started.) He will do DE next year, but it turns out more than had their classes are only online, too!
He didnāt connect with any of his teachers this year. 3/5 had no synchronous meetings & 1 didnāt allow students to interact during the weekly meeting. I guess heāll ask the last one for a recommendation, but from what he has said about the class it wonāt be very personal/specific to his strengths.
Iām just sad for him because he really is a great, fun, kind, positive, collaborative kidā¦.but none of his teachers know that. Iām thinking about asking his church youth group leader to write a āsupplementalā recommendation for the schools that will take it.
And for the schools where he has to have 2 academic LORs, I just donāt know. 
Do any of the schools heās going to apply to also allow for an additional letter of rec from someone who heās worked with in an extracurricular?
@MAmomto4 The other thing to think about is that your son doesnāt have to apply asap for all his schools. And not all schools care about the Letters of Rec. Perhaps he waits to see if he connects with some of his senior year teachers to get a letter of recommendation from one (or more) of them?
If he hits the ground running senior year, he should be able to find at least one, probably two teachers who are impressed with him and will write hime a letter of rec. If he plans on applying with December 1st or Jan 1st deadlines - he has some time to figure those apps out recommendation wise.
When my D20 went to college, she started applying for external programs (scholarships, internships) her first semester. She didnāt have any problem getting Letters of Rec from her first semester college professors. After the first big assignment was handed in - she went to talk to the professors she wanted letters of rec from and they were happy to help her.
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He does not have a list of schools pinned down. Of the schools that are potentials, a few of them do allow a non-academic/extracurricular LOR. Hopefully his youth group leader will be willing to write one. She has had positive things to say about him to me, anyway.
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I feel like I canāt post this question in either collegeās threads, because the reply would be guaranteed by the affiliation of the thread! Which school is a better likely school, Drexel or Temple? Iām asking in terms of student life, attractiveness of campus, etc. Iām trying to decide whether my daughter should apply to both of them, or just one.
I think Drexel has a pretty significant co-op program. That would make the educational experience at the two schools quite different. is your daughter interested in a school with a co-op component?
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As far as a ābetter likelyā: if you mean which one will she like better, it will depend on fit/vibe/location. If you mean which is more likely to accept her, that often depends on the HS track record with each school. On the surface, just glancing at differences, they are probably similar āchanceā of acceptance. When in doubt, with two similar schools, apply to both. We used that strategy and it gave more options to choose from in the end which was great! Plus, if they really are ālikeliesā as far as admissions, it will be nice to have both, due to many kids in the past few years not getting into any matches or reaches.
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If you are a PA resident one obvious difference would be price as Temple would be cheaper than Drexel. Temple is a bit of a more dicey neighborhood than Drexel. As @MAmomto4 mentioned Drexel has a very good co-op program. If your student wants an urban feel and the difference in money doesnāt matter, apply to both and go visit them both.
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Iām not a PA residentāfar from it. Iām a GA resident, so we donāt have much talk about those two schools floating around here. But they fit her (and my) many requirementsāover 4000 students, urban, not too much Greek life, not entirely affluent people, etc. And to MAMomto4āshe could very much enjoy the coop experience, but she is a prospective Psych major, so it is not required or necessary. Thanks to all of you, and now Iāll go check out their psych faculty. 
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Happy Motherās Day to all the moms out there!! Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow!!
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We had an awards ceremony at D24ās school last night. While sitting there, I realized that a year from now she will actually be graduating. It has gone way too fast, and Iām not sure Iām ready for it.
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I hear you! It hits me at random moments, too. Itās the weirdest mix of excitement and pre-emptive nostalgia. Itās also kind of weird to know that even though the whole college application process seems so huge and daunting right now, in less than a year itāll be over and for better or worse, our kids will know what theyāre doing with their first year of official adulthood.
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I am totally not ready.
Also not ready! Losing most of the first 2 years of high school doesnāt help.
I am so excited for school to be over and for S24 to be off to his summer program. Time for all of us to take a break from the college stuff and start fresh again in august!
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Weird milestone unlocked today. My younger kid (D26) is finishing up 9th grade. And since D26 is our 2nd and last child, it means that I donāt need to hang onto the novels that theyāve had both D24 and D26 read in English for 9th grade. So today, I gave them to a parent of an 8th grader.
And then I realizedā¦holy cowā¦I can give away D24ās AP French prep book to somebody (since D26 is taking Spanish, not French). Itās like leveling up on a weird video game or something.
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We plan on stalking our kids from afar. When both kids are off to college, weāll sell our house and get 2 small condos about an hour away from their respective schools and split time going back and forth.
Weāll be close enough for emergencies and laundry but far enough away so they can enjoy their college experience.
I have joked with S24 that I will do this if he moves to far from house 
I am not sure if we will do this but I am thinking we will make multiple trips a year if he does not come often.
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