Parents of the HS Class of 2024

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
4223

Fit a visit to Miami (OH) into our vacation last week.

Our tour guide was great, the campus was nice, dorms are good, the sports facilities are pretty impressive and the fact that sports (attending/playing) seem to be a big part of campus life did not make her think she would not be able to find her people there (and in fact is looking forward to getting to know all kinds of people).

You know how every campus has a “don’t step on the seal or else you will fail your next exam”, Miami went next level…the original seal on the walkway was carved from wood, expensive and not super durable. An administrator/faculty (don’t remember) got so tired of students stepping on it that he camped out at the seal and took down the names of everyone who stepped on it, and then talked to their professors who agreed to fail those students’ next exam (can you imagine this happening in 2023 :eyes:). That put an end to the problem and a tradition was born…with a twist.

While we are glad we went (Miami is in her top 3), I think that it was the last general admission presentation/tour we will do. She is very clear now about what she is looking for, and is able to get a good deal of information, including vibe check, online. I told her we could revisit her top 3 choices once acceptances come in, and we will make sure to have a department visit at that time if she hasn’t already had an interview with them before then.

Today was the first day of school. It is just crazy to me that summer is over already and in 3 months most of her college apps will be submitted. There really are no brakes on this ride, are there?

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4224

My daughter is a rising Jr at Miami. In two years she has been to one football game, and one hockey game. Frankly attendance at football games from students is not very good. I would not let the tour focus on some nice sports facilities dissuade your daughter.

Mine has had a great experience there and made some really good friends without anything to do with playing or attending sporting events

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4225

they rotate, so not all classes are every day.

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4226

It also may depend on location. The northeast, for example, starts school much later than the southeast but the test date is the same for the entire country.

4227

I think that is partly the reason for AP summer work in this part of the country. Because we start anywhere from 3 weeks to 1 month after many other locations it would be hard to cover all the material before the test date in May.

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4228

Basic/Newbie question:
DS24 has 2 reaches, 2 target, 1 safety (all instate FL publics).
He wants to do Political science and potentially law school later on.
What is the advantage of applying to OOS schools? What will he miss?

4229

None and nothing.

That’s obviously a generalization but overall he should have no issue getting a great education in Florida that provides the opportunity – if he performs well – for access to great law schools.

Perhaps in the softer “what will he miss” category, the FL schools will have disproportionately FL students and as someone interesting in Poly Sci it could have been interesting to be more exposed to a school that has greater geographic diversity of student body. There will be plenty of states and countries repped in the FL schools, but the vibe will still reflect the shared experienced of the region. Up to you and him whether that matters and is worth more money (most likely) OOS. It’s certainly not worth taking loans for.

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4230

Not that this is strictly mandatory, but I think if he would want to practice in Florida, there is something to be said for getting educated in Florida. There is a lot of networking in many legal careers, and you can start with internships, possibly clerkships, and so on.

In fact, you may already know about the T14 law school concept, and it has some uses. But in many legal markets, the best placement is not necessarily by the T14, and definitely not only by the T14. Often there are multiple important law schools in that state or city with a lot of very successful grads in that legal market.

So like in Texas, it is great to go to Texas for law school. In Georgia, Georgia. And in Florida, of course Florida. But also, say, Florida State, and so on.

And not to further complicate things, but there are also regional considerations too. Like, my understanding is that although there are obviously a lot of Georgia, Emory, and so on people in the Atlanta market, you’ll also run across a lot of law grads from UVA, UNC, Wake, and in fact Florida and FSU. So with that sort of law school, you likely get some regional benefit on top of the local benefit in terms of networking.

Again, not trying to push a particular agenda, but if anything I would be a little cautious about going out of the state unless you intend a legal career in that other place. To be clear, that is not necessarily a problem if you are going to the sorts of schools that draw from all over the country. But, like, if I wanted to be practicing in the Southeast eventually, I would think twice about swapping Ohio State, say, for Florida. Maybe Georgia, but only really if I knew I wanted to move to Georgia. That sort of thing.

OK, so I am mostly talking law school here, but often networking begins in college too, and sometimes legal networking can involve colleges. And you could look to confirm this, but typically the good public colleges in a state have a good record of placement in the good law schools in that state.

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4231

I think I used so many double negatives my takeaway got lost. She wasn’t worried about it at all! It was easy to tell overall that many types of kids have found their fit there.

There were multiple athletes in our group (including several hockey players, which struck me because it’s not really a thing at the HS level where we live).

We were driving to Indianapolis afterward, and the way we went had us driving through more cornfields than I have ever seen in my life. And not in a “see those fields at a distance off the highway” kind of way. More like a “I can see nothing right now but corn that is taller than the car and a quarter mile of narrow I hope no one comes from the other direction sized road”. :corn: :corn: :corn: :scream: :corn: :corn: :corn:

4232

The first time we drove there from Pittsburgh we could see on the GPS that the school was only about 2 miles away and all we could see were cornfields :grinning:

4233

My daughter who went to Clemson will be a third year at UF law school lots of kids in her school went to UF undergrad. But lots didn’t.

That said going to a law school in state or region you know you want to practice is a good consideration.

After her first year my daughter got a clerkship with a Federal Judge in Jacksonville.

The majority of her interviews for summer job this summer were for Florida based offices of national firms. She ended up at the Miami office of a Chicago based firm Winston & Strawn. She recently got and accepted a job offer after she graduates.

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4234

Senior year started this week. DS still hasn’t finalized his list of colleges to apply to. Today he would like to follow a path to be a doctor. (Yup, know it may change) He worries about attending a directional school instead of flagship school hurting his chances. Even though it would be cheaper. I have a feeling as he hears his friends talk about schools he will research them and may put them on the list. I hope our local college fair is in September so by then he better have a final list.

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4235

He is thinking of law practice in NY. It is too early as Top law schools are $300k price tag if he gets in.
I would say he can do in Miami.

4236

That’s nice. It would be awesome if he gets into UF law.

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4237

I can see nothing right now but corn that is taller than the car and a quarter mile of narrow I hope no one comes from the other direction sized road”

Welcome to Indiana!

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4238

I only thought it was only Oklahoma “with corn as high as an elephant’s eye”…… giving away that I’m an old guy who loves musicals.

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4239

I think the first time that we visited the midwestern college I would later enroll in, we passed many miles of cornfields. My mother was distraught because her first husband came from a farming family and corn was supposed to be “knee high by the fourth of July.” That first year it was maybe ankle high or something, but she repeated the expression so many times, it became ingrained in me. In the subsequent years, I definitely saw corn at varying heights, usually way taller than me!

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4240

S is struggling with the common app essay. He thought he would be ready weeks ago. He has a few different drafts right now and dislikes both of them. Sighh. I am not sure if a essay writing tutor will help. School starts in 3 weeks.

4241

I know complaining about one’s state flagship is common, but I’ve just looked at the UMass Amherst application and I’m annoyed. :unamused:

Compared to the other schools S24 is applying to it

  • has the highest application fee (** $85! **)
  • is the only school that doesn’t allow self reporting SAT scores (another $12?)
  • is the only school that requires an official copy of the transcript from the community college where S24 is taking DE classes with the application. Other schools allow the grades to be reported on the high school transcript, and just ask for the official community college transcript if you enroll. It is especially annoying because S24 will only have one grade on the transcript from a summer class before the application is due. (that’s another $5)

So, altogether applying to UMass Amherst will cost more than $100. AND it is the only school on his list that has three supplemental essay questions. All the others have zero, one, or two.

I don’t even think it’s that great a fit, because it’s such a large school, and he’s unlikely to get the honors college which would make it tolerable, and they’re having a housing crisis… Maybe he should just skip it and find a different close to home, affordable safety.

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4242

If it’s giving you this much grief, unless he is married to attending there, I’d skip it.

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