Parents of the HS Class of 2024

S24 is going to talk to the guidance counselor today but does anyone understand how SCOIR works? If he moved schools into applying does that notify the guidance office that they need to send counselor letters and transcripts? He has a few with 11/1 and more with 11/15 deadlines. Sill missing a LOR from a teacher who retired but has sent through letters for other kids, trying to track her down!

That’s how it works at our HS. They ask for at least 10 days before a deadline.

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That is the way it works at our HS. SCOIR will also alert you when a recommendation is uploaded. One is done for S24, but he is waiting for his counselor’s recommendation and his second teacher LOR.

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so it will also tell you when the counselor recommendation is done? He got a notification that one teacher recommendation was in but that was it.

I think so. It alerts you as soon as any document is uploaded; including the various recommendations.

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You can also see it all on common app, go to the recommendations page for each college

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So I know generally that optional essays are not optional. But this one has me second guessing that thought. It’s for an Honor’s College. It’s not the required essay. “Describe a significant obstacle you have encountered as a member of a diverse community. How has this obstacle impacted your personal growth? How might your response to this obstacle contribute to your development as a successful student in the Honors College?”

Those are common post-Supreme Court questions. They are so new I am not sure there is a real, validated consensus. But at least some people I know are thinking if it doesn’t fit you, it is better not to do it than force an answer.

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D24 admitted to Oregon State.

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That’s what we thought as well. It’s much more specific than the “diverse” or “unique” essays that we have answered as best we can on other applications- but I agree this is a not geared towards our family. Just helpful to hear from others.

Yeah, some variations give you alternative options if you are not a good fit for this particular line of thinking. These optional essays that do not include such alternatives are different.

There are a lot of answers to diversity. Working with people of different ages, different abilities, LGBTQ community, there has to be some way that your child has interacted with someone different from themself and learned something. That is how my male, white, upper middle class child is going to approach it.

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I also recommend getting the log in for each portal and verifying occasionally. One college never “received” the recs until it was submitted a second time. (Please keep in mind that it can take a few days to process and show up)

Another had an additional (optional) question in the portal.

My D did not have the bandwidth to worry about this. I generally checked once a week/two weeks to see that all was in order.

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An “optional” essay in the portal is just rude.

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I think both Hamilton and Grinnell has something of the sort.

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S24 is driving (with Dad!) from MA to CWRU this weekend for their Open House on Monday. It is a long drive! But he is still so undecided on what he wants in a college, and a major, that we thought maybe attending a few open houses at schools that look good on paper will help him figure things out. :face_with_diagonal_mouth: He has RPI & Lehigh events coming up the week after next.

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@peruna1998 Congrats! Go Beavs !! This was my school :orange_heart: :black_heart:

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And W&L

My nephew’s roommate got into a relationship the summer after senior year (so after he had already committed to a college, not near her). He has been miserable and has not even tried to integrate into school life at all, spending all free time on voice chat etc. with his gf. He has already put in a transfer application to a college near her and is leaving after fall semester. So that’s one way things can play out.

I would be super leery of doing ED (at either college) with your D24’s situation. A lot could happen in the next 8 months and locking her in to that decision now


I think that second visit is going to be crucial. You will be able to tell if she is just trying to make herself like it. If her reasons for disliking were more superficial or it’s just relatively not quite as “X” as the new place, that would be one thing. If the close to bf school is seriously lacking in something that is important to her future goals (research opportunity, close to hospital, world renowned professor, cutting edge whatever that she really wants in on, etc), then I might as a parent have to say this makes no sense. She can’t ED without your agreement.

My D24 and her bf just ever so coincidentally supposedly have the same top 3 choices. Though I really wonder if that would change if either gets into a reach school (those diverge). No ED may still just be kicking the can down the road.

I’ve already had the discussion with D24 that most high school relationships do not survive college, and that whatever college she chooses, it needs to be one that she would still be happy to attend even if they do eventually break up. She said that she hopes it doesn’t come to that, but understands where I am coming from.

So TLDR I would try to buy as much time as you can unless you really believe she has done a 180 on the previously hated school, ED doesn’t usually give that much of a boost except for hooked applicants.

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Got some hard news today. D24 likely has a season ending injury. Doing a bone scan in a week to confirm. After some crying, she is ditching school and we are doing a family outing. She is actually smiling a bit.

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