<p>School list set, standard test set/done, recommendation teacher list set, DD is working on her essays and don't want us to read them, ready to do profile or EFC early 2008 when W-2 is here. </p>
<p>We develop a spread sheet with all the "due day" and will make sure DD know them. The goal is to have everything submitted before Thanksgiving. Other than that, we wait (per college process). Did we miss any thing?</p>
<p>Is your daughter trying for any outside scholarships? Check those due dates, if relevant.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>Did you get electronic pin numbers for FAFSA?</p>
<p>Dad II: I'm the parent of a senior, too, and my son is at about the same place as your daughter. He is on top of everything and getting things done in his own way--which means he's organized, maybe a little slower than I would do things myself, but he's absolutely okay and will have everything done ahead of deadlines. I have had to step back, and believe me, that's hard. This is the beginning of them leaving the nest. </p>
<p>As far as not wanting you to read her essays: I think that is okay. My son has asked me to read his, but I think it's a matter of choice. I see myself as mostly a proofreader. Maybe your daughter needs a disinterested third party--a teacher, her guidance counselor, an older cousin who has been through the process (that always works in our family) or sibling--somebody who knows her but still can be objective. As an editor I think it's good and perfectly all right to have a second set of eyes to catch typos and grammatical errors and suggest cuts if the essay is too long. The rest of the essay has to come from the heart--your child's heart.</p>
<p>I worry a little that my son's application will be up against others from kids who are "packaged" by counselors and edited by parents. But I just can't go there. This is his time to show who he is and let his unique qualities shine.</p>
<p>Good luck with the wait! We need a thread suggesting strategies for NOT thinking about college after the applications are in.</p>
<p>depending on the requirements of the individual schools, you may need to file the FAFSA,Profile,or other financial aid forms prior to receiving your W-2.Check the deadlines also for scholarships as someone else suggested. You may need to file with estimated data and then do corrections after the W-2 arrives. This is a common occurence.</p>
<p>What is the purpose of getting everything in by Thanksgiving? Just to get it all taken care of? What if the extra time helps the kid think?</p>
<p>Having gone through it last year, I worried about the same thing as geezermom, that is, the packaging of kids by counselors and parents. I had to trust the admissions committees that they would be able to see past that packaging, because it definitely does exist. They say that they are wiser than that, and are able to see that. I hoped so last year, and I continue to do so, as I teach seniors in high school as my job. The thing to remember is that the packaging makes the kids look perfect. Their own applications are not perfect; they have typos, they have small inconsistencies, their essays are obviously written by teenagers. The adcoms know this and they really do get suspicious if the apps look too perfect. It worked in our case. Despite a fairly glaring typo, my daughter is currently at an Ivy, because the whole child deserved to be there. She did the whole thing herself, it was clear that she did, and she was proud of the enormous effort. You are right to trust you child and begin to let go. It's pretty hard....</p>
<p>The goal of Thanskgiving was putforth by the HS QC. In the kick off meeting at HS, GC kept repeating that. </p>
<p>In terms of packaging, we could not afford any of that. So that is a simple and easy answer.</p>
<p>My daughter is an average kid who did very well in the admissions process last year and I think part of the reason is that she was the first kid in her class to have her applications in to the GC. He was then able to take time with her applications, fix any problems, and give her more advice than he was able to for other kids, and she was before the frenzy at her rolling schools. Just as a side note, the PROFILE was done before the W-2 forms came out (actually, a lot before) so you might want to check dates on that.</p>
<p>What next? Follow through. Make sure the colleges actually receive everything. Usually they give the student an online mechanism for that...but they have to check it!</p>
<p>DadII: Just keep reminding her of upcoming due dates. She probably has plenty on her plate right now with her senior courseload and other activities. My son didn't show me one of his essays but showed me the others. I made some very minor technical suggestions which he took quite nicely.</p>
<p>Geezermom:
[quote]
We need a thread suggesting strategies for NOT thinking about college after the applications are in.
[/quote]
No kidding! I'm helicoptering all over my son's application status check websites to make sure everything has arrived. It seems like he couldn't care less; I guess he figures his part is done and he will hear from them when he hears from them. As far as the packaging thing goes, I'm sure there is a lot of that happening. And unless you want to package your kid's application, this is something he will be up against. Hopefully the admissions committees will see through the packaging and focus on the applicant.</p>
<p>Zoozermom: my son got his stuff to the GC early, too. I definitely think it helped, because the GC wasn't overwhelmed yet.</p>
<p>"Zoozermom: my son got his stuff to the GC early, too. I definitely think it helped, because the GC wasn't overwhelmed yet."</p>
<p>Exactly, and he was able to give her small tips and suggestions that might have slipped through the cracks. He followed up carefully on her recs so they were done early and he had such goodwill for ZG for easing his load at crush time that he gave her a magnificent recommendation even though he didn't know her well. I don't think goodwill from the GC is ever a bad thing!</p>
<p>I rushed son #2, but in hindsight I don't know why. It was sort of Hurry Up and Wait. Since scholarship/fin aid decisions didn't really all come in until April, it seemed like a long wait indeed.</p>
<p>Looks like it is the same for everyone - deciding the "fit" is the most difficult thing in the process. Even so I am not 100% happy with DD's school selection, but it is her life and I have presented to her everything I know. </p>
<p>Thanks for the tips. I will get DW to take a closer look at the FAFSA,Profile,or other financial aid forms.</p>
<p>DAD II - I think you are in very good shape - and have some good suggestions above - and if any of the applications are going to rolling admissions schools - she just may have one in hand before the holidays.</p>
<p>We pretty much did the same - tho our deadline was Nov 1st - cuz of the school deadlines - and had admissions in hand from 2 of 3 before Dec 1st. My gal was just thrilled to have had the GC's undivided attention LOL - and to know it was all done for her - she really enjoyed her senior year because of getting it done early.</p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>You say "recommendation teacher list, set" - if you know the colleges and the teachers, then give the teachers the forms and envelopes so that they can get their recs done and in (We thought that you had to wait until the application was submitted, but that's not the case).</p>
<p>Also, if you have any rolling admissions schools, don't wait for Thanksgiving. Penn State had to start a waiting list for University Park applicants who didn't apply by Nov 1 last year, even though that was only a "priority deadline" not an absolute deadline.</p>
<p>At our house, it's 3 down, 5 to go - D has 2 rolling admission schools and 1 EA school already completed. That EA school is her first choice, too, so she should have 3 decisions by Christmas.</p>
<p>I second Iggles' comment about teacher recs - actually, one of D's teachers has already completed and mailed all 8 letters! The teacher mentioned that it was so much easier to get letters written before the first round of tests starts.</p>
<p>Regarding any rolling admit schools - if they are OOS for the kiddo - then it is usually imperative to get those aps in by Nov 1st - some OOS schools have quota's of how many OOS students can be accepted - such as NC - 18%!! So get those apps in by the schools deadline for sure - the earlier the better actually :)</p>
<p>This is also the time to be setting up overnight visits. I think Yale & Cornell had early deadlines (maybe beg of Nov) whereas others like Case Western let you do overnights later on.</p>
<p>DADII, sounds like your D has everything under control. Congrats!</p>
<p>One thing I've noticed is that every school has its own wrinkles, so it's good to check and double check every conceivable web page--often the only place you find the unusual requirements, even for Common App. colleges.</p>
<p>One school wants a peer recommendation, another requires copies of a recent statement from your 529 college savings account, another only wants 1 teacher rec., and another has a separate paper form for ED that's not part of their common app. supplement.</p>