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<p>That’s what he’s afraid of in a nutshell.</p>
<p>Also, if you know midterm grades are likely to be better than grades were in previous years, that might be a good reason not to apply EA. This is actually a possible scenario in our case. S2 is taking Latin this year, and he’s taking an English elective instead of honors, so I think that he will probably have straight A’s this quarter and maybe for the rest of the year. And of course if your kid gets deferred you don’t want to have slacked off.</p>
<p>Paper Chase Pop - your son is not alone in working on EA essays now, one week before the deadline. My D. is doing the same. Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say she is planning to do the same, as between homework and EC’s there won’t be much time at all to work on them again until Saturday. I even proposed having her stay home from school for a day but she said that wouldn’t work. So, Saturday it is. And, as a parent on another thread, my standards are dropping. Whatever will be, will be. In fact, along the same vein, there is a reasonable chance that she will blow off the EA deadline and do RD instead. It will be interesting to see what happens between now and midnight on the 1st!</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how many kids “blow off the EA deadline and do RD instead.” DS1 may end up doing just that, but I’m hoping he can beat the deadline for all four EA apps. It’s going to be tough to decide if those essays are good to go.</p>
<p>Even if kids end up not making EA’s, they at least have an early start for RD’s ;).</p>
<p>"What are the colleges with this practice? "
ANY college ad-coms can pick up the phone, or email a counselor if they have a question about an applicant, particularly if one is borderline or if there is a “discrepancy” that the adcoms want cleared up. There is no “written policy” that says whether this will or won’t happen. It’s just common knowledge that this type of communication can occur between HS counselors and Admissions officers.</p>
<p>My wife got involved, and we successfully double-teamed my son into asking for those recommendations today. It turns out he was embarrassed to approach his favorite teacher—whose favorite student he happens to be—because he’s late turning in a lab report.</p>
<p>My advice was: If you’re still his favorite student after all the lab reports you’ve turned in late before, then this lab report isn’t going to matter. That is, turning this one in on-time isn’t going to make him think you’ve mended your ways, and turning this one in late isn’t going to push you over the edge into disfavor.</p>
<p>So, it appears that three weeks from now, my son will have submitted applications to three safety schools. After that, I’m not sure I care if he ever finishes his applications for the top-20 schools on his list. I might just be happy that he’s going somewhere, and that I don’t have to look at another college application for seven years, when it’s my daughter’s turn.</p>
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<p>Boy, can I relate… I’ve told my son once he gets that first acceptance, I will stop the nagging. I just want to know he’s gotten in somewhere! The rest is icing on the cake.</p>
<p>S2 has everything written and is now polishing. As I mentioned elsewhere, he has found his groove and is letting his personality shine through. Good stuff. Has already submitted to the flagship and will get the two EAs out Thurs. Friday is football, so no way it’s happening then, and we’ve already made clear that this process is NOT going into the weekend. No crashing servers and a noon on Saturday postmark/Fed Ex deadline for us. </p>
<p>He has busted his tail for excellent grades this quarter (with six IBs and an AP course) – we assume there is always a chance an adcom may call the GC and we may never know about it. He also has an interview at one of his EAs in mid-November and should the adcom ask how school’s going, he can respond honestly and positively.</p>
<p>No progress on essays yesterday. DS1 was swamped by lab work, debate phonathon and homework (which he didn’t even get to until almost 9 pm). Now, I am more than a little worried.</p>
<p>PCP, you’re not alone. EA due 11/1 and one due 11/2 (big difference). DS has suddenly developed fascination with Mobius strips and must look up every little thing on YouTube re Mobius strips. That and rewriting one of his essays (for a college that is no longer #1 choice) that his English teacher keeps beating to death. I thought draft #2 was fine, and the current draft is horrible as it is becoming less and less personal. We’ll send draft #2.</p>
<p>After reading these schedules I bet some of these kids are anxious to get to MIT so they can relax.</p>
<p>ihs76, perhaps a “slice of life” essay based on insight/reflection gained from his fascination with Mobius strips is in order ;).</p>
<p>bovertine: interestingly, during our visit to MIT last week, one theme that kept coming up was “work load here is less than I thought it would be.”</p>
<p>PCP, no we are not starting over. There is a giant Mobius strip in the library under the dome at MIT so that would be one way to cozy up to admissions.</p>
<p>This LOR issue is a tough one. My son insisted on getting a recommendation from 10th grade teacher. She said she could do it but suggested 11 grade teacher would be better; guidance counselor the same; should I care? His main LOR is from his art teacher who he has known for 3 years and he really wants to study art. However, some schools insist on an “academic” reference…should I insist that he get 11th grade calc teacher (his strongest grade in 11th grade and also has him on the math team) to provide another rec? </p>
<p>This has to be decided by the end of the week. Students must ask teachers to provide letters and the requests must be made by Oct1 for Ed and Nov1 for RD. Students must also provide a little cv with goals/interests, ECs to the teacher by this date. teacher prepares a single letter for the student. Then the student must provide envelopes and forms at least 2 weeks before college deadlines. It is nice that the school provides the guidelines so that kids and teachers know the rules and everyone has to have their materials to the teachers at the same time. Occassionally, a student will screw up but then has to beg for recommendations…the guidellines allow the teachers to protect their time without coming across as mean spirited and if the whole senior class is talking about getting their cvs done and requests in, it isn’t the parents just nagging.</p>
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<p>Given what she told your son, don’t ask the LOR from this 10th grade teacher. Never get an LOR from someone who hesitates on the request.</p>
<p>FWIW, when S1 applied his first completed app was to a state school that only wanted transcripts, counselor form, on-line app and the app fee, (no essays, no LORs). It was his safety school and he had an acceptance letter by October 1st. While S1 was “in like” with the safety school, he certainly wasn’t in love with it. Whenever other apps lagged I would just casually mention, “Well, at least you’ve got U-XXXX in your back pocket”. The possibility (fear) that it might be his only choice seemed to give him incentive to pick up the pace.</p>
<p>fineartsmajormom, from what I’ve heard colleges would much rather have recommendations from 11th and 12th grade teachers. Realistically most 12th grade teachers don’t actually know the students that well, unless school starts earlier than it does around here and there are no ED or EA letters involved, so 11th grade teachers are usually the best choice. The math teacher sounds perfect - he/she knows your child both in the classroom and out of it. Some schools want two academic teachers so be careful you are following the rules. It may not be an issue if you are applying only to fine arts programs though.</p>
<p>vinceh, that’s brilliant. I believe the same tactic would work with my son. I’m going to try it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice; I think everyone is saying get the 11th grade teacher; I don’t like to be overbearing but I may just say…do it. Too many signals that the 10th grade teacher is not going to be the best recommendation. I think he really enjoyed the class and had a rapport with her. I don’t think she will give him a bad recommendation but she is realistic that the schools expect a 11th grade rec and from someone who gave him an “A”. He had a B in her class…like many of his classes…and she will have to write something like…really smart/creative…BUT not top, top level in terms of dilligence and attention to detail. Let’s face it, an honest recommendation from a loving parent wouldn’t be much different.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about the B, one school said at an info session they’d rather get a letter from a class where the student got a B, but participated than one where they got an A, but the teacher had less to say.</p>