High School class of 2011

[HSMndLKfan92]

I have a question for those who have completed the Common App, more
specifically the Secondary School Report (SR) form. What is the recommended choice under "important privacy note" that the student should choose? A) Yes, I do waive my right... or B) No, I do not waive my right....

For my school, we were told to waive our rights. For that and to never see our in-school teacher and counselor recommendation forms. Ask the counselor!

 

[missypie]

Everyone says to waive your rights. Some schools won't fill out the form unless the rights to waive.

 

[HeatherH]

I have a question for those who have completed the Common App, more
specifically the Secondary School Report (SR) form. What is the recommended choice under "important privacy note" that the student should choose? A) Yes, I do waive my right... or B) No, I do not waive my right....

Yes, waive the right, that is the FERPA thing regarding privacy, and my daughter's counselor says that schools EXPECT you to waive that right so that teachers can give honest letters of recommendation and know that the student will not see them. It will be a minus if you do NOT waive the right, at least in the eyes of the admissions folks.

 

[missypie]

In one way, I think it's terrible to have any legal right that you're expected to waive. HOWEVER, can you imagine the phone calls the GCs would receive if the parents got to read the recs? "Why did you only give my kid a strong recommendation instead of a very strong?" "Are you really going to hold that six weeks of suspension against him?" I asume there would be threats of litigation all the time, intimidation, etc. How about when the kids of teachers and school board members need recs? I'm sure there would be at least perceived pressure if the paretns saw the letters.

 

[njsweetP]

Thanks guys...well I wish my DD's gc would have told us that when we met with her. We just handed in that form and we 'didn't' waive the right because we didn't know otherwise. I am so furious right now you have no idea. All this and DD did an instant decision day back in Sept. Do you think the gc would have told us then? No! She was accepted !!
We just finshed all apps for her 3 other schools and I think all the forms have been submitted from the school. The GC will be getting a call from me first thing in the AM.

 

[minkydog]

Some little bit o'good news here--DD17 has brought her Algebra 2 grade up from a 58 to a nice solid 76. She has solid Bs in Govt and Health, and an A in Brit Lit. If she can keep the momentum for the next 7 wks, she might be able to salvage her GPA!

Oh, and she CAN'T WAIT to go down to Valdosta State with her drama club. I feel like such an idiot--why didn't I think of talking to her drama teacher before?

 

[johnsontrio]

Some little bit o'good news here--DD17 has brought her Algebra 2 grade up from a 58 to a nice solid 76. She has solid Bs in Govt and Health, and an A in Brit Lit. If she can keep the momentum for the next 7 wks, she might be able to salvage her GPA!

Oh, and she CAN'T WAIT to go down to Valdosta State with her drama club. I feel like such an idiot--why didn't I think of talking to her drama teacher before?

Yeah on both counts. I hope she returns from her visit all fired up and ready to go. It would make things so much easier.

We are still in a holding pattern here. We have heard back on three of her four apps. She has been accepted to all three and 2 have generous scholarship offers. She still is not very excited about any of these. I'm hoping as she has more time to digest what is on the table, she will be able to see the positives and make a choice. She has started dating a nice guy who will be staying close to home, so I hope if that lasts long enough she will begin to view sticking around MI as an alternative.

Anyone else hearing back on apps yet?

 

[kbeverina]

PS 0- Here's an additional wrinkle I came across yesterday. Now a few schools are starting to not require either the ACT *or* the SATs, one of them being Wake Forest.

George Mason is another school that doesn't require scores.

My son got his ED application into VaTech early October, but is finally facing the reality that this is really a long-shot for him. I was reading at College Confidential and a mom from a high school not too far from ours was saying that last year not a single student from her daughter's school was accepted ED at Tech. Of those deferred, only students from the Cambridge program were eventually accepted. No students from the Honors program. And this wasn't even engineering. Her daughter applied for Sociology.

So he did start working on other applications and got them all done online and paperwork submitted to the counselor. His counselor is wonderful--she's called me at home numerous times to discuss schedule choices and make recommendations. When my son checked his application status online for Tech a few days after applying, they'd already received his paperwork from his counselor. So I feel very lucky in that regard, she is very on the ball.

I guess we're just in wait-and-see mode until mid-December.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Yeah on both counts. I hope she returns from her visit all fired up and ready to go. It would make things so much easier.

We are still in a holding pattern here. We have heard back on three of her four apps. She has been accepted to all three and 2 have generous scholarship offers. She still is not very excited about any of these. I'm hoping as she has more time to digest what is on the table, she will be able to see the positives and make a choice. She has started dating a nice guy who will be staying close to home, so I hope if that lasts long enough she will begin to view sticking around MI as an alternative.

Anyone else hearing back on apps yet?

DD only applied to one university (Not because she's in love with the school but because of her lazyness! I encouraged her to research other choices and apply but she didn't) So she had pretty much resigned herself to going there since it was now the only choice. I was confident that they would admit her based on their freshman requirements but was becoming afraid she had shot herself in the foot by only applying one place.

Well she received her acceptance letter on her birthday! I think I was more excited than her! She assumed it was a given.

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

I handed in my third application today.
I'm terrified that I won't get accepted to my ED school, but I've been told plenty of times by people I know who go there that I shouldn't have too much of a problem. To face the reality, it's a competetive school... I keep worrying myself.

Am I the only one out there doing this?

 

[geffric]

is everyone waiting until Dec???

 

[cruisnfamily]

So what are we all buying our seniors for Christmas this year?

I'd like to give a few "getting ready for college" type items.

I ran across this book and thought it sounded really great.

Can anybody recommend any other books or college~y type items you've purchased or are considering purchasing?

I'd like to do some clothing/coffee mug/notebook type of things form the actual college but it's too far to drive there and they don't have an online store.

 

[Chelley00]

Took DS for his senior pictures Saturday. I cannot wait to get them back. Still waiting on the acceptance from IU (his first choice), but I have a friend whose daughter got in with a lower ACT score and lower GPA, so we're very hopeful.

I've already started buying DS Christmas stuff. I caught the Nate Berkus show the other day and he was talking about sending a college freshman off and I wrote down what he put in the room for grandparents and us for his Christmas list this year.


towels
washcloths
hamper
shower caddy
foldable chair
over the door shoe holder for storage
plastic storage totes that fit under the bed
desk lamp
fridge
area rug
bed risers?


We're also adding college sweatshirts, blankets etc (but only after that acceptance letter comes) desk top fan, laptop cooling pad. If he gets in, we'll add twin XL sheets as well

DH and I are thinking about getting him a new bicycle as his big gift. IU is a big bike college, and DS does not have a car. We'd also add a bike lock and helmet too.

 

[jme829]

DD is going to get an ipod dock, and a digital voice recorder for college next year (among some other things). I'm not getting her much in the way of "dorm" stuff yet, as she hasn't 100% figured out if she is going to her first choice (as a commuter/already accepted) or somewhere else.


She had originally planned on a school 8 miles from here, living at home, so she wouldn't need dorm stuff. But she lately has decided to look at a couple other places (one she just applied to yesterday, waiting for a decision) so I don't want to get her anything if she stays here.

On another note, how does the "decision" process work? Do the schools give you their financial aid offer and then you look at them all and decide? Which I assume we have to wait until after January when we fill out the FAFSA stuff? What is a typical "time" of year to make the final decision? She has been accepted at her first choice and we can swing it without aid, but her 2nd choice, we'd definitely need a little bit of help ( a small student loan or a few scholarships would be helpful) since we weren't planning on her going away to college. We want to see what she is offered before she makes her final decision, I just don't know how it all works.

 

[agnes!]

I handed in my third application today.
I'm terrified that I won't get accepted to my ED school, but I've been told plenty of times by people I know who go there that I shouldn't have too much of a problem. To face the reality, it's a competetive school... I keep worrying myself.

Am I the only one out there doing this?

No, I think we're concerned too. I almost wish everyone would stop saying "Oh DD won't have any trouble!" Well, she *might*, especially with our ethnic background (mostly European) & geographic location (large suburban affluent school district). There might already be enough of DD's type at the schools she's applied to.

DD didn't do an ED school. One of her schools doesn't do Early Decisions and she didn't want to be locked-in at any of the others.

is everyone waiting until Dec???

For what?...to hand in apps? Gosh no, DD has 3 completely done and a 4th just needs one last essay and then *that* one will be done. All her needed material will be in way before the December 1st scholarship deadlines (handed in her high school transcript requests last week) and she will most probably qualify for a fair amount of merit aid. (The FAFSA 4caster says we won't get much - if any - need-based aid...) The amount of scholarship money (+ to a certain extent any other money) that is offered by the schools will have some bearing on her decision-making process.

agnes!

 

[johnsontrio]

Regarding committing....

We are waiting. We have heard back from 3 of the 5 schools. DD is not excited about any of them and I am beginning to think that she is so tentative about the whole college thing (she's still 16 years old) that she can't really engage in the process. She has an acceptance with no scholarship at our large state school. Many, many people there and no idea what to study. I see many opportunities for distraction and spinning her wheels there. She has an acceptance to a smaller OOS university with a fixed scholarship. She has an admittance directly to the Nursing program of a smaller local Jesuit university with a generous scholarship that will likely get larger. Financially and for job security this seems to make the most sense. We have told her we will pay for her graduate school if she takes this. We are waiting on Marquette and Univ. of Alabama. I hear that Marquette doesn't give large amounts of money and she won't get anything from Alabama which makes it out of reach for her.

The 3 schools want deposits ASAP but don't have due dates on the letter. I think we will wait until we get a better idea of what she decides to do. The large state school doesn't run out of housing and the OOS school doesn't either. If she goes to the local university I hope she chooses to live her for the first year or two and then we can discuss putting her in an apartment. Clearly we will not be buying things for the dorm for Christmas or her birthday. She'll probably get money for when she does decide.

 

[kbeverina]

If she's not excited about any of her choices, do you think she should keep looking? Or maybe she believes somehow that Alabama is going to work out so she's not as open to other schools right now. It sounds like she really wants the whole college experience so I can see how the local schools and living at home wouldn't be as appealing to her. There have to be other financially feasible options out there she would be happy with. Maybe starting a fresh search would get her energized about it.

 

[johnsontrio]

If she's not excited about any of her choices, do you think she should keep looking? Or maybe she believes somehow that Alabama is going to work out so she's not as open to other schools right now. It sounds like she really wants the whole college experience so I can see how the local schools and living at home wouldn't be as appealing to her. There have to be other financially feasible options out there she would be happy with. Maybe starting a fresh search would get her energized about it.

We started touring in Sophomore year so she has been on many campuses. I think at the heart of the problem is that she is very close to her Dad and me and while she thinks she wants to go away and have than big campus experience, I think she can't quite picture going away. I would be happy to have her take a fresh look but I don't see that happening. I don't think she's even looking at schools now. Of all the schools she applied to, I put them all on her radar except Marquette. A friend from school whose family expects her to go to St. Mary's, Notre Dame like all her sisters, toured there and liked it, so she told DD about it. The application was free so she applied.

Since she won't be 17 until next month, I think she will be fine to go to the local Jesuit Univ. on the scholarship they re offering. If she hates it, or wants a change, she could then transfer to MSU or even Alabama with the money we will have saved from the first 2 years. I really don't want her to turn down these scholarships which are only offered to incoming freshman, to go to MSU when she's not excited to go there. If they are all the same to her, I'd like her to make the economically smart choice. Of course, as the year goes on it may become an issue of where the BF is going if he is still around. He says his parents want him to stay close but I don't know what that means. I know he is looking for an opportunity to play D1 soccer.

 

[kbeverina]

If they are all the same to her

Yes, I definitely see what you mean about that. And she is a very young senior. My son finally did put in applications to other schools, but he has yet to really consider the others as possibilities. Reality may be smacking him hard come December 15.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I would recommend this book to any parents who are within several years of kids attending college. I have recommended it to my clients for years, used it ourselves years back when ours were. It changes a bit each year so recommend getting new edition each year. Updates with forms, rules, etc, like taxes.

Best wishes to all.

http://www.amazon.com/Paying-College-Without-Admissions-Guides/dp/0375427910

This is the link to the 2010 book....

http://www.amazon.com/Paying-College-Without-Admissions-Guides/dp/0375429425

And the 2009....

http://www.amazon.com/Paying-College-without-Admissions-Guides/dp/0375428836

(not to be taken as financial or college planning advice)





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