High School Class of 2016/College Class 2020

[4luv2cdisney]

Anybody do any college visits yet? DD has a bunch of friends that did visits over Spring Break. We would like to do some this summer and I thought by doing so, we were going to be getting a real head start! Guess not!

 

[MomofKatie]

Anybody do any college visits yet? DD has a bunch of friends that did visits over Spring Break. We would like to do some this summer and I thought by doing so, we were going to be getting a real head start! Guess not!

We have done a few here in NC. DD and DH will be heading to PA this weekend to check out 1 or 2. This summer, we are planning another mini-trip up the Eastern coast to check out some places.

I think most families start going to schools around the end of sophomore year/beginning of junior year.

 

[luvsJack]

We are fairly certain where dd will spend her first two years of college so visits aren't high on the list but, she is interested in seeing some 4 year schools to have an idea of where she will complete her degree.

Her choir director has had several university directors come in and work with them and talk to them about his/her school and choir. So, dd and her bff have a few places they want to visit.

We will start that next fall, can't fit anything else in right now.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

I was just thinking it would be nice to have access to Naviance to see if or how helpful it would be in the college search. I didn't think we'd get access until Junior year, though. DD came home today and said they signed up and did the questionnaire for it today. Can't wait to check it out!

 

[Kitzka]

I can't believe I'm just finding this thread. DD will be graduating in 2016 and we are already stressing a bit.

Wanted to thank everyone for posting. I have not read all 12 pages of this thread but did read the last few.

Dd is interested in studying computers and dance on college as a double major. She does not want a BFA program so we are looking at our options.

We did some college visits last summer (before sophomore year) to gage the type of campus she wanted to be on and school size.

She's pretty confident that she wants an urban or suburban campus but wants a school with an actual campus.

Dd just chose her classes for jr year and will be taking:
Algebra 2/trig honors
Us history 2 honors
Bio AP
Computer science honors
English/lit 11 AP
Gym/health
Modeling and computer animation
Spanish 3

There might not be enough room for her to take the modeling class (class may be full already) and if that's the case she will take small business management honors.

Her grades are great but she isn't good at standardized tests. In going to start her tutoring at the end if this month.

She also has a good number of extra activities. She has been involved with then for years.

My main concern is that she doesn't freeze up when it comes to the tests.

Can't wait to gain knowledge from this thread.

L

 

[Worfiedoodles]

My ds has selected the following for his junior year:

Precalculus
American Foreign Policy
AP US History
English 11 (British Literature)
AP Language and Composition
French 4

He is finishing up his 4th year of Latin this year, so he will be done with that requirement. He is saving his last year of science for his senior year -- not sure if he will just take statistics or also calculus as well. No honors classes at his school. It's either AP, or the regular class. You can take up to 3 APs, but not more than 2 classes from any one dept.

He has American Lit this year and is hoping he prefers British Lit!

I keep buying him books and he is working on getting ready for testing and campus visits. One nice thing in his school is that they require juniors to spend 45 min each day working on preparing for college, so I am hoping I won't have to push as much at home. The administration says this college search is intense and the kid's should consider it is like an AP class when deciding what other classes they wish to take.

This summer he is going to do SAT Prep. He is a bright kid in a very tough, Exam Prep school so it is interesting. He's not the brightest there, he's never going to have the highest GPA -- but most of his masters (teachers) have Ph.Ds. and I feel he is getting an excellent education.

In the regular local high schools he would be at the top of the class, instead he is in the middle. It's quite an adjustment when these kids go from being the smartest in their schools in 6th grade, to generally just average from 7th on. Of course some kids stay at the top, but without much exception those tend to be the "tiger mother" kids.

Anyway, it is really interesting for me to read about kids from across the country and how their school requirements differ. 47% of this year's seniors at his school have been accepted early decision, so I am hopeful that this tougher curriculum, even with a lower class rank and GPA, will pay off.

My ds has a few extracurriculars (theater, book club, church youth group), but nothing like all the various activities some of your kids do!

We plan to do some campus visits this summer -- a few local universities and my dh's alma mater. My son is only interested in an urban environment in a big city -- so there's that.

Anyway, next year we expect to do the serious campus visits once he has narrowed the schools a bit.

Enjoying reading about all the accomplished and talented class of 2016!

 

[NewCrew42]

Dd and I visited 4 colleges over break, one is the college where her older brother is currently enrolled. It was nice to combine a college visit and to see him as well!

What is Naviance? I am not familiar with that.

 

[Pikester]

My ds has selected the following for his junior year:

Precalculus
American Foreign Policy
AP US History
English 11 (British Literature)
AP Language and Composition
French 4

He is finishing up his 4th year of Latin this year, so he will be done with that requirement. He is saving his last year of science for his senior year -- not sure if he will just take statistics or also calculus as well. No honors classes at his school. It's either AP, or the regular class. You can take up to 3 APs, but not more than 2 classes from any one dept.

He has American Lit this year and is hoping he prefers British Lit!

I keep buying him books and he is working on getting ready for testing and campus visits. One nice thing in his school is that they require juniors to spend 45 min each day working on preparing for college, so I am hoping I won't have to push as much at home. The administration says this college search is intense and the kid's should consider it is like an AP class when deciding what other classes they wish to take.

This summer he is going to do SAT Prep. He is a bright kid in a very tough, Exam Prep school so it is interesting. He's not the brightest there, he's never going to have the highest GPA -- but most of his masters (teachers) have Ph.Ds. and I feel he is getting an excellent education.

In the regular local high schools he would be at the top of the class, instead he is in the middle. It's quite an adjustment when these kids go from being the smartest in their schools in 6th grade, to generally just average from 7th on. Of course some kids stay at the top, but without much exception those tend to be the "tiger mother" kids.

Anyway, it is really interesting for me to read about kids from across the country and how their school requirements differ. 47% of this year's seniors at his school have been accepted early decision, so I am hopeful that this tougher curriculum, even with a lower class rank and GPA, will pay off.

My ds has a few extracurriculars (theater, book club, church youth group), but nothing like all the various activities some of your kids do!

We plan to do some campus visits this summer -- a few local universities and my dh's alma mater. My son is only interested in an urban environment in a big city -- so there's that.

Anyway, next year we expect to do the serious campus visits once he has narrowed the schools a bit.

Enjoying reading about all the accomplished and talented class of 2016!

I really worry about my DS16 in terms of being one of the "smarter" kids in school. We live in a smallish town and he only has around 100 (if that) kids in his 10th grade class. The whole middle/high grades 7-12 school has about 500 kids. What are his chances of getting into the schools that he wants to get into? He really, really wants to get into the Naval Academy but I'm not sure how that is going to go. So many kids competing for only so many spots. He will go to a college, just not sure which one.

DS16 chose his classes back in Jan/Feb. I really can't remember what he chose but know they were the classes that he needed. Hopefully the classes are at times that work with each other.

Track season has started so he has practice almost every day after school and his first meet is this Thursday (tomorrow).

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Dd and I visited 4 colleges over break, one is the college where her older brother is currently enrolled. It was nice to combine a college visit and to see him as well!

What is Naviance? I am not familiar with that.

Well, I've only logged in once so far, but it is set up through the school and the kids take a series of surveys and then it gives them reports about their personality type, learner characteristics, strengths, talents, etc. Your ACT / SAT scores, etc will be in there (once taken) and you can to searches to match you with your best career choices, colleges, and it looks like there is a scholarship finder / match tab, too. Seems like it could be good, but my DD has only completed 1 survey and has no test scores yet, so....

The only thing I am finding very interesting so far is the schools acceptance history. So, you can see which colleges the last 4 years of students have been accepted to and where they are attending. But, it doesn't tell you how many applied and were accepted, only gives accepted and attending. I mean, I don't know if having 5 kids at Yale is good or not. If it showed 5 applied and 5 were accepted, then I would think that's a good sign. If it showed 100 applied and only 5 accepted, maybe not so much. It is still encouraging to see how many kids are going to top 30 schools, I guess, but I'm a little disappointed as I thought "acceptance history" was going to be "acceptance rate". I also would have liked to see some kind of data on scholarships awarded.

I really worry about my DS16 in terms of being one of the "smarter" kids in school. We live in a smallish town and he only has around 100 (if that) kids in his 10th grade class. The whole middle/high grades 7-12 school has about 500 kids. What are his chances of getting into the schools that he wants to get into? He really, really wants to get into the Naval Academy but I'm not sure how that is going to go. So many kids competing for only so many spots. He will go to a college, just not sure which one.

DS16 chose his classes back in Jan/Feb. I really can't remember what he chose but know they were the classes that he needed. Hopefully the classes are at times that work with each other.

Track season has started so he has practice almost every day after school and his first meet is this Thursday (tomorrow).

I guess I've always looked at standardized test scores to kind of get a feel for how my kid will compare out there. I have a bit of the opposite problem, my kid is always upset that she is surrounded by kids doing so much better. She works so hard, but will never be the top 1% or 2%. However, so far her standardized tests show that she is scoring 95 - 98th percentile (depending on the test and the subject area) for national rankings. So, I am hopeful!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I really worry about my DS16 in terms of being one of the "smarter" kids in school. We live in a smallish town and he only has around 100 (if that) kids in his 10th grade class. The whole middle/high grades 7-12 school has about 500 kids. What are his chances of getting into the schools that he wants to get into? He really, really wants to get into the Naval Academy but I'm not sure how that is going to go. So many kids competing for only so many spots. He will go to a college, just not sure which one.

DS16 chose his classes back in Jan/Feb. I really can't remember what he chose but know they were the classes that he needed. Hopefully the classes are at times that work with each other.

Track season has started so he has practice almost every day after school and his first meet is this Thursday (tomorrow).

One tip, just in case you are unaware -- another entry point for the Naval Academy is through athletic scholarships. One of my co-workers has a son who was a baseball star. He went in with an athletic scholarship, and he has had a very successful career to date. He received a citation for his leadership in fighting Somali pirates, and now he is stationed in Hawaii. He was in a smaller, Catholic high school, one at the top tier of Catholic schools in our area.

Maybe track could be the ticket!

Maria

 

[momof1princess]

DD16 has chosen her classes for next fall (they're going from a block schedule-which we loved, because it allowed her to put the classes with the most homework off until spring semester, when marching band season was over-to a seven class a day schedule, which, with AP classes, is really going to require her to buckle down if she wants to march and continue to do anchor club), but i honestly don't know what they are. She takes the ACT for the first time on Saturday, and is super nervous.

 

[hereyago]

How was everyone's Easter or Passover?


DD went on a field trip of sorts to the local university on Friday, a "day in the life of a university student" type thing.

She ist still waiting to hear if she made it into to vo tech school for Vet. Assistant.

She has decided that she doesn't want a yearbook this year.

Let's talk class rings, ok, the school and Jostens has done 1 hey you want a class ring talk all ready with parents and students and will have another one this week.
dd doesn't seem that into it, so I don't know. I know we can order from Walmart as well.

I think the next 2 years are going to be revved up on how much money we can spend on stuff that will later go in our closets. lol

 

[MomofKatie]

How was everyone's Easter or Passover?


DD went on a field trip of sorts to the local university on Friday, a "day in the life of a university student" type thing.

She ist still waiting to hear if she made it into to vo tech school for Vet. Assistant.

She has decided that she doesn't want a yearbook this year.

Let's talk class rings, ok, the school and Jostens has done 1 hey you want a class ring talk all ready with parents and students and will have another one this week.
dd doesn't seem that into it, so I don't know. I know we can order from Walmart as well.

I think the next 2 years are going to be revved up on how much money we can spend on stuff that will later go in our closets. lol

Our Easter/Spring Break week was nice. We didn't go anywhere, but just relaxed at home.

This coming Saturday is Welcome Day for her new school- we will get to see what the dorms are like, tour the library, cafeteria, and classrooms, and get lots of information about the boarding aspect of the school. DD will spend the day doing placement testing.

DD wants to get a yearbook from her current school since she won't be going there anymore after this year. We need to see if she can still order one.

Class rings- DD got the Jostens packet and presentation last fall. She put off deciding until later, and it turned out to be a good thing, since she is changing schools. Not sure if she will want one from her new school, either- she is not a jewelry wearing girl. I'm sure there will be a lot of other things to spend $$ on in the next 2 years...

 

[Kitzka]

How was everyone's Easter or Passover?


DD went on a field trip of sorts to the local university on Friday, a "day in the life of a university student" type thing.

She ist still waiting to hear if she made it into to vo tech school for Vet. Assistant.

She has decided that she doesn't want a yearbook this year.

Let's talk class rings, ok, the school and Jostens has done 1 hey you want a class ring talk all ready with parents and students and will have another one this week.
dd doesn't seem that into it, so I don't know. I know we can order from Walmart as well.

I think the next 2 years are going to be revved up on how much money we can spend on stuff that will later go in our closets. lol

We had a low key Easter. My brother and parents were on vacation in Mexico. And my dil, her family and my in laws were in st. Kitts. Clearly our family missed Togo on a tropical vacation memo. But we had friends over who did not have family local. They have 2 small kids and DD filed and set up an Easter egg hunt for the kids. DH and I got to hang out with our friends. On top of that we want to the movies. It was much more enjoyable than running from family to family.

DD had spring break last week and worked on her research paper most of the week (aside from social stuff) and somgsAT studying.

And I totally agree with you, the next two years are going to be very pricey. In nj the kids don't get a permit untilm16. But before you get the permit you have to take drivers ed and 6 hours of road instruction with a driving school. It's going to run about. $275. So, adding all that into that other costs. I don't know where it's going to come from. I'm going to try and start squirreling some money away now. I don't know if dd will get a us class rig. I'm thinking she will forgo that one but will get a yearbook.

How come my mom never told me high school was so expensive??

How is everyone else?

 

[luvsJack]

How was everyone's Easter or Passover?


DD went on a field trip of sorts to the local university on Friday, a "day in the life of a university student" type thing.

She ist still waiting to hear if she made it into to vo tech school for Vet. Assistant.

She has decided that she doesn't want a yearbook this year.

Let's talk class rings, ok, the school and Jostens has done 1 hey you want a class ring talk all ready with parents and students and will have another one this week.
dd doesn't seem that into it, so I don't know. I know we can order from Walmart as well.

I think the next 2 years are going to be revved up on how much money we can spend on stuff that will later go in our closets. lol

We haven't started looking at class rings yet. This year they were able to order their letterman jackets ($194 after the school paid $70 of it) Hopefully it will be in this month so they will be able to wear them at least their jr. and sr. years.

Next year will be class rings! Yay! (not!) I am hoping to talk dd into looking at getting a ring that she will be more likely to wear or maybe a necklace of some kind since she really doesn't wear rings, but I know how exciting it gets to finally be able to order that ring. I have been looking around for something that would be meaningful to her, like maybe a pendent that is a musical note with a diamond in it.

I just recently finally let me throw away all those little name cards they have the seniors order with their invitations that both of my sons had left over. We ordered like 50 invitations and there were like 250 of those flippin' cards. They all trade them for their memory books (also comes "with" the invitations because, you know, they have to have the BIG package ), put one in each invitations and there are still 100 left over.

Dh and I were talking about all the expenses of the next two years and how much it has increased since our sons graduated. And then I reminded him to add 2 prom dresses into the mix and he GROWLED at me!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Neither of mine wanted to order a class ring. I thought they were pretty nice but if it's just going to sit in a box then there's no point, really.

 

[luvsJack]

Both of my sons DID wear their rings at least until they lost them! In fact, most people I know lost their rings within a year of graduating. That's why I really hope to get dd something else that she may actually value more and keep up with better.

DD already ordered her yearbook, forgot about that--$60. Hopefully they won't go up in price over the next couple of years. I think the school must pay some on those too because her yearbooks from jr. high were the same price and these are a lot nicer and we can have their names and icons put on the covers.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

Class rings - DD looked at the jostens catalog and only liked the feminine styles that you can't really customize much. So I suggested we but a nice ring at the jewelry store, better quality for the price. Our local jeweler was so patient, it took a while to narrow down what style she wanted and the another month to get it in. She picked a garnet set in 10k white gold in a style that suits her. She loves it and wears it every day. The nice thing is that she can wear it forever. No one I know wore their HS class ring past freshman year in college.

Class schedule for junior year is set:
Band
Choir
French 4
AP statistics
AP US history
AP English ( not sure which one)
AP Chemistry (double class period)

Now to schedule the testing and get serious about college visits. She's only interested in schools that offer engineering.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Now to schedule the testing and get serious about college visits. She's only interested in schools that offer engineering.

It makes me so happy to hear of a young lady who is interested in engineering! I couldn't begin to do it, but I'm thrilled to see women going into fields that have traditionally been male-oriented!

Maria

 

[Anne34]

Class rings - DD looked at the jostens catalog and only liked the feminine styles that you can't really customize much. So I suggested we but a nice ring at the jewelry store, better quality for the price. Our local jeweler was so patient, it took a while to narrow down what style she wanted and the another month to get it in. She picked a garnet set in 10k white gold in a style that suits her. She loves it and wears it every day. The nice thing is that she can wear it forever. No one I know wore their HS class ring past freshman year in college. Class schedule for junior year is set: Band Choir French 4 AP statistics AP US history AP English ( not sure which one) AP Chemistry (double class period) Now to schedule the testing and get serious about college visits. She's only interested in schools that offer engineering.

I have a daughter going to Iowa state for engineering and they have an AMAZING program!!! She has done really well and had an awesome internship this past fall. All of her engineering friends have had really great internships and experiences. The schools not too hard to get junto, but they really weed out freshman year. Also, being a larger school there are many options if they want to change majors. Also, being in state it would be a bargain.

I also have a son at a small engineering school in Wisconsin. He loves it too, but it's very different and mostly engineering focused. Very expensive, but he did get a great merit scholarship