Parents of College Class of 2018 (A.K.A., "Is this the line to the poor house?")

[sk!mom]

Our hs doesn't mail report cards - you have to go pick them up.

Who has completed senior pictures? Curious as to costs...

DD's school mails report cards. Seems like it took about a week but they are available on line so I already knew final grades.

DD did her cap and gown and yearbook photos with the "official" photographer that the school uses a couple of weeks ago. They were OK not great. I bought one 5x7 of her in cap and gown with the honors cords and stoles in case I can't get a great photo next year at actual graduation. it was $40. No sitting fee since you are forced to go there for the official photos. We hired a photographer to go out with DD around town for the photos we wanted. We got them yesterday and they are more beautiful than I imagined. She took some in casual clothes, changed to a dress, and then took some modeled after the Ballerina Project- Some in a Leo and tutu and some in a Leo and bike shorts.

Ballet has been such a huge part of her life, these meant more to us than the casual shots. This photographer charged us $300 for three locations, 3 clothing changes, and we received a jump drive with 75 fully edited images and the rights to do whatever we want with them.

We followed 5 different photographers on Facebook. DD is VERY picky so she looked at all of their portfolios while I got price quotes. The one whose work she liked the most was mid priced. She didn't care for the photos of the most expensive (nice for me as I would have nixed her based on price). The least expensive also had many FB posts over the past few months apologizing for delays and offering excuses for why people weren't getting their photos so I was happy that DD didn't really care for her work.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Finally got her report card today. Almost wish I hadn't. I hate the end of year rollercoaster ride with grades. Good grades, horrible exam grade. Wish they didn't put exam grades on the report cards. It's like a contradiction. Makes National Spanish Honor Society but gets a 53 on the final exam. Ends the year with an 86 average. She does great in her classes and not so well on her exams. How does this happen? I give up.

 

[elgerber]

Our hs doesn't mail report cards - you have to go pick them up.

Who has completed senior pictures? Curious as to costs...

We took them last Saturday. I am going to spend a small fortune but it was my choice to do so. We had some cheaper options but I love the work this place does. The sitting was $125 and package range from $289 to $1000+. I got a special for $100 off and a free proof book, which I am happy about.

 

[JeannieNM]

My DD17 is also a ballet dancer. After several years of Summer Intensives and productions, she decided last year that she didn't want to pursue dance as a career and wanted to travel and go to regular camp in the Summer. DH and I agreed that this was wise as the high cost of Summer dance study didn't really make sense if she wasn't going to pursue dance. She still studies ballet at our local ballet 12-15 hours a week and will take classes there this Summer when she's home and do their August intensive. She decided not to join the Preprofessional level there since it would have increased her study to 6 days a week.

Good luck to your DD as she auditions for schools. That increases the college decision stress level.

Congrats to your daughter figuring that all out. Our daughter is not a ballet dancer though she studies ballet. She is more jazz and contemporary. She wants to do commercial dance and theatre. Joffrey West is half ballet and half other dance. Mia Michaels teaches and our D loves working with her. There is also a really good hiphop teacher. Doing ballet half a day is good for her but I wish they did less pointe work because I think after this year she will stop doing pointe. She is at the National Thespian Festival this week. She auditioned for a bunch of theatre schools none of which were on her list but for practice and got a call back from about a dozen or so schools. She really liked one of them but they do not offer dance at the school not even as classes so I am bit concerned about that. We shall see what she decides about applying. She won't have to audition again for that school or interview as the theatre department asked her to apply based on the audition they saw at festival which is nice and encouraging.

Good to see so very many others in the same boat!

My DS just turned 17 this week and lots of unknowns where he will end up going the following year. His sister (my oldest) starts at University of Florida this fall, so LOTS of college years ahead. Youngest DS starts HS this fall. Changes abound!

When you have time would share what your daughter plans to study and what drew her to University of Florida. Our DD is considering schools in Florida but we have not made it that far east in our looking and I am trying to gether as much information as possible so we can decide which schools to look at and which just to apply to.

You must have more days off during the year than we do. We had 2 snow days, which kept us in school 2 days longer, getting out June 6th. We start the day after Labor Day.

I miss the days of starting after Labor Day. Our schools start mid August. We have been out since right before Memorial Day.

DD's school mails report cards. Seems like it took about a week but they are available on line so I already knew final grades.

She took some in casual clothes, changed to a dress, and then took some modeled after the Ballerina Project- Some in a Leo and tutu and some in a Leo and bike shorts.

Ballet has been such a huge part of her life, these meant more to us than the casual shots. This photographer charged us $300 for three locations, 3 clothing changes, and we received a jump drive with 75 fully edited images and the rights to do whatever we want with them.

We followed 5 different photographers on Facebook. DD is VERY picky so she looked at all of their portfolios while I got price quotes. The one whose work she liked the most was mid priced. She didn't care for the photos of the most expensive (nice for me as I would have nixed her based on price). The least expensive also had many FB posts over the past few months apologizing for delays and offering excuses for why people weren't getting their photos so I was happy that DD didn't really care for her work.

We want to do some of those shots too. We have to get new headshots frist and then new dance resume shots....my DD is also very picky, she has one photographer she wants to use for headshots, luckily he is very good and very reasonable. Then another for senior photos and not sure about the dance photos.

Finally got her report card today. Almost wish I hadn't. I hate the end of year rollercoaster ride with grades. Good grades, horrible exam grade. Wish they didn't put exam grades on the report cards. It's like a contradiction. Makes National Spanish Honor Society but gets a 53 on the final exam. Ends the year with an 86 average. She does great in her classes and not so well on her exams. How does this happen? I give up.

We get our grades via email. Our DD is like yours, she does not take exams well. She is an excellent student but I watch solid As turn to high Bs because of finals all the time. It makes her and me crazy. My DD has a learning issue that plays into it but it's still frustrating. She is also usually burnt out by the time finals come around. Luckily for us at her school seniors do not have to take finals at the end of the second sememster, only the first semester, so after December finals she is done with high school finals.

 

[sbtrfly74]

Our hs doesn't mail report cards - you have to go pick them up.

Who has completed senior pictures? Curious as to costs...

Im only getting DD senior pics done through the school just to have her pic in the yearbook. She had an appointment in April that I passed up due to a bad haircut and now she has another appointment July 11th that I might push back to Aug.

My father is a professional photographer (good not great) and even though I let him take my other DD senior pics four years ago I still ended up buying some of the schools pics. He took 1 of her that was spectacular but we still sent out announcements from her school pics which were really good also.

Now that he's been doing this longer it would be impossible for me to go to another photographer, I almost did with other DD just because he was out of town and that was my excuse.

Ill get DDsenior pics done in Aug for the yearbook, and let dad take her pics once her hair looks normal. Its free so I cant complain but I do want a pic of her you see with a senior at a piano since that is her main hobby and if the school or dad cant pull that off I may have to look for someone else that promotes that particular picture.

Oh and the school sitting fee is $25.00 for a yearbook pic, no outfit changes, 3 poses.

$40.00 with outfit changes and I think 10 poses... and goes up from there and that of course doesnt include pic prices. I still splurged on first DD and got the $40 sitting fee and still prob spent $300.

 

[bittybabygrower]

We were lucky in that my DD was asked to be a model representative for their senior pics....70% off and a bunch a freebies. I couldn't get over the prices! We did one wall composite of 4 pics, frames, 2 5x7 and 80 wallets for $200.

Now to start looking for scholarships!

 

[PizzieDuster]

Did a search but didn't see a thread, so here I am.

I love our marching band parent thread -- it has always been so supportive and helpful and interesting -- and would love to see a thread for us parents of kids working on this whole aiming-for-college thing!

My DS just turned 17. He has known he wants to be an engineer for a good while now, and wants to be at Texas A&M @ Galveston for their Marine Engineering program. We're both ocean nuts anyway, and when he found out that the program is mechanical + electrical engineering, focused on the ocean, that was it. Spending a week at engineering Sea Camp there last summer cemented it for him.

But I swear I learn (and stress out about) new stuff every day! He took the SAT a year ago and did well, and then I just recently found out that you can get more merit aid the higher your test scores are. (And every aid dollar is going to be critical!) So now we're trying to decide if he should take the SAT one more time in an attempt to raise it a bit, or give the ACT a try since it's more math/science oriented. We head back to the school at the end of this month anyway, so I think I'm going to ask the adcoms and finaid people which they prefer/what would be best.

Anyways, that's where we are. Looking forward to hearing about your and your Juniors' college-planning journeys so far!



-gina-

Both.

I'm excited for you and your son. I was so overwhelmed. I love that I kept my folders for each son's college journey. One for each school, ACT sent check, SAT sent check, transcript sent check One graduated last month, one's going to be a sophomore next year. Oh, and my second son is on football scholarship. My older brother made and sent out his highlight DVD all over the place. That was exciting, getting calls from coaches and offers. Fun times. I couldn't of done it without my brother. He was in charge of all that part and he did a wonderful job. We are always thanking him for that.

In four years, I'll be so prepared for my daughter! Yeah, right. I'll probably be overwhelmed then too. LOL

Enjoy!

 

[Disneynut71]

I could have wrote this myself. I have a 17 year old DS with dreams of university life with very limited funds. He is very smart but his grades show different (very lazy) scored well on ACT but if he picked up a book and studied he would have scored higher.

His dad (who only see's him 2-3 times a year and claims he is not helping at all with college) is encouraging him to live in an apartment off campus. My son who is anti-social is planning to use his 4 years at school to avoid any interaction with other students.

I'm at a loss. DS is not listening to anything I have to say. I will just have to figure a way to help pay as much as possible. I am hoping for him to take his ACT again and see if he will score a bit higher. I hear the higher the better for $$....

 

[PizzieDuster]

I could have wrote this myself. I have a 17 year old DS with dreams of university life with very limited funds. He is very smart but his grades show different (very lazy) scored well on ACT but if he picked up a book and studied he would have scored higher.

His dad (who only see's him 2-3 times a year and claims he is not helping at all with college) is encouraging him to live in an apartment off campus. My son who is anti-social is planning to use his 4 years at school to avoid any interaction with other students.

I'm at a loss. DS is not listening to anything I have to say. I will just have to figure a way to help pay as much as possible. I am hoping for him to take his ACT again and see if he will score a bit higher. I hear the higher the better for $$....

My son had dreams of going to USC. Umm. No. Can you transfer, ya, maybe, don't hold your breath. When they are that young, they have all these visions. Sam and I are going to rent an apartment...blah blah blah. They had to face reality. Eventually, they do. I just always nodded my head. Tried to be practical. Thankfully, he listened. My son found out for himself eventually. Basically when he got the "nope, you are not going to be a Trojan" letter. lol

I'd have him retake the ACT. My son's second ACT score was awesome.

 

[TLuvsD]

f your school uses Naviance, have him look at that for colleges that students from his high school are admitted with his current gpa/test scores.

If not, use the common data sets from several colleges. It can be a real eye opener. I did this for my neighbor's son--he wasn't listening to her, was more than willing to sit down with me.

 

[mommykds]

Hello!

We have just started looking at colleges for my oldest (DD 17). This is all new to us & I have been reading along. So far we have visited 4 colleges & of those 4 she can see herself in 2 of them. Her grades are good & she is working on bringing her SAT scores up. She took an SAT prep course but does anyone know where online (or hardcopy) we can get some old SAT tests that she can use for practice?

Thanks!

 

[SydSim]

Hello!

We have just started looking at colleges for my oldest (DD 17). This is all new to us & I have been reading along. So far we have visited 4 colleges & of those 4 she can see herself in 2 of them. Her grades are good & she is working on bringing her SAT scores up. She took an SAT prep course but does anyone know where online (or hardcopy) we can get some old SAT tests that she can use for practice?

Thanks!

The Official SAT Study Guide (the Blue book), comes with at least ten practice tests.

 

[TLuvsD]

CollegeBoard will send a question a day via email.

Most public libraries have SAT prep books with practice tests in them.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Hoping you can all provide me with some guidance. DD wants to study marine science/biology. She's always said so, in addition to forensic science. In her mind she wants to work with dolphins, etc. From what I've been able to find out, that's about a 1 in a million shot and she will need much more schooling after college. I almost positive once she gets to college and starts to take the required classes, she will change her mind. And math and science are not her best classes.

So what do I do? Try to steer her away from marine science and crush her dreams or let her go for it and make the decision herself? We're only looking at schools that offer marine science but I'm making sure there are other subjects I think she might like as well. But I'm afraid we might be missing out on some good schools because we're not looking at those schools.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bittybabygrower]

We have had the same issue with DD...she wants to be a zookeeper and those jobs are far and inbetween. I think she realized this when she went with a zookeeper for the day and has added ecology and conservation to her major. She is also looking at joining the Coast Guard reserve.

 

[sk!mom]

Hoping you can all provide me with some guidance. DD wants to study marine science/biology. She's always said so, in addition to forensic science. In her mind she wants to work with dolphins, etc. From what I've been able to find out, that's about a 1 in a million shot and she will need much more schooling after college. I almost positive once she gets to college and starts to take the required classes, she will change her mind. And math and science are not her best classes.

So what do I do? Try to steer her away from marine science and crush her dreams or let her go for it and make the decision herself? We're only looking at schools that offer marine science but I'm making sure there are other subjects I think she might like as well. But I'm afraid we might be missing out on some good schools because we're not looking at those schools.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would guide her to an overall good school that offers marine biology and encourage her to go for it. If she is unable to make the grade in her Science classes, she will then be at a good school where she can change her major to something that suits her aptitude and abilities or she'll work hard and make the grades.

My DH is an example of this. At 18, he started college premed. He then proceeded to seriously hate and struggle in every science class. He changed his major to accounting and has had a successful and happy career in a field that suited him. He was at a good school so changing majors was no big deal.

 

[powellrj]

We had this happen with our middle DS. He wanted a major that I wasn't sure about and the schools he wanted to attend were way out of our budget even if he had scholarships.

I was very honest with him and told him that I knew that was his dream, but that most kids change their majors at least once during college. I said that he should find the best school in the area that offered his major that we could afford. He also had to find a school that had other majors so if he started taking classes and decided he didn't want the original major, he would be able to change. This is what he did, BUT on our visit to the school, he found he really didn't like his major as much as another one and changed his mind before he ever got there! I will say, he is now a senior and will graduate in December and he never did change his major!

 

[IDoDis]

I haven't been on the CB in a while, browsed around today and saw this thread. My DD 17 will be a senior this upcoming school year. She aspires to be a doctor, so hopefully undergrad school will yield some scholarship money so that the loans can be saved for med school, assuming she doesn't change her mind.

We have a lottery scholarship here where any high school senior can attend one of our state universities for 4 years (8 semesters) with tuition and fees paid for as long as they maintain a college GPA of 2.5. However, the money which is generated from the state lottery is drying up, so this is all going to change for the year DD starts college where the scholarship will be less money, require a higher GPA (which I am all for), or will only be given to economically disadvantaged entering freshman. Therefore, applying for scholarships is very much in the radar.

As for $$ for her senior year, DD is scheduled for senior photos at the end of July with a photographer she chose. The shots will be at a few outdoor locations and one indoor, and it includes a professional make-up artist to do her makeup. The sitting fee is $275 and the least expensive package to buy photos is $275 which gives us way more pictures than we need.

Then yesterday she got a letter in the mail for the school yearbook senior photos that she has to do if she wants her picture in the yearbook. The cheapest sitting fee is $35 and includes 2 outfit changes plus a cap & gown photo. I have no idea what the pictures cost but I doubt we will buy any of those. I wish we didn't have to pay that sitting fee and she could just go in a take a quick picture since they are only allowing shoulder-up head shots in the yearbook.

 

[mommykds]

The Official SAT Study Guide (the Blue book), comes with at least ten practice tests.

CollegeBoard will send a question a day via email.

Most public libraries have SAT prep books with practice tests in them.

Thank you!

She has the official SAT book & I also got her The New Math SAT Game Plan: The Strategic Way to Score Higher by Philip Keller. October 5th will be her last SAT before she applies so I wanted her to have as much practice as possible.

We have our 5th college tour this week. How many colleges are you all visiting? I think by September we will have seen at least 8.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

You must have more days off during the year than we do. We had 2 snow days, which kept us in school 2 days longer, getting out June 6th. We start the day after Labor Day.

We have 185 days of school. Our only big vacation days are Christmas and April vacation.
But we typically have 2-6 snow days. Those used to be built in but now they aren't.


Senior portraits.
It was a $40 sitting fee for 12 poses and 2 outfits. Not sure how much the prints will be, those should be available online this week and we will get proofs via mail in 2 weeks.

College visits: OMG, I am a bad parent, we haven't done any. DS is so busy with school, projects and sports we haven't had the time.
I think he's decided to go to Community college for 2 years and then transfer to University.