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

[powellrj]

DD is starting to finally apply to schools. Golf season is almost over and basketball season is a few months away so she has a couple of months to really get busy. She told me she is taking both the ACT and SAT again which makes me happy. She needs to get her scores up on both. They are good enough to get into the schools, but not good enough for scholarship money.

She has been so busy lately, I rarely see her these days. I told her last night its getting me ready for when she is at school.

 

[JeannieNM]

DD was not able to drop the AP Psych class, so she's stuck with it the first semester. Her school had open house night earlier this week. Since we have a senior and a freshman, I went to DS's freshman classes and DH went to DD's senior classes. DH just rolled his eyes when I asked him how the 10 minute psych class went. He said the guy is nuts... crazy! He talked the whole time about himself and said NOTHING about the class, except when he bragged about how his class was harder than the one at our university. He just went on and on about his history and how he came to be a teacher. He (talked about doing drugs in his younger years, etc...) He said every kid from a young age (like 8 years old), should read Einstein's Theory of Relativity."

Okay, on a funny note, DD sent off her first college app via snail mail. She sent a hard copy because the form had the fee waived on it for children of alumni. The envelope was pre-addressed & pre-stamped. However, her high school official transcript had to be sent to a different address in a different envelope. I had to tell DD how to address the envelope. She said she didn't know how! She addressed the envelope and put it in the mail. Two days later the transcript showed up back here at home because DD mailed it to herself!

I guess kids these days do not know how to send things snail mail since their communications are all sent electronically. She had no idea how to fill out a mailing envelope!

Please tell me I'm not the only one who had to show their senior how to address an envelope!

I am sorry to hear about the psych class, that is a shame she could not drop it.
I did laugh about the envelope. DD and friends used to write each other letters in the summer when they were away at sleep away camp but it's been years, I wonder if she could still do it. She did send us a post card from Africa 2 1/2 years ago and it has yet to arrive though that could be for many reasons.

DD did send off one app this weekend to our state school which she is not really interested in but wanted to apply for the security of knowing if all else fails... She just finished revising the essay for another app that is all ready to go but she wants her English teacher to read the essay one last time before she submits it. Hopefully, he will look at it tomorrow and she can submit that app tomorrow night. She is editing the essay she wrote for the common app which she wants the same teacher to read and she finished yet another essay for the optional tell us more about you part of the common app. The two schools she is applying to with the common app all have supplements so she will start on those Monday, one has 3 additional essays and I think the other has 1 additional essay but lots of short answer questions.

She is taking the ACT for the last time, I hope, next Saturday and she is taking her senior photos next Sunday afternoon.

Hope everyone's weekend was as relaxing as it can be. Ours was though our football team lost today. We are Redskins fans!!!

 

[Bluestars]

We just got back from visiting a college. We have another visit scheduled the first weekend in October, then that's it for visits. My son has already sent in the applications for two schools. He plans on applying to five more. I suggested that he cross off a couple that he really doesn't want to attend, but he has his list and is set on it.

He takes the ACT test next weekend and has decided that will be the last time he takes it. We already did his senior pictures and they turned out great so I ordered a package. It seems like this semester is very busy. Hopefully next semester will be a fun one for him since all of the college applications will be completed.

 

[JeannieNM]

Bluestars- do you mind sharing which school you visited and what you and your DS thought about it?

 

[Bluestars]

Bluestars- do you mind sharing which school you visited and what you and your DS thought about it?

We visited Rensselaer in Troy, NY. My son loved it and right now it's his first choice. It's very expensive though and would not be easy to get into. I liked the school too. The buildings were extremely old. The architecture was nice. We didn't really like the city of Troy, although the area right next to the school was fine. The rest of the city seemed a bit run down, but my son doesn't care. He really liked the school. They have some good engineering programs, which is my son's interest.

We are touring Texas A&M the first weekend of October. I am sure that school will be the exact opposite of Rensselaer.

Edited to add: My son just walked into the room and without me saying a thing, he told my husband that he was ready to move into Rensselaer yesterday

 

[camreesmom]

We visited Rensselaer in Troy, NY. My son loved it and right now it's his first choice. It's very expensive though and would not be easy to get into. I liked the school too. The buildings were extremely old. The architecture was nice. We didn't really like the city of Troy, although the area right next to the school was fine. The rest of the city seemed a bit run down, but my son doesn't care. He really liked the school. They have some good engineering programs, which is my son's interest.

We are touring Texas A&M the first weekend of October. I am sure that school will be the exact opposite of Rensselaer.

Edited to add: My son just walked into the room and without me saying a thing, he told my husband that he was ready to move into Rensselaer yesterday

We were just at A&M last weekend. That is my daughter's first choice school. It's my alma mater so I'm hoping that's where she ends up but trying REALLY hard to not push her in that direction....lol. Baylor is her 2nd choice but will be quite a bit more expensive than A&M. She got an email from Baylor today saying that she was eligible to apply thru the Baylor Select app which meant no application fee & no essays to write plus early decision. She got that application submitted this evening!

She'll take senior pics this week. The school changed their yearbook requirements this year and now the kids HAVE to have their pictures taken thru the school instead of using local photographers and no one - parents or students - is very happy about it!

She will take the SAT one more time next month and we still need to make a visit to Baylor. This year is already flying by & my sister who also has a senior this year sent me a text today saying only 38 more weeks and they'll graduate!!!

 

[SydSim]

Three apps in, including the SAt scores sent to all and transcripts sent to two! I just read her common app essay and its' cute, but will need some tweaking. Also read one of her other essays and it really needs some fine tuning I'll probably have her give it to her English teacher because she won't listen to my advice

Senior portraits ordered (and bank account depleted!) Meeting with an audition coach to fine tune her choices in songs/monologues and schools. Things are moving along

 

[IDoDis]

We were just at A&M last weekend. That is my daughter's first choice school. It's my alma mater so I'm hoping that's where she ends up but trying REALLY hard to not push her in that direction....lol. Baylor is her 2nd choice but will be quite a bit more expensive than A&M. She got an email from Baylor today saying that she was eligible to apply thru the Baylor Select app which meant no application fee & no essays to write plus early decision. She got that application submitted this evening!

She'll take senior pics this week. The school changed their yearbook requirements this year and now the kids HAVE to have their pictures taken thru the school instead of using local photographers and no one - parents or students - is very happy about it!

She will take the SAT one more time next month and we still need to make a visit to Baylor. This year is already flying by & my sister who also has a senior this year sent me a text today saying only 38 more weeks and they'll graduate!!!

Good luck to everyone's seniors who are taking the ACT later this month. DD refuses to take it again. I wish she'd take it one more time, but she is happy with her score. It's good enough for a scholarship (hopefully), but not good enough to get into Yale, not that she was going to apply to Yale! But wow, the mail is pouring in from all of the Ivy schools. The one that came from Yale was a book! Did anyone else see it? That thing must have cost a fortune to mail out to so many seniors! I guess money is not an issue with the Ivies though!

DD's senior pics with the outside photographer have been taken and edited. They came out really nice. We ended up with over 100 different edited shots from 5 different locations. We only paid for the package with 3 locations, but one of the locations (on the bosque which is along the Rio Grande River) had too many bugs flying around after recent rains, so after just a few shots in that location, we left and went somewhere else. Also, DD forgot her letter jacket which she wanted a few shots with. The photographer said she'd meet us anywhere we wanted to get some shots of DD with and in her jacket. How nice was that? So she met us a few days later at DD's school and took some shots out in front of the school. The other locations were downtown, Old Town, and the botanical gardens.

We have yet to go to Prestige Portraits to pick out the 2 yearbook photos. The deadline is coming up, but things have been really busy. I told them on the phone that we weren't buying a package, but still wanted the free 8 wallet photos that they advertised. They said no problem. We just had to go in and pick them out.

 

[elgerber]

We got the book from Yale. No one else we know has gotten one. We toss all the other mailers but kept that one just because its so crazy cool! No interest in Yale but the book is awesome!

 

[scrapquitler]

Good luck to everyone's seniors who are taking the ACT later this month. DD refuses to take it again. I wish she'd take it one more time, but she is happy with her score. It's good enough for a scholarship (hopefully), but not good enough to get into Yale, not that she was going to apply to Yale! But wow, the mail is pouring in from all of the Ivy schools. The one that came from Yale was a book! Did anyone else see it? That thing must have cost a fortune to mail out to so many seniors! I guess money is not an issue with the Ivies though!

DD's senior pics with the outside photographer have been taken and edited. They came out really nice. We ended up with over 100 different edited shots from 5 different locations. We only paid for the package with 3 locations, but one of the locations (on the bosque which is along the Rio Grande River) had too many bugs flying around after recent rains, so after just a few shots in that location, we left and went somewhere else. Also, DD forgot her letter jacket which she wanted a few shots with. The photographer said she'd meet us anywhere we wanted to get some shots of DD with and in her jacket. How nice was that? So she met us a few days later at DD's school and took some shots out in front of the school. The other locations were downtown, Old Town, and the botanical gardens.

We have yet to go to Prestige Portraits to pick out the 2 yearbook photos. The deadline is coming up, but things have been really busy. I told them on the phone that we weren't buying a package, but still wanted the free 8 wallet photos that they advertised. They said no problem. We just had to go in and pick them out.

We got that gigantic book from Yale, too. DD wouldn't even look at it because Yale is 'too close to home' (less than 15 minutes).

We are just going to go to JCPenney to get her Senior pictures done. She doesn't want to get all the outdoor shots with various outfits, etc. She just wants a headshot for the yearbook and a few wallet pictures to give to a handful of friends.

She's working on her essay with her English teacher, I haven't seen it as of yet, and she probably won't show it to me unless I hound her. Still not sure where to apply...its so much more difficult when you have a child who has absolutely no idea whatsoever about what she wants to major in. I'm really kind of envious of those of you with children who seem to be interested and motivated in this this process and who have some direction. We just don't have any of that going on here. Sigh.

 

[scrapquitler]

Good luck to everyone's seniors who are taking the ACT later this month. DD refuses to take it again. I wish she'd take it one more time, but she is happy with her score. It's good enough for a scholarship (hopefully), but not good enough to get into Yale, not that she was going to apply to Yale! But wow, the mail is pouring in from all of the Ivy schools. The one that came from Yale was a book! Did anyone else see it? That thing must have cost a fortune to mail out to so many seniors! I guess money is not an issue with the Ivies though!

DD's senior pics with the outside photographer have been taken and edited. They came out really nice. We ended up with over 100 different edited shots from 5 different locations. We only paid for the package with 3 locations, but one of the locations (on the bosque which is along the Rio Grande River) had too many bugs flying around after recent rains, so after just a few shots in that location, we left and went somewhere else. Also, DD forgot her letter jacket which she wanted a few shots with. The photographer said she'd meet us anywhere we wanted to get some shots of DD with and in her jacket. How nice was that? So she met us a few days later at DD's school and took some shots out in front of the school. The other locations were downtown, Old Town, and the botanical gardens.

We have yet to go to Prestige Portraits to pick out the 2 yearbook photos. The deadline is coming up, but things have been really busy. I told them on the phone that we weren't buying a package, but still wanted the free 8 wallet photos that they advertised. They said no problem. We just had to go in and pick them out.

We got that gigantic book from Yale, too. DD wouldn't even look at it because Yale is 'too close to home' (less than 15 minutes).

We are just going to go to JCPenney to get her Senior pictures done. She doesn't want to get all the outdoor shots with various outfits, etc. She just wants a headshot for the yearbook and a few wallet pictures to give to a handful of friends.

She's working on her essay with her English teacher, I haven't seen it as of yet, and she probably won't show it to me unless I hound her. Still not sure where to apply...its so much more difficult when you have a child who has absolutely no idea whatsoever about what she wants to major in. I'm really kind of envious of those of you with children who seem to be interested and motivated in this this process and who have some direction. We just don't have any of that going on here. Sigh.

 

[elgerber]

We got that gigantic book from Yale, too. DD wouldn't even look at it because Yale is 'too close to home' (less than 15 minutes).

We are just going to go to JCPenney to get her Senior pictures done. She doesn't want to get all the outdoor shots with various outfits, etc. She just wants a headshot for the yearbook and a few wallet pictures to give to a handful of friends.

She's working on her essay with her English teacher, I haven't seen it as of yet, and she probably won't show it to me unless I hound her. Still not sure where to apply...its so much more difficult when you have a child who has absolutely no idea whatsoever about what she wants to major in. I'm really kind of envious of those of you with children who seem to be interested and motivated in this this process and who have some direction. We just don't have any of that going on here. Sigh.

If it makes you feel better, I have a 20 year old, who enrolled in community college weeks before it started, now has a 2 year CNET degree, and sits on his butt playing computers till 3 am, and works part time at Dairy Queen still LOL. Does that help?

 

[scrapquitler]

Good luck to everyone's seniors who are taking the ACT later this month. DD refuses to take it again. I wish she'd take it one more time, but she is happy with her score. It's good enough for a scholarship (hopefully), but not good enough to get into Yale, not that she was going to apply to Yale! But wow, the mail is pouring in from all of the Ivy schools. The one that came from Yale was a book! Did anyone else see it? That thing must have cost a fortune to mail out to so many seniors! I guess money is not an issue with the Ivies though!

DD's senior pics with the outside photographer have been taken and edited. They came out really nice. We ended up with over 100 different edited shots from 5 different locations. We only paid for the package with 3 locations, but one of the locations (on the bosque which is along the Rio Grande River) had too many bugs flying around after recent rains, so after just a few shots in that location, we left and went somewhere else. Also, DD forgot her letter jacket which she wanted a few shots with. The photographer said she'd meet us anywhere we wanted to get some shots of DD with and in her jacket. How nice was that? So she met us a few days later at DD's school and took some shots out in front of the school. The other locations were downtown, Old Town, and the botanical gardens.

We have yet to go to Prestige Portraits to pick out the 2 yearbook photos. The deadline is coming up, but things have been really busy. I told them on the phone that we weren't buying a package, but still wanted the free 8 wallet photos that they advertised. They said no problem. We just had to go in and pick them out.

We got that gigantic book from Yale, too. DD wouldn't even look at it because Yale is 'too close to home' (less than 15 minutes).

We are just going to go to JCPenney to get her Senior pictures done. She doesn't want to get all the outdoor shots with various outfits, etc. She just wants a headshot for the yearbook and a few wallet pictures to give to a handful of friends.

She's working on her essay with her English teacher, I haven't seen it as of yet, and she probably won't show it to me unless I hound her. Still not sure where to apply...its so much more difficult when you have a child who has absolutely no idea whatsoever about what she wants to major in. I'm really kind of envious of those of you with children who seem to be interested and motivated in this this process and who have some direction. We just don't have any of that going on here. Sigh.

 

[madge]

We visited Rensselaer in Troy, NY. My son loved it and right now it's his first choice. It's very expensive though and would not be easy to get into. I liked the school too. The buildings were extremely old. The architecture was nice. We didn't really like the city of Troy, although the area right next to the school was fine. The rest of the city seemed a bit run down, but my son doesn't care. He really liked the school. They have some good engineering programs, which is my son's interest.

We are touring Texas A&M the first weekend of October. I am sure that school will be the exact opposite of Rensselaer.

Edited to add: My son just walked into the room and without me saying a thing, he told my husband that he was ready to move into Rensselaer yesterday

I had never heard of this school before ... and this is the 3rd time in a few days I've heard/seen it mentioned. too funny. LOL

 

[coinkc]

Common App questions

My daughter is filling out the common app. It asks for her father's information but we don't know anything about him. He has had no contact for 15 years so I don't know what level of education, employment,etc. Any ideas how to answer these questions?

Also, where is asks for course information - is that only for high school courses taken as dual enrollment? Or just AP courses? Or everything?

We are so lost....this is going to be an interesting year!

 

[TLuvsD]

We listed all of D's courses when she was applying (current college sophomore).

I don't know what to say about the father's info...you could ask the high school counselor or check on collegeconfidential.com, click discussion, click college admissions, click common app

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[JeannieNM]

Common App questions

My daughter is filling out the common app. It asks for her father's information but we don't know anything about him. He has had no contact for 15 years so I don't know what level of education, employment,etc. Any ideas how to answer these questions?

Also, where is asks for course information - is that only for high school courses taken as dual enrollment? Or just AP courses? Or everything?

We are so lost....this is going to be an interesting year!

For the questions about marital status did she put single or divorced for you? She can also put resides with just you. Then she can put unknown in the boxes, I believe. If not on the common app there is an ask a question section where you can type a question and they will get back to you.

For courses: In the common app not the supplement they are asking for all your senior year courses regardless of what type they are.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bluestars]

We were just at A&M last weekend. That is my daughter's first choice school. It's my alma mater so I'm hoping that's where she ends up but trying REALLY hard to not push her in that direction....lol. Baylor is her 2nd choice but will be quite a bit more expensive than A&M. She got an email from Baylor today saying that she was eligible to apply thru the Baylor Select app which meant no application fee & no essays to write plus early decision. She got that application submitted this evening!

She'll take senior pics this week. The school changed their yearbook requirements this year and now the kids HAVE to have their pictures taken thru the school instead of using local photographers and no one - parents or students - is very happy about it!

She will take the SAT one more time next month and we still need to make a visit to Baylor. This year is already flying by & my sister who also has a senior this year sent me a text today saying only 38 more weeks and they'll graduate!!!

My son and your daughter might wind up at the same school! I have heard good things about Texas A & M and I am looking forward to the tour. My son is very interested in seeing the school.

All of the seniors had to use one specific photographer for the senior pictures. The pictures turned out great. I am very pleased.

This year is flying by. My son is so ready to go off to college. I will miss him, but I am very excited about the new experiences he will have and know it will be one of the best times of his life.

 

[Bluestars]

Good luck to everyone's seniors who are taking the ACT later this month. DD refuses to take it again. I wish she'd take it one more time, but she is happy with her score. It's good enough for a scholarship (hopefully), but not good enough to get into Yale, not that she was going to apply to Yale! But wow, the mail is pouring in from all of the Ivy schools. The one that came from Yale was a book! Did anyone else see it? That thing must have cost a fortune to mail out to so many seniors! I guess money is not an issue with the Ivies though!

DD's senior pics with the outside photographer have been taken and edited. They came out really nice. We ended up with over 100 different edited shots from 5 different locations. We only paid for the package with 3 locations, but one of the locations (on the bosque which is along the Rio Grande River) had too many bugs flying around after recent rains, so after just a few shots in that location, we left and went somewhere else. Also, DD forgot her letter jacket which she wanted a few shots with. The photographer said she'd meet us anywhere we wanted to get some shots of DD with and in her jacket. How nice was that? So she met us a few days later at DD's school and took some shots out in front of the school. The other locations were downtown, Old Town, and the botanical gardens.

We have yet to go to Prestige Portraits to pick out the 2 yearbook photos. The deadline is coming up, but things have been really busy. I told them on the phone that we weren't buying a package, but still wanted the free 8 wallet photos that they advertised. They said no problem. We just had to go in and pick them out.

That's exciting about getting the book from Yale! Even if she doesn't apply, it's great that they were interested enough in her to send the information.

It sounds like you will get some great senior pictures! My son only wanted the basic. I couldn't talk him into additional shots. Thankfully the basic ones turned out great. i would have still liked to have had him do something like what your daughter did with all of the different poses.

 

[Bluestars]

I had never heard of this school before ... and this is the 3rd time in a few days I've heard/seen it mentioned. too funny. LOL

My son had never heard of it either. When he got an email from them, he thought is was some piddly school until he researched it and found out that their engineering programs are some of the best in the country and a large portion of their students were in the top 10% at their high schools.