Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[robinb]

The cutoff for NY is December 1st. I'm in NJ where it's September 30th. My daughter won't turn 18 until August 30th. She'll likely be starting college as a 17 year old.

I'm surprised you have to send a transcript and pay for it. In our district the counseling office does that and it's free. Well free is a relative term given our property taxes.

My DD turns 18 in mid-August so she'll be barely 18 when she starts college. She has always been the youngest one in her class and sometimes I think it would have been better to "red shirt" her and hold her back. I think she would have be readier for elementary school because she struggled a bit. She finally caught up with her classmates at the end of middle school.

ETA: Our state has cut tons of funding to our schools in the past 5 years and our district is struggling. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced lunches and they get free transcripts. We families who can afford lunch (and Disney trips) have to pay about $4 for transcripts. It's not a big deal and just a drop in the bucket compared to the other expenses!

 

[mommykds]

My DS has an application interview this weekend. It's his top school (reach) and is going to be in a local library (the school is out of state). My question is does he attend alone or do they need me there as well? I would think alone but then I read on college site that some parents go too? TY

 

[aprilgail]

The cutoff for NY is December 1st. I'm in NJ where it's September 30th. My daughter won't turn 18 until August 30th. She'll likely be starting college as a 17 year old.

I'm surprised you have to send a transcript and pay for it. In our district the counseling office does that and it's free. Well free is a relative term given our property taxes.

That is where i am-NY- i thought about holding her back because of her age but i am SO glad i didnt. She is so ready to be done woth high school and move on to college. If she could have skipped senior year and just went to college now she would have.

 

[mamacatnv]

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[mamacatnv]

My DS has an application interview this weekend. It's his top school (reach) and is going to be in a local library (the school is out of state). My question is does he attend alone or do they need me there as well? I would think alone but then I read on college site that some parents go too? TY

IMO , unless you were invited, he should go alone. Good luck to him! I'm sure he is excited to get an interview

 

[laughinplace199]

My DS has an application interview this weekend. It's his top school (reach) and is going to be in a local library (the school is out of state). My question is does he attend alone or do they need me there as well? I would think alone but then I read on college site that some parents go too? TY

I think he should go alone. DD's top reach school is out of state and offers alumni interviews. DD went on her interview on Sunday. It was at a coffee shop about 30 min drive from where we live. She went alone.

 

[mommykds]

IMO , unless you were invited, he should go alone. Good luck to him! I'm sure he is excited to get an interview

Thank you!

 

[mommykds]

I think he should go alone. DD's top reach school is out of state and offers alumni interviews. DD went on her interview on Sunday. It was at a coffee shop about 30 min drive from where we live. She went alone.

Thanks!

 

[mamacatnv]

They turn 18 in October and November? that seems really late to me. What is your school district's cut off for kindergarten? Ours is September 1st but allows some children who were born after to attend if they score well on a pre-K test.

My DS was a late November baby so he missed the deadline, he was always one of the oldest. My DD is a late August, she made the cutoff by a few days but due to year round schooling where we lived she would have started K at 4. She was not mature enough and we held her a year. She started her Sr. year at 18 and we have never regretted holding her.

The cutoff for NY is December 1st. I'm in NJ where it's September 30th. My daughter won't turn 18 until August 30th. She'll likely be starting college as a 17 year old.

I'm surprised you have to send a transcript and pay for it. In our district the counseling office does that and it's free. Well free is a relative term given our property taxes.

We too have to order transcripts - they are $3

My DD turns 18 in mid-August so she'll be barely 18 when she starts college. She has always been the youngest one in her class and sometimes I think it would have been better to "red shirt" her and hold her back. I think she would have be readier for elementary school because she struggled a bit. She finally caught up with her classmates at the end of middle school.

ETA: Our state has cut tons of funding to our schools in the past 5 years and our district is struggling. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced lunches and they get free transcripts. We families who can afford lunch (and Disney trips) have to pay about $4 for transcripts. It's not a big deal and just a drop in the bucket compared to the other expenses!

IMO its always a gamble - hold or let them go - some kids do great, some struggle etc. I had a coworker, her DD and mine are 5 days apart in age - I held, hers went - mine is now a Sr. hers is a College Freshman. They both did/are doing just fine. She was not in the year round system that we had even though we were in the same district. Her DD started K at the normal time of early Sept. vs. June for the year rounders

 

[AustinTink]

Mamacatnv- Not sure if your DD has already applied to UT or not and if she is auto admit. My DS is non-auto. Anyway, he just found out someone he knows got into UT yesterday, non-auto admit. He's pretty crushed that he hasn't heard anything yet. But, just letting you know decisions are being released already.

 

[mamacatnv]

Mamacatnv- Not sure if your DD has already applied to UT or not and if she is auto admit. My DS is non-auto. Anyway, he just found out someone he knows got into UT yesterday, non-auto admit. He's pretty crushed that he hasn't heard anything yet. But, just letting you know decisions are being released already.

She is not an auto-admit and hasn't finished her application. She is hemming/hawing about UT

 

[robinb]

My DD got her first acceptance letter in the mail yesterday! It is from Illinois State which is one of her "safety schools". She was accepted in less than a week after the applied. It's such a relief that she's in somewhere. Plus, she can probably walk-on to the swim team should she change her mind about swimming. Now that she's back with her club team, she has started to talk about swimming in college again. She swam in a big regional meet last weekend with her club team (her 3rd big meet in as many weeks) where she did quite well.

 

[mamacatnv]

My DD got her first acceptance letter in the mail yesterday! It is from Illinois State which is one of her "safety schools". She was accepted in less than a week after the applied. It's such a relief that she's in somewhere. Plus, she can probably walk-on to the swim team should she change her mind about swimming. Now that she's back with her club team, she has started to talk about swimming in college again. She swam in a big regional meet last weekend with her club team (her 3rd big meet in as many weeks) where she did quite well.

Whew! Relief, congrats! DD is dragging her feet on all the safety schools as well as the match schools. Seems she is holding out for Minnesota come heck or high water or extreme indebtedness

 

[robinb]

Whew! Relief, congrats! DD is dragging her feet on all the safety schools as well as the match schools. Seems she is holding out for Minnesota come heck or high water or extreme indebtedness

My DD got a letter from Minnesota yesterday too . Thank goodness it was just telling her that her transcript was missing from her application. They finally got around to generating the letter after it was already fixed (she still has the priority deadline). When did your DD apply or UMN?

 

[mamacatnv]

My DD got a letter from Minnesota yesterday too . Thank goodness it was just telling her that her transcript was missing from her application. They finally got around to generating the letter after it was already fixed (she still has the priority deadline). When did your DD apply or UMN?

Yikes that took them awhile. Glad you caught it when you did.
DD applied around the 25th of October - a few days prior to the cutoff for priority

 

[robinb]

Yikes that took them awhile. Glad you caught it when you did.
DD applied around the 25th of October - a few days prior to the cutoff for priority

Mine applied on October 31st - one day prior to the cutoff for priority. Did yours do the optional essays? Mine did because her ACT scores are at the lower range for UMN and she needed the extra boost.

 

[mamacatnv]

Mine applied on October 31st - one day prior to the cutoff for priority. Did yours do the optional essays? Mine did because her ACT scores are at the lower range for UMN and she needed the extra boost.

DD has really shifted gears, Minn has become her first choice - to the point that she is dragging her feet applying anywhere else.
Yes, she did do the optional essay - I was just reminding her to make sure she has all scholarship app's in as well.
When DD submitted, her ACT was a 30 from the spring exam however, since she submitted, her updated ACT is a 34 - I assume the scores catch up, DD says they do. Her scores are good, her grades are not outstanding I mean she has a 3.59 unweighted, and weighted she's in the high 4's or low 5's and is in the top 12th% of her class - She has several friends with similar scores but they have straight A's, are in the top 5% and ranked in the top 10 - she is ranked at 50 something out of approx 500

 

[robinb]

DD has really shifted gears, Minn has become her first choice - to the point that she is dragging her feet applying anywhere else.
Yes, she did do the optional essay - I was just reminding her to make sure she has all scholarship app's in as well.
When DD submitted, her ACT was a 30 from the spring exam however, since she submitted, her updated ACT is a 34 - I assume the scores catch up, DD says they do. Her scores are good, her grades are not outstanding I mean she has a 3.59 unweighted, and weighted she's in the high 4's or low 5's and is in the top 12th% of her class - She has several friends with similar scores but they have straight A's, are in the top 5% and ranked in the top 10 - she is ranked at 50 something out of approx 500

She'll get in for sure! She can write her own ticket with that 34. My DD's grades are about the same but she really struggled on the ACT. She took it 3 times but never really studied for it. It really bites because she could apply to some pre-professional Physical Therapy programs where she could be out in 6 years if she had a better ACT. You can lead a horse to water ... she didn't want to put the work into studying for the ACT so now she needs to take an extra year of college. She'll be OK, though. The extra year will give her the opportunity to mature enough to know she actually needs to study for the GRE!

 

[AustinTink]

She is not an auto-admit and hasn't finished her application. She is hemming/hawing about UT

She's probably a shoe in with a 34 ACT.

 

[mamacatnv]

She'll get in for sure! She can write her own ticket with that 34. My DD's grades are about the same but she really struggled on the ACT. She took it 3 times but never really studied for it. It really bites because she could apply to some pre-professional Physical Therapy programs where she could be out in 6 years if she had a better ACT. You can lead a horse to water ... she didn't want to put the work into studying for the ACT so now she needs to take an extra year of college. She'll be OK, though. The extra year will give her the opportunity to mature enough to know she actually needs to study for the GRE!

My DS is a PT, he graduated a year ago (he is now fully employed and just bought his dream truck, he is soooooo excited) He is hitting the road in Feb, his sweetie and he are both PT's and they are entering into a traveling PT program where they will take 13 week assignments in varius parts of the country. Thus the truck, they needed it to haul their new house, a 40' 5th wheel camper!

Anyway, here is what we learned. He went to a State college - Univ. of Nevada, Reno (its a B rated Univ) nothing spectacular, pretty much everyone who applies gets in. He took 5 years to graduate because in his Freshman year he discovered alcohol and got dumped (thank goodness) by his still in high school girlfriend and almost flunked out - he held on but had a semester to make up. He did get his act together, went to summer school for the next 3 years etc. He graduated with a degree in Community Health Sciences (nothing too challenging, an average degree, but the one one went after to meet PT school requirements) his GPA was 3.25ish - his core science classes were higher and if memory serves his core GPA was 3.7ish.

Then he started applying to PT Graduate schools all over the country. I am fairly certain the majority of the public schools he applied to laughed at his "average" application but he did get into two private programs. Yep, spendy but accelerated - he was out of PT school in 2 years, 3 months. He aced the National exam and is now making more $ than either his Dad or I AND the job opportunities are plentiful.

DS thought he would move from undergrad at UNR to the PT program at the other state school, Univ. Nev Las Vegas (UNLV)....... Uhhhhh nope, they didn't take him.
He did not have the GPA for his "dream" PT program (Texas Tech) but he went to a very good school (University of St. Augustine, Austin) with a great reputation and a high pass rate on the National Board Exam.

My point is, the PT programs at the State University level are not a shoo-in even with undergrad and at the same time PT schools are not all filled with 4.0 / 32 ACT kids. DS's class was really diverse in their backgrounds and schooling. My DS used to joke that "PT school was all the "athletes" , not always the sharpest tools in the shed". These were DS's comments, as a DIS disclaimer this is not insulting to anyone, it was joke that DS made throughout PT school
I hope your DD continues to pursue her goal of being a PT