Class of 2021 Parents

[Music City Mama]

Our first week was last week too. DS has 4 AP classes, ugh, I can't imagine. And of course, marching band is in full swing, first home game this weekend, but we still have another 3 weeks before competitions start.

He'll take the PSAT in October and the ACT I think in October too (both during the school day).

He should have a car in about a month (my dad is handing down his old one to him) -- he's had his DL since March.

Hard to believe how fast HS is going!

 

[Eureka]

DS doesn't start until after Labor Day but cross country has started and he's still working (lifeguard). He's got his driving test coming up, he's taking 4 APs this year and will take PSAT again in October. They don't give ACT during the school day here, so he'll take the ACT and SAT in Feb./March to work around sports, plus he needs to recertify for guarding in early 2020 so it's going to be busy. I can't believe he's a junior. I'm sending older DS off to college this week and now it's time to start the college search all over again. All DS knows so far is like his brother, he doesn't want to go too far, but wants a "reasonably large" school. What that means other than touring the one his brother is going to, I am not sure yet.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Now that DD is off to college, I get to start the whole process over again with DS! We have had our first meeting with our college search adviser, and she gave us some great universities close to ski areas, as DS wants to not be hot, and be close to where he can ski. Thankfully, most of them have the WUE, so as long as we can keep his GPA up, we should be fine. He's not an AP scholar, just an average kid with an average GPA. Unfortunately, he's also in a very high performing high school (20% of DD's class graduated with a 4.0 or better GPA, the 2 valedictorians had 18 AP classes with 4 or 5 on the tests EACH!) so his class rank isn't going to be very high.

So far his list includes Montana State in Bozeman, Boise State, Utah, Western State University in Gunnison, and Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction.

We had a really big college fair at a neighboring high school last weekend (150 or so colleges big) and he couldn't go because he got called into work (also a lifeguard, seems to be the job of choice!) so I went for him and got information. How's everyone else's lists coming?

 

[mjkacmom]

Haven’t done anything, still resting from dd18. Dd got a recruitment letter from the navel academy for track, she was actually excited, she should be graduating at the top of her class if she stays on track with all A’s, her psat10 score was very high with no prep, 2 sport varsity athlete... Turns out you can’t enlist in the military with celiac. Neither one of them knows what they want to do, dd might look into being an actuary (loves math, took AP stat as an elective last year, loved it, and got a 5). Unfortunately, her vocabulary skills are pretty bad, her SAT tutorwas pretty surprised when working with her. Dd 23 is an accountant, ds21 is a finance major, ds16 might just apply to business schools. I’m going to push in state to save money, dd18 is OOS but with generous merit, but it would still have saved money if she was in state with merit.

This is their third year in a row with a brand new guidance counselor!

 

[nikkistevej]

Junior year in full swing, classes going well, DD is doing 2 Fall ball basketball teams to get in shape for varsity in November. Been on a few college visits, looking at mostly in state ones.

 

[minnie1012]

We haven't had a chance to visit schools yet. DD has 3 AP classes, a part time job, is in the school play and trying to get her 60 volunteer hours done for NHS admission! They require so much of these kids today! She also wants to go out of state which makes touring even more difficult. She has a few days off in November that I wanted to tour a few schools but I also have to sign her up for driving lessons, get her flu shot, renew her passport, ugh! Not enough hours in the day!

 

[nikkistevej]

We haven't had a chance to visit schools yet. DD has 3 AP classes, a part time job, is in the school play and trying to get her 60 volunteer hours done for NHS admission! They require so much of these kids today! She also wants to go out of state which makes touring even more difficult. She has a few days off in November that I wanted to tour a few schools but I also have to sign her up for driving lessons, get her flu shot, renew her passport, ugh! Not enough hours in the day!

DD just put in application for NHS as well, it was 9 pages, essays, recommendations, it was A LOT!! Shewwww- we'll find out Nov3/4- if she's in. She did get in National English Honor Society.

 

[minnie1012]

DD just put in application for NHS as well, it was 9 pages, essays, recommendations, it was A LOT!! Shewwww- we'll find out Nov3/4- if she's in. She did get in National English Honor Society.

Congratulations on her getting into to the English one! We have the meeting next week to find out the details of the application proces. Ugh that sounds like a lot of work. I guess she will continue to be busy! Luckily people told us she needed so many volunteer hours so she was able to start them.

 

[mjkacmom]

Congratulations on her getting into to the English one! We have the meeting next week to find out the details of the application proces. Ugh that sounds like a lot of work. I guess she will continue to be busy! Luckily people told us she needed so many volunteer hours so she was able to start them.

My kids start getting volunteer hours freshman year, I have them teach ccd at their church so even if they do nothing else, they are good to go (but they end up volunteering at other things anyway). I learned the hard way with my first. They are signed up with a sports buddy program teaching a variety of sports to special needs kids which they should really like.

 

[AlohaNow]

How's everyone else's lists coming?

DS has an all day visit scheduled to our state's flagship university in about a month, which will be his first college tour. Two weeks ago we went to a large college fair where he halfheartedly walked around and picked up some info. Then when we got home he said that he'd really like to go to University of Buenos Aires because that's where all of his friends from his exchange year are now. (He is missing the lifestyle there badly.) We had a serious discussion about it all and ended it with - bring us a workable plan, and we can certainly try to make it happen. Our initial suggestion was to do his undergrad at a U.S. institution and then do his masters in Argentina. We will see what happens! I've told him more than once that we've left this upcoming spring break open and we have tons of SW points for college visits; he just has to tell us if we are flying east or west! His soccer season is almost over and I've got to pay for three AP exams this month. Fall break is next week and we're skipping out a day early to visit Mickey at his Halloween party this Friday night before jumping on our cruise the next day!

Dd got a recruitment letter from the navel academy for track, she was actually excited, she should be graduating at the top of her class if she stays on track with all A’s, her psat10 score was very high with no prep, 2 sport varsity athlete... Turns out you can’t enlist in the military with celiac.

I just want to point out that one does not enlist when they attend a service academy, or contract for ROTC. They are both officer accession programs and not considered enlistment. I don't mean to sound, well, exactly how I must sound in posting this, but I am extremely familiar with our nation's service academies (and their unique admissions process) and there is a great deal of misunderstanding out there about what they are. If anyone's student is at all interested in what service academies or ROTC has to offer, google up Service Academy Forums. It was an off-shoot of College Confidential years ago and is an absolute treasure trove of info! A great way to 'try out' the service academy lifestyle is to attend the week-long summer program that each offers the summer between junior and senior year. Each institution's website will have dates and application info, and please note that applications open in January. OK, end of shameless service academy plug!

@mjkacmom - It sounds like your daughter will be successful no matter where she goes in life! Kudos to her!

 

[mjkacmom]

DS has an all day visit scheduled to our state's flagship university in about a month, which will be his first college tour. Two weeks ago we went to a large college fair where he halfheartedly walked around and picked up some info. Then when we got home he said that he'd really like to go to University of Buenos Aires because that's where all of his friends from his exchange year are now. (He is missing the lifestyle there badly.) We had a serious discussion about it all and ended it with - bring us a workable plan, and we can certainly try to make it happen. Our initial suggestion was to do his undergrad at a U.S. institution and then do his masters in Argentina. We will see what happens! I've told him more than once that we've left this upcoming spring break open and we have tons of SW points for college visits; he just has to tell us if we are flying east or west! His soccer season is almost over and I've got to pay for three AP exams this month. Fall break is next week and we're skipping out a day early to visit Mickey at his Halloween party this Friday night before jumping on our cruise the next day!



I just want to point out that one does not enlist when they attend a service academy, or contract for ROTC. They are both officer accession programs and not considered enlistment. I don't mean to sound, well, exactly how I must sound in posting this, but I am extremely familiar with our nation's service academies (and their unique admissions process) and there is a great deal of misunderstanding out there about what they are. If anyone's student is at all interested in what service academies or ROTC has to offer, google up Service Academy Forums. It was an off-shoot of College Confidential years ago and is an absolute treasure trove of info! A great way to 'try out' the service academy lifestyle is to attend the week-long summer program that each offers the summer between junior and senior year. Each institution's website will have dates and application info, and please note that applications open in January. OK, end of shameless service academy plug!

@mjkacmom - It sounds like your daughter will be successful no matter where she goes in life! Kudos to her!

I’m not that familiar with ROTC (except that my friend’s son had to leave his college program due to a heart murmur), but it is my understanding that one cannot serve in the military with food allergies.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

I’m not that familiar with ROTC (except that my friend’s son had to leave his college program due to a heart murmur), but it is my understanding that one cannot serve in the military with food allergies.

It depends on how severe the allergy is. If an epi-pen is required, then no, they're not qualified to serve, if it's a mild allergy, it doesn't prevent them from serving although the military doesn't guarantee any foods free from allergens.

 

[Jen414]

Just found this thread, so joining in. I have identical DDs who are juniors this year. A little bit about them--they're captains this year on the varsity cheer team. They've been on varsity since freshman year. Up until this year, they also did all star cheer. They're currently "retired" but we'll see what happens when the high school season finishes up. I have a feeling they're going to want to hop on a team if possible. It was a huge part of our lives for the last 9 years. It's weird to not have all sorts of trips and hotel rooms reserved all over the country.

They play rec. softball still. This is their last season and the championship game is this Saturday. My husband has been their coach for most of the last 11 years and that's why they play. It's their "thing" with them. They like softball, but they don't love it. (They love him!) . Last year they played JV lacrosse. The spring was insane! They literally had sports every day and often days, multiple sports. Plus school of course! They are both good students and were inducted into the National Business Honor Society. Last spring, they missed regular NHS by hundredths, so hopefully they'll get in this year.

They got their license about a month ago and it's been a game changer for sure. They love being able to get to places without relying on us, and I love that I'm not rushing home from school to drive them back to practice. I agree with the poster talking about how difficult it is to learn on a car with all sorts of technology. They were very worried about their driving test due to no back up camera but were fine. The car we got them has no bells and whistles, which I think is great. You should be an expert at backing up before you get a camera.

PSATs again next week. They've starting talking about colleges. I have a feeling they'll go together. They literally do nothing apart, so it won't surprise me when they go together. They want a big school with an awesome football team. I'm willing to entertain that, but I need to hear more reasons to go somewhere other than just, "they have a nationally ranked football team". How about--this school has this fabulous program that I'm really interested in. Ugh! There's not a lot of school here in the northeast that meets their football criteria.

Anyway, thanks for reading and letting me join this thread.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Just found this thread, so joining in. I have identical DDs who are juniors this year. A little bit about them--they're captains this year on the varsity cheer team. They've been on varsity since freshman year. Up until this year, they also did all star cheer. They're currently "retired" but we'll see what happens when the high school season finishes up. I have a feeling they're going to want to hop on a team if possible. It was a huge part of our lives for the last 9 years. It's weird to not have all sorts of trips and hotel rooms reserved all over the country.

They play rec. softball still. This is their last season and the championship game is this Saturday. My husband has been their coach for most of the last 11 years and that's why they play. It's their "thing" with them. They like softball, but they don't love it. (They love him!) . Last year they played JV lacrosse. The spring was insane! They literally had sports every day and often days, multiple sports. Plus school of course! They are both good students and were inducted into the National Business Honor Society. Last spring, they missed regular NHS by hundredths, so hopefully they'll get in this year.

They got their license about a month ago and it's been a game changer for sure. They love being able to get to places without relying on us, and I love that I'm not rushing home from school to drive them back to practice. I agree with the poster talking about how difficult it is to learn on a car with all sorts of technology. They were very worried about their driving test due to no back up camera but were fine. The car we got them has no bells and whistles, which I think is great. You should be an expert at backing up before you get a camera.

PSATs again next week. They've starting talking about colleges. I have a feeling they'll go together. They literally do nothing apart, so it won't surprise me when they go together. They want a big school with an awesome football team. I'm willing to entertain that, but I need to hear more reasons to go somewhere other than just, "they have a nationally ranked football team". How about--this school has this fabulous program that I'm really interested in. Ugh! There's not a lot of school here in the northeast that meets their football criteria.

Anyway, thanks for reading and letting me join this thread.

Look into Alabama. They've got the football team, and they grant automatic aid based on test scores. A 29 on the ACT or higher gets $25K a year, more for higher scores (they have SAT equivalents, but we did the ACT because DD scored better on it). They are a HUGE school, so if your DDs are good at self-advocating, they'll be okay there, otherwise, you may want to try and talk them into somewhere smaller.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

We signed DS up for the December ACT last night. The ACT tends to be better weighted towards kids who are stronger in science than the SAT, so we're hoping he'll do well on it. We're not sending the scores to any schools yet, just doing a benchmark to see how he does. I expect he'll end up taking it several times before deciding on a school!

 

[mjkacmom]

Hmm, I was going to sign them up for the December SAT, but I’ll ask their tutor about taking the ACT first. Their siblings did better on the ACT (math/science kids). We don’t submit scores until we see them first. Dd18 took each one 3 times and fell just shy of her goal of 1500/35 (which most likely would’ve gotten her a full ride at her current university, but honestly she tried as hard as she could). My twins have no clue what they want to study, besides maybe something math based, so I don’t even know what schools to look at (my other kids pretty much knew what they wanted to major in at this point). I really hate the whole process. My sister just took my niece to a college coach who made her cry (saying she needed more service, leadership, and to start a foundation). Crazy.

 

[nikkistevej]

DD just found out she got in National Honor Society! Yay, that's gonna look awesome on her transcript. She's excited, because she works so hard. School is NOT easy for her. Of course 2 of her "friends" are upset at her because they didn't get in. SMH

 

[Music City Mama]

For those of you whose kids took the PSAT yesterday, how do they think they did? DS said he felt good, but on the reading portion he felt a little rushed at the end since he was taking more time than usual earlier in the section. He took a full online practice test this weekend and did great -- fingers crossed that he does that well on the real one from yesterday.

The juniors took a practice ACT 2-3 weeks ago (a real ACT that you receive a legitimate score report for, but it's from a previous year, so it doesn't count). They'll take the real one for free during the school day in the spring, but I probably will sign him up to take it in December at another testing location.

We've been on 3 college tours (2 in FL when we were there this summer) and Vanderbilt last week since it's only about 30 minutes away. He doesn't feel strongly one way or the other about any of them -- and he has no idea what he wants to major in. Probably math of some sort or possibly physics.

 

[minnie1012]

Thanks for those that mentioned the ACT was geared towards those that do well in math & science. I'm not familiar with it at all so I wasn't sure what it entailed. Thank you!

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Hmm, I was going to sign them up for the December SAT, but I’ll ask their tutor about taking the ACT first. Their siblings did better on the ACT (math/science kids). We don’t submit scores until we see them first. Dd18 took each one 3 times and fell just shy of her goal of 1500/35 (which most likely would’ve gotten her a full ride at her current university, but honestly she tried as hard as she could). My twins have no clue what they want to study, besides maybe something math based, so I don’t even know what schools to look at (my other kids pretty much knew what they wanted to major in at this point). I really hate the whole process. My sister just took my niece to a college coach who made her cry (saying she needed more service, leadership, and to start a foundation). Crazy.

I would have dropped my college search lady if she made DD cry! Instead, she was great and we're using her for DS (as you know!). DD did so much better on the ACT, and she ended up with a perfect score on the SAT writing test, so she's certainly good at writing, whereas DS is pretty horrible at writing. His handwriting is bad unless he goes really slow, so he just gets bored with it and ends up writing short choppy sentences that barely fit the question and then he stops.