Parents of the Class of 2019

It's been a good week here. Wednesday she started volunteering at the Chamber of Commerce (a field she's interested in) and she's now in charge of their Instagram and Twitter. Yesterday she had the good visit I mentioned at the school I like. Today she found out she got on Homecoming Court and she did well for her audition for the musical. And she got her first college acceptance.

Has anyone started officially applying for schools yet? DD will meet with her college counselor Monday and they'll submit for her 4 "likely"(safety) schools. Then the 4 targets plus UF will be next. Our goal was to be done completely by Labor Day but taking the SAT again changed that. Guess I'm hoping to be done by her October day off (fka Columbus Day).

DD has applied to one that was free and already had her scores (the one that called today to congratulate her). I want to get her to apply to the one we visited yesterday, soon.
 
The thing that will top it off is getting Cinderella in the musical! I keep trying to prepare her for the possibility that she won't! Have to wait till Thursday.
 
My son has most of the Common App completed, but needs his recommendation letter(s) before he can officially apply anywhere. He hasn't decided if he's applying to a major reach school (either Case Western or Carnegie Mellon), but he has a couple in state safety schools selected along with RIT and Va Tech on his list. He just found out today that Va Tech doesn't do Common App, so he's a little irritated he'll have to do that one separately.
 


Has anyone started officially applying for schools yet?

No, but we just got some paperwork home about a seminar they can sign up for in studyhall that will help them start the common app. I'm going to see if he wants to do that, as applications tend to really stress him out, and being kind of walked through might make him fell better (or might make him feel rushed - I'm not sure??)
 
Well damn :( SATs are in and he basically scored the same score again. So much for the tutor (at least for this second attempt).
That stinks, that happened to dd, too, although one section went up 30, the other down 30, so if she superscores she will be where she wants to be (and I think most schools she is applying to will accept this). She’s taking them for the last time next month.
 
DS got his SAT subject tests scores and they were meh. Not terrible but not awesome. This will most likely cross Georgetown (his big reach) off the list.
 


if she superscores she will be where she wants to be (and I think most schools she is applying to will accept this)

That's great! I think most do superscore so good for her :)

DS got his SAT subject tests scores and they were meh. Not terrible but not awesome. This will most likely cross Georgetown (his big reach) off the list.

Sorry...I feel the same way--scratch some extreme reaches off the list and move on. DD is planning on taking subject tests in Nov since she's flying to Boston Oct 6th (Oct test day). Only one of her super reach schools requests them so I'm hoping she'll not bother, tbh.

On the subject of Homecoming, she's just going to re-wear her Prom dress (it was short) so I'm happy with not having to buy another dress. Her bestie is dating a guy in a group of exclusive people who won't include DD (the girl making the seating chart and saying there isn't space for DD has known her since before they were walking). I keep telling her none of this (friend drama) will matter in a year but she just rolls her eyes. Girls can be so mean. Ugh.
 
Welp, we have another school on the to-tour list. DD got mail from Harvard today and is actually interested. Could have knocked me over with a feather - we had dinner in Cambridge when we were in Boston in April and she didn't express any interest in either Harvard or MIT. Of course, this isn't helping my quest to get her to fall in love with a school with *less* selective admission, but she's pretty excited that they reached out to her and she liked what she saw on their website re: their Japanese and environmental science programs. And since we're heading back to Boston again next month, it isn't as though touring will require major effort.

But if nothing else, getting that packet from Harvard today made me feel a bit better about her chances of getting into Wellesley... :laughing:
 
Welp, we have another school on the to-tour list. DD got mail from Harvard today and is actually interested. Could have knocked me over with a feather - we had dinner in Cambridge when we were in Boston in April and she didn't express any interest in either Harvard or MIT. Of course, this isn't helping my quest to get her to fall in love with a school with *less* selective admission, but she's pretty excited that they reached out to her and she liked what she saw on their website re: their Japanese and environmental science programs. And since we're heading back to Boston again next month, it isn't as though touring will require major effort.

But if nothing else, getting that packet from Harvard today made me feel a bit better about her chances of getting into Wellesley... :laughing:

We got a packet from Harvard this weekend too! I don't think it's actually on her list, but it was nice to get.

One of the things that the college search people told me was that acceptance and awarded aid all depends on what the candidate pool looks like that year, so it's very hard to predict. Given the letters and everything else, I'm thinking that the candidate pool is probably smaller this year than previous years. I could be completely wrong, but that's what it seems like.

We finished up the last try at the ACT last weekend, and realized that we totally missed the scheduled subject matter SAT tests that she was signed up for in September! So, I need to sign her up for them again in October. She's now tasked with getting recommendation requests for teachers in to Naviance so they'll be ready for application time.

DD and DH are also going out to Atlanta to see Clemson and Emory colleges in 2 weeks, and we're setting up a tour of Vanderbilt in October. Time is starting to get crazy!
 
We're limping along here. DD has been sick the last 2 weeks and just getting to school and tennis has been a struggle. Had to cancel the ACT on Saturday because of the illness. She's been having coughing fits and said she wasn't allowed to drink from her water bottle during the test so had to pull the plug. She'll try again in October.
 
We're limping along here. DD has been sick the last 2 weeks and just getting to school and tennis has been a struggle. Had to cancel the ACT on Saturday because of the illness. She's been having coughing fits and said she wasn't allowed to drink from her water bottle during the test so had to pull the plug. She'll try again in October.

I hope she feels better!
 
We got a packet from Harvard this weekend too! I don't think it's actually on her list, but it was nice to get.

One of the things that the college search people told me was that acceptance and awarded aid all depends on what the candidate pool looks like that year, so it's very hard to predict. Given the letters and everything else, I'm thinking that the candidate pool is probably smaller this year than previous years. I could be completely wrong, but that's what it seems like.

We finished up the last try at the ACT last weekend, and realized that we totally missed the scheduled subject matter SAT tests that she was signed up for in September! So, I need to sign her up for them again in October. She's now tasked with getting recommendation requests for teachers in to Naviance so they'll be ready for application time.

DD and DH are also going out to Atlanta to see Clemson and Emory colleges in 2 weeks, and we're setting up a tour of Vanderbilt in October. Time is starting to get crazy!

I've been really surprised by some of the mail we've gotten this year, so I do wonder if it is a smaller/weaker applicant pool at least per the test scores that are shared with schools for marketing purposes. I think Harvard is also targeting based on income - the packet we received stressed their "zero to ten" financial aid initiative, which is the biggest reason it really caught DD's eye. No-debt undergrad is our/her priority because she knows we're not going to be able to foot the bill for grad school so she anticipates having to borrow then. So she does check out the programs at pretty much any school that uses that in their marketing appeals.

I know what you mean about feeling like time is getting crazy! There are a few schools DD is applying to sight-unseen because we just couldn't fit in all the travels that touring required. So we'll only bother making the last few trips if she doesn't get into her top choice, and only to schools that she's been accepted to and received a viable financial aid offer from.

We're limping along here. DD has been sick the last 2 weeks and just getting to school and tennis has been a struggle. Had to cancel the ACT on Saturday because of the illness. She's been having coughing fits and said she wasn't allowed to drink from her water bottle during the test so had to pull the plug. She'll try again in October.

Ugh, that stinks. But better to postpone than to take it and score poorly because she wasn't feeling well. I hope she's better soon!
 
We won’t get any need based aid, DH’s income is higher than average across the country, but middle/lower for where we live. I wish COL was factored in when deciding need based awards. Dd22 is just about to start paying back the $90,000 she owes for her in state degrees, that’s on top of the $40,000 we paid, she lived off campus for two years and waitressed to pay for rent and food. Ds19 will owe around the same for his in state school, he’s living off campus and paying for rent and food with part times jobs.
 
We won’t get any need based aid, DH’s income is higher than average across the country, but middle/lower for where we live. I wish COL was factored in when deciding need based awards. Dd22 is just about to start paying back the $90,000 she owes for her in state degrees, that’s on top of the $40,000 we paid, she lived off campus for two years and waitressed to pay for rent and food. Ds19 will owe around the same for his in state school, he’s living off campus and paying for rent and food with part times jobs.

That's rough. :( They really should take cost of living into account. We're lower-income by national standards but a bit above average for our area, so we're in a position to do really well with need-based aid if DD can get into a school like Harvard, Georgetown or Wellesley that uses their endowments to support economic diversity, but it doesn't seem right that people in NYC or SoCal or NoVa have to work within the same need criteria as people like us who are living on the low-cost fringe of a rust belt metro.

I had to borrow my way through part of my undergrad when I went back to work a few years ago so we're paying my loans at the same time as we're sending our two oldest off to college. But DS is a skilled trades guy all the way so he's at the local community college and not costing us a fortune, and by the time our youngest (10yo) gets there my loans will be history and we'll only have the one kid to worry about so we'll have a little more flexibility. Getting DD17 through undergrad is the major challenge.
 
That's rough. :( They really should take cost of living into account. We're lower-income by national standards but a bit above average for our area, so we're in a position to do really well with need-based aid if DD can get into a school like Harvard, Georgetown or Wellesley that uses their endowments to support economic diversity, but it doesn't seem right that people in NYC or SoCal or NoVa have to work within the same need criteria as people like us who are living on the low-cost fringe of a rust belt metro.

I had to borrow my way through part of my undergrad when I went back to work a few years ago so we're paying my loans at the same time as we're sending our two oldest off to college. But DS is a skilled trades guy all the way so he's at the local community college and not costing us a fortune, and by the time our youngest (10yo) gets there my loans will be history and we'll only have the one kid to worry about so we'll have a little more flexibility. Getting DD17 through undergrad is the major challenge.
I have ds15 and dd15 coming up, too, both are on the college route. Hopefully they major in something with a great instate program. Just trying to keep it under 6 figures!
 
We'll get no need based aid anywhere, it's really going to come down to what does she qualify for in merit aid. U of Alabama has a good merit aid program, along with Texas Tech and U of Arizona if that helps? I know, we're supposed to be getting them to SHORTEN their lists, not make them longer, but figured I'd toss those out there!
 
Hi I just saw this thread and is my first time posting. I post very often in the theme park threads but just started venturing out. It is nice to see other parents and/or guardians talking about this. I am starting to help my daughter with her applications. The school guidance just gave her an appointment to work on her application through Common Act. We sent her scores to 5 colleges. We were happy that the 5 take super scores so we sent the best from her three tests. We have gone to look at University of Central Florida and that is where she wants to go. However, we are moving down there within the next 18 months so, she will have to either do online there for a semester or two or start where we live and transfer. She does not want to go down on her own. She is going to live home while going to college. I am starting to get a little overwhelmed with all of this.

I am sorry to hear about anybody who's school system doesn't pay for the AP/ECE classes and test. It should be offered all over. We are fortunate that I live in a city that does provide both. It has been great to have this benefit.

My daughter was happy with our 3rd SAT scores. She would have liked to do a little better but she has accepted them. Her scores are good enough to get her into where she wants to go.

I am looking forward to talking with other posters going through this.

Thank you and have a great day!
 
We are lucky in the Midwest that the colleges seem more reasonably priced than other places but I'm still being really strict on budget with DD so she won't have to deal with much in loans. We won't get need based aid and she won't be in a high paying field. That said, I am taking her to see a school out of budget next month, more so to see a friend than for the tour. Will it be a mistake because she'll love it more than she already does? Maybe! Or if I'm lucky she will be satisfied that she at least got to check it out and have a fun visit.
 

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