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JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst

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Everything posted by JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst

  1. Older kiddo has a 9-5 internship over the summer. But at least weekends are free to have fun with the family (not always the norm with summer employment). Younger kiddo will be home for about half the summer, ROTC and working "orientation" at his school takes up the 2nd half.
  2. My kids both run mid/late August (starting between the 15th and the 20th) and end mid May (again 15th-20th). Keep in mind the freshman orientation period. Each school has its own system. Some run a week or so before the first day of class, while others pick a random 3-5 day period during the summer to bring students to campus. In my experience, the small schools have orientation just before class and the very large universities run sessions in the summer. Sometimes, at the schools with summer sessions, they will allow out of state students to attend orientation closer to the first day of class so that they needn't make multiple trips to campus. Students coming from abroad typically have their own orientation programs in addition to the regular program.
  3. One of my college kiddo's had no idea what this past semester's grade would be. Despite giving weekly assignments the professor never returned them. The professor then mismanaged the online system and lost all of kiddo's work. Asked kiddo to please email all assignments. Kiddo emailed them. (Prof either lost or deleted said email.) Prof emails kiddo last week of class and says I'm flunking you, you never turned any assignments in. Kiddo says not only did I turn them in, I emailed them all to you as requested. Kiddo forwards said email with Prof's original response and all assignments. Profs response. "Ok." Prof then repeatedly down grades kiddo's assignments because the kid kept making the same mistake every week (subjective liberal arts course, not STEM or Foreign Language or even grammar issues where it would be more evident) but kiddo never knew because Prof said nothing in class and never returned an assignment during the semester, just graded everything at the end. (Kiddo came out of it with an ok grade, had there been the appropriate feedback on the first assignment, the repeated error would have been corrected and subsequent assignments would have had better grades, leading to a probably great grade. You can't fix what you don't know is broken and sometimes there is no way for a student to work out what is broken on their own.) In my opinion it is awfully difficult to expect progressive improvement from a student when you never return an assignment, never go over the assignment in class, and generally provide no timely feedback. Students cannot read the professors mind, there has to be feedback/constructive criticism if there is to be growth and improvement.
  4. I think submission season for the following year typically begins in August. Although I haven't checked the website this year. For their published syllabus there should be a check box to say you are using one of the samples, if not there are instructions on how to submit using a published or sample syllabus.
  5. I think it depends on the school and the requirements. Every where is different. Look at requirements vs rewards. DD is happy with her Honors College selections and enjoying the course work and knowledge that she can add it to her resume or grad school applications. However, many of her friends dropped honors due to scheduling and time commitment conflicts. Most still have the GPA but arranging the extra work became to much. DS was an entirely different story. He opted not to consider honors college, he has lots of other pressures with classroom work and other obligations that would have made the pressure of honors college work/GPA requirements just over the top. (My opinion not his-he just said no from day one. Maybe he had better foresight.) He also wouldn't have had the same payoff as DD.
  6. I think I would add that either in the spring of junior year or over the summer before senior year, those considering Service Academies or ROTC scholarships begin preparing their packets, seeking nominations, and contacting the appropriate recruiters. Some of these groups begin the selection process as early as late August or September. Also, if you have college students that are interested in summer internships, the application process frequently begins a year in advance. They may want to look for applications and deadlines after graduation for the following year.
  7. Very true. My junior interview for several internships over the summer. I can't believe how quickly these get set up!
  8. I have to imagine that a plagiarism checker would have to have an attribution to the original author. Without such an attribution even the original author could not use their own work, which they should be entitled to do. FWIW my kids used either the same essay or a modification of an essay for several applications. Just be sure that you get more than one set of eyes on that essay to check for references to specific schools/programs/locations that should be changed, ie a reference to the advantages of living and learning in Smalltown when the essay is going to the uni in Bigcity.
  9. It really depends. My parents could never come, it wasn't a 3 day weekend for them and I was half way across the country. I was never devastated by their lack of attendance. I've gone for DD the last two years. There really isn't much going on but I'm involved in a parent's group on her campus so that is when we hold our meetings. In reality, as long as we made it down one weekend for at least a day trip prior to Thanksgiving break to take her out for food and catch up live an in person, I'm not sure it would matter to her which weekend we came. This year we are all headed to DS for his parent's weekend. That comes with football, tailgating, taking him out after the game. He's at a military college and its his first year. Liberties and privileges are few. Parent's Weekend comes with the potential for expanding those a bit for a day or two while parents are in town. We are going to support him and be there. For those kids whose parents are too far away, we'll help provide food at the tailgate, take kids out to dinner or back to our hotel as needed. The families are very good about supporting friends and roommates whenever possible. If you can't make it perhaps you could help with making some fun. Can you send some funds or a gift card to cover a better than fast food meal that weekend? Could you offer to pay part of the dinner bill if roommates parents took the kids out? Finance pizza and a movie rental for your kid and some friends? Send a special care package?
  10. Having gone through this process twice, I can say with confidence it was different each time. First kid applied to many schools and most of them Common App, but kid number two applied to a small handful of schools of which only one was Common App (so we skipped that and went with the school's own application). No matter which route you take I think there are a few keys: 1)Apply early. You can then return to focusing on family, high school, and having fun together before they depart for that shiny new university. Plus, if there are questions or problems in the process then you have time to fix them. If a test score is required (ie SAT/ACT) then I would plan on having the application in as soon as you have a test score. 2) If things haven't changed, Common App will make available their essay topic before they open in August for application season. This gives your kid time over the summer to work on that essay. 3)Build a solid and easy to understand transcript. Include key words like "official transcript", "expected graduation date", "weighted" or "unweighted" GPA, be sure to include contact information, credits granted, credit totals, and a notation for which courses have been weighted. If you find extra room on the page include major test scores-SAT, ACT, AP, and so on. Remember this is not where to list extra curricular activities. There will be a place for that. 4)While it is not absolutely necessary and may go ignored at some schools, I am a firm believer in preparing course descriptions. A brief paragraph on what was included in the course and major texts used. This would also be a great place to reference any outside instructors (ie co-op class, online class, community college class, etc.) While many schools didn't mention this document, between my kids, we did have several who expressed their gratitude for it as it made them able to understand what the kids had studied and at what level. I think it helped not only admissions committees but scholarship and merit aid committees as well. 5) The counselor letter is a great place to complete the picture they have of your kid from other documents. This is the place to extend and elaborate, not just reiterate. This is where you have the opportunity to explain any circumstances that may not be obvious elsewhere. No where else to discuss how your kid has been running marathons for the last 5 years and how this level of training has impacted their character? You can add it here. 6) Approach your recommenders early in the year and follow your applications closely to be sure they have responded. Give sufficient time but sometimes a gentle reminder is necessary. Be prepared to hand recommenders copies of your transcript and student resume or list of extracurriculars, awards, and activities. They may want to see this to help them frame their letter. 7) Be sure you change names, college names, and amend any information as necessary in your generic template. Nothing worse than a letter to Harvard that in the body discusses how much you've always wanted to attend Yale. Also be sure you actually answer any questions asked directly in the application. Not all schools have a generic set of question. Some want specific pieces of information either from the student, "counselor", or recommender. ? Get in the habit of having your kids be the ones to make contact with the admissions department with questions not you. My contact was strictly conversations about financial aid or how to best supply a document (ie mail vs. email). (Fun fact-the numeral eight followed by a closed parenthesis becomes a smily face with sunglasses. I did not know this and I can't make it stop. It's an 8-as in the eighth point on my list. No secret, weird message.) Relax and breath. Most importantly best of luck to all of this year's applicants! I have sent two through the process and one to go, but not for another 7 years. I think by then everything will have changed 5 times, at least! ?
  11. Do you have to visit? Nope. After that it depends on your kid. I had one who wanted to visit everywhere and one who did a visit at their top choice school and dropped in on a friend at another school (nothing official with the admissions department). The downside-some schools do place great emphasis on an in person, on-campus interview. Some schools add up the numbers, how many times did you go to their booth at a college fair, visit campus, stay overnight, attend an alum/admissions event, etc. Some schools do use these statistics when determining admissions and merit aid. Yes, I understand how difficult it is to do this as an expat family. We used up a considerable amount of time during trips home to do this. We made one 24+ hour (one way) trip to attend two scholarship events that ended up providing significant financial benefit to one kid. In short, it really depends on the school. Do your research and find out if the schools you are interested in care about on campus interviews and are visit tally-ers. If not, then you can do what best suits your family and applicant. If they are, you might make time or have the applicant engage with them on how to express interest since the normal "signs" aren't an option for you. Upside-they usually love international applicants! Best of luck and safe travels!
  12. At the top of the transcript I listed both weighted and unweighted GPA. On the back I and in my counselor documents I explained how I defined weighting. I'm sure any answer will be fine as long as you explain what happened.
  13. I have one kid who is very happy with a 13" Mac Book Pro and my other kid chose a HP Spectre x360 (chosen for next school year so still at the exploring and learning stage). Both are very happy with their choices. They went a bit high end but we want to be sure that the computer will last them for all four years. Both are humanities students.
  14. Gosh-I was just thinking that I can put away my check lists of application and scholarship materials and turn to the packing list of how many pairs of socks he needs to bring, etc. I was busy thinking VMI will be easy, they literally list it all, dd was sort of a "free-for-all but bring a mattress protector" which took so much more thought. But that is taking it up a notch. (And he'll love Romania-one of my favorite places to have visited!)
  15. DS confirmed his decision - time to switch from application to prep! Where: Virginia Military Institute Why: Senior Military College with strong traditions and excellent preparation for a military career. Major: History-maybe a concentration in Military History and/or a minor in Exercise Science Other: Attending with a four year Marine Corps ROTC scholarship.
  16. Since all the college acceptances were in after my last post DS was just waiting on scholarship news. Those were finalized this week- he has received both an Army ROTC scholarship and a Marine Corps Option ROTC scholarship. Now he must start making final decisions. I think I might be able to start breathing again.
  17. I hope Susan and the rest of the affected WTM staff have brought in extra chocolate supplies. Seriously, computer upgrades require these things.
  18. The Citadel DS of JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst
  19. One more acceptance for ds rolled in this week-Virginia Tech. Still waiting on one scholarship. Hope I have fingernails by move in day.
  20. I'm starting to think about it but I'm a little sad. It will be my first year only planning for one. My older kids will have graduated and the youngest will be in middle school. I guess that gives me some time to reflect on how the first two did high school and how I can make it better.
  21. More good news arrived today- DS was accepted to The Citadel.
  22. Still waiting on schools and one major scholarship, still early days around here.
  23. I honestly don't remember and didn't save all the irrelevant paperwork from kid no 1 (the schools not attended). I will say that each school had a different picture of what they considered our demonstrated need. I wasn't a huge fan of the net price calculators. I found them to be ball park tools not necessarily a reflection of the package kiddo was offered in the end. They weren't hugely off but they weren't totally accurate. As mentioned in a previous post, it is important that the school has a desired program that will lead to graduate school or a desired profession.
  24. After two rounds of college applications I guess I'm a bit jaded about the financial aid process, feels a bit like working with used car dealers. Yes, many schools have wonderful potential aid, often worth filling out an application to see if they will admit and grant the needed aid. However, until that financial aid package/letter is sitting in my hand I am reluctant to believe what the advertising says; the reality can be different. Sometimes different in the "wonderful" sense, sometimes in the "not what I expected but I can make it work" sense and sometimes in the "what!!!!!" sense. As long as you and your kid on are the same page about what needs to happen with financial aid to make an Ivy work and you are willing to invest the application/score report money, I still say go for it. You can never be admitted or win the scholarship if you don't risk rejection and try. SaveSave
  25. We didn't do many independent scholarships but kid no 1 was a match for many scholarships/merit aid at the schools she applied to, while kid no 2 is in search of a ROTC scholarship. I'm not sure if we had criteria but we always asked did they fit the profile, academic major, grades, test scores, and did they write a solid essay. In the preparation department they worked on interview skills and the kid interested in ROTC has spent a significant amount of time working on physical fitness since that is one of the major considerations. Both kids knew that there were schools they chose to apply to that would be impossible without some sort of scholarship. If they didn't have scholarship money, we couldn't fund the school. In that sense they were also sure to apply to schools in our price range that they would want to attend as well. There really are no guarantees no matter how close a match you are.
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