No, she didn't wind up going to BU. Even though their offered financial aid was great, she opted for another school. :) A friend of hers did go - this past year was her freshman year. She loves it there, but is an athlete, so that is likely a very different experience. :) I dont know what college/major that girl is, though.

BU was one of dds final choices. Her "why BU" essay was written at the last minute and she never officially visited. She did not apply to the honors college (she was essayed-out by the deadline and decided she didn't want to bother with it). She was admitted to her first-choice major. The financial aid (for us) was exactly what the financial calculator on the website said it would be. And it was excellent!! She visited once (BU didn't know she was there) and loved the busy energy of the place and loved Boston. Hths!

Agreed - I've recently learned the same thing. I've just seen some recent postings in a couple of places from students who applied to Alabama when/after dd applied who have already gotten their acceptances in (Alabama's initial application is suuuuper simple), so it concerned me slightly since I don't want her to miss the deadlines for the additional applications/essays. Luckily, she could fill in the scholarship application before being accepted, so that part's all taken care of now. But - I'm thinking at least some of those students likely had sent their scores to Alabama earlier and their schools were likely able to send transcripts electronically, so they were matched up with their accounts more quickly. And the holiday didn't help. lol! Adding Alabama was a pretty last-minute decision for dd, so it was all very rush-rush and now wait-wait. :willy_nilly: I'm a much better rusher than a waiter. :lol:

Yes, we mailed the transcript w tracking via priority. So I know it arrived... But not on whose desk exactly. :) There's no admissions counselor for our state - she'd have to contact the engineering major counselor & I'm not certain how helpful they would be for this particular question. Hmmmm. She said she'll email Mr Helpful from admissions (the guy who emailed her back the first time) on Monday and see what he suggests to do. She is applying to the competitive honors programs - but if that's the main topic for the essay, she should be able to get that written up in a relatively short amount of time. So- I feel better about that. I was worried it would be one is those "If you had super powers..." sorts of essays and she'd need a lot more time for a creative essay. I didn't send course descriptions - that's what I was utmost concerned about - wondering if the transcript was bogged down in some obscure homeschooling rule I'd missed. I could have sent them (in fact, I mailed them to another school that same day I mailed the transcript to Alabama), so I'm really not sure why I didn't send them to UA too. 😜

In our recent experience... No - they won't give direct answers regarding specific curriculum. Unless you're registered fully with an "approved homeschooling" umbrella or online school, they evaluate on a case-by-case basis. You will send in ALL the paperwork at one time (if you're registering before senior year, you'll send in all the paperwork for the courses he's done so far). They will mark your son's account that they have received said items - but will not "approve" or "dis-approve" of said items until a university has requested your son's file. It IS nerve-wracking! Without question. IF they find a flaw in your system - you do have* some* time to rectify the situation, but not a lot of time. DD didn't register with the NCAA until the fall of her senior year. I spent all summer beforehand prepping her NCAA paperwork, and turned it in at the beginning of the school year. I was SO relieved when that first university made the first request in early fall so that we could see the paperwork had been approved - an enormous load off my shoulders!! In the end, I think I sent in a 65-page pdf file with course descriptions, school reports, blah blah blah - all the stuff they wanted. SO happy to be on the other side of it all now. :) Best of luck to you!!

What additional information did you mail in to the university itself? DD applied online and I mailed her transcript - but they still say the transcript it outstanding. Now - she only applied on the 16th, and the transcript arrived to them on the 18th (and her ACT scores arrived on the 19th) - so, with the holidays, it's not as if a really long time has passed.... BUT I'm worried they may need more from me & the honors college deadline is approaching - but she can't apply there until she's been accepted and can't start on the essays until she knows the topics... So - if you guys sent in MORE information, I will follow suit and overnight additional paperwork (Goodness knows I have EVERYTHING in pdf form at this point in the game!!) to them on Monday. She emailed to ask about the transcript (to make sure she shouldn't have included additional identifying information other than what she sent) and the guy said "it's all good" and he'll "keep an eye out" for her transcript. But I don't trust him. :ph34r: I find it's very easy for people with nothing invested in the situation to say "it's all good" without actually knowing if it IS or not! :P

agreed! That IS mean! :P DD is enjoying the waiting period. :001_smile: She still has a two apps to finish and two honors college apps/essays to do - hopefully by Sunday she will be 100% done with everything and can just blissfully put it all out of her head for a few weeks at least. (while *I* check the portals daily for new information! lol I am way more obsessive than she is. :blush: She's more than happy to just sit and wait for the letters to arrive in the mail/email while I am checking the portals for any new information or for anything that looks like progress. :willy_nilly: She tells me I need to :chillpill: but it's not really in my nature. :001_tt2: )

On the Common App? It shows the recommender's progress - iirc, it changes to "started" and then to "uploaded" or something like that. You can see this for each university in the recommender's section. As far as doing that part for someone... I don't think there's a way other than mailing the letter(s) yourself to the Admission's Office(s)... the recommender has to set up his/her own account in order to upload the letter, you can't do it from the student side.

I think only very specific schools even bother looking at the writing score. Dd has two ACT with writing scores (Both from the new style essay) because most of her schools require it. Her writing scores are a far cry from her English scores (although, percentile-wise not as bad as the score itself looks upon first glance). I don't think the schools are going to know what to do with those scores at this point - kids' scores seem to be all over the map right now and no one seems to know why they got the score they received. So- good application essay is always a good idea - but I haven't stressed over the writing score much at all. Dd - writing a rough draft on an unknown topic with only 40 (ish) minutes... well... it ain't gonna be pretty. 😉😄 She's a revision-necessary kind of girl. Lol

This is simultaneously hilarious and infuriating!

None of dds schools (so far) have had this request. I'm relieved to see that it seems to be an unusual thing!

Chiming in to say that I have been actively ignoring this thread & won't read replies just yet. My brain simply can't take it in right now! While I'm busily positioning DD in a slingshot to shoot her halfway across the country for a Grand Adventure of Life, DH is descending into rapid panic at the thought of his baby not being here every day to hang out with. They are best buddies... hiking, bike riding, rock climbing... all the outdoorsy, adventurous stuff that dd2 and I aren't in to. Luckily, he still has the boys at home to go do this stuff with... but with each application, dh is on the computer, mapping out the driving distance, pricing airline tickets, and looking a bit lost. :sad: I'd be sad if I had the emotional capacity for it all... but right now I am a Woman Focused on the Goal. lol Amy has been SO ridiculously busy for the past two years, she's not nearly as close to her siblings as she used to be - and I don't think it's HIT any of them that she might be gone quite yet. We've always parented differently, though. From Day One, I've been Raising An Adult Who Will Contribute To The Improvement Of The World. HE'S been raising buddies-they each have a "thing" they like to do with dad. DD1s are the hikes and runs... DD2s are the board games, BAD movies, and Call of Duty battles... DS1s are watching cooking shows or manga and anything outside... DS2s are bike riding and shooting. So - our goals are vastly different. Right when I'm achieving what I set out to do, DH feels he's losing what he did. So I understand. Back to ignoring the thread before it all hits me and I decide DD needs to stay home with us forever and ever amen. :Angel_anim: Not ready to face it yet. :leaving:

Thank GOODNESS this is a school that has an automatic scholarship she qualifies for - and doesn't have an Early Action deadline requirement for qualifying for said scholarship. (I think the deadline WAS November 1st... but it wasn't an Early Application requirement... just apply by Nov 1) If that had been the case, we'd have both been in tears for the past few days - but right now, we just see the humor in it. We figured we were bound to mess at least ONE thing up (we're quite a team, lol!) - so we are just fingers-crossed that THIS was the ONE thing and that there aren't other, more grievous things, lurking. :ph34r: So, we are just going to breathe and wait. She has a couple other things to tackle, so we'll just let this one just simmer off to one side. It will be what it will be. :)

Let's do what Colleen's doing for now. :) After a few more acceptances are in, I may change my mind. I'd like to have them posted so that if anyone else, in future, applies there, they could PM me with questions about the school, etc... but I feel safe with the relative anonymity of not having specifics stated. So I'll chew on it for a bit. Thank you for keeping up with the list! I do love perusing it!!!!! :D

Somehow, dd and I BOTH missed checking the "Early Action" box on one of her Common Applications! So even though she turned it in by the first of November... it went through as a Regular/Standard Decision application. According to their admissions department today, this means we won't hear until mid-February or early March (and, of course, there's no way to change it at this point). :scared: I had to call today because the ACT scores still weren't showing up on the magical portal of wonderment. She fixed it on the phone (just made a note that it was included on her transcript, and hit submit... that was all it took! I should've called a week ago!). She mentioned that "there isn't a big rush for the scores since she's a Regular Decision, not Early Action," and my heart fell into my toes. UGHH!H!H!H!!H!!!! I am seeing on CC that people usually hear back in 4-6 weeks - so HOPEFULLY that is more accurate! They are a Rolling Admissions school, but I'm thinking that after the Early Action deadline, the EA apps are processed entirely before they go back to the Rolling Admissions pile? It's killing me that we both missed it somehow!!! And seeing their facebook/instagram message about starting to send out the "big envelopes" now... and knowing dds won't be on its way for either 4-6 weeks or until SPRING... is agony! :svengo: I guess if she doesn't hear back until spring - we'll just take it as a sign from the Big Man Upstairs that it wasn't Meant to Be and move along. $100+ later (after application fees and ACT fees... :ack2: ) Gah. CHECK THE BOXES!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! HOW HARD IS THAT!?!?!? :banghead: :P