fourisenough Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 Okay, my transcript, course descriptions, counselor LOR, and school profile are completed and uploaded. DD’s common app essay and two supplemental essays are completed. She only has about a million other supplemental essays to go! Oy vey, it’s going to be a long fall… 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzyMom Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 The supplemental essays are the worst! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Making good progress. Transcript is done. School description is done. Counselor letter is next for me. He has entered a lot of the college-specific questions and all of the background info, and is polishing his personal essay, and has a couple of LOR’s lined up. So far, knock on wood, SAT looks good to go for the end of August. We could potentially have this all knocked out except for the stupid FAFSA by early September, possibly before the end of August. I think he made some good choices for his schools to apply to. Like his brother, so far he’s only applying to four. Best wishes everyone! It feels so odd to be at this point— I can still remember first dipping my toes in here about ten years ago, and I’m getting ready to launch my last one! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmmIbrahim Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 On 8/17/2021 at 6:34 PM, fourisenough said: Okay, my transcript, course descriptions, counselor LOR, and school profile are completed and uploaded. DD’s common app essay and two supplemental essays are completed. She only has about a million other supplemental essays to go! Oy vey, it’s going to be a long fall… Lol, I kept thinking it would be nice if I could award a credit for "College Application Essay Writing" because my son spent SO MUCH TIME during the Fall semester writing all of those supplemental essays. Edits, revisions, and then just a huge list of schools to apply to. Oof. Hang in there! Congrats on finishing so much of your part nice and early, though. I was scrambling with my paperwork and did not finish things in a timely manner, so good for you! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 DD17 visited Iowa State University earlier this month, applied...and their acceptance is by a formula so if you have GPA and test scores to put in, you find out instantly if you are accepted. She feels a lot more relaxed about the whole process with that instant acceptance in her back pocket. And honestly, Iowa State is a very strong contender for her as they have a unique specialization within her intended major that really suits her interests, and DH and I both graduated from there so she automatically qualifies for a legacy scholarship (small, but combined with another almost-guaranteed out-of-state student scholarship, it brings the cost exactly in line with UW Madison, where she would get tuition reciprocity instead of paying out of state tuition). She still needs to apply to her other two schools of interest, but I think they both require essays (Iowa State does not), so she is less enthusiastic abut those applications. 😁 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 (edited) My younger son has automatic entrance given his grades, but we just turned in the application for dorm selection last week. Exciting times! University here starts in February. 🙂 My older is applying to grad school this year. It is out of my hands, but that is the one I am worried about. Edited August 19, 2021 by lewelma 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 9 hours ago, UmmIbrahim said: Lol, I kept thinking it would be nice if I could award a credit for "College Application Essay Writing" because my son spent SO MUCH TIME during the Fall semester writing all of those supplemental essays. Edits, revisions, and then just a huge list of schools to apply to. Oof. Hang in there! Congrats on finishing so much of your part nice and early, though. I was scrambling with my paperwork and did not finish things in a timely manner, so good for you! I did give a credit for a quarter-long essay class. We did a few other things, but hey... it's definitely a lot of writing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) . Edited August 23, 2021 by MamaSprout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Got my course descriptions and transcript finished today, and my plan is to have the counselor letter and school report done by next weekend. Getting him to write his essay is making me lose my mind, though. He's totally paralyzed. He has one letter of recommendation, and we're a little unsure what to do for the second. He asked his DE Spanish teacher in the spring, and she said she'd do it, but her written English isn't great. The other reasonable option is to wait and ask one of his current teachers (he didn't have any in person last year because of covid and fewer outside teachers at all than we'd planned on), but that's cutting things a little close....and I don't know how to figure out the balance of making sure they know him well enough (and it's clear he's doing well in the class...if he is!) and giving them plenty of time. He has one application that he would ideally get in by November 1, and it only requires one rec, so maybe it's fine to wait. Nothing else is due until at least December. He'll also have music recommenders, and that's no problem at all, but I think those are all for separate music school applications and won't work for the general application. Other than that, he's started digging in to audition requirements and working on those. It's going to be an interesting year; I have NO IDEA what to expect. I'm pretty sure he has a couple of fairly sure things that would be decent options, at least....but getting in to one of the less sure things would make him awfully happy. Oh! and Vanderbilt went and hired a new clarinet professor over the summer, so he now he has another sample lesson he needs to get lined up (and hope they mesh well or Vanderbilt will be off the already pretty short list). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 (edited) Course descriptions and counselor letter are done. I need to figure dd's GPA and then load the course descriptions and transcript into the portal. I think everything else is done on my side. Dd's essay is done, and I think everything is loaded on her side. I think she needs a couple of supplemental essays for one school, but they are super short. She needs a recommender yet, and she will see that person tomorrow. So... almost there. Edited August 23, 2021 by MamaSprout Gah 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShepCarlin Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 DS has applied to one school this month. He was able to apply via their Chancellor's Choice so no essay needed. I had him apply via their website as opposed to Common App. Awaiting their decision as the application payment method was beyond messed up. They just got payment today. He's still deciding on other schools to apply to...those will probably require Common App. I have everything ready as his high school counselor except the counselor letter. I am procrastinating like a grade A level expert procrastinator. HOW am I supposed to write a counselor letter for my own kid? I can't even. Every time I sit down to write this letter, I find something else to do. I just don't want to do it. Horribly immature of me, I know. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, ShepCarlin said: DS has applied to one school this month. He was able to apply via their Chancellor's Choice so no essay needed. I had him apply via their website as opposed to Common App. Awaiting their decision as the application payment method was beyond messed up. They just got payment today. He's still deciding on other schools to apply to...those will probably require Common App. I have everything ready as his high school counselor except the counselor letter. I am procrastinating like a grade A level expert procrastinator. HOW am I supposed to write a counselor letter for my own kid? I can't even. Every time I sit down to write this letter, I find something else to do. I just don't want to do it. Horribly immature of me, I know. I kept doing this… and put together something awful using an outline/ template of sorts I found online. And just let it sit. I was folding laundry one afternoon and thought of a couple things to add, then suddenly it started to gel. So I guess write badly, lol, and then go fold some laundry? Edited August 24, 2021 by MamaSprout brain faster than thumbs 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastweedpuller Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 On 8/23/2021 at 3:31 PM, ShepCarlin said: <snip> I have everything ready as his high school counselor except the counselor letter. I am procrastinating like a grade A level expert procrastinator. HOW am I supposed to write a counselor letter for my own kid? I can't even. Every time I sit down to write this letter, I find something else to do. I just don't want to do it. Horribly immature of me, I know. ME TOO. I kept thinking if I got all my other writing ducks in a row, it would ease the process of writing the counselor letter (mainly my thoughts were the counselor letter should summarize/underline what is in the other documents). So now the other paperwork is completed (transcript, course descriptions, school profile) and I am staring at a blank Word page...again. Sigh. So you're so not alone. It doesn't mean my laundry is folded though. lol 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief3 Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 I have a '22 and somehow overlooked this thread. This is my final college applicant, all of whom homeschooled to various degrees. She was homeschooled through 4th grade, and then unexpectedly returned to homeschool last year in the midst of the pandemic. She wanted to continue for her last year, so here we are. My older two are out of college now, and both in grad schools. My oldest was mostly independent in her college apps, and I learned that it was to our financial advantage to be more involved going into the future. I served as "administrative assistant" for my last college applicant and anticipate doing that again for this one. It serves us all well. This one does need scholarships, and is a very good student, but will not be super-competitive for top awards. We live geographically remote from most schools which impacts the search process a bit. I took my daughter and a friend on a 2 1/2 week mega-college visit trip last month, hitting a few regions. Not ideal timing, but I think it was helpful for this particular daughter, who needed some "hands on" to wrap her mind around possible differences in schools and considerations. Common App account is set up, but not ready to put in apps yet. She's taking another SAT tomorrow, and needs to polish an essay. Mixed feelings, I guess, but I'm kind of excited to be done with this stage of parenting 🙂 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShepCarlin Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 OK, I am feeling better. Not done but I am getting into it. Started working on counselor letter (again) this morning. I guess I needed to let it percolate for a month in my brain. I re-read this blog post ( https://fearlesshomeschoolers.com/blog/homeschool-counselor-letter-of-recommendation)by Lisa Davis and it helped jump start my engine this morning. 5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 .....and dd's common app is done. 10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 12 hours ago, MamaSprout said: .....and dd's common app is done. Congratulations!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 Almost done with the counselor letter. And DS is almost done with his common app essay...I found a tutor on outschool for him, and he's working on edits and then has one more session with her Wednesday. He hasn't let me read it yet...I think he's afraid I'll make completely different suggestions than the tutor, and he'll feel like he has to start all over again. I will try very hard not to do that. The plan is to get the first application in this week. We're still not sure when the best time is for the others. He needs one more recommendation for most of them, and he's still not sure who the best person to ask is....and then he's taking the SAT again in October, so he'll probably wait for that score for the more selective schools on his list (he took it last in 10th grade and did pretty well but with plenty of room for improvement, and the math score at least should go up on this one). And I'm still a little confused on how they all work; like I think for some he has to submit the college application to get access to the music school application, so he doesn't want to wait until the deadline. Then last night it occurred to me that my next kid will be in 11th grade next year, so I get no break at all before starting over again. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 And done. At least with the Common App part of things. I know there is more to come, when the portal invitations arrive, and then FAFSA. But SAT results arrived today, and they were right on his target, so with the applications turned in, we are set to focus on enjoying his senior year. Yippee . . . And yikes. And boo hoo. He’s my last one. I really, really, really could only vaguely imagine this day when I went to clean all his stuff out of the little peanut’s school desk one day a little over a decade ago. Next year will be *really* weird. It is for all new empty-nesters, but I think for those of us who homeschool and are used to having them around 24/7, it’s a little. . . . Extra. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 First three applications submitted. He's got more to do. But my end is done. Just need to send it all in. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted September 11, 2021 Author Share Posted September 11, 2021 (edited) I just submitted my DD’s Common App Counselor Recommendation (including my LOR) and School Report (including both my transcript and course descriptions). Whew! Is it accurate that you don’t actually ever hit ‘review & submit’ on the school profile? As far as I can tell, there is no way to submit it. It says this at the top of the page: “We send your profile information with all your forms. Some forms have questions that you may answer in bulk using the "update" button.” Does that mean all the schools will get the school profile document I uploaded to this section? That feels a little unfinished somehow. Edited September 11, 2021 by fourisenough 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 1 hour ago, fourisenough said: I just submitted my DD’s Common App Counselor Recommendation (including my LOR) and School Report (including both my transcript and course descriptions). Whew! Is it accurate that you don’t actually ever hit ‘review & submit’ on the school profile? As far as I can tell, there is no way to submit it. It says this at the top of the page: “We send your profile information with all your forms. Some forms have questions that you may answer in bulk using the "update" button.” Does that mean all the schools will get the school profile document I uploaded to this section? That feels a little unfinished somehow. There should be a review for this. Some of what shows up in final submission is information you put in for the Profile section on the recommender side. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 His first application is submitted! It's his only non-common app school, and it was pretty basic. It's a state university that he's applying to for the music program; the school itself should be an automatic acceptance (and then he has to audition for music). He still needs to have a transcript from his DE school and his SAT scores sent to them (there doesn't seem to be any way to self-report SAT scores). I'm finally finished with the counselor letter, so I need to get that uploaded and revise the school report I wrote for my oldest. Oh! and his common app essay is finished! I found him a tutor on outschool to help, so I was totally uninvolved (which was lovely). It still needs editing/polishing, but it's mostly finished. I'm scared to look and find out what supplementals he'll have to do. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted September 12, 2021 Author Share Posted September 12, 2021 5 hours ago, MamaSprout said: There should be a review for this. Some of what shows up in final submission is information you put in for the Profile section on the recommender side. Yes, there was a way to review it, but no button to hit ‘submit’. Does that sound right? I’m guessing because the school profile is general to the school, not specific to a student, so it’s just provided to any of that counselor’s students? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 16 hours ago, fourisenough said: Yes, there was a way to review it, but no button to hit ‘submit’. Does that sound right? I’m guessing because the school profile is general to the school, not specific to a student, so it’s just provided to any of that counselor’s students? Yes, I think that is correct. If I recall correctly, when you do your final review and submit is where you will see everything together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 Okay, DD finished her Common App and submitted 10 applications this weekend! She was able to write about 4-5 separate supplemental essays, then modify/massage them to fit all the prompts (luckily there seemed to be a lot of overlap). This process is such a marathon! I prepared her that the real work begins now: setting up all her portal accounts/passwords and monitoring them to verify all info is completed, jump through any new hoops, etc. I didn’t mention the inevitable extra scholarship and honors program applications/essays, etc.; I didn’t want her to get overwhelmed and shut down! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 DS finished his common app last night and was already to submit it for his first common app school when he encountered a dreaded secret supplemental. It popped up when he selected music as his major...it's all about his background and experiences in music and career goals and whatnot--stuff that I'm sure he'll have to write for other music school apps as well, but it was sort of a bummer not to be able to get this one submitted. I looked at all the audition dates last night, and it's going to be a busy winter....assuming he gets past the prescreens for the schools that have them (for 3 of his 6, he has to submit a video first and then they tell him whether they want him to come audition in person). Otherwise it might be a really sad winter instead. Oh, and we go visit the state school that's he's applied to next week; he'll meet with the clarinet prof and sit in on a wind symphony rehearsal (he met her before in 10th grade and has been in occasional e-mail contact with her since then). 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 17 hours ago, kokotg said: assuming he gets past the prescreens for the schools that have them (for 3 of his 6, he has to submit a video first and then they tell him whether they want him to come audition in person) Best of luck to him with the pre-screens! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Well done to everyone who is making progress on their applications. Such a big milestone, no matter if you homeschooled K-12 or just a few years, if it's your oldest headed off or your youngest. When my son was doing applications last year, I made him replay the Common App confetti screen for me with each application submitted. It was silly, but I loved that confetti. 3 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 43 minutes ago, Sebastian (a lady) said: Well done to everyone who is making progress on their applications. Such a big milestone, no matter if you homeschooled K-12 or just a few years, if it's your oldest headed off or your youngest. When my son was doing applications last year, I made him replay the Common App confetti screen for me with each application submitted. It was silly, but I loved that confetti. When my kid saw the confetti, he said, "I can just make it shoot more confetti? Not gonna lie. That's a good feature." Then he made it shoot confetti for like a full minute. By the way, he's applied to Cincinnati, where I think you have a kid as well. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted September 20, 2021 Share Posted September 20, 2021 (edited) On 9/16/2021 at 10:43 AM, Farrar said: When my kid saw the confetti, he said, "I can just make it shoot more confetti? Not gonna lie. That's a good feature." Then he made it shoot confetti for like a full minute. By the way, he's applied to Cincinnati, where I think you have a kid as well. DS submitted two common apps today, so we finally got to see the confetti! I think that's new since my last go round? I only remember confetti with acceptances back then. (I just talked to my oldest, and he confirms the confetti is a new feature). So, yeah, things are moving along! He submitted Baldwin Wallace today, and then we realized that Oberlin doesn't require a separate college and conservatory app like we thought--so 1. he doesn't need any academic recommenders for Oberlin, which is nice, because we're a little thin on those around here, thanks largely to covid (still needs 2 music ones, which is not a problem at all) and 2. he submitted it today, too. There's still a bunch of extra music stuff that will have to be submitted through their portal, but Oberlin is far and away his first choice, so it's very nice to have the ball rolling there. Question: Oberlin wants an "academic portfolio" from homeschoolers which mostly sounds like the course descriptions I've already written...but it also says it should include "evidence of science laboratory experiences." Is it enough evidence that the course descriptions SAY he did labs (and that he has a 4 on AP Physics)? For the college (non-conservatory) app, they say the same thing, but then list separately that homeschoolers can also submit an optional academic paper and that that can be a lab report. So they don't seem to actually be asking for lab reports, right? This is perhaps another thing I'm overthinking. I remember that the "academic portfolio" description was a little different when my oldest applied there, but equally unclear, and when he asked for clarification they didn't seem to have anything in particular in mind or to care very much what he submitted. So he submitted several graded assignments and papers, but I strongly suspect no one actually looked at them carefully. How are things going for everyone else? Edited September 20, 2021 by kokotg 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief3 Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 My daughter has a few apps in, the ones that don't require the essay. She still needs to finalize the essay. The current draft is...pretty rough, lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 (edited) . Edited March 24, 2022 by Arcadia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 (edited) O Edited February 6, 2023 by Eos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 55 minutes ago, Harpymom said: Yay! Mom of two Obies here, one Con, one College - I am sending positive thoughts his way. Neither of mine were double-degree, so sending twice the positive thoughts to you both. Thank you! My husband went to Oberlin, and it made my oldest's short list (college, not con), so I'd love for someone to actually end up there 🙂 I realized I phrased that really unclearly--he's just applying to the Con, but the list of homeschool requirements for the Con doesn't even mention the optional academic paper or lab report like the college list does. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 7 hours ago, kokotg said: but the list of homeschool requirements for the Con doesn't even mention the optional academic paper or lab report like the college list does. Oh right, I remember that we had made her lab report and paper part of the upload file of her portfolio so it just went to all schools where she applied. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 (edited) Gah! DD is having trouble getting her teachers to write her LOR’s. [I know it’s early days. We’re just a little uptight!] She chose two teachers she’s been in class with for multiple years (3 years for math teacher; 2 years for English teacher, plus working as her TA for a year). She initially asked them to write a letter for her last June. Both eagerly agreed. She sent a detailed email requesting the letters on 8/1 explaining her timeline, background, interests, plans, etc. Both replied asking when she needed the letters. She told them ideally by 9/1. On 9/19, she sent a follow-up/reminder e-mail to both. No response. Today, 9/30, she sent a note saying, “Just checking to see how your letter is coming along. Need any more info from me?” I’m sure both will follow through eventually. DD was hoping by asking late summer before the new school year began that they would submit her letters right away, or at least within the 30-day window she gave them (8/1-9/1). Her first deadline isn’t until 11/1, but it makes me nervous that they’ve both gone dark. I imagine they get asked to write several letters each year. They probably sit down and do them all at once and they just haven’t done that yet. But, gah! I guess this is just a rant. Rant over. ETA: Math teacher replied right away, apologized for letting it slip his mind, and asked to be reminded where to send it. We went into Common App and re-sent the invitation to him. Fingers-crossed he’ll get right on it. Edited September 30, 2021 by fourisenough 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShepCarlin Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 DS has applied to two schools and is working on essay for the 3rd. One of the schools had all his info mid August and we are still waiting on a decision. Is this normal? I'm losing my mind over here as I personally *need* to see an acceptance to rest my mind. DS is soooooo laid back, not stressed at all (which is good but how can he be like this?!) The school that got his info mid August has a note on his page saying they are waiting for his FAFSA info. Well....technically he can't do that until tomorrow at the earliest. I'm also still confused on the FAFSA stuff. He shouldn't need to apply for loans this upcoming year as he has money put away. But if they want to offer him a merit based scholarship, that would be well received ;). So does he *really* need the FAFSA this year and do schools wait to see what your FAFSA is before they send an acceptance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, ShepCarlin said: DS has applied to two schools and is working on essay for the 3rd. One of the schools had all his info mid August and we are still waiting on a decision. Is this normal? I'm losing my mind over here as I personally *need* to see an acceptance to rest my mind. DS is soooooo laid back, not stressed at all (which is good but how can he be like this?!) The school that got his info mid August has a note on his page saying they are waiting for his FAFSA info. Well....technically he can't do that until tomorrow at the earliest. I'm also still confused on the FAFSA stuff. He shouldn't need to apply for loans this upcoming year as he has money put away. But if they want to offer him a merit based scholarship, that would be well received ;). So does he *really* need the FAFSA this year and do schools wait to see what your FAFSA is before they send an acceptance? Some, but not all, schools require FAFSA even for merit-based aid. Schools usually aren’t transparent about whether they consider need in admissions process; rare schools do advertise that their admission process is ‘need blind’, but I’ve only ever seen this claim made by highly-selective schools. Edited September 30, 2021 by fourisenough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 8 hours ago, fourisenough said: Gah! DD is having trouble getting her teachers to write her LOR’s. [I know it’s early days. We’re just a little uptight!] She chose two teachers she’s been in class with for multiple years (3 years for math teacher; 2 years for English teacher, plus working as her TA for a year). She initially asked them to write a letter for her last June. Both eagerly agreed. She sent a detailed email requesting the letters on 8/1 explaining her timeline, background, interests, plans, etc. Both replied asking when she needed the letters. She told them ideally by 9/1. On 9/19, she sent a follow-up/reminder e-mail to both. No response. Today, 9/30, she sent a note saying, “Just checking to see how your letter is coming along. Need any more info from me?” I’m sure both will follow through eventually. DD was hoping by asking late summer before the new school year began that they would submit her letters right away, or at least within the 30-day window she gave them (8/1-9/1). Her first deadline isn’t until 11/1, but it makes me nervous that they’ve both gone dark. I imagine they get asked to write several letters each year. They probably sit down and do them all at once and they just haven’t done that yet. But, gah! I guess this is just a rant. Rant over. ETA: Math teacher replied right away, apologized for letting it slip his mind, and asked to be reminded where to send it. We went into Common App and re-sent the invitation to him. Fingers-crossed he’ll get right on it. ugh--so frustrating! I hope teacher #2 sends a reassuring reply soon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 35 minutes ago, kokotg said: ugh--so frustrating! I hope teacher #2 sends a reassuring reply soon! She replied! Apologized for the delay and promised to complete it by the end of the week. Hallelujah! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 On 9/30/2021 at 12:36 PM, ShepCarlin said: DS has applied to two schools and is working on essay for the 3rd. One of the schools had all his info mid August and we are still waiting on a decision. Is this normal? I'm losing my mind over here as I personally *need* to see an acceptance to rest my mind. DS is soooooo laid back, not stressed at all (which is good but how can he be like this?!) The school that got his info mid August has a note on his page saying they are waiting for his FAFSA info. Well....technically he can't do that until tomorrow at the earliest. I'm also still confused on the FAFSA stuff. He shouldn't need to apply for loans this upcoming year as he has money put away. But if they want to offer him a merit based scholarship, that would be well received ;). So does he *really* need the FAFSA this year and do schools wait to see what your FAFSA is before they send an acceptance? rolling admissions? Mine have only applied to one rolling admissions school, and he heard back from that one within a couple of days of them getting his SAT scores (so definitely before we submitted the FAFSA). A lot of schools do want to see a FAFSA before they'll consider you for any financial aid, even merit aid, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 On 9/30/2021 at 12:36 PM, ShepCarlin said: DS has applied to two schools and is working on essay for the 3rd. One of the schools had all his info mid August and we are still waiting on a decision. Is this normal? I'm losing my mind over here as I personally *need* to see an acceptance to rest my mind. DS is soooooo laid back, not stressed at all (which is good but how can he be like this?!) The school that got his info mid August has a note on his page saying they are waiting for his FAFSA info. Well....technically he can't do that until tomorrow at the earliest. I'm also still confused on the FAFSA stuff. He shouldn't need to apply for loans this upcoming year as he has money put away. But if they want to offer him a merit based scholarship, that would be well received ;). So does he *really* need the FAFSA this year and do schools wait to see what your FAFSA is before they send an acceptance? Yep, many schools want to see FAFSA before they send an offer. Some include scholarship offers in the initial acceptance letter, and may use the FAFSA data in that calculation; some schools may not be “need-blind” in admissions, and some schools just want to see if you are serious enough about applying there to go to that much effort, because it increases their yield to make offers to students who are more likely to accept. There are a few colleges sending out offers super fast, but the earliest “wave” of rolling admissions offers often goes out around Halloween, if I recall correctly from my last round. It is not uncommon for other schools that don’t use rolling admissions, or for students who didn’t make the “first cut” but also didn’t land in the “no” pile to wait until spring to get notices though, so be prepared for a long wait. I can see that I am writing with an excess of shutter quotes, which tells me I need to stop posting and go to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 9 hours ago, NittanyJen said: […]and some schools just want to see if you are serious enough about applying there to go to that much effort, because it increases their yield to make offers to students who are more likely to accept. What does this mean? I didn’t think the FAFSA was school-specific? What about those that don’t fill out a fafsa at all, this means they’re not serious about applying? (!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 DS got his first acceptance, from the in-state school that was academically a sure thing (Columbus State). He doesn't audition for the music school until January, though. I took him down there the other week to have a lesson with the clarinet professor for the second time and to sit on a rehearsal and go to a wind ensemble performance. He really likes the prof and the school, and she seems to like him, too (invited him to come back for ANOTHER lesson if he wants!) It would be very nice to have him so close (it's about 2 hours away). He decided to apply early action to Lawrence University, so he and DH are flying to Wisconsin next month for his first audition. eek! So he'll hear back from one school by early December at least. Next up is the Oberlin prescreen due December 4; he finished submitting all the application materials there last night (aside from the prescreen that is). I can't believe how fast he's moving compared to his older brother with getting applications in; I pushed him to do it because he needs to be done so he can focus on audition prep, but it's been surprisingly unpainful--at least once he finished his common app essay. He doesn't mind writing the music specific ones much. To be fair, his brother applied to 16 schools, and he'll only have 6 or 7, some of which don't have much of anything as far as essays. And he's off at the SAT this morning--we're hoping for a high enough score to get him into Vanderbilt's median 50% range, but I don't know how much it actually matters since he's applying to the music school (and can apply test optional if he needs to). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 4 hours ago, madteaparty said: What does this mean? I didn’t think the FAFSA was school-specific? What about those that don’t fill out a fafsa at all, this means they’re not serious about applying? (!!) It means I probably shouldn’t post late at night? 😄 I was, however, always told— fill out FAFSA even if you don’t qualify for anything, because a lot of schools won’t even consider for things like scholarships — even merit scholarships— unless that doc is on file. Obviously, this will be school specific, and not true everywhere. And a lot of people do apparently find out they qualify for more at the college level than they thought they would, even if they don’t get federal money. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShepCarlin Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 @NittanyJeni guess it makes sense (more streamlined?) but it would be nice if the schools were more upfront about it. One has a teeny tiny note on his admission status page saying they are waiting for his FAFSA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 Spent a glorious autumn Saturday morning today…completing my DD’s FASFA and making very solid progress (90%) on her CSS profile. Ugh, but glad they’re (mostly) finished! I treated myself to a long walk listening to an excellent audiobook after my financial colonoscopy this morning! 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 22 minutes ago, fourisenough said: Spent a glorious autumn Saturday morning today…completing my DD’s FASFA and making very solid progress (90%) on her CSS profile. Ugh, but glad they’re (mostly) finished! I treated myself to a long walk listening to an excellent audiobook after my financial colonoscopy this morning! I started the FAFSA this morning, too--going to wait until some bills clear the checking account before I finish it, though 🙂 . And then the CSS. Not looking forward to it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 13 minutes ago, kokotg said: I started the FAFSA this morning, too--going to wait until some bills clear the checking account before I finish it, though 🙂 . And then the CSS. Not looking forward to it. I was motivated to do it today because my husband is expecting a lump sum payment in the next week or two. It probably doesn’t matter much, but every little bit helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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