The Class of 2024 College Application Thread

[JennyD]

Ready, set, go!

Why are these course descriptions taking me so long to write?  Am I going to feel like I'm about to cry for the entire year?  And how on earth are we here already?

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by JennyD

[cintinative]

I'll join. My son has been tasked to work on the common app prompt for about three weeks now. He has made no progress. He has watched the college essay guy stuff, he has read Hack the College Essay, and he has put together ideas for essays--one of which I said I thought would be easiest to write. But nothing has happened. And he has a very heavy courseload 1st semester.  And he is not my reluctant writer.  Send help. 😃

ETA: I checked and he has some notes written down. It's not nothing.  

Also I have been at my parent's house Mon-Fri all day for the last three weeks taking care of my dad and I'm feeling the stress of not having everything fully organized when school is going to start for us in just a few weeks.  

At least we aren't applying to many schools?  

Edited July 21, 2023 by cintinative

[chiguirre]

Trinqueta is finishing up her application to the University of Florida's online CS program. The essay is written, reviewed by me and a couple of shipmates and posted. The rest of the application is filled out. She's ordered her SAT scores (and paid the surcharge for "archived scores"-what a scam) and transcripts from MPOA and the CC. She forgot about the summer class she took at the University of Dallas, so that's one more transcript to order, but on the bright side, it looks like that Latin class will fulfill her foreign language requirement and she won't have to take the Spanish CLEP. It should be complete well before the Aug. 28 deadline for January admits. Phew!  

It's all on her except for me reading and commenting on her essay which was very cut and dried: Why do you want to study online at UF? That's easier and harder on the parent. You can nudge, but you aren't there to constantly remind them to keep going. The next step for T is to fill out the FAFSA. Then she has a couple of CLEP and DSSTs to take to check off degree requirements that don't line up with her TX AA requirements. FL requires 2 biology classes, doesn't count her 2 semesters of English Lit Survey or her Film Appreciation class as meeting the Humanities requirement (???!!!???) and requires technical writing for the CS major. The tests will check most of this stuff off. She'll need slightly less than 60 credits to finish her BS.

Edited July 22, 2023 by chiguirre

[JennyD]

On 7/20/2023 at 6:56 PM, cintinative said:

IETA: I checked and he has some notes written down. It's not nothing.  

 

That's not nothing!  My DS wrote a draft of a Common App essay before he left for a 6-week summer program, but I strongly suspect that once he comes back he is going to want to trash it and start over.  

This fall is going to be crazypants busy so I am trying to get at least my transcript, course descriptions, and school profile done within the next few weeks, but it is taking me forever and a day.  i didn't quite realize that writing out the course descriptions over the summer would mean that I would need to have ALL the school planning done first.   

On 7/21/2023 at 7:18 PM, chiguirre said:

doesn't count her 2 semesters of English Lit Survey or her Film Appreciation class as meeting the Humanities requirement (???!!!???) 

How bizarre.

[Acorn]

Our house agreed to not discuss applications or related topics until August 1. I wish I could turn my mind off as well as dh and ds.

[cintinative]

I got an email today from one of our target colleges. They will waive the application fee if we submit it August 1st. They require the common app.

Bwahahahaha   Like that is going to happen!  😃

Edited July 28, 2023 by cintinative

[SanDiegoMom]

oh my.  This is already happening? it's hard to wrap my mind around.  Well, my rising senior twins have not yet started their college applications, but they have some "great ideas" of what they are going to write about! Meanwhile this summer is FLYING BY, and they will be starting back to public school in 2 1/2 weeks, so hopefully something will get written before then. After school starts they get incredibly busy. 

[JennyD]

I am mostly finished with my transcript and course descriptions.  I'm going to try to crank out a draft of the school profile this week.  And I guess I have to finally tackle the Common App?  DS made an account a while ago but I haven't even looked at the site.

DS gets home from his summer program in 2 weeks, then a week later we have a major family event, and then we start school immediately after.  It is going to be a busy fall.

 

 

[kokotg]

We just got back from our long summer trip, so I guess now I have to face that I have ANOTHER college application season to deal with. Current senior is my third, and his older brother just finished his first year; I really could have used a longer break! But I'll jump in this week. I have course descriptions done through 10th grade, but I need to do the rest. He's taking the SAT again at the end of the month, so his Dad needs to work on SAT math with him (his EWR score was awesome, but his math was....not terrible, but low enough that he'd probably apply test optional to some of his reachiest schools; it would be nice to bring the math up so he could show off the EWR score!) On his end, he's worked on his common app essay but doesn't have a finished product yet.

He's a humanities/music kid who's most interested in double majoring or a dual degree in French horn and....something? English? sociology? He'll apply to some schools with conservatories but also to LACs with strong music programs. He'll likely do ED to Vanderbilt/Blair where his brother is a music student. It would be great for everyone is he got in--not too far away, great financial aid, two kids in the same school, we know it's very easy to double major there, etc.--but of course we can't count on it at all. So we'll see! We just toured Swarthmore and Haverford on the tail end of our trip, but he's not super excited about music possibilities at either. 

 

[cintinative]

He started on the apps, and he invited me as counselor. He sent requests for recommendations.  I have started on the counselor side. I need to finalize all my documents. He is not at all done with his essays.  One of the colleges only accepts recommendations from the counselor, which is interesting.  

[mlktwins]

Just want to wish everyone good luck as they embark on this process! I stressed about everything. Now that my boys and I are on the other side, finishing our packing for their freshman year at college, I can say it all turned out ok. It will for you too! Hang in there, keep your chin up, and your eye on the prize. Try to enjoy this last year of your homeschooling journey with your senior. You'll get through it and next summer you'll be super busy preparing for your student's first year at college and seeing all the posts about the new application cycle :-). 

[cintinative]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

You'll get through it and next summer you'll be super busy preparing for your student's first year at college and seeing all the posts about the new application cycle :-). 

Next summer I will be doing the same thing for my youngest!  🤪

[mlktwins]

42 minutes ago, cintinative said:

Next summer I will be doing the same thing for my youngest!  🤪

Yes! I can positively say that doing 2 at the same time at 2 different schools is not easy at all, but I'm glad I'm off the college app hamster wheel 😁!

[MagistraKennedy]

Joining in ---

So far we've:
Created a Common App account and she invited me as a counselor
Starred emails from schools she's interested in
Whittled down Mom's enormous list of possible schools 
Picked teachers for LOA 
Most importantly - haven't panicked yet! 

[Eos]

*

Edited August 13, 2023 by Eos

[Eos]

15 hours ago, MagistraKennedy said:

Most importantly - haven't panicked yet! 

This!

[cintinative]

Just posting here in case you didn't see my other thread. There is an issue with the Common App this year where if your colleges do not require a counselor letter, the place to submit it on the counselor side will not populate.  So until they roll out the change, the only real solution you have is to add a school on the student side that requires the counselor letter and then it will populate.  For example, Vanderbilt requires the counselor letter.  

Of course none of this means that the schools will actually read it, but there was no way I was not going to submit it after all the time I spent on it.  

Of the three schools ds is applying to, the counselor letter was listed as optional for all three.  (I think I misspoke up thread). One school won't accept any recommendations at all outside of the counselor one.  Interestingly, another school of the three requires a recommendation outside of a parent or guardian if the child is homeschooled.

Edited August 13, 2023 by cintinative

[cintinative]

Also, you all probably know this, but check and see if any of your schools have specific homeschool requirements, because the common app isn't going to tell you what those are.  For example, at least one of his schools requires the letters of excusal from compulsory attendance that we receive from the state.  I just uploaded them in the transcript section as an additional transcript.  

[Dmmetler]

M hasn't done anything yet. They've been working at the pool this summer which has used all their spoons. I'm on a trip this week (including moving L back in for year 3) and M's dad is taking C and M on a trip the week after that, so I'm hoping to sit down with M and make them do the state CC scholarship application (which is a sure thing as long as you do it by October 1. M volunteers once a week at the center, so they'll have the service hours) and a couple of test optional schools, and the common app. They're doing an ACT Class and then taking the ACT on October 28 and those will be the scores we send to the schools that want them, with the idea that they can't be worse than the June ones!

 

The cover school sends transcripts and uses the course descriptions that we put in so those are done (Freshman and Sophomore years are from PS, so last year's are the only ones I wrote for high school) and I need to write a draft of the counselor letter. I know from doing this with L, the guidance counselor uses that draft and adds things like the class rank and other comparatives

 

I suspect M will end up going to the CC, and we'll be doing this again in 2 years.

 

So, the next few years looks like

 

2023-4 M undergrad apps

               S radiology tech apps

2024-2025- L PhD apps

2025-2026-M transfer apps (if they end up taking the "sure thing")

2026-2027-C undergrad apps. 

 

The good news is that the two adults both seem to be adulting pretty well, and L's school provides a lot of support in the grad school process. So maybe, just maybe I'll be able to mostly be out of it after this year until C is ready....

 

 

[JennyD]

DS is home from his summer program; we have a big family event this weekend and after that it's game on.   Yikes.

[kokotg]

I think I need to start assigning weekly tasks for DS and for me. This week I'm aiming for finishing his common app essay and working with me to make a final(ish) list of schools and figuring out which ones have EA. The prescreen video for ED for Vanderbilt is due Nov 1, so that will be the first deadline, followed by some EA ones mid November (I assume. I haven't actually looked at EA deadlines). I can't decide how many schools to recommend he apply to. My oldest who was mostly applying to LACs did 16, most of them reaches. But then the music kid only applied to 6, because they all required auditions. So I don't know how to handle this kid who's doing both kinds of schools. It's also much trickier to figure out what's a safety with auditioned programs. The conventional wisdom is that there's no such thing as a safety because there are so many variables and generally the numbers are so tiny (for winds, a small music school might well only take 2-3 students on a given instrument in a year). I'm nervous that he'll change his mind at some point and decide he'll only be happy somewhere where he can do a performance degree. So, anyway, figuring out reach/match/safety is even more complicated with this kid than with my other two. 

[JennyD]

22 minutes ago, kokotg said:

I think I need to start assigning weekly tasks for DS and for me.

I had this exact same thought yesterday.  We are going to have to eat this elephant one bite at a time.

The music piece does sound like it makes things a lot more complicated!  Mine is a musician too but won't be pursuing it in college beyond a hobby level.  

 

[cintinative]

We’re pretty much done w common app but we are waiting for one recommendation.  I am undecided about waiting until we get it. We are not even sure if the person has started. 😞 

[JennyD]

17 hours ago, cintinative said:

We’re pretty much done w common app but we are waiting for one recommendation.  I am undecided about waiting until we get it. We are not even sure if the person has started. 😞 

Wow, you guys are amazing.  Kudos to you!!

We are nowhere near where you are.  Our big family event this weekend has been amazing but we have all been SO wound up and I feel like I've barely slept or eaten in days.  One more party today and then it will all be over.  I am already feeling all of the emotions but I will only have tonight to get over them, because starting tomorrow it is full steam ahead with both school and college apps.  

[cintinative]

50 minutes ago, JennyD said:

Wow, you guys are amazing.  Kudos to you!!

We are nowhere near where you are.  Our big family event this weekend has been amazing but we have all been SO wound up and I feel like I've barely slept or eaten in days.  One more party today and then it will all be over.  I am already feeling all of the emotions but I will only have tonight to get over them, because starting tomorrow it is full steam ahead with both school and college apps.  

Please don't worry. I have been working on my documents for over a year, and my son has been working on his essays since June.  So we have had a lot of time to work on it.  And honestly I just want to be done.  Fortunately we are only applying to three schools, and we know what schools they are.  😃

[ScoutTN]

@cintinative You are rocking it!

I was thrilled that Dd had all her apps in by October last year. (Not counting essays for competitive scholarships, which were due later.)

Eta: Ours were easier bc we have an umbrella school and the applications Dd did were way shorter and less complex than the common app. 

Edited August 21, 2023 by ScoutTN

[cintinative]

So I paged through my entire app and all the documents.  I hadn't looked at any of my documents for a week and I discovered an error on each one.  It's amazing how blind we can get after looking at something so many times. There was literally text missing on the very bottom of my transcript spreadsheet. Somehow the text was vertically justified to the top and had disappeared.  😮  Then there are the standard issue "I really read this ten times and missed that this needs another word?" problems.    

If I can extrapolate my experience to anyone else, put your stuff aside for a few days and then revisit it with fresh eyes.  

[Sebastian (a lady)]

For the student side of the application, I highly recommend the AXS Companion to Common App. It's a set of explanations and free walk-through videos for each section of the application.

https://open.oregonstate.education/axscompanion/

It was a joint project of professional Independent Educational Consultants and Oregon State University. No charge, no registration, and no student tracking.

Please share widely.

 

[MagistraKennedy]

On 8/31/2023 at 12:26 PM, Sebastian (a lady) said:

For the student side of the application, I highly recommend the AXS Companion to Common App. It's a set of explanations and free walk-through videos for each section of the application.

https://open.oregonstate.education/axscompanion/

It was a joint project of professional Independent Educational Consultants and Oregon State University. No charge, no registration, and no student tracking.

Please share widely.

 

THANK YOU for sharing this. What a great resource!

[MagistraKennedy]

Update in this neck of the woods:

- My daughter has written a first draft for the CA essay -- hooray! 
- We've narrowed our list down to the final version - 7 schools
- Rough drafts in progress of requesting letters of recommendation
- Rough draft in progress of a brag sheet (to go off with the letters of recommendation requests)

Feeling a little better about the process in general --- 

[cintinative]

Well, we finally got our last recommendation letter and so we were able to submit today. Yay! We have multiple follow up tasks like having recommenders email their letters where common app wouldn't allow them to upload, and requesting transcripts, etc. 

In a couple of weeks the honors app stuff will likely start.  The one app has at least three essays (I've heard) so that should be fun. It took DS all summer to write the one common app essay.  😃  

Cheering you all on!

[kokotg]

We're having a productive long weekend! I finished course descriptions, and I've already done a school profile twice before, so that should only need some light editing. So that mostly leaves the counselor letter for me; I have an intro written, but still need to figure out the rest of it. 

He's making good progress on the common app. He invited one recommender the other day (someone who he's taken classes from at homeschool co-ops every year since 8th grade, so that was the easy one to decide on), and she had it finished the next day! (he had asked her about a week and a half before the invite was sent, so maybe she'd already mostly written it and was just waiting on that, but still very nice not to have to fret about her getting it done). He finished his activities list. His main task remaining is finishing his essay. 

We made a list of schools, and there are...a lot. It looks like 20 right now, but we'll see what actually happens when he digs into supplemental essays and all that. He's been in touch with the horn professor at UGA and now has a visit set up there to sit in on classes, meet both horn profs and have "mini-lessons" etc. He has a couple more people to contact about trial lessons. We're looking at going to visit his brother at Vandy sometime next month and recording his prescreens/arts supplements there so it will sound/look better than it would if he did it at home. 

So timeline right now is: apply ED to Vanderbilt/Blair and hope that all this other stuff is for nothing. Get prescreens in a couple other places (I think maybe Oberlin is the only other place he's looking at that prescreens). Get several early action apps in. We still need to look at scholarship apps with early deadlines and think about those. Wait to see if Vanderbilt ruins Christmas or not and then, if they do, rally and get a million other applications in in January/plan audition trips, etc. At the moment I'm not a fan of this strange new world of early decision, but if it works out I'll be thrilled to be finished in December, of course. Although not ever knowing where he would have gotten in would be weird. 

[MagistraKennedy]

14 hours ago, cintinative said:

Well, we finally got our last recommendation letter and so we were able to submit today. Yay! We have multiple follow up tasks like having recommenders email their letters where common app wouldn't allow them to upload, and requesting transcripts, etc. 

In a couple of weeks the honors app stuff will likely start.  The one app has at least three essays (I've heard) so that should be fun. It took DS all summer to write the one common app essay.  😃  

Cheering you all on!

Girl, I was waiting for this update! HOORAY!! 

 

[kokotg]

14 hours ago, cintinative said:

Well, we finally got our last recommendation letter and so we were able to submit today. Yay! We have multiple follow up tasks like having recommenders email their letters where common app wouldn't allow them to upload, and requesting transcripts, etc. 

In a couple of weeks the honors app stuff will likely start.  The one app has at least three essays (I've heard) so that should be fun. It took DS all summer to write the one common app essay.  😃  

Cheering you all on!

extra essays were just pure torture with my first kid--not looking forward to doing it again! (second kid mostly just had to write about music for supplementals, which was relatively easy for him)

[cintinative]

We just received our first honors app. FOUR essays.  Ugh, ugh, ugh.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 9/3/2023 at 7:40 PM, MagistraKennedy said:

THANK YOU for sharing this. What a great resource!

It was a huge labor of love by the IECs involved. If you notice any places it's misaligned with the application, let me know so I can let them know.

Please share it on. While no student data is collected, Oregon State is noting how many people use the site. Their continued support will be based on evidence that it's being used.

[cintinative]

DS has one acceptance. The others don't send letters until January I think. 

[gstharr]

My one and only started freshman classes this week.  But, we encountered an issue that was a complete surprise to us.  It seems his college, and nearly half of all colleges, will reduce the financial aid offer by the amount of any outside scholarship award.   We went all summer thinking that his outside scholarship would easily  cover  the expected family contribution, as well as provide him some generous pocket money.   But the school's policy is that the family contribution cannot be reduced.  Our work around, with the college's consent, was for us to take out students loans for the family contributions, and student spending allowance.  The outside scholarship will then repay our loans.  I don't recall ever reading anything out this on the forum.  Heads up to you.  https://hechingerreport.org/august-surprise-that-college-scholarship-you-earned-might-not-count/

[kokotg]

One-more-try SAT score in this morning, and he got the math up 60 points since May (reading/writing stayed exactly the same, but that was already the stronger score by a good bit), which puts him in the top 25% at our state flagship. I'm pretty sure that's the only school on his list that's not test optional, so I'm hoping that solidifies his chances for early action there, which would be a nice early ego boost for him. Particularly if he actually likes it (or, more precisely, its music school) when he visits next month!

[cintinative]

1 hour ago, gstharr said:

My one and only started freshman classes this week.  But, we encountered an issue that was a complete surprise to us.  It seems his college, and nearly half of all colleges, will reduce the financial aid offer by the amount of any outside scholarship award.   We went all summer thinking that his outside scholarship would easily  cover  the expected family contribution, as well as provide him some generous pocket money.   But the school's policy is that the family contribution cannot be reduced.  Our work around, with the college's consent, was for us to take out students loans for the family contributions, and student spending allowance.  The outside scholarship will then repay our loans.  I don't recall ever reading anything out this on the forum.  Heads up to you.  https://hechingerreport.org/august-surprise-that-college-scholarship-you-earned-might-not-count/

I'm so sorry you had to deal with this stress.  I am glad that you found a workaround that worked though. I would not have thought to do it that way.  

[gstharr]

12 minutes ago, cintinative said:

I'm so sorry you had to deal with this stress.  I am glad that you found a workaround that worked though. I would not have thought to do it that way.  

I can't take credit for the solution.  The scholarship got it straightened out with the school

[cintinative]

12 minutes ago, gstharr said:

I can't take credit for the solution.  The scholarship got it straightened out with the school

That's great. 

For whoever needs it, there is a website linked on gstharr's article that has a (crowd-sourced?) database of some colleges and their scholarship displacement policies. It's not super huge but one of our target colleges was on it.  https://www.disscholared.org/database

[gstharr]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

That's great. 

For whoever needs it, there is a website linked on gstharr's article that has a (crowd-sourced?) database of some colleges and their scholarship displacement policies. It's not super huge but one of our target colleges was on it.  https://www.disscholared.org/database

Hope you are able to work it out too.

[JennyD]

On 9/8/2023 at 1:42 PM, cintinative said:

DS has one acceptance. The others don't send letters until January I think. 

Yay!   I will start the list.

[JennyD]

On 9/8/2023 at 2:14 PM, gstharr said:

My one and only started freshman classes this week.  But, we encountered an issue that was a complete surprise to us.  It seems his college, and nearly half of all colleges, will reduce the financial aid offer by the amount of any outside scholarship award.   We went all summer thinking that his outside scholarship would easily  cover  the expected family contribution, as well as provide him some generous pocket money.   But the school's policy is that the family contribution cannot be reduced.  Our work around, with the college's consent, was for us to take out students loans for the family contributions, and student spending allowance.  The outside scholarship will then repay our loans.  I don't recall ever reading anything out this on the forum.  Heads up to you.  https://hechingerreport.org/august-surprise-that-college-scholarship-you-earned-might-not-count/

I remember being very unpleasantly surprised by this same issue when I went to college myself, lo so many moons ago.  Very glad that the scholarship helped you work out such a good solution.  

[cintinative]

PSA for those who are required to submit notifications for homeschooling and retain letters of excusal.

Of the three colleges that received our common app with the letters of excusal attached as an additional transcript, all three have followed up and asked for the letters.  I have decided it might have been better to just email them the letters anyway.

 

[JennyD]

I have spent the afternoon revising documents  and working on National Merit stuff.  My only big piece left is the counselor letter, and I am waiting for DS to finish his Common App essay before I write that.

DS has finally buckled down and seems to be making progress on his essays.  I would really like him to get his requests out to recommenders but am struggling to walk that line between helpful reminding and nagging. He also needs to schedule interviews. 

 

[MagistraKennedy]

2 hours ago, JennyD said:

I have spent the afternoon revising documents  and working on National Merit stuff.  My only big piece left is the counselor letter, and I am waiting for DS to finish his Common App essay before I write that.

DS has finally buckled down and seems to be making progress on his essays.  I would really like him to get his requests out to recommenders but am struggling to walk that line between helpful reminding and nagging. He also needs to schedule interviews. 

 

I totally understand this --- I have to balance on that razor's edge with my DD as well. I've already asked her recommenders, but she needs to send a formal letter. I'm working on a brag sheet for her, but that's not a lot of fun. 

2 hours ago, cintinative said:

PSA for those who are required to submit notifications for homeschooling and retain letters of excusal.

Of the three colleges that received our common app with the letters of excusal attached as an additional transcript, all three have followed up and asked for the letters.  I have decided it might have been better to just email them the letters anyway.

 

Ummm --- can you tell me what this means? 

[cintinative]

11 hours ago, MagistraKennedy said:

 

Ummm --- can you tell me what this means? 

In Ohio, every year homeschoolers must submit what is called a Notice of Intent which indicates you are homeschooling for the next year. It outlines your planned curriculum and provides a test score or a portfolio review signature.  After this submission is reviewed, the school district issues a letter excusing that student from "compulsory attendance."  (Actually, these rules are changing in October 2023, so Ohio folks I am talking about how it has worked).   The colleges in Ohio (not sure about elsewhere) want copies of these letters from the school district, I suppose to verify that you were homeschooling legally during high school. 

[Eos]

On 9/4/2023 at 11:31 AM, kokotg said:

recording his prescreens/arts supplements there so it will sound/look better than it would if he did it at home. 

Great idea!  Thanks, older brother!

 

On 9/4/2023 at 11:31 AM, kokotg said:

Wait to see if Vanderbilt ruins Christmas or not

I hope not but also, this is hilarious.