How are your kids dating with apps, school work, ECs?

[Anonymous]

When we asked our kid how he survived his senior year and college applications he said "use your summer wisely".

He had his college lists and strategy for each (EA/RD/TO), the ECs written out, and the essays ready to go before school started in late August. Of course, he tweaked things and reworked stuff, the list changed slightly. But the core of the work was done. He also said the hardest part was the part that involved others - letters of recommendation, scores, etc. It was stressful, but as he told us - at least he wasn't scrambling to finish work. Filling in the common app - was mostly copying and pasting from his documents and setting aside time to make sure each school was filled in correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:*dealing with apps. Apologies. Not “dating”

Whew. That’s a relief. I had a similar initial mind-in-the-gutter reaction to the recent thread “What does an F do to college prospects?”

[Anonymous]

If applying to SLACs, I disagree with above advice to not visit campuses until accepted in spring. That advice may work for big universities but so many smaller schools consider demonstrated interest when evaluating your application. If you can’t afford to visit, ensure you’re doing online tour and other participation.

[Anonymous]

We did college visits and research junior year while there was no urgency. Mine also took their SATs junior year after the PSAT and were done with that as well. A realistic and small list of colleges was made. Applications were done by September. Even so, senior year was crazy busy just with school and all their activities. But they got to enjoy it.

My dd’s friend was still doing applications in January and had a miserable and stressed senior year. She applied to about 20 colleges, mostly all reaches with lots of essays and got rejected from all the top schools. I think the poor kid only ended up with one, maybe two, acceptances for all her hard work.

I think whittling down the list is the biggest challenge but one that pays off the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did college visits and research junior year while there was no urgency. Mine also took their SATs junior year after the PSAT and were done with that as well. A realistic and small list of colleges was made. Applications were done by September. Even so, senior year was crazy busy just with school and all their activities. But they got to enjoy it.

My dd’s friend was still doing applications in January and had a miserable and stressed senior year. She applied to about 20 colleges, mostly all reaches with lots of essays and got rejected from all the top schools. I think the poor kid only ended up with one, maybe two, acceptances for all her hard work.

I think whittling down the list is the biggest challenge but one that pays off the most.

Ugh, poor kid. Good advice. I am seeing many of my kid’s classmates apply to colleges that are completely out of reach for their stats with only a couple back ups.

Besides that factor, the time management issues is my kid’s biggest problem. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day for the school workload and ECs. I’ve encouraged her to cut back some activities but the minor ones she’d cut take the least time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:*dealing with apps. Apologies. Not “dating”

Made me chuckle though. ANd that's a good thing!

Classes have not been too bad. Teachers are trying to balance staying on track with not drowning seniors.
ECs not bad either. Scheduled herself as much of a break as possible. DD's ECs go in spurts or intense classes. For one, doing classes in Sept and Dec. For theatre, did not audition for fall play. Did have a competition though, but got that sorted. For volunteering, sticking w/ some, and taking a break from others. Will do more in Dec. For other stuff, still going, and it's manageable.

Apps were a slog. 8 schools early (1 rolling, 1 ED, 6 EA), lots of supplemental essays. Plus various artistic portfolios. Glad it's mostly done, except for a few updates and 1 essay.

1 acceptance w/ good money, so that's heartening.

Then the question will be, how much if anything does she do towards RD apps? Really hoping on the ED, but it's a Reach.

Is your child in public school?

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:*dealing with apps. Apologies. Not “dating”

Made me chuckle though. ANd that's a good thing!

Classes have not been too bad. Teachers are trying to balance staying on track with not drowning seniors.
ECs not bad either. Scheduled herself as much of a break as possible. DD's ECs go in spurts or intense classes. For one, doing classes in Sept and Dec. For theatre, did not audition for fall play. Did have a competition though, but got that sorted. For volunteering, sticking w/ some, and taking a break from others. Will do more in Dec. For other stuff, still going, and it's manageable.

Apps were a slog. 8 schools early (1 rolling, 1 ED, 6 EA), lots of supplemental essays. Plus various artistic portfolios. Glad it's mostly done, except for a few updates and 1 essay.

1 acceptance w/ good money, so that's heartening.

Then the question will be, how much if anything does she do towards RD apps? Really hoping on the ED, but it's a Reach.

Same PP. Forgot to mention she took ACT at beginning of Jr year (studied in summer) and ysed summer before Sr. year to draft essay. Also visited schools in Spring Break and others in August.

[Anonymous]

Tried our best to get kid to do the work the summer before. They have EF issues, so it was Last Minute Larry the whole way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tried our best to get kid to do the work the summer before. They have EF issues, so it was Last Minute Larry the whole way.

I'm adopting "Last Minute Larry!" Nice one.

-- poster above you also with EF kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished with my second kid through this process - its really helpful to have a lot done the summer before senior year - at least the common app essay and the college list.

Yup. My kid filled out the common app, got the common app essay done, researched schools and finalized the application list, and developed a timeline/plan for applications during the summer. He also started the supplements for his ED school and got far enough along on them that he was able to revise/repurpose some of that work for other Nov. 1 apps. October was really, really busy, so he took advantage of a long weekend to knock out and submit three applications. That was a huge relief and allowed him to spend the last couple of weeks refining essays for the ED school.

You also have to know your kid. Mine is pretty organized and motivated, but I still asked him regularly what he needed to get done and when he planned to do it, really just to prompt his planning. He seemed to appreciate that, but I know lots of kids would not.

He will get his remaining applications done before he gets his ED decision in mid-December so that they are ready to go in the likely event that he doesn’t get in. The last thing you want to do is have to write essays when you’re disappointed about your first choice.

Does school work lessen senior year? How many hours a night of homework does he have? How in the world can kids spend so much time on applications? I hope teachers are understanding in 12th. It’s all perplexing to me.

No, school work doesn’t lessen; if anything, he has more this year than junior year. And his activities are even more intense because of leadership positions. He did most college-related stuff on weekends. And, again, getting a lot done in the summer was critical. I don’t know how he would have gotten it all done otherwise. Or, I guess, it would have been done but probably not nearly as well and with a lot more stress.

This. They have leadership roles in their ECs and are taking more AP classes senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tried our best to get kid to do the work the summer before. They have EF issues, so it was Last Minute Larry the whole way.

+100 and our kid wouldn't be dissuaded from starting an EC that takes 20 hrs a week. It's been a nightmare for this type A parent! So much stress and tension in our house.

[Anonymous]

My kid finished all of his applications over the summer. As he’s submitted he’s done a few minor changes. Senior year has actually been pretty relaxing! Way easier than junior year!

For my other kids I already had them start to create formal resumes: when you have a resume of your activities and accomplishments over the years it makes the application process so so much easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished with my second kid through this process - its really helpful to have a lot done the summer before senior year - at least the common app essay and the college list.

Yup. My kid filled out the common app, got the common app essay done, researched schools and finalized the application list, and developed a timeline/plan for applications during the summer. He also started the supplements for his ED school and got far enough along on them that he was able to revise/repurpose some of that work for other Nov. 1 apps. October was really, really busy, so he took advantage of a long weekend to knock out and submit three applications. That was a huge relief and allowed him to spend the last couple of weeks refining essays for the ED school.

You also have to know your kid. Mine is pretty organized and motivated, but I still asked him regularly what he needed to get done and when he planned to do it, really just to prompt his planning. He seemed to appreciate that, but I know lots of kids would not.

He will get his remaining applications done before he gets his ED decision in mid-December so that they are ready to go in the likely event that he doesn’t get in. The last thing you want to do is have to write essays when you’re disappointed about your first choice.

Does school work lessen senior year? How many hours a night of homework does he have? How in the world can kids spend so much time on applications? I hope teachers are understanding in 12th. It’s all perplexing to me.

No, school work doesn’t lessen; if anything, he has more this year than junior year. And his activities are even more intense because of leadership positions. He did most college-related stuff on weekends. And, again, getting a lot done in the summer was critical. I don’t know how he would have gotten it all done otherwise. Or, I guess, it would have been done but probably not nearly as well and with a lot more stress.

This. They have leadership roles in their ECs and are taking more AP classes senior year.

Different for mine. Has same number of AP/postAP/magnet courses senior as junior. Junior year was harder. Sr year has better footing for the classes & great teachers, so it's been less stressful.

[Anonymous]

Our kid's senior year was intense - workload, EC's no time to take the foot off the gas. Teachers didn't let up on the workload or expectations. Although the school did provide some extra time for seniors to meet with college counselors and teachers related to their essay reviews etc.

We did the majority of the college visits during Junior year. He did apply to 2 schools he hadn't visited and we left those until the winter of Senior year once he knew he was accepted. It wasn't ideal but they were different parts of the country and we wanted to ensure he really knew what they would be like to guide his decision making.

It's tough. Our kid is good with time management - but he got overwhelmed with the volume and expectations of the college applications. We had weekly check-ins to see how things were going if he needed stuff from us, I think he appreciated that - knowing we were there to support, provide advice, talk through strategies etc. He very much drove the process but since it was his first time through it - he really wanted to confirm he was on the right track.

He did use his summer to get ahead - he set aside a few hours once a week starting in July to plug away at stuff - he said he treated it like a job - show up, work, go home. In August he set aside more time each week so by the time school started he had the bulk of everything needed in good shape. He ended up applying to 10 schools - most with 11/1, 11/15 deadlines. Only a few were RD deadlines. He decided he wanted all the stuff in before his winter break so he could relax.

[Anonymous]

My kid isn’t applying to any rolling admission schools. He also could only apply EA (11/1) to two - one was restrictive and only one public on his list had EA. The rest were all ED, EDI, EDII.

Many of the supplementals weren’t available until school started (mid August). He had his common app done and a rough CA essay- but that changed a few times.

So he did 3 by 11/1. And he’s re-thinking the essay for the RD applications. They should go quick because most just have 1-2 supplement questions which are similar to what he already answered on the other apps.

It got a little stressful early October since one EA had 4 essays- but after 11/1 it’s been really calm.