Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SO finally sat my DD down and discovered that she has filled out a grand total of 0 (ZERO) applications all of which are due by 1/4 at the lastest! She kept saying she would get around to it and "how hard could it be". I am livid. She is working furiously on essays but seriously how good can they be at this late date and how on earth are the transcripts and all the supplements going to be sent on time. My hands-off approach backfired big time! Anyone else have kids waiting until the very.last.second???

Yes my kid was literally racing to get in their applications until the last minute for early action and early decision. Got into a few too early action schools. At this point just help her and don’t stress her out. She is only 17-18? Just help her do her best.

And learn your lesson for any future kids----that you as a parent investing in their future (college ain't cheap), can help guide your junior/senior with the college choices and still have them be "independent". They are only 17/18 and many will need guidance/nudging.

However, if you can afford it, I highly recommend a college counselor. They will help set calendars/deadlines and that way it's not you the parent nagging them constantly. From Feb Junior year when we hired our counselor (should have done it sophomore year, but Covid had different ideas), my kid had a plan with dates and goals and had to meet those. It makes the process run much smoother and takes the nagging burden off the parent (mostly).

My DD and were talking about the application process and how it was for her now that it's all done but the waiting. She was happy with how it went but shared that a couple friends had zero help from their parents, not because they were 1st gen and not knowledgeable but because they are the kind of parents you hear from here that think the kid should do it 100% on their own. Those friends were much more stressed out and really angry at their parents and feeling really uncertain about what they may have missed since no responsible adult was providing that sounding board and 2nd pair of eyes on college lists and applications. So, if you are a parent who doesn't want to help your kid with the process, at least give them a counselor to talk to. I was really to sorry to hear so late that her friends were going through that because I'd have been happy to help them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SO finally sat my DD down and discovered that she has filled out a grand total of 0 (ZERO) applications all of which are due by 1/4 at the lastest! She kept saying she would get around to it and "how hard could it be". I am livid. She is working furiously on essays but seriously how good can they be at this late date and how on earth are the transcripts and all the supplements going to be sent on time. My hands-off approach backfired big time! Anyone else have kids waiting until the very.last.second???

Yes my kid was literally racing to get in their applications until the last minute for early action and early decision. Got into a few too early action schools. At this point just help her and don’t stress her out. She is only 17-18? Just help her do her best.

And learn your lesson for any future kids----that you as a parent investing in their future (college ain't cheap), can help guide your junior/senior with the college choices and still have them be "independent". They are only 17/18 and many will need guidance/nudging.

However, if you can afford it, I highly recommend a college counselor. They will help set calendars/deadlines and that way it's not you the parent nagging them constantly. From Feb Junior year when we hired our counselor (should have done it sophomore year, but Covid had different ideas), my kid had a plan with dates and goals and had to meet those. It makes the process run much smoother and takes the nagging burden off the parent (mostly).

Congrats to your DC for getting the applications in. I followed this post early on - stopped -- and just looked again this morning. It drives me bonkers that my DS and DH are last minute type people, but they get done what they need to get done. All the best while you wait on results. I chuckled at the post it could be a lawyer in the making filing all the last minute briefs

There are still decent colleges which have deadline until Jan 15th(Example: UNC Chapel Hill) and Penn State with rolling admissions. So please look into those options, if not already done so. It is not like sky is falling. Goodluck and for hopefuls, there are so many ways.

Anonymous wrote:SO finally sat my DD down and discovered that she has filled out a grand total of 0 (ZERO) applications all of which are due by 1/4 at the lastest! She kept saying she would get around to it and "how hard could it be". I am livid. She is working furiously on essays but seriously how good can they be at this late date and how on earth are the transcripts and all the supplements going to be sent on time. My hands-off approach backfired big time! Anyone else have kids waiting until the very.last.second???

Yes my kid was literally racing to get in their applications until the last minute for early action and early decision. Got into a few too early action schools. At this point just help her and don’t stress her out. She is only 17-18? Just help her do her best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if you take her to a US Army recruiting station / office, she'll find motivation to apply to college.

Also, collect job applications from fast food restaurants and retail stores in addition to apartment lease applications, then let her choose which apps she fills out.

What do others think of this approach? Viscerally I love it, but also know that was what motivated me to go to college as I knew those were my life choices - as they were for everyone else in my universe - if I didn't go to school.

One of my DCs appeared to be unmotivated about filling out college apps. I made a few suggestions, discussed strategies, then said "you must really love my face b/c that is what you will be looking at every morning across the kitchen table if you do not go away to school." Turned it 3 EA, 2 RD, and 1 ED app by 11/1 a few years back and admitted to ED.

I don’t like it. If she’s not interested in the military you are wasting everyone’s time. Why do that to the recruiters? My younger brother wasn’t sure and had no plan and that was a passing thought but he wasn’t serious so my father sat him down and they watched Saving Private Ryan. That was just as effective since he didn’t really want to join.

Congratulations to OP! I’m glad she got her applications in with a little help!

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if you take her to a US Army recruiting station / office, she'll find motivation to apply to college.

Also, collect job applications from fast food restaurants and retail stores in addition to apartment lease applications, then let her choose which apps she fills out.

What do others think of this approach? Viscerally I love it, but also know that was what motivated me to go to college as I knew those were my life choices - as they were for everyone else in my universe - if I didn't go to school.

One of my DCs appeared to be unmotivated about filling out college apps. I made a few suggestions, discussed strategies, then said "you must really love my face b/c that is what you will be looking at every morning across the kitchen table if you do not go away to school." Turned it 3 EA, 2 RD, and 1 ED app by 11/1 a few years back and admitted to ED.

That’s great news, OP! The fact that she got the stuff done early that was dependent on other people (recommendations, counselor report) is a sign of a thoughtful girl. Good trait to have!

For others out there with children that tend to procrastinate or get overwhelmed, making sure they do recommendations and all those counselor reports early in the process is a good tip. My oldest is a senior and just went through the process. I had *no idea* she had to get a counselor recommendation, that that person couldn’t do until I and a teacher filled out ‘brag sheets’ (??). It all got done but it was much more complicated than going into my dad’s office in high school to use this typewriter to get my applications done!

That's great OP!! Best of luck