My DC is 95% done. All applications have been submitted except for one; DC just needs to finish up the short (250 word) essay on that last one.

I told DS he had to finish the Common App and Essay by the end of summer. I think he did it the last week of summer, but he got it done. His Dual enrollment English teacher had their first assignment as a Common App Essay which they peer reviewed, and then he reviewed. I thought that was a great idea. DS actually acknowledged how great it was that he had already done that essay, since many of his friends had not, and were stressing. He just polished off the one he did, and was done quickly. We have only visited 3, but he has 2 school visits tomorrow and one in person on Monday at Mary Washington. I think we might have 1-2 more visits. Of the 3 visited, DS feels pretty strongly that he loves one (willing to apply to the other 2). He is contemplating whether to apply binding early decision, but I am worried that if the merit aid/honors program funds do not come through, that could be a mistake. Do you think that doing binding early decision would mean a less likely chance of merit aid than if they knew you were shopping around? Oh, and just now realized that we had forgotten to turn in the parent/student info form to the counselor for the recommendation!! Yikes, just turned that in tonight.

I’m amazed how many of my daughter’s friends have submitted multiple applications already. Some worked with a private counselor which probably helped. My daughter is stressed out as she is still finalizing her common app essay and has not finished the common app yet. She is mostly doing it all on her own although I gave her some general feedback on her essay.

Our school gave us guidance about what should be done when. Does not mean the kid does it...but it was useful.

For example: by end of summer after junior year, have a list of schools and a draft essay. The latter was like pulling teeth but if she did not, they could not have taken advantage of english teacher feedback. Also, who wants the common app to compete with AP's etc senior year. As it is, they will have to spend time on the individual applications, interviews, admitted student visits. Best of luck to everyone!

Oh just stop.

Anonymous wrote:We have two drafts of the common app essay done but still needs some work. We have also brainstormed ideas for all of the supplementals. We have finalized her college list of 6 colleges (1 reach, 2 matches, 3 safeties) We have started looking at institutional scholarships and the Total Cost of Attendance for all of the schools she is applying to. We are still awaiting ACT results from July to figure out the final superscore. She wants a superscore of 34.

"WE?"

Did you and she apply to schools where you can live in the dorm with her???

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I really wish she had done one of those essay workshops. They seemed so expensive and she’s never needed a tutor or prep class in anything so I didn’t bother. But she’s a huge procrastinator and I guess the structure would have been more effective than me talking through deadlines with her.

Not all of them are expensive. My son's was $200 and was at his school. It was limited to 20 students and the essays were reviewed by college admissions application readers.

Getting close to finishing. Our school starts college counseling in 9th grade and that makes a major difference. My daughter did an essay writing workshop over the summer and walked out with a solid draft of her common app essay. She then focused on her supplemental for her first choice. Common app and school specific apps were filled out over the summer. I did the in-state information at the beginning of the school year. We will probably finalize next week. Doing one rolling and several early actions with a Nov. 1st deadline. Then will move on to RD if necessary.

Anonymous wrote:DS is done as of last weekend. Did a few drafts of essay over the summer and then they worked on it first few weeks of school in English. Got his Rex’s from teachers in and his counselor and wrapped up all the apps and hit submit. He has one rolling and 3 EA, so we are just in wait mode at this point. He’s just doing state schools that should be matches or safeties, so if nothing works out he’ll scramble to get some regular admission ones in but I’m pretty confident that won’t be an issue.

OP here. Congrats and best wishes to your son!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thought it would be interesting to get an update on this thread now that the summer is over.

OP here. I missed when you bumped this thread but searched for it now to update. My kid is so stressed out by the apps. As I suspected she would be if she didn’t do anything much over the summer. I was trying to encourage her to start essays in August to avoid this stress but, while she agreed in principle, she didn’t do much.

PP above. I feel your pain. And I’m puzzled. It takes some time. But my kid can crank out a decent 650 word essay with a round of peer review edits and a response to teacher comments in 2-3 weeks of English homework. He’s doing a decent job with supplemental essays. I’m trying to figure out why he is so stuck on the common app essay when he can write about literally anything.




Then again, his guidance office sent out a tips for applications by seniors who just graduated at the end of last year. And 90% said as the very first sentence— do not put off the CA essay. I knew my kid should do it early. He agreed it should be done early and seems to be making an honest effort. And yet... here we are.
Have a virtual glass of wine with me?

Yes! Thanks for the commiseration. I think the CA essay just kind of paralyzes some of them because they feel the stakes are so high.

I’m beginning to think the 6 topics, including “write about anything” is just too broad. Your kid gets a blank sheet and 650 works to express their true selves. At 17. Meanwhile, my kid is pounding out an answer to Pitt’s “what did you read, watch or listen to this year that made an impact on you” in an hour. One or two more focused questions would be so much better.

I don't think its a problem with the prompt, it's that students are being asked to write personal statements and share how they think and what they believe. I doubt that there are very few parents on this board that can find any school writing assignments that get at this. Kids who have journalism/writing as an extracurricular definitely have an advantage.

DS is done as of last weekend. Did a few drafts of essay over the summer and then they worked on it first few weeks of school in English. Got his Rex’s from teachers in and his counselor and wrapped up all the apps and hit submit. He has one rolling and 3 EA, so we are just in wait mode at this point. He’s just doing state schools that should be matches or safeties, so if nothing works out he’ll scramble to get some regular admission ones in but I’m pretty confident that won’t be an issue.

OP again. I really wish she had done one of those essay workshops. They seemed so expensive and she’s never needed a tutor or prep class in anything so I didn’t bother. But she’s a huge procrastinator and I guess the structure would have been more effective than me talking through deadlines with her.

My son is a major procrastinator, but we signed him up for a essay writing workshop (2 weeks) over the summer and he had a very strong draft of his common app essay from that course. I recommend something like that for anyone going through the process next year. It's kind of late for that now obviously. My son submitted his apps right around this time last year. H

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thought it would be interesting to get an update on this thread now that the summer is over.

OP here. I missed when you bumped this thread but searched for it now to update. My kid is so stressed out by the apps. As I suspected she would be if she didn’t do anything much over the summer. I was trying to encourage her to start essays in August to avoid this stress but, while she agreed in principle, she didn’t do much.

PP above. I feel your pain. And I’m puzzled. It takes some time. But my kid can crank out a decent 650 word essay with a round of peer review edits and a response to teacher comments in 2-3 weeks of English homework. He’s doing a decent job with supplemental essays. I’m trying to figure out why he is so stuck on the common app essay when he can write about literally anything.




Then again, his guidance office sent out a tips for applications by seniors who just graduated at the end of last year. And 90% said as the very first sentence— do not put off the CA essay. I knew my kid should do it early. He agreed it should be done early and seems to be making an honest effort. And yet... here we are.
Have a virtual glass of wine with me?

Yes! Thanks for the commiseration. I think the CA essay just kind of paralyzes some of them because they feel the stakes are so high.

I’m beginning to think the 6 topics, including “write about anything” is just too broad. Your kid gets a blank sheet and 650 works to express their true selves. At 17. Meanwhile, my kid is pounding out an answer to Pitt’s “what did you read, watch or listen to this year that made an impact on you” in an hour. One or two more focused questions would be so much better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rising senior at one of the big 3s. Took SAT for the first time in 08/18 and scored 1020. Spent 8k on test prep and took in 03/19 and scored 1460. Spent another 4K on test prep and took the SAT on 06/2019 and scored 1570 and done with SAT.

This is why certain tutoring agencies charge over $200 per hour and guarantee results. I knew a kid who always struggled in math. He scored score 18 on his first ACT trial. 6 months and almost $15.000 later he scored 33. My guess is that he was tutored on questions very similar to the ones on the real test. There are also ACT and SAT tests administered in the student’s school that can very easily be manipulated by the teacher or administrator responsible for mailing the completed tests. This also happens on AP tests.