Not necessarily!

In areas where more students attend private colleges as opposed to the publics, the high schools strongly encourage the kids to take the SAT 2 for a particular subject as soon as they finish the subject ( ie freshman year June for the Biology SAT 2) rather than waiting to knock out 3 in on sitting during sr yr if they are not going to take a more advanced version of the class later ie AP/IB. For the Math I, it is recommended to take the exam as soon as the 2 levels of Algebra plus one Geometry are completed. The Math Level 2 is for the kids having just completed Trig.

Very few kids from my Boston suburb went to UMass. It was assumed that we would all be at least applying to schools requiring subject exams. So I took the Chemistry (I had zero interest in AP Chem for later) and Math Level 1 as a sophomore and then Math II and English Composition as a junior.

When my oldest started high school, I asked about the SAT 2 classes. Living in Virginia which is blessed with an abundance of excellent public institutions (William and Mary, UVa and to a lesser extent VA Tech), the SAT 2s are not emphasized nearly as much. Consequently, the student ends up taking 3 subject exams at the end of jr yr and of those 3, may be taking one in a subject that was completed as a freshman or sophomore. I should have had my kid take these exams as she completed the coursework rather than following the advice of the guidance and college counselor.

That's me!!!! (I just saw this and got way too excited... I'm phamous on the interwebz!)

We were told to take the SAT IIs right after we took the corresponding AP exam. The only reason I took them was because Berkeley required them and Berkeley was my #2 choice until the fall of my senior year. If I had just stuck with the private schools, then I wouldn't have needed them. I had also taken the ACT.

You didn't need SAT 2's for your Ivies?

Nope. At the time of my application (November 1998), the ACT could be substituted for the SAT-II requirement. I still submitted them but that wasn't the reason why I took them. :)

In my day (early 80s), very few East Coast schools accepted the ACTs as a standardized test and certainly not for replacing the Achievement tests (the old name of the SAT IIs).

Since my time (early 80s also), we only needed the ACT everywhere in Michigan, private or public. I never knew the SAT IIs existed until hypoallergenic started researching schools. Most people here have never heard of them at all. She did take the US history right after she took the APUSH exam and she also took the English Lit one, but that one is more skill based than knowledge based anyway. She took Spanish right after finishing Spanish III in high school but, well, she didn't have those scores sent...lol. She said it was so hard that she just started putting the answer that sounded the prettiest. I shared that with her Spanish III teacher and he was really surprised because he thought she really knew her stuff. I think you really have to be fluent in Spanish to do well on that one!

I took French and Biology SAT II's for my application to Wellesley College (didn't get accepted, but it was my reach school) and my French scores were not great. I had taken 3.5 years of French at that point (the half year being my AP year) and it was just so hard. In high school you are not in an immersion environment and your exposure to the language is so limited that when tested like that it's like being thrown the the sharks. And even the grammar stuff I did know I didn't have the time to think through and fill in right. It's a hard test. But I did well in all my college French courses, up until the 400 levels when they got really hard. Go figure.

hypoallergenic has received her first college acceptance letter! Depaul- with a Dean's scholarship (academic merit based- $52K). She is very excited :)

Congrats!!!!:)

Wow, congratz!

That's excellent, Dee! Does that count against other financial aid (meaning you'll get less financial based because of the merit scholarship)? Sorry if this is an inappropriate question, I'm kind of interested in admissions and financial aid so just tell me to shut up if I ask for too much information.

Yes, I'm sure it will. I don't think it really change the required family contribution at all, but hopefully it would mean fewer student loans. She had applied there and U of Michigan early acceptance. We are supposed to hear from Michigan by Dec. 23rd and Depaul by Jan 15th, so this was pretty quick.

And her best friend since kindergarten found out today that she was accepted to Wellesley and will be swimming for them. It was her dream school and she was wait-listed because science scores on the ACT were a little low. She re-took the ACT and has gotten in.

I got super excited when I saw this thread, I knew that meant some kind of good news. Congrats!!! :)

Wow!!!! That is amazing! I remember how it felt when I opened up all of my acceptance letters and scholarship letters. I cried tears of joy when I found out :)

Does that mean she has to give these schools an answer sooner than the regular deadline? Or does it just mean she turned her stuff in early, so they responded early?

And congrats on DePaul...I'm a little biased, but I think that the undergrads love it there.

She turned her stuff in early so they responded early but she has until May 1st to commit. She did not apply "early decision" anywhere because she is so torn between Northwestern and Barnard as number 1s. When we visited DePaul, it seemed like the undergrads were happy, out and about around campus, hanging out on the lawn on a beautiful fall day :)

And hypoallergenic has been accepted to...

The University of Michigan! Go Blue :)

Yay for hypoallergenic!

Congrats hypoallergenic!

Four or five of her friends also got their Michigan acceptance letters last night.

It's always nice to get that first acceptance letter. You know you are going SOMEwhere! :) All of the colleges to which my D applied were April 1 deadlines so she was on pins and needles all 3rd quarter whereas many of her peers has at least 1 acceptance already.

My S received 2 acceptances last week. One he really likes, one is more of a backup. The big scholarship competitions aren't until Feb although 1 school has given him quite a bit already.

Congratulations to hypoallergenic!

It's nice that she has two options, even though they were her "safety" schools. I knew she'd get into these two. She wasn't as confident about Michigan as I was, but I know more because I'm older...lol. She knows that some of the rest of will be rejection letters and they won't come until close to the April 1st deadline.

U of M was a safety school? Isn't it fairly competitive academically?

Compared to her "reach" schools, I'd say so.

Congratulations to hypoallergenic! Hopefully next semester will be a little calmer since she'll have two good college acceptances in the bag.

Yes, but it does somewhat depend on major.

Yes, but I knew she easily met their academic requirements. They were recruiting her pretty heavily and she attended some of their college application workshops (which focused on what they are looking for in essays). They also accept a large number of students, especially in-state students. But yes, compared to the Ivies/Seven Sisters and even Northwestern, it is easier to be accepted to Michigan. We haven't heard of anybody from her school who applied early acceptance who did not get in. And, as DeltaBetaBaby said, there is variability depending on major. Their engineering college is extremely difficult to get into as a freshman. The college of LS&A, not so much. I know a lot of kids who go to Michigan with worse stats and fewer extra-curricular/leadership activities than she has.

She finished her Columbia application today. That was her last one. It is a long waiting game now but yes, it is easier since she knows she has been accepted to a couple schools.

hypoallergenic received invitations for interviews with alumni from both Northwestern and Wash U. She scheduled one with Wash U but Northwestern's time slots were full. Wash U's was today, at a private high school in the metro Detroit area. It was a lovely set up. They had cookies and water bottles in the main area and then interviewers were meeting with the young men and women 1:1 in classrooms. They had some parents of current students present to chat with parents who were waiting for their students. I enjoyed talking with the parents a lot while hypoallergenic was in her interview. As we walked into the building, I noticed that Northwestern was doing their interviews there also, which was a surprise. One of the other parents there said a friend of theirs hadn't been able to get scheduled for a Northwestern interview but stopped by there today and they fit him in. When hypoallergenic came out of her interview with Wash U., I told her that story and asked her if she wanted to stop in to their room and let them know the time slots were full when she tried to register but she wondered if there were any cancellations. They interviewed her :)

She enjoyed both interviews, but clicked with the interviewer from Wash U. more. She was very excited to find out from the Northwestern interviewer that their marching band doesn't have auditions and their practices are from 4 pm - 6 pm rather than early in the morning so she has decided that if she goes to Northwestern, she will do marching band. Then she said "He said there is a sorority just for music people!" I told her what I knew about SAI. She sounded quite excited at that prospect.

Oh yes, she added Wellesley to her list also and applied there shortly before their deadline. One of her closest friends has been accepted there and will be swimming on their swim team and there was no application fee so... *shrug* why not?

So, we have about 2.5 months to wait now. I don't remember it taking so long when I applied.. I think Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan must have done/do rolling admissions because I think I found out pretty quickly.

The daughter of one of my high school friends chose Wash U over Stanford and loves it. She also just joined Chi Omega!:)

I love following your daughter's journey!

How exciting! Just toured Miami of Ohio today with DD. This is my 4th college search in 5 years (Son, Niece, Son and now Daughter). Still find it just as interesting. Good Luck to your daughter as she waits, and waits and then decides!

The deciding part is what I dread. After interviews we went prom dress shopping. She found the perfect dress but wouldn't buy it because "I've only had an hour of shopping! How can I pick one already?" It was perfect on her though, seriously. *sigh*

We were joking about the Northwestern interview. Some people crash weddings.. my daughter crashes college admission interviews. Go figure.

I think that's true of most state schools.

Today was eventful. We spent the day at the University of Michigan for an "accepted students" Campus Day. There were large sessions for the whole group to tell a bit about U of M, break out sessions for financial aid info, a Q & A panel session for parents and one for students (separate so they could ask things without the other there..lol), a walking campus tour of Central Campus, lunch in a residence hall, a large group session with info about the college of LS&A and finally, a small breakout session with info about their Residential College, which is a special college within the college of LSA. In RC, students commit to living in that dorm for two years, have more of their classes in that dorm with smaller class sizes, take more arts focused classes (like creative writing). Their dorm has a ceramics studio, dance studio, theater, etc. Hypoallergenic is very interested in that one. They also have a more intense foreign language requirement. Admission to that is on a first come, first serve basis and you just have to be interested and willing to commit. We got a good feel for the campus in winter. I always thought of that school as spread all over the city, but the LS&A classes are all pretty much in one central area, so it wasn't that bad.

She found out today that DePaul accepted her into their honors program.

Still so long to wait to hear from the rest...

Calling Munchkin... hypoallergenic as an alumni interview tonight, by phone, for Brown :)

How'd it go?

She thought it went very well! Since she had been to the campus and her interviewer is now a grad student at the University of Michigan, she was able to talk with him about differences between the schools, what she loves about Brown, what she's looking for in a school, etc.

Washington University in St. Louis mailed out decisions today which usually means the results will be posted online tonight at 5 pm central/6 pm eastern. In a waiting pattern right now and there is a bit of tension in the house.

And, they're up. Wash U is a rejection letter. She's fine and says she wasn't expecting to get in there.