High School Guide: Admissions, reviews, and advice

Probably everyone's got the chemistry down. My bad... my mistake.
Different schedules, though. That's the whole point—more hours means more actual knowledge.

As far as I can recall, if you're attending a specialized language high school, they usually let you swap out chemistry or physics for a third foreign language once you hit your junior year.

I was reading an article about college admissions this morning, and they mentioned something along the lines of "high school seniors can change their college preferences right up until the SAT scores are released."
What does that actually mean? Are kids picking schools without any clue how they performed on their exams? So when the scores finally come out, you just find out whether you actually made the cut for your top choice?

Yes, it looks like the rush will start as early as February with applications

Kate Jackson4 said:Yes, it looks like the rush will start as early as February with applications

That's pretty wild; it’s basically like trying to apply for high school before middle school grades are even finalized
actually, it’s even more intense than that 😂

Yeah, I guess you can add, delete, or shuffle your college choices on the list for a bit, but once the final SAT scores and graduation results are out, everything gets locked in.
Some schools—the ones that require their own entrance exams—have their own specific deadlines you have to hit, too.

rowdypanther12 said:That's pretty wild; it’s basically like trying to apply for high school before middle school grades are even finalized
actually, it’s even more intense than that 😂

I mean, how else would they do it? High school exit exam scores are basically the foundation for getting into most colleges. Most places just tack those results onto your entrance exam points, and you pretty much have to pass the core subjects just to stay in the running, I guess.

Well, you can actually start jumping into those high school applications and putting together your lists even before the final eighth-grade grades are officially locked in. It’s kind of wild—my kid is already being offered a ton of three-year programs because their scores are looking solid enough. 🤣

The system says everything stays open until the final results are posted, so I’m guessing things become pretty much set in stone a few days before the actual deadline. It's just like when you apply to six different high schools; you might be sitting there totally clueless about where you actually stand on the admissions list until maybe two days before everything wraps up.

stormymarlin22 said:I mean, how else would they do it? High school exit exam scores are basically the foundation for getting into most colleges. Most places just tack those results onto your entrance exam points, and you pretty much have to pass the core subjects just to stay in the running, I guess.

Yeah, once you finish high school and finally see what your score actually looks like 🤷

stormymarlin22 said:Yeah, I guess you can add, delete, or shuffle your college choices on the list for a bit, but once the final SAT scores and graduation results are out, everything gets locked in.
Some schools—the ones that require their own entrance exams—have their own specific deadlines you have to hit, too.

See, that’s actually what I was wondering about (just curious, purely for the sake of knowing!)—do those entrance exams happen at the same time as the final high school exams? And how much time usually passes between the initial test scores coming out and when the final graduation results are official? (I know there's always that window for appeals and everything like that.)

I guess you won't actually know your SAT score until they release the results.

Michelle Nelson4 said:See, that’s actually what I was wondering about (just curious, purely for the sake of knowing!)—do those entrance exams happen at the same time as the final high school exams? And how much time usually passes between the initial test scores coming out and when the final graduation results are official? (I know there's always that window for appeals and everything like that.)

I think this year the preliminary exam scores come out July 12th, and then the final ones around July 20th. Or maybe not, I’m not totally sure on the dates.

As for the entrance exams, I guess it really depends on the specific college. From what I know, they usually happen right after finals, maybe the first week of July.

stormymarlin22 said:I guess you won't actually know your SAT score until they release the results.

True, but picking a college before you even know your score feels a bit like ordering dinner at a restaurant without checking the prices first.😂

stormymarlin22 said:I think this year the preliminary exam scores come out July 12th, and then the final ones around July 20th. Or maybe not, I’m not totally sure on the dates.

As for the entrance exams, I guess it really depends on the specific college. From what I know, they usually happen right after finals, maybe the first week of July.

Well, in that case, you actually have some breathing room to clear your head and decide on the programs you truly want and are qualified for. Until then, it’s mostly just that dreamy, "what-if" phase of college applications.😁

So I guess you just put him on the list, then once the results are in, you see if he actually makes the cut or not.

rowdypanther12 said:True, but picking a college before you even know your score feels a bit like ordering dinner at a restaurant without checking the prices first.😂

I don't think that comparison quite fits.

Personally, I think it’s healthy for both the applicants and the universities to see how much interest there is.
Basically, if students can see how much competition they're facing, they can make smarter moves. They might decide to aim for a different GPA, pivot their strategy, or even decide a certain school isn't the right fit for them this year. It gives them a chance to prepare better.
From my perspective, if I were running an admissions office, knowing the volume of applicants would be huge. It helps with everything from organizing staffing and campus space to gauging how difficult the entrance exams should be based on the crowd size...

urbantinker8 said:As far as I can recall, if you're attending a specialized language high school, they usually let you swap out chemistry or physics for a third foreign language once you hit your junior year.

On paper, that rule has been around for about 30 years, but honestly, I'm not sure if anyone has ever actually done it in practice. Most students just stick with their third language and keep up with the science requirements.

Susan James said:On paper, that rule has been around for about 30 years, but honestly, I'm not sure if anyone has ever actually done it in practice. Most students just stick with their third language and keep up with the science requirements.

It does happen, I suppose.
But you'd probably need the entire class to be on the same page about it, which isn't really common since quite a few kids sign up for language tracks specifically because they need those physics or chemistry credits for college later on.

urbantinker8 said:It does happen, I suppose.
But you'd probably need the entire class to be on the same page about it, which isn't really common since quite a few kids sign up for language tracks specifically because they need those physics or chemistry credits for college later on.

That's why I said I wasn't sure if it had happened yet—in my graduating class, it didn't happen for those exact reasons.
Even just one student being against it can stop the whole thing. Plus, teachers usually end up with fewer teaching hours if students drop a subject, so that definitely plays a role in the negotiations...😬

Yeah, you can tell from the Seattle track that they're heading off to all sorts of different colleges. They might not be as numerous as the STEM kids, but they're definitely moving on.

Regarding our enrollment process—they’ve released some rather polished video tutorials on how to navigate the application portal. It might be worth a look, or perhaps have the kids check them out...

https://collegeadmissions.gov/#/