Thinking about University. Already?!
japra | Jan 30, 2009 | Comments 16
Roxi and I attended an “introduction to High School” meeting at her school last night. I can’t believe it’s time to start thinking about high school scheduling, AP versus IB programs, transcripts, and University (in a general sense).
Roxi has a STRONG interest in musical theatre, drama, music and performing. I can see her enjoying performing for a number of years, but I also can see her moving into directing and writing. She is an excellent writer, so I can see her stepping off the stage at some point. Or perhaps she would enjoy doing both.
Next week, we have a meeting with one of the HS counselors to plan a course route for the next four years. Roxi won’t be held to it if she changes her mind, but it’ll give her an idea of the path she might take toward her future in theatre.
I’ve only just started looking at universities. Ack! We definitely need some guidance.
And to change the subject…
Thank you for this award, Fantastic Forrest! It’s so chic ;-)
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
My vote is IB. I think that it’s such a good curriculum, and the kids I saw at Atlantic College went on to the BEST universities in the UK and US.
I think that I’ve mentioned that oldest daughter is going to do IB at Sixth Form. (We are applying to schools now.) I also went to a meeting this week to discuss little daughter’s school future. It creeps up so soon!
I think that you have an advantage in that Roxi is a very directed, self-aware person . . . and she already knows what she is good at. (Of course, she IS good at a lot of things.)
And, btw, your blog IS fabulous.
I see yu have linked to my blog on the comments page. I am not sure how this works and it only takes me to one post rather than your whole blog.
University – an exciting and sad time for us Mums. Hope all goes well.
PD–It’s hard at this point to think about IB v AP, especially since we are not sure how much longer we’ll be here. However, we don’t REALLY have to be precise about our decision until next year.
Bee–You have already had this discussion for your youngest? Oh :( And BTW, your blog is fabulous too! (that reminds me of Fiyero and Galinda’s lines in the song “Dancing Through Life” from Wicked: “You’re perfect” “You’re perfect” “We’re perfect together” ;-)
Barbara–I am not certain how this works either! I think it is because I “follow” you so when you post a new item, it shows up in my side bar and therefore becomes a link. I am only guessing, though. I’ve seen this in other places as well, so hmmmm. And you are right, it is so sad to think about the baby chicks leaving… boo hoo!
I know what you mean, it’s confusing with all the high school choices, good luck. Roxi will probably have a good idea what she wants to do. If I remember correctly, gr9′s have a lot less choices to make than higher grades.
My eldest will enter high school next year. We’ve already talked about his aspirations:
1. Become a comedy actor
2. Become President
Not necessarily in that order.
I will watch your decision making process with great interest. I am useless in providing guidance or even helpful tidbits. You are the Jedi Master on this one.
The fabulous Jedi Master.
Oh, such big decisions!! It is so much fun to be young and deciding who you want to “be”!!
And, congratulations on the well-deserved award!!
Time goes by so fast.
I remember so well being at that place you and Roxi are. Time moves so quickly and now I have one who has graduated, one about to graduate and one who has just started University. What I learnt was to explore all opportunities and then little by little the system would become clearer. Once one decision is made, somehow the rest follow and whatever they choose funnily enough seems to be the right decision in the end. xv.
HI JAPRA,
It’s great when your child is so focused.Although it is sad when they leave the nest. Mine never returned apart from holidays. He fell in love with the student next door to him and when they graduated they got married and went to live away !
PS Thanks for info about sultanas
Christine–Thank goodness we don’t have to commit 100% to IB or AP. But they will want to know what we’re thinking. I’m glad we’ll be exploring the alternatives sooner rather than later!
Fantastic Forrest–No reason your eldest couldn’t be both–haha ;-)
Pamela–It is a very exciting time. It is so INTERESTING to be a parent!
Laurie–I know :-(
Vicki–Welcome! Thanks for stopping by!! You are right, things generally do work out for the best. It can be so confusing at the beginning, can’t it?
Barbara–I have been dreading Roxi leaving from the very first moment I saw her. It’s going to break my heart BIG time. But it’s right that she grow up and move on. I just hope we make it through these next four and a half years and stay friends… hee hee!
JAPRA – As a guidance counselor, I help community college students research and choose where they want to go for a Bachelor’s degree. My most important piece of advice is to start keeping a list of schools Roxi might be interested in attending. Narrow down your list to the schools she wants to attend by the end of her junior year in High School and begin sending applications for acceptance in no later than the end of October of her senior year. You will begin getting scholarship offers and acceptance letters from Colleges and Universities and then you’ll both have the fun of choosing where to go! Oh, and visit some schools if you can swing it. And, although they might assert otherwise, there really isn’t that much of a difference between IB and AP – they both get weighted grades. What matters (for the most part) is the SAT or ACT score, community/school involvement and GPA when the school is making decisions over scholarships or which students to accept. Of course, this applies to US schools – I don’t know the first things about schools in the UK! :)
I’m so glad I am not in your boat at the moment. It sounds silly but i just don’t understand how education works in this country or in the US. It has changed in South Africa too now but when I was at school, you went to 7 years primary school, 5 years high school and 3-4 years varsity. And I only applied for varisty in the August before I started in the February. Much simpler!
Lucy Lucia–Thank you for the excellent advice. I am definitely keeping a “short list”. I suppose I am lucky in that Roxi has a clue about what she wants to study.
Emm–Ugh. I thought this day would be far, far into the future. But time goes by so quickly after age 10. The years are racing by. It makes a poor mother sad :-(
I used to think blogging would help slow down my days – you know – you look back on a year and see everything you have done and realise how much you did and therefore the year couldn’t have sped by so quickly. It still speeds by doesn’t it?
Emm–Yes, at least I can look back on my posts and know where I spent my time. :-)