和儿子学校counselor的对话
儿子早约好了这次meeting，问老爸有没有时间参与。孩子上大学，上什么样的大学，老爸岂能不管不问？！给办公室同事提前打好了招呼，吃完中饭就准备这个谈话的主题。毕竟陪女儿走过一趟，也和儿子就这个主题上有很多的交流。所以就准备了一个文件，一式三份打印好。这样交谈的时候就不会走题。
Son’s Current Situation and Our Concern：
1. No AP, no award, no club.
2. EC: 10+ years Taekwondo, Black belt, Assistant Instructor; 5 years of track/field.
3. GPA is about 3.6.
4. ACT score (1st try): Composite: 33; English XX, Reading XX, Science XX, Math XX.
5. Based on my calculation，our Expected Family Contribution（EFC)is about 30K for private school; If state university, cost is about 25K after employee discount. So any private college is ok as long as we get financial aid. Therefore, a rich private college would be the best.
6. My son is easy to get distracted during class, therefore, an LAC with small class size would be great.
Advice Needed:
1. Current college list we are interested: State U./Grinnell (safe schools);
Carleton/Bowdoin (target schools); Swarthmore/Williams (reach school). Likely major is Applied Math, such as Statistics+CS, or undecided. Is this a reasonable list? Should apply more?
2. ACT-retaking? My son felt Science and Math were his strong subjects, and English and Reading were his weak ones. Somehow he did worse with his strong subjects, and very well with his weak subjects. The ACT range of mid-50% of admitted students among LACs we are currently considering is 30-34.
3. Early decision? Since we are expecting financial aid, and our budget can handle EFC ± 5K， is it reasonable to apply Early Decision（ED)?
4. What else my son should do to increase his chance?
等我到儿子学校的时候，儿子已经等着老爸了。把打印好的文件给儿子一份，儿子快速扫描了一下，吃了一惊，也没发现老爸有啥让他难为情的东西，就笑了：wow!
counselor已经等在办公室了。寒暄一下，说起十年前和她在她办公室为女儿的大学申请交流过，谢谢她的帮助，让女儿从waiting list被正式录取，感叹时间过得真快。couselor也准备得很充分：儿子的一些学校成绩到以前从家长这里收集的课外活动资料，学校以往校友的出向以及他们在学校的成绩，现在还在大学的校友联系资料，以及大学不同的排名等等。见到我上面准备好的文件，也笑了：Wonderful! You are really prepared!我笑了笑：Suppose, I am experienced。。。
交谈进行了45分钟，Counselor回答了我所有的问题，也提了很多中肯的建议。从以往录取校友的统计数字看，儿子的GPA相对他考虑申请的学校，有些偏低。所以，建议在state U.的基础上加一个safe school，把Grinnell换成target school，其他学校要归到reach school类别；还建议了另外几个学校，让儿子仔细看看；同意儿子再考ACT；也建议我去儿子想ED的学校网站仔细计算一下EFC，在能接受的范围内，ED是可行的；也建议儿子根据自己的课外活动，联系自己喜欢的major，思考怎么写一篇essay。这样既能体现自己的passion，又能展示自己deep thinking的个性，这往往是大学最看重的。。。
不错不错，自从儿子在counselor的引导下开始这个大学申请过程，我明显看到儿子开始成熟起来。多了一些对自己未来的思考，也愿意把自己内心的想法拿出来和爸爸妈妈交流，也能听进去老爸老妈从不同角度的思考，对大学费用和父母的承受力之间的关系也多了一些认知和理解。。。我和孩子他娘更注重孩子今后的自立，对上什么学校反而不太在乎，对儿子上州大也心满意足，所以，这个大学申请的过程反而被我们用来作为培养儿子走向成熟的工具。今天和counselor的对话有趣，也对儿子很有教育意义和启发。
（二0一七年四月十九日）