Help?

[stellamira]

You know you research too much when you...

... try to compare NSync's schedule for PopOdyssey and the calendars of high schools across the US, trying to find a date that would make it possible for Dean and Sam to go to an NSync concert

Comments

[msktrnanny]

May is normal graduation around here, third weekish. acceptance letters, I seem to recall those being January ish. It's been a long long time though..

I love your theme pic!

[stellamira]

Thanks for the info. I know there are so many movies and tv shows I watched that had graduation ceremonies in them, but they never said what time of the year it was.

I love your theme pic!

Thank you. :) I should really finish that mood theme some day.

[faithette]

I don't know about acceptance letters but the graduation at the local high school is always early June...

[stellamira]

Thank you for the info. I guess late May would be a plausible date then (if Sam's still in school).

[madame_d]

trying to find a date that would make it possible for Dean and Sam to go to an NSync concert.

*giggles herself silly*

Well, here's a thing: we know that John said, 'If you leave, don't come back' upon learning that Sam got a full ride to Stanford. The question is: did Sam tell him when he got the acceptance letter, when he got the financial package, or after he'd sent the decision letter back? Or, two days before he decided to leave for campus?

Public high school graduation is usually in June - early- to mid-; acceptance letters vary between January (early admission) and March (regular). Financial aid info, though, doesn't arrive until late March/early April (which is when Sam would've gotten the information that he could, in fact, attend Stanford because they'd given him a full ride); decision letters are usually due back late April. College starts in early September, usually Tuesday or Wednesday after Labour Day (first Monday of September).

[stellamira]

*giggles herself silly*

You were the one who suggested it. Well, you said Celebrity, but that's not really possible if Sam's gonna be there, and I like Sam.

did Sam tell him when he got the acceptance letter, ...

That's a question I'd love to have answered on the show (Sammy living in crappy apartments, jobbing to pay the rent until he can move into a dorm, *squee*), but until then we can make something up, which is cool, too. However, Sam's statements in Bugs ("most parents don't toss their kids out of the house when they score a full ride") suggest that it was at least after the financial situation was clear.

Thanks for all the info, it's surely gonna be handy (maybe not all for this story, but for future ones, too).

[madame_d]

You were the one who suggested it.

Because I'm beyond amused by the idea of Dean at an *NSync concert.

most parents don't toss their kids out of the house when they score a full ride

Well, see, considering their family, Sam's scholarship would've been need-based. Considering that he actually got into Stanford, his scholarship was probably merit-based, as well. So, it's possible he realised when he got the acceptance letter that, assuming their familiar financial situation, the university would provide the means of his attendance said university.

I'm reaching. But that still leaves possibilities - Sam saying as soon as he got the financial aid package (because he was that excited) or waiting till later.

That's a question I'd love to have answered on the show

Mmmmm. Would be lovely.

[stellamira]

Maybe I'm thinking too German for that, because we don't usually have colleges (or what you'd call colleges) accept a limited number of students, sometimes you don't even send an application at all, you just enroll. American colleges are a fascinating thing that I still haven't fully grasped yet, but yeah, it does make sense, if you pick the best students for your college, to make sure they can attend, too.

I can actually imagine quite well that Sam told his family as soon as he got accepted, but John never thought he'd actually go until he did.

[ninjetti75]

Heeee!!!

Actually, it tends to vary depending on where in the country you're talking about. The school year ends in late May/early June, oftentimes with the graduating class finishing a few days earlier than the undergraduate years, but on the other hand, many high school classes have mixed years in them, so the final exams still have to happen for everyone at the same time. College acceptance letters also vary, since it's up to the individual school on when they send them, but mid-to-late winter or early spring seem to be the most common.

The other thing to consider is that Dean is FOUR years older than Sam, meaning that unless Dean repeated a year of school or got held back (which is actually quite possible, given the nature of their upbringing) Dean would have graduated high school the year before Sam started. And junior high schools operate on a less fixed schedule than high schools, so there's no real reason you couldn't fudge a date through creative license. Any Friday night or Saturday in late May or very early June would

[stellamira]

Actually, it tends to vary depending on where in the country you're talking about.

I feared it would. Late May/early June is a tight fit, but I can work with that (the thing is, I already started the story with Sam demanding to be driven to school, and I kinda like it this way, or I'd have a larger timeframe). Anyway, thanks for the info, you all are a much better source than wikipedia.

I think it's sad that Dean and Sam didn't go to high school together. All the embarrassment Sam never had to suffer from that would've been caused by Dean's behavior.

And I can't WAIT to see a SPN/*NSYNC crossover

:) Uh, it might take a while, though.

[madame_d]

Dean isn't dumb, by any means, but he makes an impression of someone who doesn't have the patience for book-learning. Like, Sam would be buried up to his ears in a book, reading about physics, whereas Dean would be out and about, trying to defy laws thereof to learn about it, you know?

Considering how much they moved around, and how different public school systems are within a state, not to mention inter-state, it actually does stand to reason that one or both of the guys were held back. Another consideration is that after Mary died, Dean was supposed to start kindergarten the following September, and it's quite possible that John kept him home not only for safety's sake but also to help with baby!Sammy. If Dean started school a year later, he would be in his last year when Sam started high school.

Um. I should maybe stop pondering all of this.

[stellamira]

Dean isn't dumb at all, but he also makes it quite clear that he wasn't interested in the subjects a high school would consider important, like history or literature. I bet he loved science, though.

Um. I should maybe stop pondering all of this.

Not at all! The problem is that you can probably never use that anywhere without awkwardly explaining or having a hundred people point out to you how very wrong you are, because it's not canon (yet). However, I can very well imagine that Dean was held back a year (which, I guess means that after moving someplace new, he got sorted into a lower grade than the one he'd been in before the move?) while Sam wasn't, because Sam's always been super smart and Dean might've not caught up so fast, either because he couldn't or because he didn't want to.