JazzyMom
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Posts posted by JazzyMom
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10th grade dd is planing on:
DE Beginning Spanish 1 & 2
Derek Owens Honors Algebra II
Classical Conversations Challenge II (Covers Latin 2, Biology, Western Civilization, British Lit, and Logic 2)
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My son is taking his course now. He was struggling with a few concepts so I watched the videos to see if I could help. It’s a great course. Set up well. Explains things very well. My son was not proactive about asking for help when he got stuck, and that’s why I stepped in. The professor has been very responsive and helpful.
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21 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:
I wanted dd to apply to URochester for my own information when I was consulting. It took no additional effort other than reducing an essay she had already written to 100 words (she spent about 30 mins doing so) and asking a friend to write a letter. I asked her to bc I wanted to see how UR would respond to a homeschool applicant with no APs or DE grades and only foreign language tutors as any type of outside teaching. She was accepted and with scholarship $$, so that revealed quite a bit of info to me in terms of what colleges really need to see.
What do they really need to see?
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I spent $400 for a 1 (or maybe it was 2) hour visit with a consultant. She did not tell me anything I hadn’t already learned here, and some of her advice was not right for us, and we did not take it. Ds’ application process has gone better than I could have even imagined.
Same consultant helped a friend, and they spent a lot of hours (and money) using her services, and had a similar experience to what teachermom described above.
It takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to do the research on colleges and prep the supporting documents, but I think it’s something most parents can do with as good or better outcome than what the consultants can provide. (With the exception of wealthy students applying to elite schools.)
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On 2/17/2019 at 6:24 PM, RootAnn said:
First post updated! Some very exciting info coming in.
DD received notification of an additional scholarship at Truman State in their letter inviting her to interview for their top competitive scholarship: the General Pershing Scholarship. We're waiting to hear the results of that process (as she interviewed on Friday).
In addition, the University of Alabama Huntsville just updated their scholarship offer to the Platinum Award of Academic Achievement (replacing her Charger Distinction scholarship).
That’s awesome! Congrats!!!
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1 hour ago, Calming Tea said:
This is good to know. I mean, I am definitely doing my research and choosing schools that are either safety or targets, for her SAT score, and I am looking at their freshman profiles and reading college confidential. I also plan to look ahead and see which ones are homeschooler friendly, becuase my dd will probbaly only have the desire and stamina do apply to about 4 schools. SO I really need to pick ones that have a good possibility for her 🙂
Yes, just make sure her SAT scores are within range and she has all the check boxes the school wants in terms of math credits, English credits, etc. Structure the courses according to your needs and do activities she enjoys.
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Your original plan sounded fine to me as journalism would involve research, writing, and citing sources, and SAT prep would cover grammar and vocabulary. If you’re concerned about literature, then maybe during the SAT portion you add in 3 books (1 per month) in an area of interest.
I think the most important thing for high school is to do what works for your student. That’s the freedom we have as homeschoolers.
My oldest 2 dc just completed Engl 1301 at a community college, and they wrote 4 3-page papers, and that’s it. No reading. Class met twice a week, but the professor usually let them out of class really early. This semester they are in Engl 1302 with a different prof who is requiring quite a but more. There is a lot of variation in workload between different types of classes. Some require less and some more, but they get equal amount of credit.
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He did not have super high SAT scores, but his score of 1380 was in the top 25% to top 10% of all of the schools he applied to except UT Dallas where he was right in the middle.
The 3 most well known schools he was accepted to are Texas A&M (SAT score higher than 1360 makes you auto admit), Southern Methodist University, and University of Texas at Austin (both reaches for ds).
His transcript did show 1 full year AP course and 2 DE courses per semester for senior year, but I don’t see how that could matter much since there were no grades yet.
Again, I think it really matters what level of school you are applying to, and I have to keep reminding myself of that because for some reason I feel the need to do more with dd, even though ds got into all 8 of his schools. When ds started high school, I didn’t know to be stressed about all of this so we just did what seemed right for him.
Looking at each school’s common data set helped a lot. I also spent a lot of time on each school’s website. Many of them offered scholarships at ds’ level of SAT score. I also looked at College Confidential’s message boards to see what kind of students were getting accepted.
I think some AP or DE can be good if your student is ready for it and wants to do it, but I don’t think it’s anything to stress over if you’re not going after elite schools.
Ds’ first SAT score was 1050 in spring of 9th grade. He had never taken a timed test before. In addition to naturally progressing in math, he brought his score up using Erika Meltzer’s SAT grammar book and College Panda SAT math. He also took all 8 SAT practice tests.
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Will the schools she’s applying to want course descriptions? Only one of ds’ schools requested “brief” course descriptions. I kept them very brief and all on one page. For instance:
Geometry - Saxon Advanced Math Textbook
Honors English - Shakespeare and Poetry through Classical Conversations Challenge 3 Co-op
Etc.
I wouldn’t have hesitated to put Alpha Omega Academy on there had we used it. I seriously doubt anyone at the school looked any of this up.
Ds took no AP or DE courses until senior year and had no grades for them at the time he applied to colleges.
I think all of this depends on what level of college she’s interested in. Check and see if any of this matters for the type of school she might like.
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My oldest eased into high school during freshman year, and it wasn’t stressful or time-consuming at all.
Math - Saxon Geometry
English - Writing with Skill
History - Literature based course
Biology - local science teacher
Fine Arts - piano
Athletics - competitive basketball
No AP, honors, or online courses.
Your dd’s theater involvement could count for a Fine Arts credit and Yoga could count for PE. Then you’d just add in 4 core subjects. You could also do one course over the summer to free up time during the school year.
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He’s only on chapter 3 in calculus, which is hugely disappointing because he needs to finish this course by the end of May.
I bought the book the course is based on so I can see if I can figure out what’s going on (calculus was sooooo long ago for me!)
I am going to have him start back at the beginning to gain understanding. First thing I noticed when I started looking more closely is that he hasn’t been doing the extra practice problems. Ugh.
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Also, re: finding time to teach so many levels, this semester, I’m taking my oldest 2 children to the library every Saturday so I can have a dedicated amount of time to solely focus on a need for them.
I did this with oldest ds for a few months back when he was prepping for the SAT, and it was a huge help to him and actually a fun time for both of us.
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Haven’t had a chance to read the whole thread, but my son used College Panda Math SAT prep. It is laid out very well, with step by step instructions on how to work different types of problems, as well as practice problems. Working thru that book brought ds’ math SAT up to a 720.
We still needed the reading and language score to be higher, so we used an online tutor via skype. I went to Wyzant.com and searched specifically for a tutor that focused only on raising SAT/ACT scores and had testimonials showing results. Ds’ reading score didn’t go up much, but he got all of the answers correct on W&L and that gave him a decent overall language score.
It was expensive, but he got the number he needed for merit scholarships and auto admit at a state uni that is hard to get into by holistic review.
He also did all 8 SAT practice tests.
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Thanks! I actually sat down with him all day Saturday to figure out where he actually is and what type of help he needs. I think these resources will be a big help. I am going to have to be more hands on with these courses than I planned.
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That’s wonderful news, Lanny! Congrats to you and your dd!!!
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@kokotg The easays get to be a get much, don’t they! The kids think they’re done and then there’s another and another and another - all slightly different so you have to do at least a little tweaking instead of straight reusing.
@FuzzyCatz FIVE music auditions??? Oh my that sounds like a lot! How did the first one go? Does he get to play the same material at each audition?
@Lori D. It is great that your ds is so on top of what he needs to complete the program, and might have a chance to start a bit of work in his field. The work experience is so important.
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How are things going? All applications in? Supplements? Interviews?
We received an application for a scholarship for a local alumi association for one of the schools, so ds requested letter of recs for that, and I think (hope) that’s the end of it.
Feeling very antsy about getting financial info back so ds can make a decision. Hoping he has a final decision by March 31. I will lose it if he waits until the May 1 deadline.
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Congrats!!! We’re just waiting on scholarships now, too. Yes, reality is starting to sink in. I keep thinking, but he was just a baby... So weird that we won’t all be together anymore. I’m so excited for him, though!
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Can’t believe ds will be off to college in a few short months. Now that we’re mostly done with the application process, I’m thinking about the next phase - succeeding at college.
Ds is a good kid who hasn’t given us much trouble over the years, but last semester was suprisingly ROUGH. I felt like I was mostly dragging him along when it came to schoolwork. He did fine in his first 2 DE courses (an A and a B), but he is really behind in his at home courses thru Derek Owens. It will take him a lot of work to catch up.
That, combined with life skills stuff like organization, time management, etc. has me a bit concerned.
Do any of you have stories about how your children stepped up to the plate (or matured) when it came to college and also advice on things you did during senior year to help that growth process?
Just looking for some encouragement.
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13 hours ago, Bristayl said:
That's fantastic! I remember discussing with you some time ago on another thread about UT and homeschoolers, so your report is encouraging!
I am honestly shocked that he got into UT. It was a true reach for him.
Looks like our kids’ lists were very similar!!! Your dd must have stellar stats. I know scholarships from TAMU are hard to get.
Are you still waiting to hear from any schools? We’re done, thankfully. Just waiting to see if there will be anymore scholarships offered so we can make a final decision.
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And thank you all for being so generous with the information and advice. This is a complicated process, and you’ve all been so helpful!
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Just heard from the reach school - DS is 8 for 8 with acceptances! I am just in shock, and I am so so thankful!
So now we wait for final financial packages... I know a couple of the schools offer very little merit, but there are a few where I think some additional scholarships will come thru.
Dh got a nice promotion in December that allows us to expand our budget a bit, and I am just blown away at how everything is coming together.
I am just beyond thankful. Just praising God. He is so good!
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Just heard from University of Texas at Austin - it’s a yes!!!
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Dating in college
in The College Board
Posted · Edited by JazzyMom
My oldest is a hs senior this year so I don’t have any experience with this as a parent, but dh and I met during my freshman year and dated throughout college.
We were each busy with our own classes and activities (job/frat/sorority/student groups), and maybe spent time alone as a couple a few times a week. We were in the same circle of friends so we were around each other often, but we weren’t always paired up as a couple. For instance, if we were going to the same party, I went with my friends, and he went with his, and maybe we’d meet up after.
We both lived on campus, but did not live together.
No real boundaries, we just both had busy lives with friends and activities we enjoyed. Our lives did not revolve around each other.