They post samples of their transcripts on their public school website.

I just had weighted on mine. Our local public schools provide weighted and the admissions counselors for our area are aware of that. I didn't want mine at a disadvantage.

I'm coming back to add that I am hardly ever in my house by myself - especially as a homeschooling mom and a DH who is home all the time (since 2018) 🤪. I would want to be home the entire time everyone else is gone as it would be a little bit of heaven for me -- LOL. But...my house of 4 is about to become a house of 2 as my twins head off for their first year of college. I am soaking up every minute of the noise and chaos before they go. It is going to be so quiet when they are gone.

I would probably get a few chores done early. Then I would sit and watch any show I wanted while cross-stitching. I would nap and I would order take out for dinner. Maybe a jacuzzi bath. Sounds heavenly. I would have a lot of quiet too - there is always noise in my house, which is ok, but I love some quiet time too! Enjoy your day!

Looking back, these were some things that were important to my boys. Mine both did 5 years of math (our area includes 8th grade Algebra on the public high school transcript so I included it on mine) and also AP Stats (AP Calc and AP Stats senior year). They are both business majors, but we wanted a Calc on their transcripts (which we believe helped them) and also wanted a strong class schedule for senior year. They took 4 years English, 4 years of lab science, 4 years of the same foreign language and 4.5 credits of social studies. We did PE/Health and fine arts too. We found that course requirements varied for the VA schools they were interested in. We had them all covered with what we did -- LOL. One school specifically required 1 credit of fine arts, but none of the others did. Looking back, I wish mine had done a couple more AP or DE classes (they took 3 APs and 1 DE), but not because of college admissions. One of mine is coming in with 16 credits and knocked out a nice bit of gen ed requirements plus his Stats business pre-req. At his school, he is also exempt from the foreign language graduation requirement because he has 4 years of the same language on his high school transcript. If he had only 3 years, he would have had to take the placement exam and 2 years of foreign language there. That was nice. For his twin, 4 years of foreign language didn't matter because it isn't required for his degree although some was required for the application process. The other is coming in with 13 credits because his school doesn't accept CLEP (the twin got the credit at his school). I guess all this to say, I would definitely start looking at schools he may be interested in to see what their admission course requirements are. One of the dean of admissions at UVA has a blog and this is what she wrote: 1. All of your core classes are important. A lot of people focus on the core areas that correspond to their current academic interest. I've even had people wave off certain subjects because they aren't interested in them or they don't come "naturally" to them. I wish they'd stop this. High school is the time to get a broad foundation in several areas and college is the time to specialize. We most concerned with a student's work in core areas (in alpha order, not order of importance): English, Math, Science, Social Science, and World Language. While mine didn't get in, admissions rate was about 16% this year, but hey were both waitlisted when there were a lot of outright rejections. We focused mainly on those core areas for all of high school to build a strong foundation. I didn't read what UVA looks for until they were preparing to apply, but felt good that we had that covered. I would deviate from that if you are looking at a specific major (like CS or Engineering, Music, etc.) and add classes that would make the application stronger for those majors. I'm feeling wordy today - sorry -- LOL!

One of my boys took US History at CC using Zoom. He took a 7 week course, was expected to attend the zoom classes (2.5 hours 1 night a week). He chose to be on camera for most of them, but most did not. He made sure to participate as well. He chose a class with a great professor and did well. He was required to write 3 "papers" for his grade. His twin took the same course (different time period) in-person for 15 weeks. He did well also, but had more work to do for his class - quizzes, tests, papers, attendance, and participation (both individual and group in class).

OP here. I love reading what is going on with all our incoming freshman!! Since my first post, DS1 picked his classes. Very stressful process at his school, but he has a great schedule. Once he got his AP scores, he was able to drop math and add in a required first year writing class with a great professor (was in his math timeslot so worked out perfectly). DS1 picked his dorm this morning and got his first choice. So now we just need to shop and pack for him. JMU over-enrolled and are having to look at other options, such as hotels, for some of the freshman. They've also changed the process for being able to live on campus as an upperclassman, which he was hoping to do. Before this year, you could sign up to "live-on" in the fall and were guaranteed a space. This year, and going forward, you have to apply to "live-on" and you may not find out until summer if you are able to. You also don't get to pick your dorm. That kind of sucks, but he knew that was a possibility going in and he wanted to go there anyway 🤷‍♀️. So now I will be researching off-campus housing in September just in case! DS2 has a one on one advisor meeting next week and hopes to change a class. We will see. His roommate has not made contact, but I'm not surprised by that. We have done some shopping - new laptops, backpacks, printers, air purifiers, and a few other things. Trying to be as minimalist as possible.

It gets worse the older you get (I'm 56). I would start implementing things now that you will be able to keep in place long term. It really gets worse once you reach menopause. I wish I had started earlier, but am trying now. My GYN kept saying to lose the weight before menopause and she was right.

I listed professors and credentials on my course descriptions, including for Great Courses we used.

Yesh, this is hard when AP scores don't apply :-(. For one of mine, a DE class will give him 3 elective credits, but there isn't a one for one match so he needs to take US History again. And his CLEP isn't accepted at his school. For the twin, his CLEP is accepted at his school, but the AP World History doesn't have a one for one match so will get those 3 elective credits. At least he doesn't need to take it again - his DE US History will work at his school for that gen ed category. They are all different :-(.

Both of my boys got 5’s on each of their AP Stats and AP Calc AB exams. Both are getting 7 credits for them. Good day in our house! ETA: Giving a shout out to @NittanyJen at PA Homeschoolers for preparing my guys so well for their AP Stats exam!

Yes, definitely check. I just looked at my boys' 2 schools and their required, versus strongly recommended, versus recommended are very different.

Yes. 2 shots at least a month apart. I went ahead and sent my boys' immunization forms into the school since it is a recommended (not required) vaccine. A lot of others did/are doing the same thing at their schools. I will have the forms updated when we get the next one and upload the more current one. Not too many of the vaccines had a big impact on my guys, but for both of them to say their arms were sore for days and both were really so tired for a few days, this one was a bit of a doozy.

My boys had the 1st Menn B at the end of May. Their arms were incredibly sore for a few days after and felt very fatigued. They get their 2nd one on the 10th of July.

Did anyone get the hand calligraphy for their student's name? Not sure it is worth the extra $15.99?

I am still behind, but want to order tomorrow. I am stuck on the school name. We have called our school (Last Name) Institute of Higher Learning for awhile now, but not sure about that. (Last Name) Homeschool is another option. Or Homeschool High School. Anyone else want to chime in?

DS2's college colors are the same colors we chose for our school colors before he chose the college (coincidence). DS1's college colors are purple and gold so he is not going to be able to reuse his high school cap and gown for college 😁. Great idea though!!!

I'm so sorry y'all keep taking the hits. I know you want to move, but is there any way to take that off the table for now? Settle down and rest from the trauma of the past year and regroup. It is so much stress what you are doing.

My boys need laptops. We know the school specs for their major and we know we are getting Dell. Just need to determine screen size. They are used to my 13" laptop over the past 4 years, but they mainly use their desktops at home. Thoughts or experience? Most concerned about portability to pretty much everywhere 🤪. They have both currently chosen 13", which is fine, and we are going to order them very soon.

Well...we've been busy here with all the freshman college stuff. DS2 had his overnight orientation at UMW last week and it went fine. 2 days before we went, I had posted something on the parent FB page and a mom contacted me. We have a mutual twin mom friend in common. Come to find out she has one twin going to UMW and the other twin going to JMU. What are the odds. Anyway, DS2 was able to room with her son for the night so that was great. He received his first choice dorm and has a pretty good room. He has a communal bathroom, but has a full handicapped bathroom next to him and they are allowed to use it if no one else is. That is a big perk! Random roommate so not sure about that. Hopefully that works out for him. DS2's school schedules classes for all incoming freshman. Classes were selected based on a questionnaire they filled out. Some people weren't happy with theirs, but DS2's schedule turned out pretty good. Good spacing between classes and mostly things he wanted. He wants to change his fine arts class to something else and he is still deciding on doing honors. Other than that, he is good to go. DS1's class registration is tomorrow (JMU). It is a crazy, crazy process 🤪. They have assigned a first year advisor and DS1's is pretty responsive. But...they don't really meet with them until orientation next week and registration is tomorrow. He has a worksheet they give the kids and we've turned into a spreadsheet showing what he needs to take for the next 4 years (both gen ed and major). That helped him see the big picture. It seems they may have over-enrolled and they are making changes to some parts of the registration process. DS1 is doing a lot of the work, but is very happy for some help going through this for the first time. We currently have a Plan A in the shopping cart, but need to come up with a Plan B, C, D, E. Hopefully he can makes changes in August if needed. And...it is hard when he is waiting on 2 AP scores - for his major required classes. Two he should be taking his first semester. His orientation is just one day. He picks his dorm in July some time. Anyway, we are surviving 😁. Will be glad when tomorrow is over. We won't stress about it again until end of July. I did make sure he wants my help. He said he would usually be annoyed, but is very thankful this time 🤣. They are turning 18 next week 😭! How is everyone else doing with their incoming freshman?

DS2 and I just got back from his orientation. They do not recommend freshman get a job the first semester. Obviously, if they need the money, that is a different story, but it is a pretty big transition without the job.

I needed to do my upper lip this weekend (I mean I needed to get all the hair). I took an ice cube and numbed that area a section at a time and plucked the heck out of it. It worked 🤪.

At our peds, we can get a vaccine with just a nurse's appt as long as we have seen the doctor for a well check within the last year.

Ho-ho 🤣

If anyone is on FB, there is a group called College Dorm Must Haves & Beyond. It is has been super helpful for this newbie college mom (I joined last summer) in figuring out what we need/don't need for their dorms. There is a lot of discussion on insurance.