Teachin'Mine
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Posts posted by Teachin'Mine
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I agree that there likely is some "trickling down" affecting other top colleges and more selective ones. But the ones with 70% admission shouldn't be that different. Most contact from colleges has ended, except from the ones who haven't received enough applications. They're still looking for applicants to either fill their seats or to raise their stats. It would be interesting to see a comparison chart and see where the percent admitted stops falling.
Annika, I hope your son has an amazing experience at his full-ride college! Congratulations to him!
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A depressed student would likely find it hard to get out of bed before 8am for breakfast let alone a class. But she had little choice due to late registration. Any college with a 7:30am mandatory start would never have made it onto dd's list. Military academies were definitely out. lol
Jen, hoping all works out well for her in the end.
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Sounds like the school really failed those kids in the class. As you said, some should not have been placed in the class to begin with. If only students who were ready for the algebra class were there, the teacher should have had no problem covering Saxon's 120 lessons within 180 days of school. Yes, there would be additional days for tests, but it still is very easily doable.
I see at lest two options, let him repeat algebra I in 8th at his new school, or complete Saxon's algebra I now and ask for a re-test when he's done, before school begins in the fall. If your son isn't willing to do the extra work needed, then I'd do the repeat. Algebra is important! Doing it in 8th, he'll still have time for more advanced math in high school.
With Saxon, there should be no skipping of problems, much less lessons! Regarding the 3rd edition at least, the student who completes all problems should easily at least know the formula and how to apply it to problems.
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I agree with the advice that's been given to explore all options at her college with the appropriate faculty. One thing that seems strange is that she had class at 8am and at 5pm. Neither of those would be recommended times for a residential student. Many students struggle to get to early classes, and those aren't even usually as early as 8am. Likewise, 5pm should be the time to have classes done and preparing to join other students for dinner. Yes, there are many exceptions, but I'm speaking of her situation. I know that people who work full time and are commuting to a community college might choose these times to work around their schedule, but for someone living on campus, especially someone struggling and likely to isolate, it doesn't sound like the best idea. Whether she's able to return to that college in the fall, or attends classes elsewhere, it might be good if you could help her with scheduling.
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I lost my post when I went to vote. lol Suffice it to say that as others have said, the types of classes each semester make a huge difference. A science lab with 1 credit usually takes 3-4 hours and studio art classes with 3 credits often take 5-6+ hours in class. Most lectures and seminars meet for approximately the same number of hours as credits given. This is for community college, but the same courses taken at a state university meet for the same number of hours. It is possible that TAs are used there, but I don't know. I checked off two areas to cover the range of hours per week depending on the semester schedule.
Edited: I counted the actual hours, which is usually less than the credit hours, in the class.
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Oops - double post.
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:grouphug: Have you checked to see if there are any state or local aid programs for women who want to further their education to get a better job? Some states or counties have these programs. Is there an organization at your university specifically for women returning later in life? They may have a way to help financially or at least be able to direct you to some programs.
Another thought is to call or go to career services at the university and ask them for help. Maybe they know of some employers who have tuition reimbursement, or know of some who hire for the summer and pay better than minimum. Or something.
I'm so sorry you're hurting. Living with so much uncertainty is difficult. :grouphug:
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If your financial situation is basically the same as for this last year, you can probably expect the same aid. I know some private 4-years are notorious for offering better aid the first year and then cutting back significantly in later years, but I've never heard of community colleges/state universities doing this (it may happen, but I think it's more of a set formula). I would check into departmental scholarships, foundation scholarships, etc. as well to help.
:grouphug:
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"Calculus" sounds like Calculus I for scientists/engineers (includes analytic geometry) - which would be a semester course at college, but they're spreading it over a whole year. It sounds to be the deeper (more advanced) calculus course, but it doesn't seem to cover topics beyond Calculus I which is probably why they say it's an alternative to Calculus AB. Agreeing with what's been said.
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Saxon is rigorous and thorough, with the exception of geometry proofs. You won't need the formal proofs for standardized tests, but it's great to learn in preparation for all the proofs that come with higher math. It's more about logic and IMO it's good to train the mind to think in the way that challenging proofs require. We used the Saxon sequence, but we used the infamous Brown/Jurgensen/Brown (sp?) geometry text for a year. It provides a lot of challenging proofs but requires more from the person grading as the solutions manual is more like an answer key and proofs are only shown with one possible way. I also don't see the need to rush, but I do understand that it's sometimes more of keeping up with them as they need the challenge.
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Ds called the ONE school where he applied, and they will start sending out notices the first week in JUNE! At least I don't need to keep stalking the mailman. ;)
What notices are they sending in June - admission decision or financial aid? Is he a transfer student?
I think you win the prize for having the most justified reason to be freaking out, yet you seem so calm. :svengo:
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Ignore below, but I'll leave it here in case anyone did use a less complete pre-calculus course and is looking through this thread.
I'm not familiar with TT but, from what I've read here it's at a different level from some others, so in transition to another provider, it might be a good idea to take pre-calculus. Hopefully those who have actually used TT will be able to tell you whether this is necessary or not.
Chalkdust uses a text, but also has videos. Again, I'd recommend doing their pre-calculus level first as it is more rigorous. The other suggestion would be to take the math dual-enrolled. Most colleges don't offer math taught by video lectures, and I wouldn't recommend a community college online course for all but the strongest math students as the student needs to learn most of it on their own. So she'll need to learn from in class lectures eventually, and this might be a good time to start. Taking a placement test at the cc would probably help you to know where to begin, but being that she's switching from her preferred method of learning to lecture based, I'd be inclined to even do some repeating of math. College algebra might be a good place to start, but If you decide to dual enroll, I'd work with the college and the math dept/professor in determining her best course. A summer course might be a good way for her to do a course which repeats what she already knows, but keep in mind that that will move twice as fast as a regular fall or spring semester college course.
Edited for commas. Ignore them or put them where they belong as I can't seem to at all lately. lol
Edited again as my information is wrong. :tongue_smilie: Advice from those who have btdt definitely trumps "I've read that ... " ;)
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As for so many students applying to so many of the top colleges, dd was accepted to 2 and waitlisted to 2 on the list, but looking at the acceptance rates, we could not possibly have predicted which those would be. It was necessary to cast a wide net in order to have some choice. I'm sure many applicants were in a similar position.
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Yes, there can be a lot of magical thinking and this often comes from those who didn't really apply themselves in high school and now expect this dramatic transformation into an A student, but have no idea about the amount of dedication, persistence and plain old hard work that has to go into making that a reality. I don't know if this issue is addressed in the study skills/college readiness type of class or not, but it should be discussed there. IMO advisors are even more important at the beginning of community college than at the end. This is their chance to try to help the students see reality and work from there. They need to be motivated and to own that motivation, but then they also need a very realistic plan which is based on where they are and helping them to achieve small successes so they can build on that. I think too many start out gung ho without giving consideration to the reality of what the course work will involve in both time and effort on their part. The colleges have the resources to help them but, unlike high school, no one is handing them a slip directing them to report for help. They have to take some initiative themselves.
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Greta, another way to find out how the virtual program is viewed is to call admissions at your local state university and ask them what they think. You could also email them the information on the virtual school and a possible 4-year course plan and see what they say.
If at all possible, I'd try to plan for at least a few dual enrollment courses so your daughter can learn how to navigate an actual campus and become familiar with all the different departments and services. The community college is also a great place for school and community involvement through clubs and organizations.
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Good for her! I would encourage her to attend graduation even if it's only her husband, and maybe some of his family, in attendance. She's earned it!
Then when she visits you, you can display a photo or even watch a video, of her in her cap and gown and share her joy with your family's graduation party. Just a thought.
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I wouldn't be surprised if the yield has increased, so they're admitting even fewer now.
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Yes, OOS and CSS required, but none of that changed the EFC. She applied to some schools despite them not being known for great aid because she had applied for some great scholarships which would have covered the balance. Thankfully, she has also been accepted to some very generous schools. All her choices are so different, so now it's just a matter of deciding. Cost will be a major factor in her decision, but the decision is all hers. Thank you, I hope she chooses well too. No matter how she decides, she's going to end up turning down schools which are very hard to turn down, each for different reasons.
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No you weren't wrong, just not complete picture. Our EFC was ridiculously high b/c our house had severely depreciated in value and our relocation package includes a stop loss which means that we were reimbursed for a % of our loss but had to directly reinvest the stop loss $$ into our new house. However the $$ shows up on dh's W2 as income. We could only dream his income was so high. :) Once we turned in paper work showing income vs. relocation expenses, the schools did lower our EFC (but it took a long time!) But, no the numbers were adjusted due to our real EFC vs. anything to do with ds.
But as for the rest, it is where I think the bulk of the conversation about what is merit aid should focus. Based on the conversations on the college forum, the area where most people are discussing problems is not being able to meet EFC. It is where our problem is. If we had no choice, we would have had to take out loans to cover the EFC b/c we certainly don't HAVE our EFC accessible. So even for schools that "meed full-need" would cost more than we can afford b/c we can't afford our EFC.
So, do pure merit scholarships exist? Yes. But, the thing is that there is a minimum threshold. More merit aid is available for higher stat kids at lower ranked schools. Like the link I posted in this thread, UAH covers full tuition and room for high stat kids. Lousiana Tech is another (I just scrolled down the list looking for full-ride). Some schools offer more scholarships beyond the main freshman admission scholarships. That takes a little more digging.
And we've had the opposite problem as our EFC as computed by FAFSA is very affordable for us, but the financial aid offers from some colleges are far from affordable for us. Some which claim to meet 100% need offer about the same as others which only meet 80 to 90% of need. They each have different ways of "meeting" the need and some rely heavily on loans, work study and student contributions. No problem with work study but the excessive loans and contribution are a problem.
If schools calculated the financial need and offered financial aid accordingly, and then applied the merit aid to what the student owed, then the lower income student would receive the same benefit as the full-pay. But what we have seen is that the merit aid simply reduces the grants and financial aid offered through the college, effectively making the outcome the same whether the student had received a merit scholarship or not. Outside scholarships are usually applied in this way, but internal ones are usually not. That's what I was trying to say.
I'm glad that the colleges changed the aid based on your situation, but in the end, it seems that your son's education is free with just merit aid. That's amazing! Last year I had looked at the scholarships available at the different UA locations and had noticed the full ride to Huntsville. It seems they are hard at work building up both the physical campus and the caliber of students. Great opportunity available there!
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As always, awesome!
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Faith, the outcome will likely depend on the scheduling of the art class. I might suggest it be taken immediately after lunch. If the study is on nudes, I don't have a scheduling suggestion. lol Sorry, but it came to mind. :tongue_smilie:
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8 I was just going with the information you have shared here, but obviously I was wrong. Schools do sometimes also offer additional aid, whether merit or financial, to keep the students they desperately want. I'm sure your son is in that category. ;)
There are exceptions to everything. I was speaking from my experience. Unless you are talking about colleges which offer 100% need based aid, and even among those there is quite a variation in aid actually offered, the EFC from FAFSA is often far from what the student/parents will be asked to contribute. That's where those imaginary numbers can come into play as some expect not only the usual $5500 in student loans, but additional loans and other sources which may or may not be available to an individual family. What I have seen, and I've heard the same from others as well, is that sometimes, likely usually but by no means always, merit aid simply reduces the grants and need based aid the colleges offered. Sometimes, probably often, the difference can be made up with outside scholarships, but applying for them is by no means any guarantee of being awarded the scholarship. Generally the more generous, the lower the percentage of those selected, as is to be expected.
So, for those who, according to the college, can pay the full tuition, room/board and other expenses, the merit awards adjust the total amount to be paid dollar for dollar. This may or may not be the case for those who are also receiving financial aid.
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Actually, the stats compare 2011-12 with 2007-8 (some 2010-11):
"It’s the fate of being in the middle: a good student but not Ivy caliber, strapped by college costs but not eligible for enough need-based aid. The New York Times analyzed College Board data from colleges and universities that award aid based on academic promise. Amounts represent the estimated merit aid given to first-time freshmen in 2011-12 (asterisks indicate final figures for 2010-11). Figures have been adjusted for inflation. Click on a column header to sort columns most to least, or vice versa. Related Article »"
Would you please elaborate on the bolded?My apologies - you are right. I jumped to reading the chart and missed the first paragraph explaining. I definitely needed that 2nd cup of java. lol Faith, sorry for the wrong info!
As for what I meant by the merit aid amount counting more for those who are full pay or close to it, with the exception of a handful of full-ride scholarships available at some colleges, most merit aid is for full tuition at most. That seems significant to most parents, but for those who need closer to a full ride, the room and board and other expenses are often not covered by financial aid and are the students/parents financial responsibility. This is as a general rule. We've also found that smaller merit aid is simply deducted from the financial aid the student is awarded and sometimes this comes with a minimum GPA to maintain. My dd has been awarded generous merit aid at some colleges, but it's just a drop in the bucket compared to the total cost. I guess I wais speaking from my experience. And for the colleges who don't award any merit aid, they are often the cheapest option for the majority of families, excepting those with high income and assets who can truly afford to pay the full freight. The difficulty for most students who need the financial aid these generous colleges offer is that they admit such small percentages.
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This is not our experience.
I think it is as you've shared that your son would not qualify for financial aid, and would therefore be full pay or close to full pay - in the eyes of the colleges, not from the reality of your situation. I probably didn't make it clear. Sorry.
How to recover from a bad beginning of the semester
in The College Board
Posted
Yes I understand your reasoning, but I think that skipping the class altogether would be a more likely outcome. I guess I look at it differently, and assume that someone who is depressed wouldn't be getting up early just to study, but would be more likely to attend class if it was at a more reasonable time than 8am. I know 8am is usual, or for some even late, for high school, but it is generally considered very early for college. Two different ways of looking at it, but It all comes down to what would work best for each individual student. You may be right and it might have worked out well if she had been better connected and supported on campus.