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Teachin'Mine

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Everything posted by Teachin'Mine

  1. I never said that money isn't one of the usual determining factors when it comes to college selection. In my reply to SeaConquest, I stated "For most students, finances do matter at least somewhat." If it wasn't ivy colleges and such we were discussing, then my comment would have been even stronger that most choices involve finances. The ivy and elite colleges do have full pay students and for some of them, the cost of the college is simply not a factor. For many middle class families, and we all define this in our own way, some of the ivy and elite colleges are the most affordable option if their student is accepted. I don't know the financial particulars of this family, but based on the parents' employment, I would guess that they are above middle class (or at least my concept of it). Families have different financial resources and priorities. I would never fault a family, which can afford the COA, for deciding that the ivy or elite college is worth the cost. If you play with Harvard's NPC you can see that barring extenuating circumstances, the parents' contribution should be affordable for most lower and middle income families. But as has been said in another thread, the formulas used to determine need don't take into account all financial situations. In those cases, the student or parents may appeal, but there is no guarantee the final amount will be affordable for them. For many of us on this board, $25 - $60 isn't even chump change. It's all relative.
  2. And I think there would be few today who would think that she was nuts. UVA is a top university. Getting a law degree there for free would be almost a no-brainer for many for whom finances mattered at all. For most students, finances do matter at least somewhat.
  3. I may be naive, but I don't think I'm wrong either. Again, if money hadn't been an issue, I firmly believe he would have chosen one of the highly selective schools. But money was a factor and he chose the full ride. UFE and the honors program at UA made it easier for him to accept that choice and will give him some nice perks as opposed to being a non-honors/non-UFE student at UA. If UA didn't have those programs, I think he would have applied to more safeties. The generous merit aid and those programs are why UA is getting top students. In your wife's case, she had several reasons for choosing Wake Forest. Maybe if her choice had been Brown, or another university which offers students tremendous flexibility regarding their course selection, maybe the outcome would have been different, or maybe not as the two are worlds apart in other ways.
  4. I'm sure UFE is a great program, but I'm also fairly certain he'd have made a different choice if it wasn't a matter of money. They must have assumed that at least some of the ivy colleges would cover more of his costs than they did, but it is unrealistic to assume there would be no loans as their income is well above the "no loans" limit at Harvard alone. He's looking ahead at what medical school will cost too. Saying that I think he would have chosen to attend one of the other colleges if it wasn't a financial concern doesn't diminish what UFE and other honors programs offer students.
  5. Here's an update on possible "solutions". http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/02/bobby_jindal_weighs_economic_i.html Seems like a game of raising fees, cancelling tax credits, raising cigarette taxes, and not raising other taxes, to bring the amount of the education gap down. Because they don't have state funds to put toward education, they'll be missing out on federal matching funds. What a mess. All this so someone doesn't upset others with a tax increase. Healthcare is on the line too. Would love to see the rest of the budget ... Oh and love the part of raising university fees, but providing a tax credit to cover this and paying for the tax credit with higher taxes from cigarette sales.
  6. Congratulations! :hurray: :party: :hurray:
  7. Search this "number of students from georgia at university of minnesota" and in the search blurb it states 91 students from Georgia with a total enrollment of 51K.. However when you go to the link, it just shows a map and all it shows is that fewer students come from Georgia than states near MN, but doesn't give numbers. If it was gray on the map that would be no students, so that's not the case. Edited to add that it is 91 from Georgia and only 8 from West Virginia. If you scroll down and go to "Other US" and click on the +/- you will see the totals for each of the states. This is on Jenny's link above.
  8. Glad to hear that there's still hope for both. Hopefully their critical thinking skills will kick in soon and he'll get acceptances.
  9. Have you thought about contacting Seton and seeing if they'd accept what he's done at Kolbe and just finish out the last year with them for an accredited diploma? It must be incredibly frustrating to get this info now. Average math SAT score here in the US is 513. The majority of those students were enrolled in accredited high schools. See what a difference it makes? :grouphug: I know that your colleges are incredibly affordable there, but there are some here which offer financial aid even to foreign students. These are some of the top schools and it sounds like your son has the stats for them. They're all reaches, but you never know. I just don't understand what they mean by a deadline of March 1 to jump through the hoops as that's almost a year away. Isn't he a senior? Is there a chance that his first choice will accept him? I'm really hoping that a good option becomes available to him.
  10. Some top schools do favor full pay students, but most of the best ones also look for outstanding lower income students. Harvard and the like offer the best financial aid. Some of the students at some of these schools are into the "right" look, but I really doubt that interviewers are concerned about that at all. If anything, they would probably be rooting for the student who has succeeded in high school against all odds. You can look up the percentage of students who are receiving Pell grants to get an idea of how much ability to pay may factor into acceptance chances. The three areas the study focused on are ones for which the undergraduate degree does matter. For many other fields it doesn't matter, medical school comes to mind. But claims that the school attended doesn't matter at all for most students is a bit of a stretch in my opinion. The level of academic rigor is usually higher at the "prestigious" schools as they got their reputation for a reason. A good reason to choose one of those schools, if admitted and if affordable, is because of the education the student will receive. Nevermind the above. I didn't realize the interviews were for jobs and not for admission. Yes, the right look, and all that goes with it, can make a huge difference in some fields in a job interview.
  11. Have you ever considered Smith? It may be too late to apply as a transfer student for the fall, but you should be able to apply for the spring. They have some off campus housing for married students Just a thought.
  12. My first thought was is it too late to ask for a random roommate. Why doesn't your daughter invite her friend over to your house and the two of them can talk alone. Some colleges provide topics that the new roommates should discuss and that can be helpful. With her friend's father working there and the family living near campus, I think your dd may want to establish some boundaries with her friend. As for the whole decorating thing, her friend is perfectly fine giving her sister a say in how her bed will be outfitted, but there's no reason your bed and accessories need to match. Choosing something which clashes wouldn't be good, but choosing a color or two she likes which coordinates would work just fine. I also don't understand the need for a tv, but that's the roommate's choice. That's another thing they need to discuss including recommending earbuds for both (if she's watching or listening to something on her computer) for consideration of the other. Maybe her friend could get practice with having a roommate by having her little sis move into her room. After a summer of that, roommate should get an appreciation for your daughter and little sis would be less likely to want to visit or stay over. :D I also think that if there's room planning between roommates, then the moms shouldn't be involved other than to set dollar limits if they'll be paying. If each is doing their own thing, which I think is more usual for the first year, then each can go shopping with their mom if they choose. For following years when they're rooming with friends, then moms are usually not involved at all. I don't think the issue is that you should be more involved, I think it's that the other mom should be involved less unless they decide to each just do their own thing. No guarantee that they'll be rooming together in following years, and your daughter will be "stuck" with whatever decor she picks now. She should choose what she likes.
  13. Sebastian you've probably already seen this, but here's a link to the top ranked universities for computer science by US News. Note that obviously liberal arts colleges won't be included, but some are also very good and have NROTC available either on campus or nearby. U Washington, U Wisconsin and UIUC and UCB all have NROTC and I'm sure many of the others do too. These are rankings for the graduate programs, but it should be a fairly good indicator of the strength of their undergraduate program in cs as well. Many cs programs have more competitive admissions than the school overall, so keep that in mind too. From what you said he might like to do, he may want to consider EE/CS programs as well. He may want more of a computer or electrical engineering program than a theoretical computer science one.
  14. No experience whatsoever, but just from the financial point of view, she may want to look at US colleges with great study abroad programs. With what she saves on tuition and all, she could do a year or a semester and maybe even have extra for summer travel as well. Four years is a long time.
  15. Jenn I remember when I was first reading on the college board to get a peek ahead. The talk of college dorms and visits home and all seemed so foreign and far off into the future back then. It's wonderful to hear the continued progress and such great accomplishments. He must be thrilled to receive such an honor and you must be so proud of him! Awesome!
  16. She should definitely look at Carnegie Mellon. Pittsburgh is a nice city. Not NYC, but not a hick town either. Lots of museums, restaurants, and plenty to do, but with being a CMU student, there will be little time to do those things anyway. Lots of international students at CMU. Women do have a bit of an edge on admissions. They offer both merit and financial aid, but you may find the gap is more than you can do, or it may be doable. Definitely run the NPC. If it works financially, she should consider an overnight to get a feel for it. You apply to specific colleges, so she should definitely put SCS (School of Computer Science) as her first preference. You can transfer into it from another school, but it's harder and not guaranteed. U Rochester is also a great suggestion but no idea what the city itself is like. Obviously it's a reach for all, but MIT is right in the city and second only to CMU for computer science. No merit aid, but very generous financial aid. WPI is in Worcester, which I hear isn't the best of cities, but still within a train ride of Boston and I've heard reports of many students loving it there. If she's more interested in computer engineering, Olin offers that and is not far from Boston as well. It's small and very hands on and group focused. If you are in NY, definitely look at the SUNYs as they're a bargain. From another thread it sounds like she wants a tech focus rather than a liberal arts education but there are some schools which combine both. I know it's not close, but Harvey Mudd does that and is very pro-women. She should really consider what her ideal college classes and labs would look like in regard to men to women ratio. Some schools are better balanced than others. Have you looked at RPI? No idea about their reputation now, but it was considered quite good years ago and might work for a safety anyway. Maybe you can ask her which cities interest her and then search based on that? Then again, it's hard to know from a city name without visiting to see what it's like and what it has to offer. I'd try to do some summer visits to help her broaden and then narrow her list.
  17. Yes, regulations would vary by state and even by college. As for guidance counseling, I thoroughly agree. Even though my role has officially ended, I can't help but look back and see what I could have done differently.
  18. I came across this article and thought I'd share it here. The topic has come up before in different ways. Here's some evidence that this is being done at "regular" high schools and therefore gives homeschoolers a legitimate reason to do the same, if it would be best for their student. Some have been doing an extra year of high school, but going back and taking out the 9th grade courses and calling that year 8th. Maybe that's not necessary. I like that the "extra" year has an emphasis on actual college classes as a stepping stone to the four year school. Not sure how community colleges would look at five years of high school, and like everything it would depend on the specific college, but if they don't allow dual enrollment for those in their fifth year, it may still be wise to drop 9th back to 8th in those situations. The benefits for the student would remain the same no matter how the years are broken down. http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2015/05/04/13th-grade-offers-some-teens-an-easier-transition-to-college
  19. I would just list them separately as AoPS Counting & Probability and AoPS Number Theory with the appropriate credit allotment for each. Maybe each is 1/2 credit? Simpler than having to change the name if you put them together and follow up with Discrete Math or Statistics, or whatever.
  20. :hurray: :party: :hurray: Congratulations to both of you!
  21. I wonder if it's similar to having dual enrollment credits/AA degree. Most of the top colleges will accept the student regardless of how many credits, while some less selective ones cap the number of credits permitted. I would think that any grad credits/masters degree earned while an undergraduate wouldn't affect graduate school acceptance or funding at most top universities. Maybe it would be an issue at a few, but it should be easy enough to sidestep those if they do exist. As for a student being rejected for having interests outside of academia, that's ridiculous! When you read about professors, most have quite a few areas of interest and I can't imagine that they didn't pursue those interests as an undergraduate. Are they really looking for someone willing to lock themselves away in a lab for several years and forgo having a life? I guess the answer is probably yes.
  22. Yes, I'm referring to his undergraduate physics department being "afraid" to lose him to mathematics. As far as from the little I've learned there and here, there really isn't so much an admissions department for graduate schools so much as the department and individual professors who choose whom they want to take on as graduate students to assist them in their research and guide them in their research as well. Again, no first hand knowledge, so my "understanding" may be completely wrong. ETA that with the above I'm referring to PhD programs. I think that for masters as a terminal degree, students may go through graduate admissions together the specific department, but again I have no specific info on this. In other words, I agree with you that the department chooses who to admit into PhD programs for the specific field of study.
  23. My sneaking suspicion is that the physics department may be afraid he may be "won over" by the mathematics department and they'll lose him. As he's passionate about physics, they don't need to worry, but that's the only thing I can think of. The example they gave him of the other student really doesn't apply to him at all. As for another positive to having the MS, even if he doesn't want to teach at a school, should he decide to tutor or work at a gifted math program, or whatever, the masters would be a definite plus while he's working towards his PhD. If he contacts his mentor and graduate professors, please let us know what they say. I'm curious!
  24. I can't imagine why a math research project would be a mistake. He wouldn't have done it in place of physics research, but in addition to it. For an unbiased opinion, could he talk with his math and physics professors where he did his dual enrollment? One of the things I could see a masters in math opening up is the option to teach high school math or physics. May not be his direction at all, but with the way employment ebbs and flows in different fields, it's never a bad idea to have multiple options. All of this is just my opinion. Maybe he could speak with someone in the math department there for their take on it all. And another idea is for him to contact some physics graduate programs and see what those professors think of his idea. I'm sure Regentrude and her husband would be able to give their opinions too.
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