Andrews which is a 7th Day Adventist college. Notre Dame but it is probably too large for what she's looking for.

My daughter was invited also. I have the same question.

FWIW, my son, who covered his own college expenses, had a budget of about $50/week for food and personals such as shampoo, toilet paper, etc. He had his own apartment so didn't have to 'share' expenses with other people who might be less frugal. He doesn't purchase many pre-prepared foods but rather did his own cooking - primarily using meat, vegetables, rice, beans and noodles plus condiments. He had a separate entertainment budget of about $20/week that included beer and pizza but didn't go out every week.

Interior Architecture with focus on digital design and fabrication.

My arts oriented Ds had all of his math credits completed prior to his senior year so he did computer programming instead. Some colleges will let you use computer courses for either math or science so he used it to fulfill a science credit. He majored in interior architecture with focus on digital design and fabrication which required some college level math that he was well prepared for from his high school courses. Additionally, he got merit scholarships to help pay the way. I don't think his lack of a senior year math course had any effect on those one way or the other. But, to make sure that it's okay for your son to skip math in his senior year, why don't you call the colleges-of-interest admissions departments and ask? I did that for both of my kids about mid-way through high school and then just prior to their senior years to be sure that we were on track with our home schooling plans. The various admissions people that I talked to were quite helpful. Mom brag: Ds just graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude with Honors College notation and debt free. And he's employed in his field!

Wait. What??? I stopped reading the other comments at this one. Is your daughter choosing engineering because it's what's familiar in your family environment? There are many careers that are focused towards the arts. Architecture, Interior Design, Graphic Design, Digital Design and Fabrication, Web Design to name a few. Careers such as digital design and digital fabrication are up and coming as robotics are being applied to more and more industries. All of these fields combine artistic and technical skills but aren't as heavy on the math as engineering. For research purposes, you might want to look at the Indiana University SOAAD (school of art, architecture and design) programs to get some ideas of careers that could be a better fit for your daughter. I'm sure such programs are offered at other schools, but the IU one is something that I am familiar with.

My son is deciding between launching immediately into an m.arch program and taking a year off before doing so. I'm glad that he's seriously considering his options before making this decision. On one hand, it's hard standing on the sidelines and on the other, I'm proud that he's thinking this through in such an adult way! My daughter is in her sophomore year as a voice major and her professors are already counseling her towards grad school. She has her junior and senior recitals planned a semester in advance so that she will be able to focus on auditions during her senior year.

I would not explain away a 'B' on a transcript by attributing it to your child's weakness. A 'B' is fine - no explanation needed. If he gets A grades in everything else, then a B means he is probably less passionate about a subject and that's okay. My fear, is that if you bring up this supposed 'weakness', they won't give as much weight to his A grades. My son had a few Bs on his high school transcript and it actually helped him to get merit scholarships from the state school where he attends. I was told by the admissions office that they almost never give home school students merit scholarships because mommy grades aren't taken seriously. Because he did not have straight As but had high test scores(SAT and AP), they assumed that this mommy was a tough grader. He is graduating Phi Beta Kappa (mom brag) this spring. The B grades in high school didn't hurt him a bit!

I'm coming at this from a different angle based on my own experience. My husband and I have owned 3 businesses (sold one due to retirement), and are partners in 3 others. Neither of us, nor our 5 other partners have degrees in business. At one point in the process, I began working on my MBA and tested out of all of the first level courses(12 credit hours). After several upper level courses I realized that I wasn't learning anything new that I hadn't already figured out from common sense, my own research and work experience. So, in my opinion, unless you want to go into either a large corporate environment or a particular business focus such as finance or marketing, take a few accounting and general business classes but focus on what the business is going to produce. For example, an interior design degree (this is not the same as interior decorating!!!!!) will cover architectural design, building/space usage patterns, materials, lighting design, furniture design, sustainable energy, CAD, drawing, painting, sculpture and other design tools/techniques, and many other things that have to do with commercial, retail and residential environments.

I finished my MLS degree in my early 50s. I enjoyed taking courses so much that I didn't really care to graduate. Hope you enjoy it as well!

dp

I think you could count her aerial aerobics & performances as an art credit but you might want to consider labeling it as Dance. Calling it aerial aerobics might make it sound more like a PE class.

I don't think it's crazy at all. Really, land is a good investment in itself. I think, in the long term,land is better than money in the bank. When you pair that with the excellent experience it would provide for your son, if you can swing it, I'd suggest that you go for it. Your son would learn things that he can carry with him for a lifetime. Worst case is that you sell it later. My son took a gap-year to help rebuild a house. It gave him a chance to mature and to learn skills that he wouldn't have learned in college. That experience turned out to be quite valuable as it has distinguished him from others applying for architectural design type internships. This year he got more internship offers than he could possibly accept. Likewise, if your son gains experience in self-sufficient living, building, etc., I bet that it would be at least as beneficial to his military career.

Living at home would certainly save some money. For my own daughter, her freshman year at home was a good transition from the small groups that came with home schooling to suddenly being a part of a much bigger group of students. Have you considered leaving the bedroom situation as it is and converting the sun room to a study area. Basically that would mean putting in a desk and maybe even one of those cubicle half walls or free-standing bookcases to make the study area more private if necessary.

When the professors publish their syllabi prior to the first class, my kids will purchase the books that have assigned readings in the first few weeks and hold off on the rest.

With a week of hard work, I helped my daughter raise her score by 60 points on her SAT. Here's what we did: 1) Firstly, you can get in the mid to high 600s and miss all of the level 5 - highest difficulty questions. So, learn to identify which types of questions these are - they are fairly easy to identify once you get the scoring from the SAT or SAT practice tests. Just plan on working on these problems last. Don't spend valuable test time mulling over the answers to these questions when you could be working on the problems that you know how to do. Most of the SAT problems are Algebra II and below. Only a handful are level 5 problems. 2) Do a practice test and see what kinds of problems your daughter is missing. Then have her re-learn and practice in the areas that she is having trouble with. Khan is good, but a math tutor would probably be better and using both resources would be best. 3) Take practice tests regularly. Since we only had a one week warning that my daughters scores were not going to good without extra work, she took two practice tests per day. You have more time, so maybe weekly or every other week would be good. Have your daughter go back and rework the missed problems on the practice tests until she gets them right. She may need outside help to do this. 4) Help her to figure out strategies for excluding wrong answers to increase her chances of a correct guess. Also help her to know how to determine whether to guess or to skip the question based on how many of the multiple choice answers she has left (after exclusions) to choose from. Generally if you don't know how to solve the problem (or you're about out of time) and you can exclude one possibility, then go for a guess. Otherwise, just skip it and spend your time on a problem that you do know how to do. 5) If she has time after all of this, then have her learn how to solve some of the level 5 problems. For example, the f(x) type function problems are pretty easy once you understand them. Since the math test questions haven't changed that much over the years, you can find practice tests in the older SAT prep books that you might find in the library or pretty cheaply online, at the College Board site and obviously there are numerous newer SAT prep available on Amazon. Be sure to pick up at least a few of the newer prep books because it will clue you in a bit more on the focus of the test and also the newer books will give you a better score prediction. Consider that you can take the same test over and over again as long as you spread them out a bit.

If you do send another email, I would forward the original with a return receipt request and say something like "I am wondering if you are receiving my email". It's possible that the email was blocked or put in junk mail.

We live in Indiana and my daughter is a vocal performance major at one of the IU satellite campuses. My son, who attends IU Bloomington but is not a music major, has several close friends who are. So, I'm sharing our experience FWIW. Although IUB Jacobs School of Music is an excellent choice, it is also big and competitive. My daughter did not feel like Jacobs would be a good fit for her because of the her desire, at this time in her life, for a smaller, encouraging community rather than a large, more competitive community. I believe it was the right choice for her and that she is receiving more performance opportunities that she would have at Jacobs. She was able to work with her voice professor rather extensively prior to selecting the school that she attends so she knew that the studio was a good fit for her. In another conversation on this forum, the point was made that it's the studio that really matters more so than the school itself. That said, she will likely audition at Jacobs and other more competitive schools should she decide to pursue a graduate degree.

If I had that kind of money, I'd fly my college student home once a month to clean my house!

We found out both by talking with other pre-college voice instructors and by speaking with current students at the school. You could also ask the professor of the studio where his/her past students have continued their education or what sorts of professional performance jobs they have moved on to after graduation. If it's a studio that has built a good reputation, he/she should be able to name some names. Also important is a good fit to the student's learning style. Before committing to a program, you are usually able to take at least one lesson. Sometimes you have to pay for it and sometimes it's free depending on the studio, the school and whether the student is being actively recruited. Keep in mind that, if the school has several studios, the studio that you want might not be the studio that you get. So, before committing, make sure you are accepted into your studio of choice.

I would file the FAFSA. If you receive aid, that money can be used for other expenses. In addition, some merit scholarships require that you file the FAFSA.

I don't check on their progress during the semester nor do I wake my kids up in the morning. But I do check over their course selections to make sure that they are on track to graduate on time. Both of my kids appreciate my input given they have both been misled by their advisers especially in the area of the general requirements needed to graduate. I hear of too many students who end up having to take an extremely heavy senior year or even an additional semester in order to fulfill the general requirements of their degree.

I agree. Getting into a good studio is super important. My daughter worked with her voice professor for a semester while in high school before deciding to continue in that studio at the college she attends. Besides working well with her instructor, we also found that the students who have graduated out of this particular voice studio have a high rate of acceptance into the nations best graduate programs for voice and also seem to be getting some good professional vocal gigs following their undergraduate degrees. You won't find this college in any of the top lists of the nations best music schools but the voice professor individually has received several national awards/recognitions as an instructor and is an active professional vocalist herself. This is the kind of stuff you'll want to look for when selecting the right college for your music student. The theory, history, etc courses aren't going to make or break the musician but the studio might.

My daughter is working towards a music degree and just completed her freshman year. The required music courses have prerequisites such that it takes 4 years from the time that you start in music to the time that you can complete the degree. Many students end up taking 5 years even when they started their major courses in their freshman year. In addition, many music programs do not take transfer credits to fulfill the required courses although some will allow you the test out. You might consider taking dual credit CC courses now that will transfer in to the 4 year program to fulfill some of the general education requirements regardless of the major that she chooses. Since music usually requires a very full credit load (think 17 or 18 hours/semester), getting as many gen eds out of the way as possible beforehand will free up her schedule so that she will be able to take the required courses on time and maybe even finish in four years.

We have our daughter on our AAA membership. I like that she can get roadside assistance by calling a central phone number should she have car trouble and not be able to get a hold of us for help. I needed to get a car towed from my driveway recently and the first question I was asked when I called AAA for towing service was whether I was someplace safe or not. When I asked about that, they told me that customer safety was their first priority and that they would send some kind of help immediately if I was not in a safe situation - whether it be unsafe because of traffic or because of the neighborhood. That's comforting to know.