Thanks for all the replies! I will look at them later this evening and respond. Keep it coming.

Would you display your child's Lego creations at the graduation open house as table center pieces? Would it be tacky to have a sign "Please Do Not Touch the Legos"? Is this a stupid idea for our party? :) It would be a cool thing, I think, as our son loves his Legos. We really don't want little kids touching and playing with Legos but we don't want to look like a grinch either. We will have board games & coloring books for young ones especially if the weather dictates everything being indoors. Eating at the party will be indoors regardless of weather the day of.

The common app stuff drove me bonkers too! First of all, you have plenty of time to get this letter done! I googled counselor recommendation letters. Here is an example: http://blog.prepscholar.com/for-counselors-how-to-write-a-strong-recommendation-letter-for-your-student. I will say I can't remember what websites I looked at to get ideas. But it was a starting point. Ultimately, we chose to speak of ds' integrity & character in making some difficult decisions during his high school years. The letter talked specifically about the situation that forced decisions to be made. We kept the LOR to 1 page.

Thanks for all the info on Derek Owens! It looks promising! I am also open to any other suggestions others may have.

Thanks for the great review! I have not yet looked at a sample of Derek Owens but am wondering if he is good at explaining the "whys". DD doesn't want a formula to memorize but wants to know how or why something works. She wants to "see" which is why she likes geometry better than algebra at this point.

Thanks! I will look into Derek Owens.

My dd & I see the world in different ways. DD is a global thinker; I am not. Is there a program out there that: Allows for self teaching, thus allowing her to go at a pace right for her? Some what rigorous? Teaches concepts, not just how to solve the problem? Teaches whole to parts? I should also mention dd has a love/hate relationship with math, gets easily distracted when things aren't going well (translated to: I should be able to do math as easily and quickly as my brother), is very artsy/creative but is considering careers in marine biology or natural resources. Thus, I don't want lack of math or perceived thoughts of "I am not good at math, don't like math" to limit career choices. I want her prepared to take calculus if and when needed. To date we have used Lial's Beginning Algebra & are finishing Jacob's Geometry, 2nd ed. She has done well getting A's & B's but found Lial's "boring". We are not totally opposed to using Lial's Intermediate Algebra. I would also like recommendations on resources or stories showing real life applications using algebra, geometry, or even calculus. Thank you!

While not east of the Mississippi, have you looked at Missouri University of Science & Technology? I know a conservative family who just visited there and was quite impressed. It fits school size and has most of the majors you asked about. Trine University has Chemical Engineering and an excellent job placement rate. Not all departments are "conservative" but engineering is great there.

Reading your post again, I would suggest to stick with 3 details to support the one. It seems to me that essays in general are supporting info to validate the one main point the writer is trying to make. I am no expert. Hopefully someone else will chime in soon.

I am sorry no one has answered your question yet! I am not sure I am much help. What is the purpose of the personal essay? What do you want your son to communicate? That may help someone answer your question. My guess is personal essays will look different depending on the intended purpose of each personal essay. I would suggest avoiding a format of "I did this. I did that." At least for college application essays, a couple books suggest "telling your story." It needs to be interesting like a story. You want the reader to read your work.

That is great your dd is interested in running! It can be a life time activity that promotes health. I can't specifically speaking to that age training for a 5k as my kids and I didn't take up running until later. However, I would suggest that at this age you be careful to not allow her to bump up mileage too quickly in order to train. Most experts say increase mileage no more than 10%/wk. You can see if www.runnersworld.com/ has any tips on training. The pp poster, zyxwvut, has great advice for training. However for some 10yo, it may be too much to do or think about. Don't kill the love for running by doing too much at a "young" age. I wish her much success on her next 5k race!!!

THANK YOU!!! That is it. I appreciate the WTM forums and the wealth of helping another!

THANK YOU!!! That is it. I appreciate the WTM forums and the wealth of helping another!

Someone in the last two weeks maybe mentioned about a downloadable booklet that has a list of schools that offer good merit aid. I can't find the thread. Could someone link it? Thank you!

Thanks, that is helpful! I guess I need to get this thing finished before next payday when the checking account is almost empty. :) I am talking about another child with a passbook savings account. The interest isn't enough to report for taxes. Thanks all for the helpful answers!

My name is on the savings account of our minor, dd. Do I need to report that when filling out the FAFSA? We are filling out the FAFSA for ds for next fall. Also, do I report based on a statement date like September 30 or the day I send the FAFSA? Thanks!

You have gotten good advice so far. My DH is a professor of Design Engineering Technology. He has his PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ohio State. His path 25 yrs ago was a starting a Bachelor's (Mechanical) straight to masters in Industrial & Systems. He worked in industry for a few years and got his PE license. Eventually he returned to get a PhD in order to teach & pursue research at the university level. Ultimately, he chose work at small university where he could focus on teaching. He would say get a strong foundation in math and science in high school. Calculus is helpful in high school but not required if a good foundation of math skills are there. Intern or co-op in college to get work experience. One can be gainfully employed with a Bachelor's degree and do well. He didn't know what he wanted to do so he went for a masters. Other thoughts: -Make sure the school is ABET accredited in whatever he will study. -We are not military but I think you got good advice up thread. - There are ways to not pay for grad school. Seek them out. For his PhD he was a TA for a couple quarters & then awarded a fellowship for tuition with a stipend. If I remember correctly, for his masters he was funded on a prof's grant and again it included a stipend which is doable living for a single person. Or be a TA. It is work but better than lots of debt imho. -DH discourages people from getting too specialized of engineering degrees like aerospace. That industry is very cyclical. DH had job loss in the auto industry but was able to quickly find work because his degrees are more broad. I like to tell students to follow their heart but the reality is the economy can be very uncertain. Some degrees are just more marketable. So if your son just has to do aerospace, make sure he knows there are a lot of down turns and have a plan B. That plan B could very well be having an MBA. -Best wishes as you navigate this path with your son! High school is an exciting time!

You can try adding a reverse osmosis system. I am not sure of the cost. Our house came with one that is by the water softener in the basement. There are under the kitchen sink models but they don't filter as much water. There is maintenance of course with replacing filters.

I hope I am not putting the cart before the horse. My son has not finished all of his questions to the schools he is applying. But I want to get as much done as possible figuring it wouldn't hurt to get transcript requests done even though that is not happening through the Common App. The schools assured me that everything received will go in one file. The order of arrival doesn't appear to matter to the schools in which ds is applying.

After calling the #1 college on my son's list, they agreed I should be the counselor of record. I then found email addresses for the 4 universities so transcripts can be electronically sent by the local high school. I just now sent a letter with my son to the high school requesting transcripts to sent. So, I hope the transcripts get sent soon.

Thank you! I hadn't realized I would be required to do a mid year report or do a counselor recommendation. You have provided good suggestions! Now I will go look at that thread you suggested. I admit I didn't fee like wading through it last night.

On the Common App only 1 counselor can be listed. DS took 4 classes at local high school, two regular classes & two dual credit that have outside transcripts from the institution awarding credit which is not the high school. So high school wants to be listed as the counselor because they want to do everything online. DS is not graduating from the high school; his diploma is coming from us. -So if I list the high school counselor as THE counselor, what is going to happen? I assume I will need to mail or email our transcript to the colleges being applied to. -Will everything work out if I do things this way? -What sort of info will be asked of the counselor? -Do I need to be concerned what the high school may do or not do? The high school has never had a homeschool student before with this process. As much as I think I should be listed as the counselor, I am afraid the high school will not send a transcript if the request does not come from the Common App request. I have no problem sending our info separate if that is the only way to get the high school to send what I need them to send. And is it true the Common App will only send stuff to schools once everything is received? DS has one school with rolling admission. I want DS to get that app in this week even if I don't have a transcript from the high school or letters of recommendation. Thanks!

For drawing or drafting to do at home, try A Blueprint for Geometry by Brad S. Fulton. It is a short book, meaning it will be covered in probably a semester or less. The student becomes a junior architect drawing floor plans and computing building costs. It is suitable for middle schoolers Another book to look at is Practical Drafting Melvin G. Peterman http://www.sixbranches.com/index.htm or else the Complete-a-Sketch series also by the same author. We only used Practical Drafting when ds was in 8th grade as part of a homeschool class. DH, a mechanical & industrial engineer, says it's a "thing of beauty" and the book exposes students to drafting and the standards used. Supposedly the student can learn on his own from the instruction in the book, meaning you don't need to know drafting. :) We never have used it but Google has: http://www.sketchup.com/. It is free. It might be something to play around with to get some exposure, have fun, and maybe learning will happen too. I realize you are looking for a class. That isn't totally necessary at this age. Get a good foundation of math & science now & in the high school years. Even just playing/building with Legos is good. Many engineering schools have a first year "explore the majors" class to help students decide their path. Your son could job shadow different people in high school. That helped my son decide that he probably doesn't want to do R&D nor work at a very small company where he is the only engineer on staff. DH teaches at Design Engineering Technology at a private university. He says best way to prepare is the foundation in math & science. DH has also steered our son away from architecture. When the economy is slow no one builds and architects aren't hired. On the other hand civil engineers are still in demand. Like pp Amy says there are many paths and an engineering degree will, imho, your make ds more marketable. Only you know your son and how best to steer him in a direction without crushing his heart.

If is school is requesting course descriptions on the Common App, do you describe the courses for the senior year even though they are not completed yet? I am impatient. :) I have a call into the University of Cincinnati but haven't heard back from them yet. Thanks!

The consensus seems to be Greek first. DD likes that idea too. Another question - do colleges care if student doesn't speak the language? I assumed that colleges want some speaking of a foreign language as part of language high school credit. Sort of like science needs to have some labs. Studying something like Greek, Latin may not be spoken. Hebrew could be it depends...