We didn't put awards on the transcript, but we included team awards on the application, resume, etc.

We are very conservative Christians and we have chosen to send our kids to send our kids to the best schools they could get into so that they would be best prepared to impact the world for Christ. Dh and I both attended a secular college and we found that our faith was strengthened there. There weren't a lot of Christians, but the ones who were there were very serious and close. One thing we did was have our kids email the Christian fellowship at each school they were accepted to before they went to the prefrosh visiting days. They asked to be assigned a Christian student to room with. That way they already had connections before they went. So far, by God's grace, they have all come through with their faith strong. One thing that surprised me is what a strong, visible presence the Christian groups have at schools where you might not expect it. Check this out: http://www.christianunion.org/cu-today/18-christian-union/388-god-is-on-the-move-at-princeton. This video is several years old and is only referencing one of Princeton's several large Christian fellowships. Altogether, my daughter tells me there are around 500 students involved in weekly Bible studies.

Yes! And good to know your son got in. That gives me hope for my ds. :)

In 2007, a boy we know from church was admitted. He was a NMF and had two APs but NO classes outside his home. His recommendations were from his pastor and his piano teacher. In 2009, my oldest ds was admitted. He also got into Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc. A friend of his was also admitted. He had a great books type education, some CC classes, ok but not amazing test scores, no APs. For the record, none of these kids ended up going there for one reason or another. Since then, I don't know a single homeschooler who's been admitted and I know a number of kids who have been very well qualified and have applied. I'll let you know what happens with my ds!

I don't think that's the issue here. Kids from the local public school system are getting full merit scholarships,right? So neither of them would be paying.

Seriously. I know what school "Top Flight" is (I read the OP before it was edited). Dh and I are both alumni and we are in the same state. Their admissions decisions of late seem absolutely nutty and there is a definite bias against homeschoolers in the last five years or so. I know a number of very qualified kids who have applied and none have been accepted. One girl got an email from financial aid in late March last year asking for detailed personal info needed on her family. It looked like they were putting together a package for her. Then she was rejected. Not even waitlisted -- outright rejected. And she was accepted to schools that were much more selective. My middle dd got into Princeton and was waitlisted at this school. What????? This is my ds18's number two choice, but I told him not to get his hopes up.

I did a scavenger hunt party for dd a few years ago. They were in groups and had to run around town taking photos, etc; then we all met for pizza. Everyone paid for their own pizza because it was a large group and it is pretty much the norm among her group of friends that there are no gifts and instead guests pay for the activity.

Has she considered Vanderbilt? It is similar to some of the schools on your list. My middle dd was accepted there and they offered her decent financial aid (much better than oldest dd was offered as an out-of-state student admitted to William and Mary.)

Yes, my kids all have some kind of national award. The dd who got a scholarship at Emory was one of four finalists in the NEH's "Ideas in America" essay contest. It's not around anymore. I think it was a pretty big deal -- she got dinner at the Supreme Court and got to talk with Justice Breyer in his office for about an hour with the other finalists. All four finalists got into top Ivies.

My dd graduated from high school in 2005, so it's been awhile. On Harvard's Admissions website, under requirements, it says, "Normally, 2 SAT Subject Tests." (https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-requirements) I'm not sure what "normally" means in this case, but I read that as you'd better have them.

My oldest dd, who was homeschooled through 12th grade, was chosen as an Emory Scholar and awarded a full tuition scholarship. She chose not to attend, though, because she also got into Harvard. She has a good friend, also homeschooled, who was also an Emory Scholar.

I never explicitly taught grammar, other than with foreign languages, and all six of my kids scored very well on the SAT and PSAT (all six were National Merit finalists and their SAT scores ranged from 2320-2400.)

In college there is a time limit on tests.

Like this? http://www.wsj.com/articles/eric-metaxas-science-increasingly-makes-the-case-for-god-1419544568

I am coming in late and I only read this last page, but the best analogy I ever heard to deal with the problem of suffering is that life is like a Rubik's cube. We work hard to get one side together and try to keep it that way, but God sees the whole cube. He is holding it and turning it so that all of the sides will be perfect. From our point of view, things often seem to be a mess, but we have to trust that eventually we will understand it all. The Bible says that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance in what we do not see. I don't expect to have all of the answers here on earth.

Well, to be divisible by 12, it has to be divisible by 3 and 4. To find out if a number is divisible by 3, you add the digits and see if the sum is divisible by 3. So 110 isn't but 111 is. For 4, you check if the last two digits are divisible by 4. So 112 is. I'd just list all the numbers from 110-140 and see which meet both criteria. I'm sure my mathy kids could do it a quicker way, though!

The Road A Thousand Splendid Suns

I haven't been in many, many years, but my dd who loves everything French (she spent a semester in Paris), loves it there. I get the feeling it's a real city and not so much a tourist destination.

I'd suggest spending a couple of days in Paris and then renting a car and driving to the Loire Valley. That's one of our favorite places in the world -- beautiful countryside, quaint towns, amazing chateaux. I have to disagree with everyone who recommended Old Quebec. The first time we went there I loved it and would have said it was quaint and historical, but we were back this summer and I realized it is a complete tourist trap -- gift shops with tacky knickknacks and t-shirts with moose puns, overpriced cafes, etc. My dh and ds were at a conference so dd and I spent a lot of time walking around and it got old really fast.

This is incredibly insulting. Believe it or not, I am not some uneducated country bumpkin. I went to a top school and I have an advanced degree. I know enough about the scientific method to critically read Regnerus's study and understand that he is being attacked for political reasons, not for flaws in his methods. The scientific method means nothing if only one viewpoint is allowed to be expressed. I don't want to go back and forth with this, though. I'm done.

I'm asking people to consider it for themselves and not believe everything they read in Slate.

We are being told, over and over, that it is only quacks who disagree with the current approaches. Whatever you think of this guy, he is a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins. He's not some crazy Christian who printed out a diploma and hung it on the wall.

Here is Regnerus's paper and an article in which he responds to criticisms of his study: http://www.markregnerus.com/uploads/4/0/6/5/4065759/regnerus_july_2012_ssr.pdf http://www.markregnerus.com/uploads/4/0/6/5/4065759/regnerus_response_to_critics_in_nov_2012_ssr.pdf Read it for yourself and look at the data.

He cited studies to back up his claims -- I didn't paste in the whole article. The scientific method? Seriously? Scientists who find data that contradict the homosexual agenda are vilified. If you don't believe me, look up Mark Regnerus. He is a sociologist who did a large, carefully controlled study, published in a respected journal, that found statistically significant negative outcomes for children raised by same-sex parents. He had to hire an attorney to defend himself from his attackers.

He's not just talking about surgery. He is saying this is a mental, not a physiological problem. So instead of encouraging people to transition to the opposite gender, we should be dealing with the underlying issues that are causing them to be unhappy. For the transgendered, this argument holds that one's feeling of "gender" is a conscious, subjective sense that, being in one's mind, cannot be questioned by others. The individual often seeks not just society's tolerance of this "personal truth" but affirmation of it. Here rests the support for "transgender equality," the demands for government payment for medical and surgical treatments, and for access to all sex-based public roles and privileges. With this argument, advocates for the transgendered have persuaded several states—including California, New Jersey and Massachusetts—to pass laws barring psychiatrists, even with parental permission, from striving to restore natural gender feelings to a transgender minor. That government can intrude into parents' rights to seek help in guiding their children indicates how powerful these advocates have become. How to respond? Psychiatrists obviously must challenge the solipsistic concept that what is in the mind cannot be questioned. ... Another subgroup consists of young men and women susceptible to suggestion from "everything is normal" sex education, amplified by Internet chat groups. These are the transgender subjects most like anorexia nervosa patients: They become persuaded that seeking a drastic physical change will banish their psycho-social problems. "Diversity" counselors in their schools, rather like cult leaders, may encourage these young people to distance themselves from their families and offer advice on rebutting arguments against having transgender surgery. Treatments here must begin with removing the young person from the suggestive environment and offering a counter-message in family therapy. Then there is the subgroup of very young, often prepubescent children who notice distinct sex roles in the culture and, exploring how they fit in, begin imitating the opposite sex. Misguided doctors at medical centers including Boston's Children's Hospital have begun trying to treat this behavior by administering puberty-delaying hormones to render later sex-change surgeries less onerous—even though the drugs stunt the children's growth and risk causing sterility. Given that close to 80% of such children would abandon their confusion and grow naturally into adult life if untreated, these medical interventions come close to child abuse. A better way to help these children: with devoted parenting.