These decisions are tough, right? We've decided to keep trucking forward for now but we are willing (and even see it as a great possibility) that DS will have 5 years of HS and we will need to adjust his transcript accordingly.

Would you let your child dive into AP or DE Chem if they haven't technically had a basic HS Chem class? Just thinking it all through ;) thanks

That is quotable and it sounds similar to something my dd said the other day. I love it.

nm

I overanalyze everything. It is torture. lol The main reason I even think about this though is all of the talk on the WTM about visiting to see where the student feels right? I kind of got the feeling that no one applies to schools they can't "get the feel of" before they visit? That is why I asked. To see if my perception was true ;)

I hear ya'll when you say "cast the net wide" and look at schools not within a 4 hour driving distance of home. What if you really can't afford to visit a ton of schools and long trips weren't really an option? Would you apply to schools you couldn't visit? Just curious :)

If my child didn't like the school and *if* we had the resources to help them get somewhere else (resources not including huge piles of debt for parents or child) then I would definitely let my child go to the preferred school. If the only choice was deep debt or the full ride school....well, suck it up buttercup ;)

She isn't interested in engineering. I have no idea why. She loves math but she always shuns the idea of engineering. I think she could get into NC State as a safety as long as she isn't looking at a competitive program. She is more likely to go into accounting than engineering. *If* she can get into a school where simply the education and connections from being there can get you places (internships, etc), she'd probably make the gamble and be an English/creative writing major. I do have concern with the peer group at a non-competitive school. She is very bright and not in the way that means testing well but not loving education. She LOVES to learn. She is always learning, always discussing, always researching. She yearns for higher ed not to get a job or for the college "experience", she wants to learn more and be around people who also love to learn. She doesn't really have that IRL here. Her peers could care less about the things that interest her :(

Thanks for sympathizing. I wish there were schools closer to us with good national merit scholarships. If she even gets NM? She may not? You can't bank on anything at this point. Especially with a completely revised test coming in the fall. She doesn't want to go too far. I think the feeling that she could technically come home on a long weekend is comforting for her. I think the closest NM school to us would be U of KY which is huge, right? It is like 7 hours away.

If she gets NMF then she will be choose a school that offers a free ride to list. One thing that is limiting our college search in general is she prefers to stay within a 4 hour drive of home and none of those schools are close to home. BUT, she will choose one as a financial safety if she gets it. It would be silly not to, right? ;)

To answer several concerns about the difficulty of our current school list (sorry I can't seem to multi quote) We need to find safety schools. I know this. We just haven't found any yet. When I run numbers there is a huge gap financially. I ran numbers for two private schools with less expectations and it will leave dd in debt over $20,000 a year. Unless they have great merit aid and she qualifies for that? How do we know that though? I need to do more research. I considered having her visit a state school or two that isn't so competitive in order to have that as a safety? Maybe Appalachian? I definitely want safety schools and I don't view the competitive schools as safety schools. I was originally looking at NC State as a safety but then ya'll clued me in ;)

Thank you for this. It helps :)

Thanks for alerting me to this. I was unaware. Duke meets 100% of real need so I guess we could apply ED there too if she likes it? She may prefer CH or State though?

I keep hearing that only those who can afford the school should apply early decision. Is that true? For example, I've read that if you need to take into account aid at all then do not apply early decision. I've also heard that the aid isn't as good because you are committed before a financial package is presented. Just curious if there is validity to this.

Completely stupid question, I know but do you give financial information when you apply?

So getting into chapel hill, state, etc... What is dd lacking? She takes rigorous classes She will have SAT sub tests and AP scores Her standardized test scores will be competitive She has her art She leads a group of 5th-6th grade girls What is she missing? What gap do we need to fill? She loves to write so I thought about encouraging her to enter some writing contests? And here is the question I probably shouldn't asked here...do I need to put her in PS? Are the only homeschooled kids who get into these schools ones who have built rocket ships and fed third world countries? Does getting in as a homeschooler require as much as if you were aiming for merit as a public schooler? I get that feeling when I read comments on here sometimes :/

She has no idea about major :(

I was surprised at Furman though. They calculated merit aid, need aid etc, etc and then subtracted a student loan and showed us needing to come up with 13,000 a year? Should we strike that one from the list??

Haha...I know you are only half kidding though ;)

again....bad wording, I edited. I just mean the over-the-top competitive stuff that you hear about for those who get big merit scholarships. We won't have that. One of the main reasons...money, money, money. DD gets catalog after catalog in the mail about summer programs and she drools but we just can't. She is limited because of finances. We can't produce a transcript where she has "done" a lot...all we can do is show who she is and her academics. She mentors a group of middle school girls, she is a self taught artist (and she is talented), she is taking AP classes and she will take some SAT sub tests for validity but other than that we don't have anything big and merit worthy. If that makes sense? She has great standardized tests grades. That's about it. ETA - I wrote this before your last reply.

My wording was bad. I edited. I just hear about what the kids have to be in order to get merit scholarships and I am not sure we have what that takes? She hasn't built a rocket for NASA or single-handedly fed a village in Africa (yes, I am being sarcastic...you get my point ;).

I didn't want to completely hijack Joanne's thread ;) This was my finding... Wake Forest Loan $4,000 DD work contribution $2300 Our contribution $3000 Emory Loan $5,500 DD work contribution $3,000 Our contribution $3,000 Duke Loan $5,500 DD work contribution $2600 Our contribution $2000 NC State Loan $5,500 DD work contribution $2300 Our contribution $2000 UNC Chapel Hill Loan $2300 DD work contribution $2500 Our contribution $2000 Ok so here are my thoughts....WHY in the world are we worried about 'going over the top' for merit aid? If she is okay with a loan of up to $5,500 a year then she can probably go somewhere for not much more than that? I just need to focus on getting her into college and not so much worry about the aid. She's smart, it will probably take care of itself. or am I missing something? Is there anything I need to know?

EFC is annually or total? 35k??? Wow, I am not complaining about my EFC again, lol. I have not looked into financial stuff like I should. We are hoping for a college where the need based aid is high. It is why we are looking at private schools rather than state. I think dd will have fairly high stats and hit need based aid for those schools too. Still, I need to read more and understand how it all works. She was right at the National Merit cut off this year as a 10th grader so that may come into play next year when it counts. She doesn't want to go to any of the schools offering free rides for National Merit but it will be worth picking one and listing it as a back up plan, I suppose. It overwhelms me, honestly. I am in over my head with all of this college stuff :/ DD will skip college rather than go into significant debt. We can't take on the debt either.

So a school considers a need as met even if it is through loans, correct? what if a student isn't comfortable with many loans? What if the EFC is simply not attainable for your family? Do you always have an EFC or can merit aid or school's own need aid take care of that sometimes?

Creekland is thinking of people like me who follow and try to understand the financial end. I still don't understand how most of it works but I am gleaning here and there :)