If she goes with some CLEP tests, I would ease her into them by starting with those where she is most confident in the subject matter. One of my homeschooling mom friends decided her daughter should take the math CLEP *first* since her dd hated math so much. Thought it would be best to get it out of the way. It was completely deflating to her daughter when she did not pass it, and she lost a lot of confidence about moving forward at all. Obviously the exceptional tutor (kudos to you for your willingness to help this young women in this way and in assisting with her college planning - very kind and generous of you, regentrude) will be able assess her readiness. :)

I don't work and play well with others.

Chalk dust Math

Oh, you're right. I was just pointing out that those medical degrees don't come with original, academic research either. I thought that was your standard. Sorry if I misunderstood.

Boo. When one of my friends earned her PhD, her husband jokingly asked how he should refer to her. She replied, "You can call me whatever you like as long as you precede it with the title, "Doctor." He responded with, "I'll call you, 'Dr. Butt head,' then." Lol. She told him that would be fine.

A medical degree is the same way, only four years instead of three. Vet, Dental degrees, too. I bet you call those individuals "doctors." However, at my law school, everyone was referred to as, "Professor" except my property professor who had an SJD. He was referred to as, "Doctor."

Bait and switch. FIL has now decided he does NOT want to visit Ds at Thanksgiving. He wants to attend graduation. I'm not sure this is set in stone, but when I shared info with MIL about getting tickets to the on-campus football game the Saturday after Thanksgiving, she texted back that FIL has decided he wants to go to graduation instead. Sigh. They are adults. They can do what they like. He clearly does not care about our preferences on this. Ds will have limited time for them at graduation, room rates will be high, walking distance from stadium to where diplomas are conferred is 1.2 miles with a one-hour window to traverse. I can only hope they will opt for only the diploma ceremony. However, if they do, they will be responsible for getting themselves to campus as we are going to both. It was 104 degrees at graduation this year. A total aberration, but one never knows. I will only share my hotel info if asked. He will not believe there is a need to get a room this early anyway. My dh assures me he will not allow FIL to ruin our graduation experience. I am frustrated. We had already begun our Thanksgiving travel plans. I really thought this was all settled. My suspicion is that he never intended to go at Thanksgiving.

How far along is she on her math sequence?

Nothing wrong with having good taste! ;)

There is a lot to be said for "one and done."

Woo-hoo! I kept coming back to check and was hoping you were too busy celebrating last night to post! Very happy to read this news!!!

That all sounds very encouraging, and I am glad that you will have an answer soon. That waiting can be a beast. Really hopeful that you get it!!! And congrats on the tennis win!!

How'd it go yesterday, Scoutermom?

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/qualified-ed-expenses This is on a different topic and doesn't directly answer your query. However, this specifically lists insurance as an expense that does not qualify as an education expense right alongside room & board and the other things that *are* taxed when received as a scholarship. I would *guess* that the concept/definition carries over to the other side of the coin, so to speak. So the things that qualify here as educational expenses would be the ones that would not be taxable while those that don't qualify would be taxable if received by the student. It gives an activity fee as an example of a required fee. Sorry, im not wording this well at all. Tired.

Hope it works out for you! I would not wear capris. Do you have flats that's aren't sandals? Like a little ballet flat? I'm not sure what kind of job this is, but sandals are rather casual to me. JMO.

Some (even elite) schools are need-blind for US citizens, but need-aware for internationals.

I agree. I was planning to comment that I would e-mail. Gives you written documentation and allows for forwarding to someone who can hopefully provide correct answers. That seems more likely to occur (and less frustrating) than your phone call being bounced around while you are on hold.

I agree that it is a gem, but I *think* it is pretty heavy Greek? I am not anti-Greek - just wondering if that jives with this student. I may be wrong about how Greek it is. Okay, I just googled - 50% Greek.

I'm not familiar with an "activities resumé." Is this something required for New Zealand schools? Because the Common App will have a section for extracurriculars. "Continuing full-time coursework through ABC Correspondence School and independent homeschool. Homeschool High School graduation June 2018". Or DE or whatever. I wouldn't put in the parent part - seems redundant to me. Usually on resumés whatever is most recent is listed first. So, you could start with what he's doing now, and follow that with the certificate. Dec 2016-current - blah, blah, blah, graduation June 2018 And then list the certificate under that. Idk. Sorry, I'm not much help.

Do you have a Fiske Guide? I think it's very good at highlighting college vibes. Your dsd is not alone in her skepticism of going to Arkansas, but I would encourage you to explore Hendrix. Full disclosure: I'm an alum, so I have a bias. They are less interested in test scores than grades. It is FULL of quirky people. While I realize Arkansas is a red state, Hendrix is VERY blue. It is only half an hour from Little Rock which has a decent regional airport. They have a cool, fairly new President. The food is excellent (not so in my day). Frosh housing needs improvement, but there are much nicer options for upperclassmen. The campus is lovely. No Greeks. And they have the Odyssey program which didn't exist when I attended when dinosaurs roamed the earth. You can read about it here: https://www.hendrix.edu/odyssey/ EDIT: also found this blurb about the Odyssey program. No idea who this company is: http://emersoneducationalconsulting.com/the-odyssey-program/ Since your daughter has an interest in writing, you can read about my classmate here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A._Blackmon

Hendrix

Desires for size, major, and geographic location? You mentioned being a good writer - is she wanting to major in English? Also, any type of political bent? Greek/no Greeks?

Ds was accepted to both of these schools. He received merit at Rice (around $22.5k? Something like that), but none at WashU. I don't know how their application processes are now, but when Ds applied, Rice had a pretty long supplement to the Common App that was required of everyone. Merit was awarded based on the application. WashU had no *required* supplement for everyone, but there was a supplement if you wanted to be considered for merit. He did complete the supplement to be considered for merit but was not invited to their scholarship weekend. Again, this was four years ago. I think VERY few get merit at WashU. I believe if you were invited to the scholarship weekend you were at least going to get half tuition. Of those who attend, I think half of them get bumped up to full tuition. Don't hold me to this. I do not know if either school's process has changed since then.

Well, I guess I imagined wrong! Good information to have out there for others. I would be curious as to how often this actually happens, but clearly I have NO CLUE. I should acknowledge that Ds did meet with a music faculty member at Stanford as he had a trial piano lesson. This was during the summer before he started his summer program out there. We also compensated said faculty member for his time. I believe it was $150 for an hour. This is not uncommon for trial music lessons, however. Guess ds missed the boat on meeting with a faculty member while visiting out there.

Did you meet with department chairs at the top-ranked schools where your dd visited? I am wondering if these folks are available and accessible to students at higher end schools. I can't imagine being able to do this at Stanford. Thousands visit and tour. They don't give one iota about demonstrated interest either. I appreciate everyone sharing their different experiences and viewpoints. I was interested because I was recently (yesterday, in fact) talking with a homeschooling mom friend who said she (and dh on the visits he attended) and her dd met with admissions folks and faculty everywhere they visited. I was surprised as it was concept I was not familiar with, really. It would be outside of my parental comfort zone, but to each his own. :) I am well aware of investing sums of education money equivalent to the purchase price of a home. ;) Any of those that didn't meet whatever standards were deemed important wouldn't be on a visit list in the first place. But, I didn't have a kid who had done lots of advanced work that needed to be accommodated anywhere. I could certainly see that being a pertinent issue at a smaller LAC. Or if a student had a very niche interest. So, maybe it would have been in my comfort zone if our situation had been more unique/specialized. Idk.