Barbara H
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Posts posted by Barbara H
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Double post - deleted.
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Skip it. And Unfortunately what I've been seeing happen is that students get inundated with so much junk honor stuff that they sometimes are burned out and don't bother to join the groups that really are a good honor!
Worth joining:
Phi Theta Kappa (for community college students some good transfer scholarships)
Phi Beta Kappa (the most respected honor, but not every college has a chapter)
Major related honorary societies (example Pi Mu Epsilon for math). These are often good for access to information about conferences, scholarships, etc.
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In fact, I was just reading a book by Cal Newport about getting in to college in which he talks about how, even when two people are competent, one's marginally better quality/skill can make a world of difference; he compared Juan Diego Florez to Luciano Pavarotti -- both were technically amazing, but one sold millions of albums and is a superstar, while the other has only a reasonably profitable career. Some people are just better than others, or are there at the right moment.
I'm not sure I get this. Is the idea that Juan Deigo Florez is not a superstar? His name may not be as well known by people who don't know about or care about opera, but he's absolutely an opera superstar. Also, it seems weird to me to compare as Florez is still young and in the middle of his career.
I do agree though that some people are there at the right moment. Scientists happen to get the right problem at the time when their field is ready to change and that sort of thing. I don't think this is at all contrary to the ideas in Mindset though. It isn't about creating superstars but about helping people learn in a healthy and effective way.
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Here's my concern: Typically developing kids usually aren't intellectually ready to do well on the ACT by age 10 or in college by 12. In fact even many average to bright kids have to put in effort and still struggle with some high school courses at traditional ages. I don't believe there is a "secret" parenting strategy or curriculum that avoids that reality. Algebra, chemistry, research papers - they really involve effort and work for most students. Anyone who doubts this could spend a week on the high school forum here. Homeschooling parents work hard and so do their kids because high school and growing up can be hard work. It isn't "behind" to need the high school years to do high school.
There certainly are highly and profoundly kids who do well entering college early. There are students who are well served by radical acceleration. Where I get uncomfortable is with trying to say kids who do well on the ACT at age 10 are just "average" kids who have parents who figured out a "secret." I fear that this could result in families feeling a lot of pressure that their kids should move through K-12 faster or they have somehow failed them. We already put enough pressure on parents without adding the additional idea that homeschooling should take years less than going to school.
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Here's my thought on AP versus CC. It really is just guesswork and either way it will come out okay. The primary purpose for these courses in high school should be: to learn challenging material, to get needed academic experiences (taking notes, studying for tests) and to establish outside validation for your homeschool transcript. Whatever you choose it will achieve that goal. Most likely it will also net some credit but I would discourage anyone from trying to perfectly plan and control that every single thing you do will also lead to college credit. Even if you knew exactly which college your child was going to, policies can always change or your student may not get the expected score on the AP exam. There seems to be this refrain in homeschool communities to check the college policies, but really most students don't know where they will be going to college. Even if they did it can be difficult in a lot of situations to tell exactly what courses will transfer from CC as sometimes that information is not clearly set forth in policies but it is established more on a case by case review after the student enrolls. It is also hard to tell if the course transfers if it will be just for general credit or if it will meet a specific requirement. General credits are of limited use for most students.
Some students will end off better with CC courses and some with APs. Just to make a very sweeping generalization though based on what I see as a counselor... unless the student plans to enroll in a public college in the same state as the CC and there is a strong articulation agreement, APs tend to net more credit for most people at the most schools. My main suggestion though would be to do what serves your student best right now. Meet their academic needs in a way that makes sense for their learning. If they do a variety of CC and AP likely they will enter college with credits and that will be helpful. Don't worry about every last credit. Focus on helping the student be well prepared and let the rest sort out as time goes on.
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Agree - Mines is an excellent college. Because schools use free apps doesn't mean they are not bad colleges. I would just try to avoid reading too much into it either way. It doesn't mean your student will or won't be accepted. It doesn't mean it should or shouldn't be on their college list.
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These "fast apps" are sometimes referred to in college admissions circles as "crap apps." They are a way for colleges to generate more applications, reject more applicants, and rise in the US News rankings.
That said, you may find a school that is a good fit for a reason other than the fact that they offered the free application. Also, it may be good to know that schools where the student has visited or otherwise expressed interest may also sometimes waive application fees as a gesture of good will.
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Ok to skip the phonics?
We skipped it entirely and nothing bad happened as a result. If she seems to need it for spelling later do it later.
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Yes, it is the custodial parent who matters for the FAFSA. The thing I find that most often surprises parents on this issue is that if the parent the child lives with most gets remarried their spouse's income will also be considered for financial aid.
This is a really good article that covers the key concerns on divorce and financial aid. Some families negotiate college expenses as part of the divorce settlement.
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It means parent you live with (and also step parent you live with if that applies). Foster parents or older siblings who care for you are not considered parents for FAFSA purposes.
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Interesting point about one parents versus two - I'd noticed that before. That doesn't make a huge amount of sense does it? As there are so many shared costs (mortgage, etc.) it seems like the single parent would get more asset protection. I also like that the chart starts at the oldest parent of the college student being age 25.
The reality is that most parents don't have more than their allowance saved. And, if they did that full allowance is not taken - rather it is taken at the 5.9% parental rate. So, you are still better off if you've been able to save.
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Good issue to raise. In my state we have a scholarship from the state based on high school GPA and ACT scores and most college students receive least some money through this program.... and then about 40% end up losing the scholarship by the end of freshman year.
3.5 is not unheard of but it is on the high end. 3.0 is the most common requirement and as was mentioned earlier in the thread a probationary semester is common too. It does get easier as time goes on because each grade will have less of a impact on the GPA. I really think 3.5 is just too high for freshman especially because college can be an adjustment and it is so common to have problems with a single course such as calculus. I hate to see students discouraged from taking challenging courses too.
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Why should the privacy of all families be breached because some do not know how to calculate their eligibility? Let those who want someone else to figure it out for them offer their personal data, and let the rest of us just know what criteria they need to meet! If that emergency happens midstream, you can bet we can produce financial data within 24 hours. No one needs to have it "just because".
That is good and this is how it should be for everybody. I'd estimate though it is less than 10% of the population that could say this.
And, I should also be clear, if anyone benefits from a system that requires financial forms for merit scholarships it is people who are wealthy enough NOT to be eligible for financial aid. It isn't that colleges look and say "oh the Jones they can clearly afford college so we aren't giving Susie that merit scholarship." Rather, it is "we like to attract students like Susie, even though her parents can afford college, let's give her a merit scholarship because that's how we are going to get her over the many other places she could go."
I hear you on the privacy concerns and we all need to think through where our comfort level is. It is certainly an option to only look at schools that don't require you to fill out the FAFSA or CSS. We all have to sort out for our families what decisions we feel comfortable with. I've been most bothered by medical information necessary to get insurance or health care. Release of information for getting a mortgage and merit scholarships have been worth it for us though.
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But WHY? WHY is a child denied MERIT scholarships because his parents did not fill out financial documents? What do the financial documents have to do with merit? What possible business is our personal financial information to a college if our child merits scholarships? Either the kid merits scholarships or he does not, on his own?!
I'm not saying it is the policy I'd advocate or design, but I can share the explanation I've received for this from colleges. It is a very common situation that families believe they are not eligible for financial aid when in fact they are. I can confirm from my experience as a counselor that this is true. I've had truly low income families who are eligible for Federal Pell Grants who believe they are not eligible for any financial aid and think they don't need to fill out the FAFSA. And, I've had upper class families (who probably have an income in excess of $200,000) ask if they would be able to receive Pell Grants. Many people are not particularly good at estimating what their eligibility will be. Further, especially in this recession, it is a very common situation for family's financial circumstances to change quite quickly. If there are financial aid forms on file it makes it much easier for the school to adapt and offer aid mid-year so the student can stay in school.
Colleges are trying to leverage all sources of money to best serve their students. They have a limited budget of money to work with. This is money they've received from their endowment, from alumni, and from tuition. Their goal is to make that budget work as effectively as possible. If a student is eligible for state and federal grants and is not receiving that money, that student is really not being very well served. Even if they are receiving a substantial scholarship from the college, that federal or state money may "stack" and allow them to pay for books or not having to take out debt for the portion the scholarship does not cover.
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Here are a couple of books I've found to be helpful in approaching parenting and teaching of gifted kids.
http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/
http://www.amazon.com/A-Parents-Guide-Gifted-Children/dp/0910707790
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Also, I agree about some of the college mail coming from websurfing rather than the FAFSA. My dog receives quite a bit of college mail based on his name being used to register at just a couple of college scholarship sites. At least I think that's why he gets the mail, but maybe everyone just heard he's a very good boy.
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Re: privacy concerns. I do not believe FAFSA is more of a privacy risk than filing state and federal taxes which is something that I'm hoping most of us do. Here's more detail on what is collected and what is not. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/privacy.htm
Refusing to fill out the FAFSA for your child is very significant decision.Some parents assume if they don't plan to pay for college they should not fill out the FAFSA. It is important to be aware that by not filling out the form you are not only refusing to pay for college, but you may be denying your child access to merit based scholarships they have earned through their hard work during high school. That includes both many college based scholarships which might cover up to the full cost of attendance and also some state scholarships such as Florida's Bright Futures. Whether you believe that is how the system should work or not - that is how it works right now.
Just FYI for anyone who hasn't filled out the FAFSA, it is typically not very complicated. Most parents report it takes 20 to 30 minutes.
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There is a lot of misunderstanding about the role that parent savings plays in the financial aid process. I agree with the parents here who said that you unable to come close to meeting your EFC as that is based on the idea that you've been saving for many years. Here's a really good article that explains the role of savings and how you know if you've saved so much it will affect financial aid. That's a pretty rare circumstance for most of us. http://www.thecollegesolution.com/will-saving-for-college-hurt-your-chances-for-financial-aid/
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Beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
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She's even less likely to get in the second go around.That's not to say that it absolutely never results in admissions the second year, but it is taking something that is already a statistical long shot and making it even more long odds. As you said most of the kids rejected are also very high stats kids who could be successful if they were admitted. When schools accept 5% to 10% of students those are just really tough statistics and that's why it makes sense to have a balanced college list.
My suggestion would be to encourage her to keep an open mind and broaden her idea of schools that will be a good fit.The book Eight First Choices might be helpful. http://www.amazon.com/First-Choices-Experts-Strategies-Getting/dp/1932662391
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He needs to be aware that college class means that he might have to put in two hours of outside work for every hour in class, and he needs to budget for this time to keep up with his work on a continuing basis.
Yes, that! And depending on the class, it may be more than two hours.
When he's getting distracted and not managing well, I'm wondering what that looks like for him. Is he not putting enough time sitting down at the table and doing work because he's off doing other things? Or, is he sitting at the table but finding himself surfing the web, chatting with friends, etc.
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To comment on the bolded above, what if she never finds Mr. Right? What if Mr. Right turns out to be Mr. Wrong and she has kids to support? What if Mr. Right dies or becomes disabled? What if things happen where Mr. Right cannot support the family on his own? I think it is short sighted to choose a career for the short term when she may actually need to support herself and maybe others for the long term.
One thing that really brings this home to me is looking back to the families we knew from the early days - of La Leche League, playgroups, and early elementary homeschool co-ops. Almost everyone thought they'd be SAHMs and homeschool forever. But, for so many life brought changes - divorce, aging parents, disabilities of parents or birth of kids with disabilities, cancer, long period of unemployment with the recession, moving, death, etc. Not that you want to focus on the gloom and doom, but changes can happen in life that are out of our control and having a plan B (and plan C and D maybe) is never a bad thing. For young women who hope to be SAHMs, I'd strongly encourage looking at careers that are more recession proof and tend to bring in good income on a part time basis (accounting, IT, medical like radiology, nursing, physical therapy, dental hygiene, etc.)
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Yes, they accurate as to the level of SAT questions. Over time you will probably see more variety and level of difficulty. Remember many people signed up for the questions aren't necessarily taking the SAT right now (they might be kids or parents like me who don't get that many of the math ones correct!). I like the question of the day and I do encourage students to sign up for them, but it is really different than taking a full length test where you are on a tight time line and need to answer question after question, section after section. I would also encourage your student to try a full length test at some point to get a better idea how it all fits together.
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kinda surprised that Embry-Riddle Aeronautical is not filled. That is a good engineering school
It is a good school and there were other good ones in Florida too including Eckerd and New College of Florida. There are good schools on the list every year. It is really just a statistical thing. Every year colleges admit many more applicants than they have room for and then they just wait and guess about the "yield". It is kind of a disaster when more students accept the offer than expected because that can mean running out of aid and dorm rooms. So, enrollment management walks a pretty fine line trying to balance getting enough students without getting too many and that's why every year there are good schools on the list. Kind of like when you plan a birthday party for your kid and you wait around nervously on RSVPs - I'd hate that job!
family of 10 starts college at age 12
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Being younger is not a "hook" for college or for grad school. If anything the bar is set much higher for the younger student. They need to be better than the typical applicant to be successful. There are a lot of people who will presume if the student is younger that they have not had a good education (many posts on this thread voice that sentiment) so that's something the student has to overcome.
As this family of kids are successful with graduate and professional school ambitions, I find it reasonable to assume they have in fact had a good education. There are certainly students who go to college younger and do quite well. The only doubt for me comes with the claim of being "average" and the suggestion that this is a good path for families with typically developing kids.