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MerryAtHope

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  • Website URL
    http://www.hopeismyanchor.com
  • Biography
    Author--Invisible Illness, Visible God: When Pain Meets the Power of an Indestructible Life
  • Interests
    Crocheting, writing, violin, homeschooling of course!
  • Occupation
    Customer Care Representative, AALP

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Interests
    Writing, singing, encouraging, hanging out on message boards, and homeschooling of course!

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  1. Yes. It was so weird. Dd is independent, so there was no parent portion, only her’s, but it made her fill in 2022 tax info manually and had a tool telling which tax doc lines corresponded to each question. She was independent last year, too, and the questions were definitely different than that and than all the other years we’ve filled it out. Maybe the retrieval tool was down when we did it, but there wasn’t even a box to check that as an option! I talked with someone else who was also prompted to fill in manually!
  2. We did it today. There was no IRS data retrieval tool, so we entered all tax info by hand. Is that one of the changes they made? If so, that seems less complex programming-wise than before, and I don’t understand all the delay in rolling it out if that’s the case. We didn’t have any issues, though.
  3. You can get search Marketplace specifically for plans that work for your dr, hospital, and medicines. I’d see what’s out there that might meet your needs and what your ptc would be. Pre-existing conditions are not an issue for Marketplace plans. www.healthcare.gov/apply-and-enroll/health-insurance-plans-estimator-overview/
  4. The school my dd goes to actually uses this, but we found a couple of gaps that could only be answered directly. It’s only as good and as current as the info put into it…and if it’s not coded by major, there can be more complex questions, too. It’s a good general or baseline tool, though.
  5. Something that was only briefly mentioned but that can significantly affect costs for those doing the 2 + 2 option—even for states and U’s with automatic transfer agreements, you need to look really closely at HOW courses transfer. Make sure courses within majors transfer to the major and not just as electives, and make sure sequences of courses work out. Map out all needed courses at the transfer school and check it with an advisor. It will probably be easiest for those pursuing liberal arts degrees. My oldest did this. His whole associates degree transferred, and his chosen major plus the 4-year school’s required courses equaled another 60 credits—so he was able to graduate in the time we expected. Degrees that have specialized courses, though, may not transfer as well. Engineering is often one where scope and sequence make a huge difference, and the student may end up with gaps and need 3 years at the 4-year school. Science sequences can be hard to meet if kids have all gen-Ed’s out of the way, and that can add on time. (In some cases, kids also end up ina situation where they only have hard courses left right away when they transfer, and that is sometimes challenging, especially if they have gpa requirements to meet for the major or for a scholarship.) My dd was going into teaching, and only one of our state U’s was willing to accept all of her prior coursework toward the degree. The others would transfer some classes only as electives and would make her retake their specific courses (with the same titles!) They just only wanted to give the credit toward the major if their instructor taught it. And having lots of transferable electives is not always useful! Adding on a semester or a full year is costly. I wanted her to go to my son’s school, only 1 hour away, but the better deal was at the school 3 hours away. All that to say, automatic transfer doesn’t mean the coursework applies the way the student needs it to, and either you or the student needs to thoroughly investigate. The community college’s advisors can only help to a point, and the transfer school’s advisors also only help to a point. Plan on being your student’s “transfer school advisor,” and leave no stone unturned as you investigate how courses will transfer and what your student’s remaining sequence of needed coursework will look like. Transferology is a website that can help, and the 4-year school’s website can help. We found it beneficial to also make an appointment and meet with the department head or advisor in person to get more involved questions answered. If they can’t answer, get another opinion or move on (we talked with one school’s advisor who couldn’t give us any more info than was on the school website, couldn’t answer specific questions about requirements, and went digging for a brochure for answers…no thanks! We just couldn’t afford big financial hits due to an advisor’s lack of experience with transfer situations.) Going in person also helped my kids imagine themselves at the school and made the transition a bit easier. Another option to save money that isn’t for everyone is to take classes online while living at home. Online classes are not always the best, and also, some kids don’t learn well that way. My youngest is finishing out that way, though, and it’s working for her. She’s going part time and working at our local library, and loves her job. One year away and a summer mission trip was enough adventure for her, I guess! Both of my kids got transfer scholarships from their U’s (2500/year for up to 3 years), and some smaller scholarships, as well as some from the CC. One was automatic based on ACT scores, and one was based on gpa from the CC. Our state also offers a grant, and then they paid for some and we paid for some. They each have one $5,000 loan. We had estimated them needing 15k in loans, which still seemed reasonable considering everything, but Covid eliminated that need for oldest (forced online courses) and then youngest opting to finish online will save her from further loans. Gap years, if needed, can impact scholarships. Both of mine took gap years. One took one between CC and 4-year, and that was fine. The other took a gap-year mid 4-year school, though, and lost the transfer scholarship that way. One last comment on expenses…consider travel if your kids want to go out of state. How much will it cost to get them and their stuff there, how often will they come home, will you want to visit, what you might need to spend if your child has medical or emotional need mid-semester…make sure the travel is affordable. Location can make travel costs add up quickly, and it’s an important consideration when finances are tight. I hope you can find solutions that will help your kids meet their goals! I know this is overwhelming…but you figured out homeschooling and can figure this out, too!
  6. Congratulations! LOVE this picture--such joy!!
  7. Ah, that makes more sense to me! I’m not at all against people having big expensive weddings if they can afford it. I just couldn’t imagine that it could be the national average!
  8. I’m in the cake and punch crowd! Or park pavilion and do sandwiches etc… But if I was invited to a wedding like that, I’d probably go and skip the reception unless I knew a lot of people and the reception venue was not too expensive. What I find more shocking is that the “national average” is $30,000. How can this be the national average? Like truly, of ALL weddings? That blows my mind. I guess I don’t live where most people have that kind of money. Maybe many go in debt over a wedding? That’s crazy too.
  9. I’m so sorry, what a shock. Praying for your sister and how she’s dealing with things and for you and your family.
  10. That’s interesting. We never ended up needing to use the common app, but I thought the whole point of it was so that you could fill out one application for more than one school. What’s the point of having a common app if you can only use it once?
  11. I would go with the close-by school if he’s willing. With mental health issues, closer gives you more flexibility for going and getting him for a weekend, meeting for a lunch or dinner, using familiar doctors or counselors, and so on.
  12. I’m so glad she’s going to talk to the prof! Let us know how it goes!
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