for both dd and ds. Last year my dd was a junior in high school attending a CC as a dual enrolled student. As an honor student, she took an honor's level math course. She was currently enrolled in Calc I at the cc at the time in addition to this honor's class. The other students were all at least taking Calc II, so she was a bit nervous going in, knowing she was behind the eight ball from the get go. During the semester, the prof. jumped into proofs. My dd was the only student in the class who had any experience doing proofs. The other "more advanced" students didn't have a clue and, in fact, had never learned about proofs. The prof. was actually amazed my dd knew how to do proofs and did them well enough to have her teach her classmates how to do them. She ended up copying a couple of pages from TT and giving them to her classmates. The prof. was impressed enough to recommend the school hiring her as a tutor in the student center and, later, for a "roaming tutor" program he developed. I know some of the other programs are seen as more "rigorous." In fact, we tried Jacob's before switching to TT (my dd hated Jacob's and it left her in tears). My dd is good at math (she's taking Calc III this semester at the cc), but sometimes rigorous isn't the option that fits your dc. Find out what program your dc will actually learn from and use that one.

Complaining about not getting federal assistance to pay her heating bills while standing in front of her large screen TV. http://www.macon.com/2010/12/16/1379464/funding-cuts-leave-many-without.html Sell the d#&$ TV woman! That should cover your heating bills for the remainder of winter in Georgia. I don't live all that far from her and come March our winter is done.

The word "dude" defined is the little hairs around a horses' anus and also refers to what sticks to said little hairs. When people began using it, it was definitely a derogatory term. In the days when this term first surfaced, it was like calling someone a s&*#head. Maybe in a hundred years or so people will think s&*#head is funny, too.

I have two high schoolers, a dd who's a senior and was just accepted to Georgia Tech and is a semi-finalist for the President's Scholarship, and a ds who is a sophomore (10th grade). NO ONEm and I repeat, NO ONE can do a better job educating your dc than you! I'm sick and tired of hearing about socialization in regards to homeschooling. My answer to people is thus: First, you're assuming that socialiation and education must occur together simultaneously. That is simply a logical fallacy. The most important socialization occurs in the home. That's where children learn morals, and all kinds of other things including the art of conversation at the dinner table. Activities outside of school provide many more opportunitues for positive socialization than inside the microcosm that is public school. Second, people assume that all socialization that occurs in the school room is positive. That's another fallacy. Socialization can be divided into both positive and negative. I would argue that children learn more about negative socialization in school than positive. Once, when I was sub'ing in a private school, a teenager summed it up for me quite succinctly in a conversation. In school, the prevailing message is that "parents are stupid, teachers are whack, and the only people we can depend on are our friends." Talk about the blind leading the blind.

Dd was accepted to Colorado State University and received the Presidential Scholarship. She was also accepted to Georgia Tech and is a semi-finalist for the President's Scholarship at that school. She is very excited about this one because GT has the #1 program in the country in Industrial Engineering (her chosen major). She still has a few schools she hasn't heard from and likely won't make a decision until a few months from now, but there's a "whew!" [wiping forehead] feeling having at least one acceptance.

I received both my B.S. and my M.A. in psychology from the same school. The B.A. degree had a language requirement, but I was more interested in the sciences so I stayed with the B.S. I didn't have a choice for my master's degree, but a language requirement wasn't part of it at that point (and not for my doctorate either). HTH. Bev

Agreeing with you, PQR. As a psychologist, I think we are living in the most narcissistic society ever. One has only to turn on their television to see the numerous reality shows to get an example of this. Celebrities are created out of nothing (no discernible talent whatsoever - cough, cough, Paris Hilton, Khardasians, Jersey shore, etc. - cough cough). Does anyone seriously believe we have it worse than our ancestors? We haven't lived through a World War (yet) or a Great Depression, or the Spanish Flu of 1918 (and those are just the recent things). Holy cow. Put on your big girl panties and buck up (As a psychologist, I've always wanted to say that). Love the drill sergeant commercial. It's every psychologists fantasy to say that to a client. Since when did we become a nation (or world) of "it's all about me"?

This is what we ended up doing pretty much. Thank you all for your input.

My dd will be interviewing tomorrow with a gentleman from a college she's applied to. The gentleman has asked her to bring her resume with her. I'm familiar with both resume's and CV's, but not for a high school senior. I'm looking for a template or scrubbed copy of one that I could use as a guideline. Any suggestions? TIA.

My dd is dual-enrolled and works as a tutor in the math center of the local cc. The other day a woman in her mid 30's came in, sat down and asked for help. When dd asked what she needed help with, the woman replied logarithms. Dd said she loves logarithms and would gladly help her, to which the woman responded, "You're a freak!" Grrrr.

My dd is applying to 9 colleges' date=' five of which are ivies. [b']Not one school has asked for anything more than our transcript[/b]. As a "school" I do have to submit a counselor letter and a school description (common application stuff), but no one has asked me to detail any of my courses. They are more interested in SAT-II, AP and ACT scores (my dd didn't take the SAT).

Daughter - Becca. Applying to 9 schools. 5 down, 4 to go.

Agreeing with you on this issue. I had my dd (and now my ds) take only two AP classes, just to show they could do that level of work (as evidenced by the score they received from the test). I know for a fact that at one college my dd is applying to this year that, beginning in Calc I - which is a freshman first semester course - they do not allow calculators, AT ALL. This would be a very new experience for my dd. Even having had Calc I-III at the local cc this year, I would not want my dd starting in her engineering program at a high level, not knowing how to do the calculations without a calculator. Also, don't discount the bonding that occurs between students when they enter college. Friendships that last a lifetime occur frequently in those four years (the whole "we went through hell together and survived" mentality) :) Study groups are formed at the beginning that survive all four years between students with the same major. If your dd transferred in as a junior, she would be missing that. It's hard to integrate and be accepted into a group that's been together for a couple of years already.

Agreeing with Gwen here. My dd is a senior in high school dual enrolled at the local CC as an honor's student. I have been appalled by the lack of rigor. This is her second year as a dual enrolled student in the honor's program and she has yet to write a single paper. Last week in her English class, they watched the grammar rock video series (lolly, lolly, get your adverb here). As she is applying to colleges/universities (and, yes, she's applying to several ivy's) I have (as school's counselor) specifically asked them NOT to accept her cc credits as anything but high school credits for basically two reasons: 1) I don't feel that the cc is adequately preparing her to transfer in as a junior and take junior level classes. In fact, more students who transfer in as juniors this way end up struggling and/or dropping out simply because they're not prepared for the level or rigor that's expected of them. 2) I used to teach at a major university (in psychology) so I saw this first hand and experienced it myself. There's a lot of maturing and growing that occurs in that 18-21 age range that isn't at all related to academia. I would not want to cheat my dc of those experiences. They need that time to figure out who they are as people and who they will be as adults. Some students are more mature than others, but those four years benefit everyone. If you think about it, your child's GPA will benefit from having to take those classes again, even if they are review for her. The first two years of college are usually spent on core classes. Those are the easier classes, what we called "easy A's." The junior and senior years are spent in the chosen major with the harder classes. Usually, the first two years act as a bolster to the GPA when those more difficult classes are taken (and, yes, many potential employers want to know GPA from college). Other than costs, I see no reason not to let your dd's cc classes count as high school credit. She will benefit from the maturing and the GPA by having those four years. As always, just my $.02.

For colleges, you do not need the ITBS, just the SAT or ACT. The law says testing must occur every three years during elementary and middle school. However, I used the ITBS up through the 7th grade every year to benchmark progress (sort of a "How am I doing as a teacher?" thing). In PS, highschoolers take an "end of subject test" they have to pass before getting full credit for the course. I use the SAT-II (subject tests) for that purpose. I also started having my kids take the ACT (with writing) in the 8th grade every year so they could get practice taking that kind of test in a school setting (in lieu of the ITBS). When your dc apply to college, the colleges will not care about ITBS scores at all (at least in my experience). The only scores they want to see are SAT, SAT-II, ACT, AP, or CLEP.

From her English Comp class this semester - "Yesterday, prof had us watch all of the Grammar Rock videos. I asked if I could leave since I watched them in third grade." "Made a 97 on history test. Professor wrote 'show off' next to the grade." (This is the honors level class and hers was the highest grade in the class.) This is her second year as a paid math tutor in the CC. Last year there were many comments about her young age (16) and her tutoring students who were several years older than she. Thankfully, this year the comments have been fewer. From her "Twilight Tutoring" she does with the Dean of Academic Studies on Monday evenings. Guy walks into the dorm lounge where tutoring is taking place. Dd: "Hello, can I help you?" Guy: "Is this the speed dating room?" Dd: "Um, no. You want to go across the hall."

I think it went really well. Thank you all for your input and good wishes. He encouraged her to apply for early action and said he'd do his part to get his feedback in quickly. I hope that's a good sign.

Dd has her first college interview this weekend; it's with MIT. Any suggestions and/or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Agreeing with you. My dd is a senior in hs this year and is doing her second year of dual enrollment. I have not weighed any of her cc classes differently. I went to a meeting last week for the GA school counselors sponsored by the state. They encouraged ALL classes to be unweighted (AP, honors, dual enrollment, etc.).

If applying for HOPE money for homeschoolers in GA, course codes must be used. It's a pain in the.... The course codes have a two digit subject code, followed by several other numbers after the decimal that differentiate the level of the course (AP, honors, etc.) I'm having to do this for my dd now as she's a senior and is applying to schools. If I want HOPE to pay for her education, this has to be done before she graduates. Grrrr.

that since no national standards exists to define what entails an "honors" course, most colleges/universities erase that designation - and any associated weighting - from transcripts before they are even considered by the admissions committee. My dd is a senior this year and we have been to several colleges/universities and sat through their admissions lectures. Not one - so far - allows honor designations to stand. All have said they remove them from the transcript before consideration. Several have even said they remove weighting from AP courses, too. Just thought you should know. Homeschoolers are already under pressure to "prove" through outside sources their mommy grades. If you are certain your child is performing above grade level I would have them take the SAT Subject test in that area. The SAT Subject test is designed to test high school level ability. If your child takes those tests earlier than would be expected by a normal high schooler then I would think admissions committees would take note of that (especially if you point it out ;) ). The previous poster was also correct about AP. You cannot call any course AP without College Board approval. You can, however, have your dc do the coursework expected from an AP level course and then take the AP test (and perhaps call the course "Advanced [subject]" on the transcript along with the reported AP score). The bottom line is your mommy grades have to stand when compared to their test scores (ACT, SAT, SAT Subject, AP, CLEP, etc.) A high mommy grade when compared to, for example, a low ACT score will immediately draw attention. HTH.

Here in GA the lottery is used to provide the HOPE scholarship for students wishing to go to college at a GA public university/college. Any student who maintains a 3.0 in high school is eligible for the HOPE scholarship. To continue receiving HOPE money, a student must maintain a 3.0 in college. Now, in the beginning this was considered a wonderful thing and students across the state have benefited. For the record, I still think it's a great idea. What's happened in the years since the inception of HOPE? Teachers at high schools are pressured to artificially inflate grades so that students, who may not have gone to college at all, go to college. Some colleges/universities have even experimented with not using tests such as the SAT/ACT at all to set a minimum score for entrance (that's ending this year, thank God). Those kids who go to college, who perhaps should have chosen a technical school or apprenticeship, are failing out of higher education in droves because they can't maintain the 3.0 minimum GPA and can't afford college on their own. HOPE is a great idea, but IMO it needs to be tied to standardized tests scores like the SAT/ACT so that the practice of artificially inflating grades can be identified and stopped. Yes...there are students who don't test well, but they are the exception and not the rule and, generally speaking, those students who don't test well who are intelligent will have a higher GPA than 3.0 anyway. Perhaps then the college drop out rate will decrease, at least here in GA.

I don't know how other colleges run their bookstore, but at my dd's cc you have to have your receipt showing proof of purchase at the bookstore to participate in the book buyback program. However, I'm sure your ds could resell his textbooks on the same site in which he bought them.

has been refused by the NCAA to participate in college tennis while dual enrolled. They set a high penalty if she does play as well (one year's ban from college play once she is in college for every match she plays). Be sure to check carefully.

Homeschool success in college: Homeschoolers do well in college Major findings of study: Homeschool students earned a higher ACT score (26.5) versus 25.0 for other incoming freshmen. Homeschool students earned more college credits (14.7) prior to their freshmen year than other students (6.0). Homeschooled freshmen were less likely to live on campus (72.4%) than the rest of the freshmen class (92.7%). Homeschoolers were more likely to identify themselves as Roman Catholic (68.4%). Homeschool freshmen earned a higher grade points average (3.37) their first semester in college compared with the other freshmen (3.08). Homeschool students finished their freshmen year with a better GPA (3.41) than the rest of their class (3.12). The GPA advantage was still present when homeschoolers were college seniors. Their average GPA was 3.46 versus 3.16 for other seniors. Homeschool students graduated from college at a higher rate (66.7%) than their peers (57.5%). Yea! More motivation to keep it up.