No, she didn't wind up going to BU. Even though their offered financial aid was great, she opted for another school. :) A friend of hers did go - this past year was her freshman year. She loves it there, but is an athlete, so that is likely a very different experience. :) I dont know what college/major that girl is, though.

BU was one of dds final choices. Her "why BU" essay was written at the last minute and she never officially visited. She did not apply to the honors college (she was essayed-out by the deadline and decided she didn't want to bother with it). She was admitted to her first-choice major. The financial aid (for us) was exactly what the financial calculator on the website said it would be. And it was excellent!! She visited once (BU didn't know she was there) and loved the busy energy of the place and loved Boston. Hths!

Agreed - I've recently learned the same thing. I've just seen some recent postings in a couple of places from students who applied to Alabama when/after dd applied who have already gotten their acceptances in (Alabama's initial application is suuuuper simple), so it concerned me slightly since I don't want her to miss the deadlines for the additional applications/essays. Luckily, she could fill in the scholarship application before being accepted, so that part's all taken care of now. But - I'm thinking at least some of those students likely had sent their scores to Alabama earlier and their schools were likely able to send transcripts electronically, so they were matched up with their accounts more quickly. And the holiday didn't help. lol! Adding Alabama was a pretty last-minute decision for dd, so it was all very rush-rush and now wait-wait. :willy_nilly: I'm a much better rusher than a waiter. :lol:

Yes, we mailed the transcript w tracking via priority. So I know it arrived... But not on whose desk exactly. :) There's no admissions counselor for our state - she'd have to contact the engineering major counselor & I'm not certain how helpful they would be for this particular question. Hmmmm. She said she'll email Mr Helpful from admissions (the guy who emailed her back the first time) on Monday and see what he suggests to do. She is applying to the competitive honors programs - but if that's the main topic for the essay, she should be able to get that written up in a relatively short amount of time. So- I feel better about that. I was worried it would be one is those "If you had super powers..." sorts of essays and she'd need a lot more time for a creative essay. I didn't send course descriptions - that's what I was utmost concerned about - wondering if the transcript was bogged down in some obscure homeschooling rule I'd missed. I could have sent them (in fact, I mailed them to another school that same day I mailed the transcript to Alabama), so I'm really not sure why I didn't send them to UA too. 😜

In our recent experience... No - they won't give direct answers regarding specific curriculum. Unless you're registered fully with an "approved homeschooling" umbrella or online school, they evaluate on a case-by-case basis. You will send in ALL the paperwork at one time (if you're registering before senior year, you'll send in all the paperwork for the courses he's done so far). They will mark your son's account that they have received said items - but will not "approve" or "dis-approve" of said items until a university has requested your son's file. It IS nerve-wracking! Without question. IF they find a flaw in your system - you do have* some* time to rectify the situation, but not a lot of time. DD didn't register with the NCAA until the fall of her senior year. I spent all summer beforehand prepping her NCAA paperwork, and turned it in at the beginning of the school year. I was SO relieved when that first university made the first request in early fall so that we could see the paperwork had been approved - an enormous load off my shoulders!! In the end, I think I sent in a 65-page pdf file with course descriptions, school reports, blah blah blah - all the stuff they wanted. SO happy to be on the other side of it all now. :) Best of luck to you!!

What additional information did you mail in to the university itself? DD applied online and I mailed her transcript - but they still say the transcript it outstanding. Now - she only applied on the 16th, and the transcript arrived to them on the 18th (and her ACT scores arrived on the 19th) - so, with the holidays, it's not as if a really long time has passed.... BUT I'm worried they may need more from me & the honors college deadline is approaching - but she can't apply there until she's been accepted and can't start on the essays until she knows the topics... So - if you guys sent in MORE information, I will follow suit and overnight additional paperwork (Goodness knows I have EVERYTHING in pdf form at this point in the game!!) to them on Monday. She emailed to ask about the transcript (to make sure she shouldn't have included additional identifying information other than what she sent) and the guy said "it's all good" and he'll "keep an eye out" for her transcript. But I don't trust him. :ph34r: I find it's very easy for people with nothing invested in the situation to say "it's all good" without actually knowing if it IS or not! :P

agreed! That IS mean! :P DD is enjoying the waiting period. :001_smile: She still has a two apps to finish and two honors college apps/essays to do - hopefully by Sunday she will be 100% done with everything and can just blissfully put it all out of her head for a few weeks at least. (while *I* check the portals daily for new information! lol I am way more obsessive than she is. :blush: She's more than happy to just sit and wait for the letters to arrive in the mail/email while I am checking the portals for any new information or for anything that looks like progress. :willy_nilly: She tells me I need to :chillpill: but it's not really in my nature. :001_tt2: )

On the Common App? It shows the recommender's progress - iirc, it changes to "started" and then to "uploaded" or something like that. You can see this for each university in the recommender's section. As far as doing that part for someone... I don't think there's a way other than mailing the letter(s) yourself to the Admission's Office(s)... the recommender has to set up his/her own account in order to upload the letter, you can't do it from the student side.

I think only very specific schools even bother looking at the writing score. Dd has two ACT with writing scores (Both from the new style essay) because most of her schools require it. Her writing scores are a far cry from her English scores (although, percentile-wise not as bad as the score itself looks upon first glance). I don't think the schools are going to know what to do with those scores at this point - kids' scores seem to be all over the map right now and no one seems to know why they got the score they received. So- good application essay is always a good idea - but I haven't stressed over the writing score much at all. Dd - writing a rough draft on an unknown topic with only 40 (ish) minutes... well... it ain't gonna be pretty. 😉😄 She's a revision-necessary kind of girl. Lol

This is simultaneously hilarious and infuriating!

None of dds schools (so far) have had this request. I'm relieved to see that it seems to be an unusual thing!

Chiming in to say that I have been actively ignoring this thread & won't read replies just yet. My brain simply can't take it in right now! While I'm busily positioning DD in a slingshot to shoot her halfway across the country for a Grand Adventure of Life, DH is descending into rapid panic at the thought of his baby not being here every day to hang out with. They are best buddies... hiking, bike riding, rock climbing... all the outdoorsy, adventurous stuff that dd2 and I aren't in to. Luckily, he still has the boys at home to go do this stuff with... but with each application, dh is on the computer, mapping out the driving distance, pricing airline tickets, and looking a bit lost. :sad: I'd be sad if I had the emotional capacity for it all... but right now I am a Woman Focused on the Goal. lol Amy has been SO ridiculously busy for the past two years, she's not nearly as close to her siblings as she used to be - and I don't think it's HIT any of them that she might be gone quite yet. We've always parented differently, though. From Day One, I've been Raising An Adult Who Will Contribute To The Improvement Of The World. HE'S been raising buddies-they each have a "thing" they like to do with dad. DD1s are the hikes and runs... DD2s are the board games, BAD movies, and Call of Duty battles... DS1s are watching cooking shows or manga and anything outside... DS2s are bike riding and shooting. So - our goals are vastly different. Right when I'm achieving what I set out to do, DH feels he's losing what he did. So I understand. Back to ignoring the thread before it all hits me and I decide DD needs to stay home with us forever and ever amen. :Angel_anim: Not ready to face it yet. :leaving:

Thank GOODNESS this is a school that has an automatic scholarship she qualifies for - and doesn't have an Early Action deadline requirement for qualifying for said scholarship. (I think the deadline WAS November 1st... but it wasn't an Early Application requirement... just apply by Nov 1) If that had been the case, we'd have both been in tears for the past few days - but right now, we just see the humor in it. We figured we were bound to mess at least ONE thing up (we're quite a team, lol!) - so we are just fingers-crossed that THIS was the ONE thing and that there aren't other, more grievous things, lurking. :ph34r: So, we are just going to breathe and wait. She has a couple other things to tackle, so we'll just let this one just simmer off to one side. It will be what it will be. :)

Let's do what Colleen's doing for now. :) After a few more acceptances are in, I may change my mind. I'd like to have them posted so that if anyone else, in future, applies there, they could PM me with questions about the school, etc... but I feel safe with the relative anonymity of not having specifics stated. So I'll chew on it for a bit. Thank you for keeping up with the list! I do love perusing it!!!!! :D

Somehow, dd and I BOTH missed checking the "Early Action" box on one of her Common Applications! So even though she turned it in by the first of November... it went through as a Regular/Standard Decision application. According to their admissions department today, this means we won't hear until mid-February or early March (and, of course, there's no way to change it at this point). :scared: I had to call today because the ACT scores still weren't showing up on the magical portal of wonderment. She fixed it on the phone (just made a note that it was included on her transcript, and hit submit... that was all it took! I should've called a week ago!). She mentioned that "there isn't a big rush for the scores since she's a Regular Decision, not Early Action," and my heart fell into my toes. UGHH!H!H!H!!H!!!! I am seeing on CC that people usually hear back in 4-6 weeks - so HOPEFULLY that is more accurate! They are a Rolling Admissions school, but I'm thinking that after the Early Action deadline, the EA apps are processed entirely before they go back to the Rolling Admissions pile? It's killing me that we both missed it somehow!!! And seeing their facebook/instagram message about starting to send out the "big envelopes" now... and knowing dds won't be on its way for either 4-6 weeks or until SPRING... is agony! :svengo: I guess if she doesn't hear back until spring - we'll just take it as a sign from the Big Man Upstairs that it wasn't Meant to Be and move along. $100+ later (after application fees and ACT fees... :ack2: ) Gah. CHECK THE BOXES!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! HOW HARD IS THAT!?!?!? :banghead: :P

Absolutely!!!!! This is something I've found VERY difficult to explain to anyone else. Either their homeschooling educational goals are much different than ours, or their kids go to public school and they just don't experience the same type of pressure! While dd's achievements are absolutely 100% HERS and she has been the one putting in all the blood, sweat, and tears.... I've been working my fingers, mind, imagination, creativity, ingenuity, willpower, concentration to the bone in the background. Making (big) decisions after hours upon hours of research - pouring the very best of me into the planning - and then doubting myself 5 months later. And making plenty of mistakes along the way. DH is confused by my taking the stress upon myself. He knows dd is bright and hard-working. He knows her test scores & he knows she needs a scholarship. The fact that she IS naturally bright is half of my stress! Did I do her a disservice by not putting her in school? We homeschool FOR academic reasons! Was that the right choice?? Why, for the love of God, didn't I put her in more outside classes so she would have had a dozen teachers' recommendations available (an unforeseen, and significant, problem when applying to an Ivy)?!?! I finally asked him to compare it to his own job - if everything he's been doing for TWELVE years culminated in outside/stranger judgment all in one swoop. No mid-term evaluation - just save it all up for the verrrrrrrrry end and hope for the best! :mellow: It's sort of like being a NASA engineer. You THINK you did all the right things. You THINK you checked all the boxes. You THINK you are well prepared. Then, all at once, it launches, and all you can do is hold your breath. It'll either soar through the atmosphere as expected and all eyes stay (rightfully) on the rocket - or it blows up into a million brilliant pieces of fire and failure as strangers and co-workers watch in shock and awe as eyes turn toward you to learn what went wrong. (and some looking on in glee! I know some homeschooling moms who think I've worked dd too hard (I didn't - her goals are what have pushed me this entire time) and who would be .. silently... self-satisfied and slightly smug if everything went south) Right now, we're in the launched-and-waiting-to-see-the-results phase. And I feel like we are just starting to be able to release a little air and stop holding our breath. (DD received a significant combined athletic and academic scholarship offer today from a different university. She's not been "officially" accepted there - but this was through admissions and the athletic department. So - another PHEW!)

AND her final ACT Score just arrived (from the October test)!! It's a GOOD NEWS kind of day around here!!!!! Those few extra points made her reach schools a lot more ... reachable. Hallelujah! All of her HARD work is finally all starting to come together into a cohesive body of work. I'm just so ecstatically joyous for her. :party: I feel like - maybe - actually - she will be able to do something other than think about college/coaches/test-prep/essay for the rest of her senior year!!! Just imagine!! I'm off to pour a glass of wine. :cheers2:

nm

HAhahaha!!!! :rofl: #portalsarestillstupid :p

:lol: DD's favorite university, first choice, first one she applied to - not at all the most elite one she applied to, but one of the 40-50%ish schools (this one has a coach's "nudging," though, so we weren't as worried about this one....). Showed up in her ever-lovely portal today that she was accepted! No academic scholarship information yet (and from perusing College Confidential, it appears that no one has that information from this school as of yet) - but ACCEPTED!!! So - no matter what happens from this point onward - I can die happy knowing that I did not, in fact, completely screw up her chances at university life by choosing to homeschool her. It all really is going to be okay! :hurray: :party: :blushing:

A huge congratulations to you and your ds on a wonderful (and hugely inspirational) accomplishment!! Enjoy the well-earned celebration!!!!! I hope and pray to be able to join you in similar relief, validation, and joy within a few weeks. :)

didn't read others posts, but voted #1 because that's how I logically see it. But - If my teen were the passenger, I would make sure that they offered to split the ticket with their friend (and I'd pay their half for them). Keeping the peace, good buddies, and all that... Furthermore, if it were my kid (driving) I probably would wind up paying it myself because I would realize that omitting a parking discussion when said teenager is driving to a city for the first time by himself was probably not the wisest course of action. I'd chalk it up to a life lesson learned.

I've got my fingers in my ears - not going to listen!! No, no, no, NO! I want to hand this over to someone more professional than me once dd is in college!!! The counselor's hat is my least favorite hat in all of my homeschooling years. I feel like an utter failure right now - dd can't be even slightly relying on me when she's in college - it'll be a disaster. lol We have a Harry Potter sorting hat. I think I'm going to dig it out from the closet and wear it tomorrow. Maybe it will reinvigorate my tired brain for all this nonsense. lol Your ds is lucky to have you on his side. :)

:001_smile: She did receive some university portal information from some schools before she applied (none that she was actively planning to apply to, though). We had just thought it was a marketing thing - "Join our Portal for Up-To-Date Information on Our Great University!" and opted to ignore those emails since we'd gathered the information she needed via internet, friends, phone calls, and not being afraid to ask questions of complete strangers, lol! Once she added specific universities TO her Common Application, there WAS an increase in email from those specific universities. (One I found funny - one Ivy League school had been sending her quite regular, unsolicited emails and USPS mail for months. She chose to add a DIFFERENT Ivy League school to her Common App, and I swear - it was instantaneous - the NEW Ivy League started emailing her (they hadn't before) and the OLD Ivy League school's emails ceased. I'm sure they didn't know - but it was almost like their emails sensed the new school's presence in her email account, lololol!) I'd assumed it worked like this: 1) Apply through Common App 2) Common App (or an email) would notify her if there was a missing part to her application (which there shouldn't be... because we assumed that the Common Applications had ALL of the parts right-there for us to see and deal with all in one tidy location) 3) Amy would receive either an email, a phone call, or a BIG envelope in the mail one glorious day - and VOILA! Accepted!! Yay! Celebrate! Big sigh of relief! (or wimpers of despair if tiny envelope and bad news) 4) Said email and/or BIG envelope mail would say something along the lines of: "Congratulations! You've been accepted into Our Awesome University! Please sign on to our University Portal for further details for your registration, dorm information, scholarship information, yadda, yadda..." and, in some cases, "We would like to invite you to apply to our honors college! Please refer to the following information for instructions on how to do so." (and HERE is the point where we were prepared for additional essays, additional letters of recommendation, possible interviews, etc) So - signing up to all their portals to find out that the Common App really WASN'T all they needed is frustrating to both of us. These "troublesome" universities ARE those that have the option to sign up through the Common App OR through their own application process. Amy opted for the Common App because... ya know.. Common. lol She'd have filled it in on their website in the first place if she'd have known she'd have to answer their essay question (why didn't they just add it to the writing supplement on the Common App? I don't get it! It's there for a reason!), and have her recommenders send their recommendations & transcripts directly to this school anyway. They are asking for her to upload her resume. Whyyyy didn't they ask for that on the Common App???? (at least three others schools did, so I know it's possible!) It's November and I'm feeling Grinchy toward this entire process right now. :hat: :leaving: She is going to be home approximately 4 days out of the next 2.5-3 weeks (not 4 days together - just 4 days period). She'd like to get this taken care of ASAP, but she simply doesn't have the time. So, I'm going to do as much of the computing/data entry and possible and she's going to write on the road in between flights and destinations (with time she should be using for Calculus...) and we will hopefully have all these new boxes checked off within the week. THIS WILL BE SO MUCH EASIER WITH THE SECOND KID, oh my gosh!!! :D

This possibly explains why none of dd's score reports have shown up on the college accounts yet?