I think Kathy's advice to wait on the initial Chem course until you can do it back-to-back with AP is good. I had my son who did Algebra 1 in 7th grade use Conceptual Physics in 8th grade. It used a bit of Algebra, and it was a wonderful, very interesting course that provided a great foundation for later science. He ended up doing Spectrum Chem in 9th, PH Biology in 10th (w/Kolbe syllabus), AP Physics B in 11th, and 2 semesters of General Chem at the CC in 12th. He is now studying physics in college and doing well. Spectrum was great prep for his CC Chem courses. FWIW, I used Apologia Chem with my older son. He also went on to take General Chem at the CC and did well there. Although, I personally didn't care for the Apologia Chem course at all. The labs, in particuar, were so basic that we had done most of them in middle school. The labs that come with Spectrum are wonderful -- really illustrate the concepts, and they provided a bit of a "wow" factor that helped keep my son's interest. The year we did the Spectrum labs, he insisted I take a lot of pictures of the experiments because they were so cool. HTH, Brenda

My youngest graduated this past June, and I, too, didn't realize how much of an adjustment this would be for all of us. My dh and I, in particular. I've been keeping a bit busy but still trying to discern what to do next. Some of the things that look appealing require educational prereqs I don't have. Going back into my old field might be a possibility, but I'm just not sure that's the direction I want to go in. Sigh. Regarding educational regrets -- I think I have more of those around my oldest, since he was the guinee pig. However, he got into and graduated from a great college, and he is self-supporting with a good job, so I can't really complain. Despite the mistakes and the areas where I want a do-over, I still strongly believe that his home education was better than what he would have gotten at the local high school. I do believe deeply that this next phase of my life will be pretty good and will work itself out. I'm just impatient to get started on it already.... EL ... best wishes in the next phase. I admire your initiative for going back to school and for making things work the best you can. May God richly bless you! Brenda

I would second the suggestion to look at the fee sheets on the college's websites. Many have extra fees for yearbooks and orientation programs. I also saw one school that had an extra $1000 or $1500 fee (can't remember which) for engineering. This fee was not advertised anywhere, and it made me angry because other majors, like Biology, have special lab needs and no extra fee. As others said, special computer needs and/or study abroad costs might add to your bill. One friend of mine's dd was majoring in music, and the college bascially told her that there was a "strongly encouraged" summer program her dd needed to go to that they had to pay for. In addition to the standard "fees" that are charged and added into "tuition & fees", some campuses have a required health center fee that everyone must pay (and it's for the use of the student health center and is separate from health insurance, which is also required). You might also look at whether there is a requirement to live in the dorms or buy a specific meal plan, and, if so, for how long. At oldest's school, the meal plan was very much overpriced, such that buying meals with cash at the "walk-in" price was cheaper than paying for the meal plan. If you knew this, then once you were an upperclassman, you could opt out of the meal plan and just pay cash. That gave you more flexibility to eat off campus when you wanted to as well. Best wishes, Brenda

We definitely made an effort to "show interest" because we were very interested in my children not only being admitted to certain colleges, but also getting scholarship offers. We showed interest by visiting campuses and going to local college fairs and checking in with their college rep at the fair. Whether it seems fair or not, it does make sense for a college to consider interest -- especially if they are rankings-conscious. The yield rate -- # who attend/# admitted factors into the rankings. Brenda

What you do is to have your child write a letter to the first choice place and say that they really want to attend there. Then mention that he/she has better offers elsewhere, and can they do anything for you. Attach copies of the other offers if you have them in hand. We did this with my oldest's first choice, and it netted a small bump in his scholarship offer. It wasn't a huge amount, but it was pretty significant for the 2 hours effort that it took my son and I to craft the letter. I feel like it's worth a try, since all they can say is "No, we can't increase our offer". If you're expecting a huge increase, that's probably not likely unless there is some other extenuating issue, like they didn't consider a job loss or high medical bills when they made you the initial offer. Best wishes, Brenda

This is the best attitude to have! But I agree that it's only a hopeful sign that they've asked for more information in her case. The whole college admissions thing is such a roller coaster ride! Prayers for your (and her) peace during the whole situation! Brenda

I agree with you that the airlines should discourage people from taking large carryons. I have been on flights lately where I've seen people ahead of me permitted to board with 3 large carryons. It's really unfair to the other passengers if someone is allowed to take up most of an overhead bin with multiple items. What annoyed me was that my son's suitcase that was allegedly 2 inches too long fits perfectly into the overhead bins, and it was not overstuffed or anything. It's at least 10 years old and has been literally around the world as a carryon. He had that plus a small backpack with him, so he was not trying to "get by" with a huge amount of luggage. I just felt like they were taking advantage of a young student traveling alone to get the baggage fees at the check-in counter. If they had gate-checked it for free, I don't think he would have cared. Maybe the airlines should give everyone one free checked bag if they are worried about the sizes of suitcases that people are bringing on board. Brenda

Hi all, Just an FYI -- when my college son was headed back to school after Thanksgiving, the airline (American) said that his rolling carry-on was 2" too tall and had to be checked for the $25 fee. I was pretty mad about this because this particular suitcase is one of our older ones and has literally traveled the world and has never been questioned as a carryon. I don't have the suitcase itself to measure it, but I'm thinking that airlines might be changing their limits in an effort to collect more baggage fees. Here you are at the airport with your back packed and your flight leaving in less than an hour. What option to do you have other than pay the fee if they won't let you though security with your carry-on? If it were me, I would have put up a fuss about this (especially since that bag went as a carry-on just a few days before on the journey home). My son felt he had no recourse but to pay the fee, which really makes me angry. Has anyone else had a similar experience recently with carry-on luggage? Brenda

Yes -- there is a way to opt out on the PSAT & SAT registration forms. My first son signed up for the college search service, but I told him not to provide his email. He got a lot of paper mail from many, many colleges he wasn't interested in. It all seemed like such a waste because we had been looking for college options given many books and websites for a couple of years before he was ready to apply. He didn't find any new ones through the junk mail. So I advised 2nd son to not sign up for the college search service and not give his email address for that. I had him contact the colleges he was interested in directly and ask for information. So he only received mailings from the places that interested him, and he was none the worse for that. So if your child has a good idea where he/she might like to go, I really see no downside to opting out of all the mailings. Brenda

Faith, Praying for you and all of your family members. Brenda

I would suggest asking this question on the College Confidential financial aid forum -- there are many, many knowledgeable folks there. It's good that you're thinking of this now and not a year from now. Best wishes, Brenda

Stephanie, I would suggest helping your ds keep his options open right now. While the local school might look the best now, your son is still 21 months away from starting college, and teens can change a lot in that span of time. I'd suggest investigating the local option thoroughly, trying to get his ACT scores up, etc., but I'd also suggest that you look for a few smaller schools that might be a better fit in that way and make plans to visit a couple of them. Next fall, you can have him apply to a couple of places, and then come April when he's closer to actually starting college, he'll have some options. Brenda

Wow... This is just so sad. 30 min, 3 times/wk for math instruction??? It makes me wonder what they are doing for the other 5 hours (or so) a day, 5 days/week. When my kids were younger, we spent at least 45 min - 1 hour on math every school day, and once they hit high school, it was more like 90 - 120 min/day. No wonder they ended up miles ahead of their peers... Brenda

I have graduated two dc. The older one did everything at home through the 10th grade. In 11th, I had him take an on-line computer programming course because that was something I wasn't comfortable teaching myself. In 12th, he took 4 courses at the local CC. He was accepted to great tech colleges, majored in engineering, graduated, and is now working. That path worked well for him. We do have a local 2x/wk place where hsers can take courses, and I tried to get him in there in the 10th grade for public speaking, but they ended up cancelling the course due to low enrollment. The rest of their offerings didn't jibe with what we were doing, or I would have sent him there for 1 course. He was pretty lonely in high school since there aren't many other hsers around. My younger son started at the local place in the 9th grade and did 1 course/year in 9, 10, 11. In 12th, he took 2 there. He also did on-line Latin in 10, 11, and an on-line AP in 11, 12. The enrollment at the local place was so wonderful for him because it gave him a nice community of other high school kids, and the 1 course he took, Literature, is something I'm not well versed in. He had the benefit of a great teacher and community while still doing the majority of his courses at home. This kid was more academic-focused, so hence the need for the APs for the challenge. As 8fill said, every kid is different, and the path may not be the same for each one. Also, every family is different, and circumstances change. I've had friends who mostly hsed their older kids, and then needed to go back to work for financial reasons so sent the younger ones to school. I'd suggest you should examine your motives in sending your kids to outsourced course(s), as it seems you're doing, and not worry about keeping up with the "Jones". But I'd also say not to underestimate the need that teens have for community outside the home. Even my introvert oldest, who didn't have much of a need when he was younger, suddenly craved teen community when he got into high school. I do think it's so important to consider who is in your teens' community -- meaning that these kids will have a pretty big influence on your kids, so you might want to try and surround your kids with others with similar values. Best wishes -- the teen years aren't easy, but they can be sooooo rewarding! Brenda

My son actually had 3 of the colleges he turned down send him a letter saying that they would keep his information on file and that he would be welcomed there if he discovered that his first choice didn't pan out. I'm glad that things worked out for your dd! Brenda

Another thing to check -- and this may not be the problem, as I had this issue several years ago -- is to look at which font you are using. I had downloaded a transcript template from the web, and it used an usual font. When I uploaded it, the formatting was way off. Once I switched the font to Times New Roman, it uploaded just fine. HTH, Brenda

I had one who used Saxon from Math 54 through the first half of Advanced Math. At that point, he was simply confused and couldn't apply what he learned. We back tracked a bit and used Chalkdust PreCalc, then Chalkdust Calc. He has gone on to graduate from a competitive engineering school, and did well with math there. My next one used the Dolciani/Brown texts, Algebra structure & method, book 1; Geometry; Algebra structure & method book 2; and their Advanced Math (which is Precalc). He used Larson for Calc and is now taking Calc in college and doing well. Both of them scored very well on the ACT and SAT math sections. We used the 'classic' editions of Dolciani that are still available. HTH, Brenda

I don't consider this defeat either... just reality with a student that may not be super motivated. I finally gave up with my oldest on PE when he was 14 or 15. I still regret it a bit, but it just got to the point where it was exhausting me to try and get him to do something he had absolutely no interest in. As the dc get older, I realized that there is only so far you can go if they aren't invested in something. Hopefully, your son can use the time he was spending on Italian on learning something else that he sees a need for and has an interest in. Kudos to you for sharing your struggles in this with all of us because I think it's something that most of us face at one time or another in homeschooling and do not like to admit. Brenda

This could be the case, but it's also possible that the recommenders think that they completed their portion -- perhaps they uploaded a letter -- but then they forgot to hit "submit". If the recommenders are new to the CommonApp, this is more likely. If they are seasoned users, then they probably know what they're doing. It seems like a "touchy" thing to me to go back to a recommender who says they sent it in and tell them, "No, it doesn't look like you did." So that's why I'd check first with the CA and/or the schools. So at least if you do have to go back to the recommenders, you can say that you checked with the CA and the schools, and they might just need to do another step or two on their end. Sorry there's so much stress over this... I hope and pray that you get it resolved soon! Brenda

I used Saxon Phonics. It was a bit of work to go through, but it included spelling as well. When son finished SP 2, he tested as 4th grade level for reading & spelling. I think it provided a great foundation. We also used First Language Lessons for the gentle intro to grammar, but we didn't do too many of the writing assignments. Son (at 18) still remembers the list of prepositions! HTH, Brenda

The status should say something like submitted or downloaded if they went through... However, last year, my son had a couple of colleges where he submitted his part of the CA and it still said something like pending or the like. He had to call the schools to make sure that they actually got the applications -- which they did. Both schools said they were having problems with the Common App. I would 2nd the suggestion to email the CommonApp and have them check if the letters went it. If your student has finished his/her part of the CA and submitted it to a particular college, you might also try calling the college and inquiring whether or not they got the recommendation. What a pain! Good luck, Brenda

Usually, in our experience, merit aid is offered over 4 years, and the only "catch" is that sometimes there is a GPA requirement. So if the student can maintain the required GPA, then the scholarship continues without regard to your finances. The kind of aid that tends to vary alot is need-based aid. This is based on your FAFSA or Profile form, and if your income varies, then your aid can vary as well. Need-based aid isn't guaranteed from year to year, so if you're getting need-based aid there is some risk that the package may change over the years. Brenda

I would suggest having your dd read up on the professor she will meet with if she knows who it is. Look into what kind of research this person does, what classes he/she teaches, etc. so that dd can ask informed questions. If she doesn't know the specific professor, then she should look up the department and try to gleen some general information on what their area(s) of specialty are. She might want to inquire about the possibilities of working with a professor and/or what kind of summer jobs might be available. She might also ask where their graduates typically go -- grad school, favorite employers, etc. As far as tour/lunch -- she should think about some questions she might ask the student. Here are a few possibilities that come to mind: 1. What do students typically do on the weekends? 2. If the school is near a city, is public transportation available, and do the students use it? 3. What is the social life like -- does it revolve around sports, frats/sororities, clubs, etc. 4. What are the dorms like, and does the guide have a recommended favorite for freshman? 5. What is the food like at the other eateries on campus (other than the one they are eating at tomorrow)? On the tours/visits we went on, the student met with the admissions counselor first, then they called in the parent. Your dd should have some questions ready for this person as well. You might also have some questions about the form/format of required documentation from homeschoolers. We were also interested in knowing their policy about transferring AP credits and credits earned at the local CC. Another good thing to ask the AdComm is about the availability of scholarships and whether a separate application is required. So that's a start! I hope you and dd have a great experience! Brenda

I've actually been doing pretty well. I've really felt uplifted by the many friends who were praying for me and my son. He seems to be doing well, and so I'm happy. I'm keeping busy around here. It does feel a bit quiet sometimes, but I've taken to playing more CDs that I can sing along to. I am looking forward to seeing him at parents' weekend in a couple of weeks. For me, the worst part was last spring (March/April) when the reality of him leaving seemed to really set in. I think it was the process of making the final decision of where he was going while trying to finish up school, plan the graduation party, etc. Hope you feel better soon, Jenny. Brenda

How old is your kiddo? I'm not familiar with BBLL2, but I started Henle with my son when he was in the 5th grade using the Memoria Press syllabus that goes through only Units 1 & 2 in one year -- so pretty slowly, but doable for a 5th grader. Another option might be Memoria's First Form Latin, which is based on Henle and covers Henle 1 over 4 years. The slow but steady approach with Latin worked well for ds. He was really able to master the grammar this way. After doing Henle 2 in the 9th grade, he went on to take Lukeion's Latin 3 in the 10th grade and AP Latin in the 11th grade. Hope you find an approach that works for you! Brenda