JFS, So sorry this illness happened to your son and will delay his graduation. I think I would just invite anyone you want to come with you to the ceremony directly for this coming May. I assume these will be close family/friends/relatives, and they would understand the illness issue when you tell them. Then just have a graduation party for him for a bigger group of friends/family after he actually finishes next year. My son had a similar issue last spring in his final semester of college. We thought he might have to drop out that semester and finish in the fall, but by God's grace, he was able to limp along for a couple of weeks until he recovered, and most of his profs were understanding. His grades took a little bit of a hit that term, but at least he graduated. It sounds like your son's school is being somewhat accomodating -- at least that is a very good thing. When you think you're done parenting your 20somethings, surprise! you're not.... Best wishes for a happy graduation for your son! Brenda

I think it depends upon the student's intended major. My son (engineering) went to college with 1 semester of credits that transfered from DE classes. He was able to graduate in 4 years, but he took 1 semester off from school and worked a coop job. This job was fantastic on many fronts -- he got real working experience in his field, which helped him land a permanent job, and he made quite a bit of money that helped him reduce the amount of loans he took out. We also saved 1 semester of tuition. Taking the semester coop was definitely a much better option for him than graduating early would have been. He and his friends found during the job interview process that having some kind of career-related work experience was critical to getting employers to notice you and ask you to interview. If possible, I would definitely advise your child to consider taking a semester or a year off in the middle of his/her program so that they can either work or possibly do full-time research. They could see if the school has research positions available for pay for a semester, or maybe there would be a coop job in a company that does research. I would think that devoting that much time to research would help with grad school admissions. I also like the idea of using the "extra" time for a double major. Best wishes, Brenda

We had my son send his SAT scores on the free reports to two safety schools and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. This test was before he took the PSAT, but we figured he had a chance at NMF (just barely missed it) and they would need verifying SAT scores. We were pretty confident from many practice test scores that he was going to do pretty well, so I didn't worry too much about sending them sight unseen. In the end, this approach saved us the fees to send the score reports separately later to several places. Brenda

Pam, It sounds like your son is doing more than you think, and learning a bunch of valuable life lessons, no doubt. I don't have much to say in the way of advice, but I'll add you to my prayers. Hang in there, girl! Brenda

Jan, I had exactly the same experience with my oldest son. He used Saxon from 87 - the first part of Advanced Math. The Advanced Math lessons were taking a long time, but he was doing well on the tests. Then he started physics, and I realized that he really couldn't apply the math he'd learned. With Saxon, he had learned to memorize their methodology and not really think about the problems. Advanced Math became tougher because there is just so much content to memorize. He was also frustrated with the book and how much I had to help him. At this point, I gave him the Aleks placement test just to see where he would fall in another program. He ended up testing part way into Algebra 2. I had him use Aleks for a few weeks over the summer to bolster weak areas, and I began looking for another curriculum. I ended up going with Chalkdust PreCalc. My son loved the video instruction and did very well with the book. He went on to use Chalkdust Calc and did well with that, too. He ended up majoring in engineering in college and was well prepared for the math, but thank goodness that we switched away from Saxon when we did. Regarding the Geometry -- That is covered in Saxon through Alg 1, 2, and the first part of Advanced Math. If I were you, as long as you feel pretty comfortable that he understands Geometry, I think I'd give him the credit for that and move on to a different PreCalc text. Best wishes, Brenda

This is what we did as well. Also, I just got an email from the Common App yesterday saying that they have decided to keep the current CA essay prompts and use them again next year. We also found that specific schools' essay topics were not all available over the summer. Some of them didn't come out until early fall. I also agree with whoever suggested that it's good to get testing done junior year. Senior year fall is so busy; it would have killed us to have to study for/take the SAT or subject tests in the fall. HTH, Brenda

I took my oldest out in the 4th grade. Like you, I had volunteered at the ps, and so I saw how little was going on there. With help from TWTM and the ladies here, I felt that my son was doing better at home than at the ps pretty much right from the start of 5th grade. It certainly wasn't an easy road, but looking back (he has now graduated from college), I can say that it was very rewarding. I didn't have complete peace until we had had that first college acceptance in hand, and he had successfully completed a couple of semesters of college. The truth is, there is no assurance with kids, no matter where they go to school. Kids who go to ps or private school also can fall behind or do poorly in college. There are no guarantees in life. I think you just have to take it one year at a time and try to make the best decision for each kid and for your family. HTH, Brenda

My son took NLE 3 after finishing Henle 2, and he did very well. I thought the best prep was having him do many, many of the old NLE exams and analyzing what he got wrong and why. The other thing we did was to review the syllabus carefully and make sure that we'd covered everything -- especially the geography, mythology, history, latin sayings, and cultural terms, which Henle tends to be light in. By carefully looking at these specific questions on past exams, we were able to figure out what to study in these areas. HTH, Brenda

Have you looked at Homeschool Connections (http://homeschoolconnectionsonline.com/)? You can sign up for live on-line courses with them, which I think are pretty reasonable -- although their current web page doesn't yet have offerings for the fall. You can also pay $30/month, and you get unlimited access to their recorded courses. I know my high schooler does better with outside deadlines, etc. Best wishes, Brenda

Heather, One thing I would look into is the employment prospects coming from each of these schools. If #1 has much better job placement, then it would make the decision easier to take on the loans. Also -- if your son has transfer credits, will each school accept them? Does either school (or both) have a coop program where he could do work/school on alternate semesters. If he can do this, he could earn quite a bit that would help offset any potential loans. My son was able to use transfer credits to graduate his uni in 7 semesters. He was able to work a coop job for one semester where he earned a good bit of money. That way, he didn't have to take out any loans his last year, so his overall loan burden was reduced substantially. Just a few thoughts -- Brenda

This isn't exactly true any more. The current AP Latin exam is half Vergil and half Caesar. Henle is all about learning to read Caesar, so there is a lot of practice with typical Caesar vocabulary and typical Caesar sentence structure. My son loved the Vergil half of AP Latin -- Vergil is just so poetic and beautifully done. He found the Caesar part pretty straight forward due to his previous exposure to Henle. My son used Henle at home with me through the end of Book 2 (with MODG syllabi), and then he switched to Lukeion for Latin 3 & 4. He did very well with Lukeion after Henle. His grammar background was rock solid, but he did struggle a bit with increasing his vocabulary, particularly during the Latin 3 year. As the others have said, Lukeion's Latin courses are time-consuming and challenging, but he learned so very much and went on to score well on the NLEs and AP exam. HTH, Brenda

My son who majored in Engineering also used Apologia Bio in 9th grade and got into a competitive (private, not state) college. That said, I thought the course was just OK. I used Prentice Hall Bio with the syllabus from Kolbe with my next son, and I liked that course much, much better. It covered more and was deeper in content than Apologia. JM2Cents, Brenda

I just saw the link for this website on another list. The website is called "Jobs Made Real", and it's run by a California teen group. They have lots of brief youtube videos where they've interviewed people that do many different jobs. The idea is to help teens explore possible career ideas. Maybe looking at some of these would help your dd. http://www.jobsmadereal.com/ Brenda

So sorry to hear about her health problems -- that's got to be so heart-breaking that it's holding her back from doing what she really wants. Just brainstorming here -- if she will be on tour the next 2 or 3 months, maybe she could have a goal of investigating other career options during this time. Maybe get some books like "What Color is my Parachute?" and start making a list of other careers she might investigate if her health does not permit singing & guitar playing. She could read about these and see which of them might be of some small interest and practical to do with her health issues. Prayers for both of you, Brenda

I almost got away with this -- avoiding the Profile all together this time. As of last spring, none of the schools ds was looking at required the Profile, and I was doing a happy dance. Having filled it out for my oldest, I know the pain.... Then late last summer, I discovered, much to my chagrin, that one of the schools added a Profile requirement this year, ugh... So I did have to fill out that blasted form, and pay the $25 bucks for the privilege as well.... At least it's done and in. I will still have to go back and revise the FAFSA because I don't have all the tax paperwork in. It should be straightforward, and I don't expect much to change, at least. Brenda

I'd definitely recommend the high school edition, especially for 8th & 9th graders. I did that course with my son when he was in 8th, and it was one of his favorite hs courses ever. The high school book has more graphics -- some cartoons & pictures -- that break up the text and make it easier reading, especially for a younger student. JM2Cents, Brenda

I agree, and I think that parents/kids who don't research and who are likely to be swayed by the marketing materials are actually in the majority, which is sad. There are also a lot of folks who are really tied up in the whole name recognition/rankings game without a thought about the strength of the major department. The whole system is so frustrating as it is, at least those of us who are somewhat "in the know" know what to expect when our kids put in their applications. Brenda

So sorry he had to go through that. I second the suggestion that he make a request to switch dorm rooms. At a lot of schools, there are open dorm rooms in the second semester because some kids don't come back to school, so maybe he can apply to get moved (with his roommate if he has one) to a different floor or different building. You may have to help guide him through the process, but he'll have to take the lead. The first step would be to speak with the RA. Best wishes in resolving this, Brenda

Christus, I haven't read any of the other replies, but I personally think you handled the transition of your nephew to your house very well. I think you were correct about putting too many limitations on him. What I would suggest is having your dh "come beside him" for a little while until he is up to speed with his assignments. Take the boy out for lunch and/or ice cream where the two of them can calmly discuss the situation and are "trapped" waiting for the food order. I would also suggest that your dh sit down with him and help him with the assignments in the tough area. They could both acknowledge that the assignments are not too meaningful, but your dh needs to have a calm conversation about the realities of failing the course. He needs to be honest about having to take the course again (go through the same pointless stuff a second time???, delay getting on in life???). If he's generally a good kid, it sounds like he just needs a "boost" for a little while to get through a rough patch. At the same time, make sure both of you praise him for the things he is doing well and the progress that he's made. I've had two boys go through 12th grade so far, and even without the family upheaval, it is still a tough time, mostly due to the uncertainty of the future. Your nephew really needs the love and assurance that you guys will support him in his move towards independence. If he wants the military, could your dh go with him to a recruiter to talk about the possibilities and also the reality of needing that high school diploma to move on to the next step? Best wishes and many kudos to you and your dh for taking on the responsibility of "launching" your nephew, Brenda

No advise here other than to send in a ticket to the Common App folks and ask them for advice on this one. Maybe this is something that they can easily change on their end -- hopefully.... Best wishes, Brenda

I agree, and I think this is why admissions at the top schools seem so random to us observers. I suspect that the actual admissions criteria change from year to year depending on what the school's needs are for that particular Freshman class. Since we are outside the system, we can't know what the focus is for this year, and looking at last year's or the year before's data doesn't really do us any good in trying to figure out how to prepare our student to have a very good chance for admission. My take on the whole process is that from within the system, it is not very random at all. These top schools have so many spaces reserved for athletes, URM, trombone players, kids who want to major in their more obscure departments, people who can pay the entire cost w/o scholarships, etc. -- and these things change from year to year and are out of the control of us and our students. I think the best you can do is make your student aware of how the system works and how unlikely their chance of success is at some of the top schools. I know it's hard to be deferred or rejected, but they need to understand not to take it personally because it's likely due to something not in their control. Brenda

My only suggestion in this case would be to file the FAFSA as soon as possible after January 1 that you can. That way it is filed a ways before the summer so you should theoretically have smaller summer savings at that time of year. Also, I believe that you have to state the amount in your bank accounts when you first file the FAFSA, and then if you need to update it, you do not change the amounts in the bank accounts. This way, you could pay fixed bills (like property tax, car insurance) ahead of time to "draw down" your balance as well. You can also file the FAFSA right after January 1 even before your taxes are ready using estimates. Then when you go back to update the FAFSA after the taxes are done, I don't believe you update the bank account balances. Again, I would suggest asking some of this on College Confidential. There are some really knowledgeable folks on there. HTH, Brenda

As I understand, Pell grants are determined on EFC, and 20% of a child's saving are added on to the EFC in most cases. However, there are some cases, depending upon the child's age (under 24) and the parents income, where they qualify for an "Auto zero" EFC. In that case, I don't think savings effect the EFC. I would suggest that you research this a bit more before she files her FAFSA for next year. There are many folks on the College Confidential forum in the financial aid section that are really knowledgeable about the FAFSA, so I would suggest asking your question there. Brenda

In Latin 3, the writing assignments are word studies, where the student chooses a Latin word from the assigned passages and does some light research on the history/usage of the word and writes an essay describing the results. In Latin 4, the writing assignments are sample AP Latin exam essays. As the other person mentioned, on the biweekly quizzes in Latin 3 & 4, there are essay questions. So your student will get a good amount of practice with writing. Given how much weight the essay is on the AP exam, being a quick, thorough, and logical essay writer is important in scoring well on the AP exam (as is having a good vocabulary so you can make a decent showing on the sight passages). Brenda

8, I don't see any advantage to taking the harder test. If she did the regular "3" this year, then if she continues with Latin, she would have one of the 3/4 tests to take next year, and then the following year, she could do the other 3/4 test or the 5/6 test. Either way, she wouldn't run out of NLE tests to take because you can take the 5/6 level twice -- once for 5 and the other for 6. Brenda