We're in Texas, but she's interested in out-of-state schools. Good to know about your daughter's experience in Senegal. I'm very nervous, but she's so excited for such an adventure. Looking forward to being on the other side of the college app process! I'm sure it will be a big relief to her to have it taken care of before she leaves so she can focus on her experience there.

I've not been on the forums for a while, but DD2 received a YES Abroad Scholarship to study for a year in Senegal, so we're suddenly needing to move up the college application process considerably so that she can finish applications before she leaves. She is pretty sure she wants to go into nursing, potentially with a long-term goal of Nurse Practitioner or CNM. My concerns are that she doesn't have nursing experience (so it's hard to know if she'll change her mind), and I'd really like her to have a broader liberal arts education before focusing in on a career area. Picking a school based on nursing programs significantly limits this part of the college experience, as far as I can tell. Does anyone have any advice on smaller, liberal arts colleges that also have a nursing program? Or good recommendations on nursing programs that have unique approaches with perhaps more emphasis on humanities and the arts? Thanks! ~shewhoseeks

On the financial front, I'm feeling especially grateful for how things worked out, because we very nearly screwed this up. My daughter applied to schools with big scholarships (like SMU's president's scholars, or the Duke/UNC Robertson Scholar program), to a nearby school that offered good merit aid for high scores (but oops- apparently only for National Merit Finalists; the very high actual SAT score taken only a few weeks later counted for nothing), and to some top reach schools that meet need without loans. I overlooked an actual FINANCIAL safety somehow, and when I realized this and suggested my daughter apply for an in-state school, we found that they had a very early deadline that had passed. So all private or out-of-state tuition schools. Gulp. For us, even though SMU, OU, and New College gave scholarships, there would have been substantial loans and there was a large gap between their package and our EFC. UNC-Chapel Hill gave us a financial package that met our need, but would have required at least $9K in loans/year. We were considering this. Swarthmore met our need (everything but the EFC + some change), without loans. I will definitely put more thought into financial safeties next time around! At least one or two in-state financial safeties, a couple of schools that offer good merit aid, and a reach or two that meet need without loans.

Final results for my first daughter to graduate Acceptances: Southern Methodist University- $20k/yr scholarship University of Oklahoma New College of Florida-$15k/yr scholarship University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Swarthmore Waitlist: Brown Colorado College Duke Rejected: Oberlin Pretty sure she'll be attending Swarthmore, though she may decide to stay on the waitlist for Brown, since it's been her dream school for so long. I think Swarthmore will really be a better fit for her, though, and it was by far the best financial package. She'll be visiting for their Ride the Tide program in late April. Glad that's over!

My daughter got accepted to Swarthmore!! Great financial package too. This is such a huge relief and a perfect school for her. I'm so excited for her! ~shewhoseeks

My oldest daughter, homeschooled since third grade, is now 4/4 for college acceptances!! She's been accepted at University of Oklahoma, Southern Methodist University, New College of Florida, and UNC-Chapel Hill! We're still waiting to hear back from her real reaches, but it feels good to have some options. Thanks to all of those here that have helped out along the way! ~Shewhoseeks

I'm trying to fill out the mid year report for the Common App, which asks for an updated transcript and GPA. I included semester grades for all of my daughter's current courses, but only one of them was a dual enrollment course that is now completed (and I will compute that in with the cumulative GPA). The rest are year-long courses. Do the semester grades for these courses get figured into the GPA somehow? I wouldn't think so, but then I've read about how some people wait to send in applications until they get the senior first semester grades, so I wondered if I was missing something. I just wondered how everyone else handles these grades on the mid year report. Thanks!

I would assume that only dual enrollment courses that are completed would be factored into the GPA, but some things I've read about mid semester grades helping a student's GPA confuse me. Do the other grades affect the GPA at all? Thanks! ~shewhoseeks

nm

My daughter said, "All of the TASPs are very humanities-based, so she should be interested in that experience, but there were several more science-oriented students there too. They kept up with the courses fine and added an interesting different perspective. A lot of them really didn't have much of a humanities background, but they enjoyed it."

And world! There were Taspers from South Korea, Macedonia, Brazil, Guam, and China, as well as all over the country.

Oh, I noticed you said rising seniors. You apply for TASP during the junior year of high school, and attend the summer before your senior year. There is also another program (TASS), for the summer between the sophomore and junior year.

My daughter attended one of the TASP sessions at UMich this summer. She had a wonderful time and really connected to the other students. She's done summer programs before, but this was the first one where she loved everyone. There was a tremendous amount of diversity, which she enjoyed. She said there was a really big workload, which she didn't mind, and the course was really engaging and interesting. Another favorite was the pubspeaks, where they each gave a presentation on any topic that was important to them. So far they're all keeping up with each other afterwards, too, and planning to meet up at college visits. Let me know if you have specific questions! ~shewhoseeks

For anyone that's interested, my daughter DID eventually get accepted to TASP! She agonized over the decision. We were so impressed with how well-run the NSLI-Y China program was, and China has been her dream for years (she's been studying Mandarin for seven years). Ultimately, though, she chose TASP because it's such a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She hopes to make it to China next summer or possibly for a gap year. She set high goals for herself and has worked so hard, so I'm beyond thrilled that these kinds of opportunities are coming through for her!

Thanks Gwen! I know that's wise. I'll just remind her that she doesn't need to worry about that yet. She is VERY excited about the interview!

She'll definitely be the one to make the decision, but she's really torn. I think she's leaning towards TASP, because you can *only* do that the summer between your junior and senior years, while there may be future opportunities for China. I'm a little worried that she may be making that decision based on the prestige issue, though, and I know that China would be such a different experience and build on so much that she's worked on. Has anyone done either? Or know if top schools would view the NSLI-y experience highly as well? That might help her just go straight with whatever she really prefers... She can't defer TASP, but it is possible to re-apply for NSLI-y. I kind of feel that they wouldn't give it to her a second time, though, if she turned it down this year. Or would they understand the other opportunity? Again, this is probably "borrowing trouble from tomorrow", but she's trying to think it through as she's preparing for her interview.

We just found out yesterday that my 16 yo DD has been chosen for the NSLI-y program in China! This covers all expenses for her to spend six weeks studying in China this summer, and she is beyond excited!! She has been studying Mandarin for seven years: through a Chinese school, on her own, with a local tutor, and now through the John Hopkins CTY online AP course. So this is certainly the culmination of many years of hard work, and an incredible opportunity for her. However, she is also a finalist for the very prestigious Telluride summer program. She's one of 140 finalists (from over 1200 applicants world-wide) for 64 slots. She'll have her interview sometime in the next couple of weeks. Now, this isn't a problem yet, but my question was whether the Hive has advice for which she should choose if she ends up getting into both programs? I think she'd be a perfect fit for TASP, and she would absolutely thrive on the intellectual atmosphere there. She also sees that as a once in a lifetime opportunity. But she's never traveled internationally, and the China opportunity seems like such a perfect next step for her. She is looking at very selective schools too, and I know TASP is very well regarded. Any thoughts? Thanks! ~shewhoseeks

Thanks! This is definitely helpful info to ponder, as she is aiming for top schools. The reason for AP level is mainly because I was planning on signing her up for the course through PA Homeschoolers, and I thought she'd have a lot of fun interacting in both stats and computer science. Calculus I would teach at home.

The fact that she may end up needing to take calculus anyway is part of what makes me think it could wait. I do want her to study calculus at some point. She doesn't have any background in computer science, so I was thinking about that class for the exposure. I don't think she'll decide to take it in college otherwise just because she really has no idea what is involved. But, knowing her skills and other interests, I think she might really enjoy the class and that could impact her later decisions. I'm at the point where I'm considering what she's been exposed to, what she's enjoyed, and what else we can squeeze in before she heads off to college. Would it really make that much difference to colleges if she hasn't already studied calculus? I know she's capable, just not sure it's the best choice for this year.

Which two of these are most valuable for a non-science/engineering kid? Next year will be my daughter's senior year. She's interested in political science, economics, international relations, policy, languages, linguistics, etc. She's a good math student; it's just not her passion. I'm thinking that a solid understanding of statistics could be much more valuable for her than calculus. And I think that with her love of logic and languages, she might really enjoy computer science, but she'd be unlikely to try it in college (especially in a class full of comp sci majors). But I feel weird about not giving her exposure to calculus in high school. I'd hate for her to never learn calculus, but I expect it's the one she'll be most likely to eventually have as a requirement, so maybe it could wait? She's very clear that she doesn't want to take three AP level math classes. :) What does the hive say?

I've been starting to purge on my days off work. I keep getting sidetracked by so many projects I want to do that have been put off, or things I need to buy to get things in better shape. I've decided, though, that I won't start work on the painting and other home-improvement projects I want to do until I finish de-cluttering. And I'm going to try to pay for those projects with the stuff I need to sell. On a similar note, my DH and I made a pact that we have to "earn" dollars to eat out by miles we walk/jog. Hit both the exercising and budgeting we need to do at once! Now if we can only stick with it...

Absolutely. Probably not full-time, and I would definitely use the money to take a college class or other learning experience every semester for the rest of my life. I would feel so unfulfilled if I wasn't doing something that I felt contributed to society/kept me busy and engaged (obviously parenting and homeschooling counts!)

I'm not sure if it's 100% paleo or not, but a paleo friend suggested this really yummy recipe when we went gluten-free. Cut up a ripe pear in a bowl. Top with warm toasted nuts mixed with coconut flakes, cinnamon (I usually used a bit of brown sugar too), and whatever berries or other fruit you like. Serve with cold milk /almond milk. Something about the quantity of pear plus crunchiness of the toasted nuts really helped us make the switch from cereal.

I took five years to get BS (had a baby too), so 22. MA at 35.

Thanks, these were really helpful. I think we get it now- treat the SAT subject tests like an AP exam. She's done well on those, but thought the SATs were just high school level and multiple choice so she didn't prepare enough.