You may have already done this, but have you looked at private Islamic schools (either here or abroad)? When I was starting I found it helpful to look and see what curriculum/books the private schools were using in their classes. Sometimes they have information on their websites, or you could express interest and get more information via mail/e-mail. I still ended up re-inventing the wheel in some cases, but I've got to imagine there is already a literature/history program in existence. It may not be as rigorous as TWTM, but it would give you a place to start.

That made me think of The Black Hole War by Leonard Susskind. Ds really enjoyed that one.

True, we did SO many visits, so came out at the end knowing he chose the best place given all of the constraints. He's loving it there, but I could see him wondering if he hadn't had an opportunity to visit the other schools.

I think about that. Now that I have a fitbit, I can verify what I already knew: I climb 20-30 flights a day just living here. We have an enormous home, because we bought one with a full two bedroom apartment in the basement for my parents. Mom is gone, Dad is in AL, ds is in the dorms during the week, and dh travels. So it's mostly just the dogs and I in an embarrassing number of square feet. We have some renovations to do to sell, so over the next year (as I recover from this illness), we'll have those done. We hope to be to market next spring. We still want a small in-law suite for ds, but we will be going smaller. Unfortunately the price will stay about the same, beacause we want to move closer into town with access to public transportation.

There were plenty of places to include everything on the Common App. Some colleges had their own applications, and we didn't include extra on any. One college only accepted one letter of recommendation and told us that they keep the first that arrives and throw away the rest. Most were pretty insistent that we not send bunches of stuff. The only "extra" I included was the supplemental transcript with course descriptions, book lists, and all. He applied to quite a few, and I chose to make a complete supplemental that covered all of the requests. I sent it to all of the colleges rather than tailoring it for each. (I was nearly insane at that point in the application process anyway.) I did have a one page transcript that covered the basics for colleges that didn't really want to read further.

I'm so sorry :grouphug: It's hard to see our loved ones hurting and feel helpless.

Ds ended up at and LOVES a college that he was so "meh" about that we almost didn't visit, so I would say try to make it.

It's been a long time, but I remember enjoying Flatterland by Ian Stewart. I read through quite a few "sequels" way back when and that was the only one I liked. I do remember it being a bit silly in parts.

Hmmm, maybe it's odd. I saw my high school transcript as the "high school credit" part of DE. Since our state does 0-100 grades on high school transcript, I used his exact grade from the college classes. So I gave more information than the college transcript, but it was consistent.

Ds got actual final averages in his DE classes. They aren't on the transcript, but they were on the online portal for each class. Or I guess you can figure them from test scores and syllabus. I used his actual DE class grades where I had to have 0-100 scale grades.

Yes, it would be a fine high school chemistry course. It looks like it is the college chemistry class that non-science majors take. Just so you know: It might not count for college credit toward her degree depending on her major and college. Some majors, even math, require the "chemistry for science majors" classes (which would be CHEM 1500 and 1600 in your case). A five on the Chemistry AP test also often gets credit for those science major classes. If she enjoys the CHEM 1100, she could follow up with AP or the higher level. We chose DE classes based on what ds needed and wanted as a high-school student, NOT whether they would count toward his degree. If he got credit, it was a bonus. But I think it's good to know, so she isn't expecting to be able to skip college chemistry because she had a college class and get surprised. It's a possibility, but not a guarantee.

This is how it is at ds's school.

I'd say 5,000-10,000 a day. That's what I take for maintenance. It's better for me take it every day than the larger dose twice a week pills. I wouldn't take a dose at night. It's called the sunshine vitamin, and it can cause insomnia if you take it at night.

If you are asking about mine above, I don't notice much lemon flavor with the strong ginger, garlic and soy. I could probably leave it out and not notice a difference. Or maybe replace it with some rice wine vinegar?

I do a ginger-garlic salmon. I grate ginger and crush garlic in about equal amount (and I use LOTS so the top of the salmon is covered), then mix it with tamari sauce (soy is probably fine, but the tamari I use is gluten free) and lemon juice. I spoon the sauce (really more a topping over the fillets and bake. If the fillets are thick, it seems to be better to let them marinate in the sauce for 30 minutes to an hour before baking. Sometimes I just marinate them in lemon juice and tamari while I get the ginger and garlic ready.

Thinking of you this morning :grouphug:

Many U.S. universities have "Honors" sections of the same core classes to take care of this. The Honors section is usually small with a professor heavily involved in research. The basic concepts are covered, but since the students are more advanced, the professor can spend more time on advanced topics and applications. Sometimes they barely resemble the regular level core class. It's been a long time, but I took honors intro calc and physics classes at Georgia Tech, and they were a whole different ballgame than the core. If your ds is just looking at course descriptions, he may not be seeing opportunities like honors classes. As to the small-big fish, I would encourage him to be careful. It sounds like he is an enormous fish where he is, but having the pendulum swing ALL the way to the other side may create an enormous amount of stress. There are downsides to the other side that he hasn't experienced and may not be able to factor in meaningfully. A middle fish might be good for undergrad, being so far away from home, and then he can get into an elite grad school to be a small fish.

I agree. Drink green tea for a while. Then your old coffee will taste wonderful ;-)

A few ds and I read and enjoyed last year: Warped Passages by Lisa Randall The Black Hole War by Leonard Susskind How to Teach Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel (I think the new edition is titled How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog, though the content was always quantum.) How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog by Chad Orzel (The second one that I think made him retitle the first) And one of my older favorites: Relativity Visualized by Lewis Carroll Epstein (the author of the most awesome Thinking Physics book)

This is such a terrible idea, but I'm sure it will be pushed right through. I was wondering about pregnancy coverage this morning. If you and your spouse show the possibility of an inherited genetic problem, could they refuse to cover the pregnancy? It sure would save money to not have to cover babies with health problems, but that is just all kind of wrong!

Thank You!

Ds talked to his advisor and plans to take a few CLEP tests this summer to get some core out of the way so he can focus on other classes. I was going to buy him study books with sample tests since it's been awhile since he had these classes in high school. Any suggestions for: American History I and II American Government English, not sure which one yet Thanks

I've was "lucky" enough to have all of my parents' stuff in my house. It took ages and my body is still recovering two months later. I do have one suggestion. Get file boxes to sort stuff into. You can buy them in bulk from amazon. If there is anyone that will be getting things, put their name on a box. As you go through things, if you find a card from that person, or a picture of that person, or something that person might like throw it in the box. They can decide to keep it or not, but it is very freeing to pass decisions on to someone else. There is so much guilt throwing away something that you think someone might have wanted to have. You could also have boxes for branches of the family if there is a responsible person for each. This was also great for multiples of things, like wedding programs and death announcements. Toss one in each box and recycle the rest. It may even work for the less valuable statues..."These all look about the same, one for each!" The more valuable or potentially contentious things I packed by category. Another suggestion is, if things are dusty or moldy, have everyone wear a mask. Multiple bouts of pneumonia and bronchitis slow the process. I'm not actually done yet, as Dad is in a home and still sometimes wants things. There are 100 boxes at a storage facility, so we can retrieve things as he wants, but it is so helpful to know that I have gone through the things that were meaningful and they are separate from the things that can be directly donated.

Well I hate the whole concept, but as a morning person, I prefer the spring one, during the adjustment period. Instead of falling asleep at 7pm, I can be more normal and stay awake until 8pm :-) (In other words, in a couple of days, I will be typing this at the breakfast table at 3:45 am instead 2:45 am...more normal, right?)

I would let him decide. The advantages of having an AA don't outweigh the possibility that he will get burned out doing something he hates and never want to try again. I learned with mine that it is better, YMMV. I would, however, find out as much as I could about the pros and cons of each choice and lay them out for him, so he has the information to make his decision.