Ds has had an audible subscription for years and we have also shopped sales, so we have hundreds of books in our library. He's the avid listener, but some of my favorites are: The Dresden files series by Jim Butcher (The first is Storm Front.) Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain by Barbara Strauch If you share some other books you have liked, it might help me think of others.

I always draw a blank when someone asks, but this reminds me. We haven't finished it yet but we are loving the Teaching Company's Secret Life of Words. It is awesome!

I've never gotten sick from PF Changs. It's one of my go-to chains for travel as they seem to be consistently careful.

Every school is different, but from my reading of the few I looked at: 1) For scholarships you must commit, but that is not always a choice that is available. Some scholarships are just for the fall you applied and you must re-apply. It seems easier to hold an acceptance than funding, but I've never looked at the highly competitive schools. 2) If you have not committed, you can continue applying. 3) Yes, SAT and ACT matter unless you are old enough to be non-traditional or have credits to be a transfer. 4) I don't know, but if you are applying late you can take the April and June, so I don't know why not. Some rolling applications can be sent quite late in the summer. Taking them at the end of the gap year might be questioned, but it must happen with students who suddenly decide they want to go to college after all. In my experience, AP tests cannot be taken after graduation year, only in high school. CLEP can be taken any time. 5) Taking community college classes means you are not an incoming freshman and would be treated as a transfer student. Taking classes seems to be consistently forbidden for gap years. Enriching yourself with Coursera and non-credit options seems to be fine. 6) Some schools require an "essay" explanation of what you plan to do and/or what you did. I don't think you have to do anything magnificent, but you need to articulate its value. Definitely check with the school, some just have a form and others make decisions on a case-by-case basis after talking to the student. I seemed to get a "well, it depends" answer frequently when I tried to make calls. And a big dose of sympathy from me. I will be SO glad when everything is decided.

Thanks! It definitely has a commuter vibe (though the commute there is pretty awful). The Honors College does have a Living Learning Community in a section of one of the dorms that seems nice. He's such an introvert that the "college experience" doesn't appeal to him. He's interested in the academics and interesting conversations. Atlanta may just end up being too bustling for him, but it does look like a really good program.

We went on a tour and were quite impressed. I didn't see anyone else on the thread of acceptances, but I was wondering if anyone had experience to share. The Honors College seems like it is an excellent support system in many ways. It's the first one that really feels like a small LAC within a giant school to me. Ds does have a small local LAC as a comparable option, but it doesn't seem like it has the academic excellence of the honors college. The biggest downsides of GSU seem to be the crime and traffic/commute.

Love the Swan and Dolphin. You can walk to Epcot from there!

I've known women who have been burned, too. I hope you have had the time to consult an attorney. The "staying in the house" thing is more important in some states than others. I know we are all strangers and you know your situation best, but sometimes when everyone else is yelling "Fire," there really is one. A recent example on the forum comes to mind: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/586861-what-can-go-wrong-update-in-149

To update: Ds was invited to the Honor's College at Georgia State (his acceptance is already on the list). He was accepted at the University of Oregon (but Honor's College notifications haven't come out yet). And he has been accepted at Kennesaw State University.

Thanks for the extra info. We hope to get down there this week.

Bumping this thread again, because Oglethorpe is now looking affordable for us (if we can get the exemption for him to live at home). teachermom2834, did you get a chance to visit? Is it still an option on your list? I've found a couple of sites that have student reviews: https://www.unigo.com/colleges/oglethorpe-university https://colleges.niche.com/oglethorpe-university/ We are going to try to go this week or next. I know someone who lives near campus, and he loves its community involvement, the lectures, the library, and the museum. Our lawyer is an alum, so I'm going to try to set up some time this week for ds to see him.

This is more my philosophy, so I hate the conventional wisdom that I have to stay out of it.

I listened to the audiobook, but am getting the book for another, more thorough, read. So many of the concepts in the book are how ds functions best (and why homeschooling was appropriate for him). He is starting college with all of the associated busyness, so he'll have to fight to protect his deep thinking time. My most productive times were when deep work was possible for me. As I am preparing to re-enter the workforce, it's been a great reminder of what I need. I found inspiring. He also has some very useful ideas on how to organize deep work around different professional lifestyles. The only complaint I have is that it is mostly for professionals. There is not much acknowledgement of "life" affecting deep work or that deep work is a luxury for some people. I had this background annoyance that he probably has a wife at home that handles real life that intrudes on any ability to focus: calls from the school/daycare/assisted living center, family issues, bills, paperwork, taxes, pets, the HOA, the plumber, and so on. (But that may be my own issues leaking in as I am the administrivia manager for our household.)

So I know that the students should make all of the calls, and calls from busy body parents are discouraged, but when is it OK to call for information, if ever? Wouldn't a college rather talk to a parent, let's say to give said parent ammunition to "sell" the school? Or would it just be better to let it fall off the list? I also can't help but think I might be able to prod a little more offering for an out-of-reach school, but ds is only considering the offer in hand. I'm guessing this is one of the cases I need to just "Let it go!" but I was wondering if anyone else ever breaks down and calls.

Same thing happened to us, so be careful if you aren't making the purchase contingent. Banks seem to overestimate a great deal on "how much house you can afford" calculations, so in our case, we could afford both mortgages (in their opinion) and we didn't have to do anything special with the second loan. It would have been more complicated otherwise (we would have had to make one loan contingent on the other being paid off.) Since we had to pay both for a year(!), I'm glad we didn't overbuy.

I had a great relationship with my mom before she passed. She was my best friend (besides dh) for 20 years. She respected my decisions, stopped trying to be my parent, and was a great friend. Ds is 18 now, and we are close. It's a stressful time with college looming, and I have to keep remembering to step back because he is an adult now. He plans to live at home for at least his first year of college, so I would say most of our issues now are more roommate type things. Respect is probably the number one key to keeping things good: Respect for decisions, space, time, feelings, and each others' needs. Second would be compromise in my opinion: I think it was one of the advice columnists said about marriage that each spouse should give in about 75% of the time (because 50% always feels like at least 75%!). I think the same would be true for adult children, particularly those you live with. I don't consider myself having the upper hand in the relationship because I am the parent. (My mother lived with us for years before she passed, so I've experienced the roommate thing from that side, too.)

I've been researching this to try to figure out ds's tax stuff. I think the quote above only refers to "earned" grant or scholarship money, like graduate or undergraduate teaching or research fellowship, where you are working for the money. Merit or need scholarships wouldn't fall under this instruction.

To make your grandma feel better: I have visited LOTS of these places in the last three months. They mean that they are not *providing* the TV or phone that you see in the picture, as in "It is not included in the cost." Every single one of them will allow you to bring your own TV and telephone and you can pay for cable, phone service, internet service or whatever you want direct from Comcast, AT&T, etc. It's just their way of saying that utilities are included except for phone and cable. I have yet to see one that does not allow TVs and telephones (and would not consider having my relative live in such a thing!)

I said pay rent from personal experience of seeing the financial situation I put us in from years of elder care. In prime retirement funding years, it can really make a difference. In my case care was time-consuming, so I couldn't work as much as I had planned in those years. There is a gut reaction of "You can't make your parents pay; you owe them!" (I suffered from that guilt, and did not do what I am recommending.) But think about it a different way. That money is simply an inheritance. When the money is gone, you will still take care of your parent for free (I would have.) If the money wasn't even there, you would take care of her. The only people you are taking the money from is your siblings (or other heirs), and most people (even said heirs) will think that is fair: You should be compensated for taking the lion's share of the care right now (and it is lots more than you think.) So if you are the sort of family that will take care of her no matter what, the decision really rests with the heirs. I think the sibling that takes on the care should get fair compensation, even if it means that, in effect, they will get a larger share of the inheritance. (If you were going to throw her out on the street when the rent/expense money ran out, I would think differently ;-) )

Find another doctor! Not because those meds are necessarily wrong, but because she needs a doctor who has the time to develop a treatment plan and explain it. If she can't find another pulmonologist, maybe try an ENT or allergist. There is some overlap in practice.

I follow what our local county school does. It's easy to justify it that way. They give 1 point for AP and DE for all courses, however the transcript has two separate GPAs: one that is for all courses and one that is for core courses only.

AACK! Ds just got a 1098-T for Dual Enrollment! It's free in our state, but I had no idea it created a taxable event. We've been working on our taxes and FAFSA (and my dad's taxes) and I thought I was done! So the amount billed (box 2) is about three times the scholarship amount (box 5). From the directions, one would think there is something deductible, but we didn't actually pay anything, so that wouldn't be very honest. I guess the college discounts the amount for the state. Since these are entirely imaginary numbers, I really have no clue what to do. :confused1: Guess I'm off to do more research.

Almost done with ds18. He's in dual enrollment part-time and self-educating this year, so I'm not really teaching, just tutoring as necessary. He's making great grades in college honors classes and is growing up wonderfully. It has not been perfect; yes, one butts heads with a teen occasionally (or anyone you live with round-the-clock), but our relationship is good. When we have problems, we work them out. There are always things you wish you could go back and change, but I would never change homeschooling all the way through. It's been great for us.

My ds carries one of the Timbuk2 bags to college.

My mother was in home hospice here at our house. She required round-the-clock care for what turned out to be three months. Hospice staff provided about an hour a day; we provided the other 23 ourselves. Hospice nurses were available 24/7 by phone to us, and in an emergency they would make an additional visit, but they mostly guided us by phone. We did have the option to pay a home health care company for additional hours of help. The only way 24/7 would have been available to us was if she was in the hospice facility (which I guess is similar to a nursing home?)* My MIL was in home hospice with her family for years and the same hour a day was true. More care required a trip to the hospital. Another note is that in the real world, you don't always know when those final 24-48 hours are. There are lots of..."OK, this is it. Gather the family." And then it's not. Check your state. It may be that you have awesome benefits that provide someone in the home 24/7, but I've never heard of that. *ETA: I'm not sure if Medicare would have paid for everything if we moved her to the hospice facility. I never checked into it because Mom wanted to stay home.