:iagree: Liking alone isn't enough for this. If these parents are making money off of this the kids need to be protected. Union support would be great, but if not, at the very least, state child labor laws should apply.

There are physical therapists that deal with bladder prolapse. I don't know how much they could help in such an extensive situation as yours, but it might be worth a referral if they can get things comfortable before the surgery. Exercises similar to the bridge pose in yoga can rearrange things to be more comfortable for a while. PM me if you want more details.

Just as a note, I would not sign up and then opt out if you don't want your information shared. Once you sign up, the school will likely have permission to share everything it has on you, even if you don't ever fill out a word. It's hard to get that cat back in the bag. I opted-out of my doctor's NoMoreClipboard service and just get my results by going into the office. They used it for their record-keeping anyway, and my information was stolen: billing information and everything they had. I got a free couple of years of monitoring service, but I'm very angry about it. We've been victims of identity theft before to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars that took months to sort out. Just a few health questions may not be a big deal, but I'd wonder what the school system was sharing from their end. They collect lots of info to register kids for school.

Yep, crazy time here! Dh was with me at a coffee shop and proof-reading and making suggestions. We came home because he had real work to do and I'm completely shot. I'll start back in the morning. We've got the school profile and the homeschool supplement questions done. I'm redoing the counselor letter in the morning, and then I'll just have the updates to the transcript and course descriptions. The number one best thing about senior year dual enrollment is that I already have three years of that done!

At this moment, seven straight hours into the Common App today, I really needed to be reminded of that :lol:

Awesome! I know what a coup that is!

Good point in your afterthought...I think some of the things I'm trying to get across are very academic focused, so I'm struggling with coming from the right place.

Do you guys mention the fact that you are the parent or related to the student in the letter? I have this urge to emphasize that I would recommend my guy even if I wasn't related to him (he's every college prof's dream of an engaged, enthusiastic student!), but part of me wonders if that would bring too much unwanted attention to the fact that I am his mother and not enough to the fact that I have taught hundreds and hundreds of kids through the years that I am comparing him to.

Another question- I was looking at the sample School Profile at the College Board. It seems like the school name would be important. We do have a school name for places that need that, but I think that other places don't want a "fake" name. Since the Common App goes to multiple places, I can't decide whether to put a school name on the transcript and school profile or not.

So I have a one page transcript that just looks like a traditional transcript with normal classes and state codes. The State DE school he is attending required a Transcript Supplement with descriptions, textbooks, reading lists, teachers, etc. It turned out to be 13 pages long. I can't find a place to put this on the Common App. Should I make the transcript a 14 page document and just let the real transcript be the first page? Should I only send the one page transcript and wait for them to ask for the rest? 2. There is a question as to if test scores are on the transcript. I didn't put them there, as there is very little room and I thought official copies would be better (plus they are self-reported on the app itself). Should I change the transcript and add them? 3. Are numeric grades necessary on the transcript, since I have a grading scale? The difference between 94 and 96 seems like arbitrary and unnecessary information. Our state does put the specifics on official transcripts, so I was trying to follow that, but I'm not sure. I feel like I'm over-thinking too much of this, but competitive admissions and scholarships already seem so arbitrary, I don't want to do the one little thing to knock him out of the running.

For ranking there is a choice of "None" which makes more sense to me than 1 of 1, but I don't want to hurt ds's chance of scholarship by being too sensible. I did choose "No basis" on all of the other questions. Any thoughts?

Thank you for those flashes of light from the end of the tunnel! I'm making progress with rough drafts of the counselor questions, but I need to recompile that into the school profile. My guys have other things to do today, so I hope I have those done for them to preview tonight. And maybe even get my letter started, and work on the course descriptions, and update the transcript.... We have an EA deadline of 10/15, so it's time for last minute frenzy to kick in.

I guess it could be good for statisticians and data scientists. Someday we may really *need* to know how much of a threat squirrels or macaws are to the American population....and, lo and behold, we'll have the data right there. No more annoying phone surveys asking if you've ever been bitten by a sea lion or sucked into a jet engine.

Can he continue his main essay in that section? :laugh: It turns out 650 words is not nearly enough for him. Earlier today I got the random comment "Spaces are so over-rated" as he contemplated just running the words together to make fewer words.

Thanks! That's great. I just don't have more to say. I feel like this is so high stakes that I don't want to mess up but the truth is rather boring...He learns stuff in a format most suited to the subject, I give him EOC/AP/SAT test and grade it, repeat.

So I have (mostly) finished writing very nice detailed answers to the following questions: And now I'm seeing that the school profile is something separate. Everything that I can think of to put in the school profile is already covered in the above. How did you separate out the information? Or should I just repeat myself in a more formal way (since I can format a document nicely) in the school profile? (BTW, I'm NOT loving this. We have an EA deadline Oct. 15, and I've gotten rather behind!)

Oh, I was not thinking of the main common app essay. I was thinking of ds explaining his education in the special circumstances section. I think I read somewhere that I should do that?

We got married at 2:30 in the afternoon and just had snacks, cake, and punch. It seemed like a time that no one would expect a meal. I didn't have any complaints, but I didn't invite anyone obnoxious, so that may have helped ;)

Just to share: I was on PTU for about 18 months and went into remission. My levels have crept back up several times over the past 17 years, but it wouldn't last and my levels would settle out again. My TSH stays around 0.4. So far I've been able to just take beta blockers for the symptoms during the spells. In those spells, I try to destress my life, get back to yoga and regular massage, and take care of myself. Thyroid storms are a real risk and nothing to take lightly, but waiting it out has worked for me so far. ETA: I do see the endocrinologist every 6-12 months and get regular sonograms of my thyroid. He's a pretty conservative doctor and prefers the surgery, so that's what I'll do if it comes to it.

For these people, I'm thinking it would be less crass to just charge admission for weddings. At least it would be honest and upfront.

They use much,much less in the test than in treatment. It's just to get an image where treatment is enough radiation to destroy the thyroid.

I'm a little late to the Common App, so sorry for resurrecting this thread. My take on this was in the counselor part *I* am supposed to talk about our homeschool, but on the student part, ds is supposed to be discussing his take on it and his philosophy. I was thinking we'd need to coordinate somewhat so they make sense together, but that his reasons for continuing to homeschool and his approach to it will likely be different from mine. Is that what other people have done?

I can agree that the guests should have contacted someone in the wedding party so they wouldn't worry, but then I would be one of those brides worried that my dear guest was in a ditch somewhere and that might affect my day. (Dh will tell that I am obsessed with the danger of ditches.) I guess I can see the argument that they wouldn't know how to get in touch with anyone, but why on earth would I be inviting someone to my wedding that hardly knew me?!? A text doesn't seem like a bad idea, it's not like it would be on during the wedding, but I could check if I was worried, right? I had a small light snacks wedding, but even with a big one. The cost of throwing a wedding is like any other party: It is a gift to the guests! Don't pay more than you can afford to gift your guests. And like with any other gift, don't expect anything in return. (That would make it not a gift, but a bribe or barter!) I can't even imagine the kind of pettiness involved in weddings nowadays. Hopefully Mergath is right and this will kill the trend.

I have a 2! One of the main reasons I'd like to leave the area is the lack of walkability and no public transportation.

[ETA: Should have read the whole thread first...Do check this program, too.] Do either of your parents have any military background? There is a program called Aid and Attendance that helps with hospice type care. It's separate from the VA and some people qualify for it that don't qualify for VA benefits. My dad was reserve and was only called up for service state-side for three months, but because that three months was in war time, he will qualify. Spouses also get the benefit. My mom was in home hospice here the last few months of her life. Hospice was wonderful, but I should have asked for more. I constantly told people I was doing fine. I should have asked for more help from friends, and I should have asked for more and more frequent visits from hospice (they probably would have found a way to get them approved.) My advice: Ask for help and take every bit that is offered. You'll be in my thoughts; I know how hard it is.