Hello, We have a rising senior. I have a lot of work. I haven't done a transcript yet. I have read through many of the links but it is all so overwhelming. What is involved with the common application? I have read bits and pieces about a guidance counselor and teacher letters. Overwhelming. Can someone explain or link for me what is involved in the application and how to go through it. How long does this take? An advice from those that have been there I would appreciate it! Thanks! Carpe Diem

Thanks everyone. We will stay away from the GED.

DD is a rising senior (we took an extra year for high school.) She just turned 18. She inquired about part-time jobs at the local hospital. Requirements are one must be 18 and hold a diploma or GED. Is it possible to get the GED just for the sake of a possible job but then still finish her last year and graduate with a diploma and hopefully scholarships or is that completely a bad idea? Thanks.

Thank you.

Hi everyone, Sorry if this has been asked many times already. How do you go about doing a gap year? Do you apply and do all the financial aid the year they are seniors or do you apply the next year while in the gap year? Thanks! Carpe Diem

Thanks again. So there isn't a specific dollar amount that if one makes over that amount then no financial aid? It varies from school to school? Are we better to fund our retirements to the fullest with pretax dollars to reduce our income or does that not matter? I am not sure if I should take a part-time job if it pushes us over an income level. This is what I want to be sure I understand.

Oh sorry. When you fill out the FASFA does this only apply to grants and financial aid? Scholarships come from each school if they feel like providing them to you? What are the income levels that you cut you off from financial aid? I am thinking about taking a job but worrying that it will push us over a limit that would make it harder for my daughter to afford school. I would hate to earn $500 too much and push us over but yet not have money to pay for school. YKWIM? Does the FASFA take into account medical bills? Some of or income would be from having to use retirement money. Any advice r links for further reading would be helpful. For now I am looking at magical cut off numbers. I have a lot to learn! Thanks!

Thanks.

Thanks!

Also, can you take more than once? Do the schools see all of your scores? Thanks you! Carpe Diem

Which book in the Ultimate series should I purchase? 12th?

Thanks Cbollin! You are a gem. I will investigate those links. Thanks for the videos! So, Ultimate Series books sound like a good lead. Would that be better than Fix Its from IEW? Does anyone know if there will be a new REAL ACT book to coincide with the fall dates and the change in the writing section?

Hello Everyone, Thanks for your replies and good information. TrixieB these are her subscores: English 29 Usage/Mechanics-14 Rhetorical Skills-17 Mathematics 23 Pre-Algebra/Elem-13 Algebra/Coord. Geom-11 Plane Geometry/Trig-11 Reading 32 Social Studies/Sciences-17 Arts/Literature-15 Science 26 Writing 8 She has taken the test 2 other times. The first was before she even had Geometry That was more just to give her the experience as she had a friend to go with her. She scored a composite of 22. A year later after geometry, she scored a composite of 25. This year in April she scored the 28 as stated above. Her reading jumped from a 25 to 32. Hopefully, that wasn't a fluke and she could repeat that score. English went up 1 point. Math stayed the same (23) Science up 2 points. To prepare this time she read a book call the Act Prep Black Book and worked through problems from the Real ACT book. After finishing that she worked on the tests one subject at a time and reviewed her errors via the Real ACT book which gives explanations. In the end she finished all of the 5 tests in that book with doing 2 as whole tests. She wrote a couple essays. I then bought her( the day or two before the test): Up Your Score ACT(she skimmed through this) and The Princeton Review Cracking the ACT (she read the English section and did the review/drill and maybe some of the math in there, too.) I have the test from the local school, her test from last year and her answers and then I bought the test/her answers for this past administration but it hasn't arrived yet. There are also tests in the Princeton Review book but I don't know if those are "real" ACT tests. Annie1456 & Jenny in FL, given that we have these books (Princeton Review still has some more material to cover) would it be worth it to buy the books you have suggested? Since the book Annie suggested goes over the Real ACT book questions and she has already done all the tests I am not sure if it is worth it but I am willing to purchase it if you think it would help. Thank you Jenny in FL for offering to help us with some questions. I think I will take you up on that in the near future. Thanks Katilac for linking the Magnet Man science videos. When I looked at those before it seemed that there was one missing. Does anyone know if that is missing? I will also check out testive as you suggested. Thank you Cbollin for linking the ACT book he references. I would have never found that myself!! MtnTeaching are you referring to the SAT Math prep by Chalk Dust? I actually have those. Just the videos I don't know if there are any worksheets or books. I wanted her to watch those but she was reluctant but that will be good to have her do those. Thank you if you have read this!!! If there is any other input or suggestions I would love to hear your opinions. I appreciate your time and advice. Carpe Diem

Hi Everyone, I want my dd to try one more time for an improved ACT score. She scored as follows... Composite:28 English:29 Math:23 Reading:32 Science:26 She needs to work on speed for math as well as just some of the concepts. We hope we can raise that up a few points. If anyone has suggestions there please let me know. I think improving her English score is possible, to get it in the mid 30s to boost up the composite. Except, I am not sure how to go about this. I have analyzed some of her errors in her practice tests. Some were silly errors but there were about 3 or 4 problems where I didn't know the correct answers because several sounded as if they could be correct choices for the answer. I think some had to do with active vs. passive voice and maybe avoiding dangling modifiers. So aside from doing more practice tests (she has done the whole Real ACT plus another test) what program or idea do you have for boosting English? I was thinking IEW Fix-Its but not sure if this is a good idea or which one to do (do I start with the first one?) She is a rising Senior. I think she will do an AP English Lit course. Maybe this will help. I do plan on having her do more prep with the Princeton Book and the Magnet guy's videos to help her with science. Any ideas?? Thank you so much!

Thanks everyone.

Is it based on 4 years of Spanish or can you do well on 2 years? Also, what is the difference between Spanish and Spanish with listening? Is the latter more conversation based vs. more grammar based? Thanks!

What does DE mean? If you have a child that will be a senior in the fall when is the best time to take the SATII? If you take it after the AP test which are in May won't that be too late for applying for college. Thanks.

Thank you to everyone who replied. Both classes sound good! it is nice to hear positive feedback from here. My dd is feeling more reassured.

Thanks Azmom. Did your daughters feels well prepared for the test?

Hello, My eldest daughter, who is a senior and has not taken any AP classes, is considering (at our suggestion) taking English Lit through Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Online classes. The two options still open are between H. Green and L. Serbicki. My daughter is a bit nervous and apprehensive about this idea. I think once she gets into it she will enjoy it. She does not think she would enjoy live online classes. She doesn't want to spend a lot of time interacting with other students. Also, she is nervous about the workload. So in a nut shell she wants me to ask the Hive which instructor is the easiest. Lol. As her parents, we want the class that she will get the most out in the form of improved writing skills and the one that will best prepare her for the exam and ultimately give her more confidence and prepare her for college. Both teachers have good reviews. Any input? Thank you! Carpe Diem

Hello, My eldest daughter, who is a senior and has not taken any AP classes, is considering (at our suggestion) taking English Lit through Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Online classes. The two options still open are between H. Green and L. Serbicki. My daughter is a bit nervous and apprehensive about this idea. I think once she gets into it she will enjoy it. She does not think she would enjoy live online classes. She doesn't want to spend a lot of time interacting with other students. Also, she is nervous about the workload. So in a nut shell she wants me to ask the Hive which instructor is the easiest. Lol. As her parents, we want the class that she will get the most out in the form of improved writing skills and the one that will best prepare her for the exam and ultimately give her more confidence and prepare her for college. Both teachers have good reviews. Any input? Thank you! Carpe Diem

Oh my goodness. I am sorry. I forgot about my post here. Thank you everyone who replied. To answer some questions we would have about 18 days to travel from home and back. We could get a couple more days if needed. We were planning May 22 to June 8th. However, I think that would put us at arriving Memorial Day weekend which would be bad I think. Thanks again. I promise to check back again sooner. Not sure what was going on in my life but something must have come up!!!!

Thanks for reading and any input. Would it be detrimental to spread out h.s. to 5 years for my college bound daughter? She is missing a couple credits which would be the main reason but there are a few other positives of going another year. 1. She is working on her figure skating. She is making nice progress and would like another year to compete on the local high school team (which would be allowed as it is a club sport.) 2. Going another year would allow her to finish her h.s. diploma in piano which is a nice accomplishment and according to her teacher counts towards college credit. 3. She could study further in science and math. 4. She could do an AP class. 5. She would still graduate as an 18 year old. 6. She does not want to graduate yet. Needs more time to mature. In going to a 5 year plan would this be a detriment? How would we do her transcripts by subject rather than years? She went to the local h.s. for freshmen year. Would we count that as 8th grade? We are also thinking about maybe we should just say she graduates this year. She would have a senior solo in the ice show. I know not a big deal but skating is a big deal to her. If she graduates next year then she would have her solo then. If we say she graduates this year we could maybe count next year as a gap year but have her finish up the couple credits and then squish that into her senior year on her transcripts. Or is this illegal somehow? Thank you for reading and for any input.

Hello! We are wondering how to go about taking a trip to Utah to see all the National Parks: Arches, Canyon Lands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion and Grand Canyon. We have 18 days from leaving our house to when we have to get back. We have been to Yellowstone and Glacier. We know what to do there but feel a bit apprehensive about going to the South West. We are trying to decide if we should pull our pop up camper from MI or just drive in the van and get hotels or another possibility is getting a rental house and taking day trips. Is it easy to find campsites? Are there a lot of sites? Is it difficult to pull a camper. ie. tight fit, sharp corners? I am wondering also if it is necessary to go to all of these Parks or is it more like if you see one of them you have seen them all. My husband wants to go to all of them while I am wondering if we should pick 3 and spend more time in each one. Is there a favorite park? One that has several hikes that are easy for a family? Is there one that has more to offer with ranger talks etc? Nicer bathrooms? LOL!! Thanks for any input you might have to share!!!

Hello! I was wanting to have my dc do an AP class. She is adamantly against any online classes. *sigh* Do you have suggestions on how to put together an AP class? Are there AP classes in a box? :) Thanks!