Gwen in VA
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Posts posted by Gwen in VA
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I've sent two kids to Washington & Lee (#14 LAC according to the US News ranking), both on merit scholarships.
Dd1 entered W&L the year before the Johnsons; she had a full-tuition scholarship but received full funding for an amazing summer internship opportunity through the Johnson program.
Ds1 entered W&L the following year. He was a Johnson Scholar, and since the Johnson scholarships are large enough to cover not only tuition + room and board but also books and fraternity/sorority fees but he did not join a fraternity, he actually EARNED several thousand dollars per year just by attending W&L!
Seriously, the Johnson Scholarships are amazingly generous. Approximately 10% of the entering freshman class is awarded a minimum of a full-tuition scholarship, though only the tippy-top candidates are awarded the Johnson. Basically, if your student is invited to the scholarship weekend, he will most likely be awarded a full-tuition scholarship even if he does not receive a Johnson.
W&L should be at the top of the list of all top students who want a small private LAC and who are seriously interested in generous merit scholarships.
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Many Common App schools allow you to submit an extra "document" to the Common App. You can use this opportunity to submit a music resume -- a compilation of ALL your daughter's musical experiences. (Google "music resume" for help if you haven't seen one before -- there are thousands of examples on the internet!)
With my older kids we used the extra document to submit a "Why homeschool?" statement, but with my musician daughter we submitted her music resume. That way ALL of the colleges she applied to had the opportunity to see ALL her musical activities. (The conservatories required a music resume, but she had to submit the music resume as an extra document to the LAC's she applied to.)
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My dd is a music major. In high school she did music all over the place -- leading and teaching in a nationally known fife and drum group (paid), accompanying multiple choirs (paid), substituting as a church organist (paid), performing regularly on the harpsichord (paid), singing in multiple choirs, taking music theory at the local 4-year college, and of course doing private music lessons and placing in competitions.
The only part of all of those experiences that ended up on the transcript was the music theory classes (201 and 202 at the local "Public Ivy" college, so not intro music theory.)
The rest of them we listed as EC's. Dd had plenty of "academic" credit; we didn't want to water down her academic transcript with lots of non-academic classes, and she certainly didn't need the credits. So she had a list of music-related EC's a mile long, but we kept ALL of it (except music theory) as EC.
Perhaps we did it this way because of my experience way back when as a public school student -- I studied violin, was in multiple youth orchestras and spent every Saturday in a all-day pre-professional program in addition to attending music camps and other summer programs. NONE of that was on my transcript since it was all outside of school.
There are many ways of handling music on the transcript and listing it as an EC, but this is how we handled it!
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Finding housing for graduation at small rural schools can be QUITE a challenge.
The norm at my older two's college is to book your graduation weekend accommodations while you are at freshman move-in.
We had an awesome plan -- we figured we would stay with a VERY close friend of ours who lives in town -- but the friend decided to spend her sabbatical year in Japan, so she rented her house..... Despite having nearly two years' notice we could not find ANYTHING within an hour's drive of the college. Thankfully her tenant left at the end of the semester so we were able to stay in her empty house anyway, but YIKES!!!!!
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My older two headed off to college BEFORE the financial meltdown and all the subsequent changes in the financial arena. They applied for a credit card in their own name, got it, and were on their merry way.
My younger two headed off to college AFTER the financial meltdown, and WOW have things changed.
Ds2 wanted a credit card in his own name, and despite having earned about twice what a normal summer job pays for each of the two prior years and a regular part-time job plus full-time student status, at age 19 he was turned down. He finally was able to get a credit card through his local bank. Apparently if you apply through the bank, they can "recommend" people and that goes a long way. Then when he turned 21 he was able to successfully apply for one in the open market that had the perks he wanted.
Having learned from ds2, dd2 went through our local bank for her first credit card. She is now 21 with a regular job (plus full-time student status) and is about to apply for one on the open market.
Do not apply for a credit card unless you are reasonably sure of getting it. Having a credit card application rejected is a huge black eye on the credit score.
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Accoustic engineering is cool. They are the guys who weigh in on how churches and auditoriums are built to optimize sound quality!
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Dd2 lived at home her freshman year (and then transferred to a school 4 hours away -- so after freshman year living at home was not an option!)
Dd loved living at home and wasn't planniing on changing that if she had ended up staying at that school.
Pros:
1) $$$ Money $$$
2) Sane home life enabled my introvert to really enjoy her time on campus while giving her a quiet home base
3) She enjoyed hanging out with the fam more than she otherwise would have.
4) SLEEP!!! Dd went to bed around midnight most nights due to late-night rehearsals and homework and socializing, but her bedtime was hours before that of her friends on campus!
Cons:
1) Not part of dorm social scene. That was huge -- in her freshman class all but 6 out of 1000 freshman lived on campus, so not being there was isolating. Even freshman orientation was organized by dorm -- she was put with the transfers!
2) Commuting distance -- we live only about 1.5 miles from the college and she had an optimal parking situation (long story -- the advantage of having connections with parking lots!), but I imagine that longer commutes make buzzing back and forth to school more difficult.
3) At the end of the evening, commuter students head home. They don't hang around the dorm socializing. And that is a real cost. Making connections with other students is more of a challenge. Students living at home should definitely plan on being active in some extra-curriculars as a way of finding their tribe!
That said, until the details of her transfer were complete she was planning on living off-campus her second year. She loved being home, having a "sane" residential situation, and still being part of the family.
I would hesitate to recommend living at home to a student who has some difficulties socializing and making friends, since living at home will make socializing and finding friends much more of a challenge! (Obviously joining various extra-curriculars will help, but not being there is a deterrent to socializing!)
I wouldn't necessarily recommend it unless there is some overwhelming factor (like money!), but living at home definitely can work, and it can work well!
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When ds went to Oxford for a year, we definitely paid for excess baggage. Mostly he packed minimalistically and took the "If I really need it, there are stores there and I can buy it!" approach. I freaked out because he took so little, but honestly he needed to buy almost nothing while he was there.
At the end of his time, he did throw out or give away all heavily used items -- clothes that still had some life in them but weren't worth paying extra for, beat-up linens, etc. -- and used the extra luggage space for gifts / souvenirs.....
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Our family joke -- as a teen, my son would sleep through ANYTHING. The loudest alarms out there wouldn't disturb him. Waking him up was quite an achievement. I despaired of him ever being able to hold a job, and dh and I always said that we wouldn't pay tuition for any semester where he signed up for a 8:00 a.m. class.
Well, he attended college on a full-ride scholarship, so we didn't pay for anything. But he did have to take one 8:00 a.m. class, and he only slept through it once! :tongue_smilie: He now has a great job/career and somehow he does get himself out of bed.........
But we still joke about our refusal to pay tuition if he were taking an 8:00 a.m. class!
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The red-tape requirement that always makes me nervous is the health insurance waiver. It needs to be redone every semester. She gets the email info on this, not us. We have made it clear that THAT ball is in dd's court, that is is HER responsibility. The problem is that the deadline for it is crazy early -- like months before the tuition is due. Why would you be thinking about next fall's insurance red tape in June?
We are all three of us in agreement that if she misses getting the papers in by the deadline she will have to pay the college-imposed fee -- and thankfully she has the wherewithal to do this -- but that bit of red tape drives me crazy!
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Our music major has a church job in her college town that continues over the summer, so she will be away almost all weekends. She will be attending multiple music conventions/conferences/camps, but otherwise she will be home or away on vacation with us! :-) We're thankful she will be around that much.
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I think it depends heavily on the school.
Dd was a commuter student at a mostly residential college -- she was one of only 6 freshman out of about 1000 to live off-campus freshman year. Socializing was challenging simply because so much of life was oriented around the dorms -- like the ENTIRE freshman orientation! We live about two miles from campus and she had her own car, so she found it easy to hop back and forth for evening events, but I imagine that even a 20-minute drive might make that a challenge.
I know other moms whose kids live at home and attend colleges that are less heavily residential. Living at home seems less of a social challenge when more students live off-campus.
As far as transferring goes, it IS possible to find your crowd as a transfer student -- my daughter and I both did! I was able to live on campus (long story -- I didn't think I would be able to) and I lived in a French House that provided lots of camaraderie and support. My dd transferred to a conservatory, and she has found her tribe there. I do know other transfers who never really found their group at the new school, so I think it depends. Missing freshman orientation and the freshman classes does mean you miss out on some major bonding-type activities!
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Dd has visited and applied and been accepted to IU as a transfer and visited it with an eye towards grad school.
My reaction after spending 1 1/2 days wandering around the campus has been "It's HUGE!!!!!" The music program is really top-notch, but the school is huge and even a music student will be part of that hugeness through dorm life, liberal arts classes, and EC life. That said, it really does have a great music program.
The most important thing as a music major is the teacher. Do have your student visit spring/summer/early fall of senior year to scope out the place and have a lesson. Having prior contact with the teachers is REALLY important. That way the profs know the student more personally, have an idea how "teachable" they are, and know a bit about personal compatibility, and the student knows if the teacher and the student have that "click" factor. Having the profs recognize you on audition day, talk about how excited they are to see you, share some common memories, and then say at the end of your audition "We hope to see you in the fall" is a wonderful feeling!
If money is not a factor, encourage your student to go to whatever school has the best teacher for her, the teacher she clicks with. The music program is important, but not as important as the teacher.
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The process is so different with different kids that I found it almost a new process with each kid.
1) Don't bother applying to schools that you can't afford and that don't offer merit aid. Just don't.
2) Miracles do happen. Someone has to win that "only given to 1% of the class" merit aid award, and it could be your kid, so if the school offers merit aid of the sort that makes the whole thing affordable, do apply no matter how unlikely you think it is.
3) Worry less about the name and more about the education the student will receive and the life lessons (aka other students and profs and EC's) that will be learned along the way.
4) If the kid is undecided, encourage him to apply to a wide variety of schools. A college that seemed like a perfect fit in October may no longer be so in March -- so encourage undecided kids to play the field a bit longer.
5) And if your kid knows exactly what they are doing and financial aid isn't a concern, apply Early Decision. It ups the chances at acceptance at top school considerably.
5) And don't worry about the name. Focus on the educational (and other) experiences the student will be receiving. Is it worth the time and money? Is it superior to the other options?
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Good luck!
Low-carb is very doable with a frig and a microwave IF she is willing to cook.
DD2 eats low-carb because of a health issue (nothing to do with gluten -- the issue really is just the carbss!).
For breakfast she often has crustless veggie quiches. She'll make one about once a week, divides it up into serving sizes, and eats those for breakfast -- quick and painless and healthy.
For lunches she does the standard luncheon meats (tuna or cold cuts), just without the bread. If she is on-campus and feels like eating with someone, the cafe will usually let her in without charging her. If she has to pay, she will add a salad from the salad bar.
For dinner she often makes homemade soups, since these freeze really well and she can just divvy them up into meal-size portions. Mostly she eats "normally" but just cuts out the pasta/bread/rice and adds lots of salads on the side. Again, if she has to eat on campus or she wants to eat at the cafe for social reasons, she usually sticks with the salad bar. She has found that the food in the caeteria is LOADED with carbs -- eating normal portions of food that would normally not contain any sweeteners or extra unpredictable carbs of any kind can send the blood sugar through the roof.
So basically dd cooks one or twice a week and then mostly lives off fresh veggies, cold cuts, and "leftovers".
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My older two received full-ride scholarships and we had to fill out the FAFSA every year.
My youngest receives merit aid, and for her school we do NOT need to fill out the FAFSA. (I had her triple-check at the end of her first year, but we didn't fill it out last year and she did receive the aid......) Go figure!
So check with the school --- it really does depend 100% on the college.
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Keep helping -- but keep talking.
As others have said, sometimes people postpone dealing with stuff they honestly are not sure they want to deal with -- and he is old enough to start owning his goals and direction.
Keep on talking and making sure that you are not somehow subliminally transmitting "your desires" onto him. If he is at all a people-pleaser, he will go to great lengths to keep the parental unit happy, so do make sure that you are not pressuring him in ANY way.
My ds1 floundered for years but now has an amazing career and a fiancee -- all acquired within the past AMAZING 15 months! So they can take off when you least expect it!
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Dd1 double-majored (art history and chemistry) and did a minor in a third (museum studies). All were directly related to what she wanted to go into, and all were fairly compatible time-wise. For her, double-majoring has opened doors and been a great conversation-starter. She was lucky though -- her second major played into her graduate research focus in the first field and not only helped her get into grad school but provided her with essential background for her dissertation.
Ds1 triple-majored. I actually do not recommend this -- he has spend more time in interviews explaining why he did three majors rather than exploring one of the first two more in depth..... The world does not seem to appreciate triple majoring!
Dd2 started out as a math-music double-major but decided that music was her real calling partway through her freshman year. She transferred since the school she started out at was a great LAC but didn't have the depth in the music department that she wanted. (She is now at a conservatory.)
The one caution I would give about double-majoring in a subject AND music is people assume that you are going to focus on your "real" major and that you are doing music as essentially an in-depth extra--curricular. If you want to be taken seriously as a music major, double-majoring isn't necessarily such a great road to take. Also, the "great experiences" (internships, summer programs, perks like being chosen to solo in this or that or play here or there) that profs can offer students tend to be offered to those who are most talented AND committed -- and double-majoring in music seems to radiate that you are not completely serious about music.
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Two in one day is fine. Several of my kids survived and even liked their scores afterwards!
I have heard several people say that three in one day doesn't work so well.
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It sounds like a gap year is the way to go. Before you mention that to him, you might brainstorm some ideas/info about gap years and the sorts of things others have done with that time. Basically, help him to see the "cool" factor in being given an extra year, presumably at least partially parentally funded, to explore, learn, and adventure.
He could do that project he's always dreams of doing but never had time.
He could work part-time or even full-time
He could hike the Appalachian Trail!
He could do a service project -- many organizations need volunteers!
He could build a boat.
He could learn another programming language.
There are lots of lists and articles out there since a gap year is definitely trendy these days! Good luck!
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My math major son is now a software engineer in Silicon Valley at a household-name software company. He literally works his dream job. (Oddly enough, he never took a programming class in college. Go figure!)
The funny thing is that the folks there consider it easy to learn a new language, so when they are selecting people for a project, knowledge of the computer language to be used is a non-factor. What matters is your background -- statistics, analytics, logic, skills with algorithms, etc. It is assumed that any intelligent person can master a language easily and quickly, so it is the other skills that matter.
It was his skills with algorithms and with data analytics that caught the recruiter's eye -- he was also an econ major, and he spent his summers in college analyzing LARGE quantities of data looking for this trend or that trend.
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My dd is a music major who transferred after her freshman year, so we did a lot of investigating of how credits transfer for music majors.
1) There are VERY few music schools that will allow credits in music from other schools to transfer. If you are a music major and you transfer, you will most likely end up at ground 0 having to take (or retake) music classes. You will most likely require four years to graduate regardless of credits taken beforehand.
If a student enters with tons of liberal arts credits, the student may be able to take light loads each semester since liberal arts credits frequently transfer without any issues, but because the music classes are linearly organized with lots of prereqs, the chances are that student will require four years to graduate regardless of how many credits the student enters with.
2) The absolute most important thing about college as a music major is your teacher on your primary instrument. Everything else is secondary. So my big question for your dd would be, "Does the CC have a teacher who she wants to work with for two years? Is that person the best teacher around?" If the answer is no or maybe, she should not consider going to the CC intending to major in music!
Good luck finding out about the partnership. That might change the credit situation, but do remember that the teacher on the student's primary instrument is paramount!
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Everything depends so heavily on the college!
I never had a M/C exam, though that was many moons ago. None of my kids have ever had a multiple/choice exam in college, and they have attended a wide variety of schools -- LAC, engineering school, and conservatory.
We all have had written exams with long-answer questions.
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Have you looked at Furman? Their math department is fairly strong and they do offer quite a bit of merit aid. I know someone who was offered 1/2-tuition at Furman based on her interest in math.
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Transfer question--apply or wait?
in The College Board
Posted
Transfer deadlines are often different from freshman application deadlines, so check them out. Many of the scholarship monies for transfers come from a different pot, so you are not necessarily competing against the earlier freshman applicants. (Again, check out your schools!)
Also, FYI it is possible to transfer mid-year.
The one thing you do NOT want to do is have your son apply to a fairly small school and then not accept it but hope to get in again at a later date. A large school might not have a problem with that (I don't know) but many smaller schools would have an issue with that. (Maybe check and see how heavily the school weights student interest -- applying AS A TRANSFER, being accepted, and not attending is a pretty good indicator of NOT being interested, regardless of why the student decided not to attend!)