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gstharr

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Posts posted by gstharr

    Which gift card would you choose?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    7 hours ago, Catwoman said:

    I chose Amazon before I saw that they won't have Prime. 

    Agree with you. I  am gifted several small $$ Amazon gift cards every year. Without Prime for free shipping  and large enough to qualify for free shipping, they are almost useless.

     

     

     

    • Like 2

    Need a little advice for traveling to Mumbai.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    On 2/16/2024 at 1:48 PM, wathe said:

    Sawyer Squeeze and other water filters will remove bacteria and protozoa, but not viruses (like Hep A).  Fine for backwoods water treatment in North America.

    A water purifier, like the Grayl, or MSR Guardian, will remove bacteria, protozoa and viruses like Hep A, norovirus, rotavirus.  A better choice for travel to parts of the world where these are a concern.

    Thanks for the tip on the Grayl. We lived 1000 yards off a lake for the last 30 years. Every year,  I say we need to get a purifier for the emergency kit. But just couldn't pull the trigger on a $400 Berkey system to store until the apocalypse.  Looked at the Grayl products, and bought one.  24 ounces of filtered water in seconds would more than cover our needs.

    Need a little advice for traveling to Mumbai.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    13 hours ago, catz said:

    Yes totally!  Any small token with some local flair has been very well recieved.  Or swag from your local universities/colleges is fun too.  My husband has gotten some really cool gifts back from India too!  ❤️  I hope he has a great trip - so exciting!  I'd love to hear how it goes for him!  I have a young adult kid who got a plane for work for the first time this week.  I hope he has the opportunity to go somewhere more exciting than Indiana sometime!  (no offense Indiana, you're a lovely state!  🙂  

    It has been a while since my last trip to Asia. I would always take a couple of cartons of Marlboros with me.  Asian friend  had told me a pack or two will be a much appreciated gift/tip.  Looking at the price of cigarettes now, I am not sure this would still be considered an inexpensive token.

    Thermometer - which one?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    When schools and offices started reopening in my area  after covid, they required daily temperature testing.  I bought 4 infrared temp guns that were the same type being used at my office. They all seemed very accurate for around $25 each.  Much better than the digital oral thing.  There is no no branding on them, so unable to make a recommendation.

    • Thanks 2

    Online AP Calculus BC with a format similar to ChemAdvantage?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    On 1/24/2024 at 1:00 PM, jplain said:

    I'm using Thinkwell Calc AB (compatible with AP) with my daughter this year, and it is meeting our needs (non-STEM kid). However, it does have issues. The AB class was clearly carved out from their full calculus class. There have been some errors, like problems on tests that require concepts they haven't covered yet. Also, it does not include enough problems for mastery. You'd want to be going through a prep book at the same time, and/or set aside a lot of time at the end of the year for practice/review.

     My college freshman took all of Thinkwell's college sciences and math classes.  He had excellent AP test scores. The problem with the TW's AP classes is that TW s simply reorganizes the order and material of the college course to follow the typical AP class order.  Hence, the occasional drop off and disjointedness of  TW's AP classes.  TW's full college classes probably have less than 10% more content than its AP classes.  As far as problems sets go, TW has way more than D.O,  because it provides new problem sets  if you redo a lesson set, hw, or section tests. Tw problems  are also a little more challenging than DO. As to grading turnaround, grading is instantaneous.  BTW we did do alg 1 with CTY, and all instruction was TW videos.  There was teacher who simply monitored progress, but I don't remember if the teacher had his own test material or used TW's.  I think it was the latter because I don't remember a lot of communication with the CTY teacher.

    • Thanks 1

    New Orleans trip

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    19 hours ago, saraha said:

    Why did none of you all tell me about drive through daiquiri places! We had to stop at one to see if that was actually what it was! This girl with a gorgeous accent looked at our Ohio and Wisconsin liscenses and laughed when we asked are they real!

    This girl "laughed when we asked are they real!." ?????

    Substitute for ground ginger?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    It depends on what you are making. Last week, I tried a pretty authentic jerk chicken recipe. I had every thing but fresh ginger.  I did have some old powder ginger on hand. Chicken turned out very spicy, bit it was definitely messing something from the jerk chicken I had in Kingston.  I am going to try this recipe again with fresh ginger.

    • Thanks 1

    How much are your kids' student loans?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    My freshman will graduate with zero debt thanks to need based aid and a generous four year scholarship he earned back in the 7th grade.  I stumbled onto this board when he was in 5th grade.  I was surprised by the number of very young kids who had taken psat, or sat in elementary and middle school.  We started testing around 5th grade which led to CTY and CTD. More importantly, when he applied for the scholarship,  he had test scores (especially math) that would have qualified him for some very good colleges.  

    Incoming freshman - check in here

    in The College Board

    Posted

    On 10/15/2023 at 10:47 AM, mlktwins said:

    If you are paying for the phone and service, he will join 😁. Both of mine are on it with no issues - we pay for their phone service for now. I think they check up more on us empty nesters than we check up on them. One of my boys has a friend group on life 360 too - separate from the 4 of us.

    I am paying for his phone service, but overall I have very little economic leverage on this kid. He would find some way to avoid it.  Plus, he has had a phone for 10 years (so that he could call from summer programs, etc) ,  and I would feel awkward trying to impose it on him now.  

    What to do: dc's disillusionment about value of college (programming related)

    in The College Board

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Farrar said:

    "College admissions experts frequently tell applicants that schools with an under 5% acceptance rate like MIT and Stanford are reaches for almost everyone" 😂😂😂😂

    Um, UIUC, UW, those UC's ALSO had acceptance rates like that for computer science. That list was bonkers, which the article doesn't point out apparently. And less than 5%? Um, try less than 20. The way that's written is just laughable.

    Whenever, I hear these stories, I look for the missing part of the story. In this case,  he is  CS from Silicon Valley. The pool of CS applicants from that area must be extraordinary.  Where was his work experience before applying.  Take a look at his e-startup--basically just a web page.  Kind of like students who lists that they started a non-profit.. No school activities listed.  No comments from teachers. I imagine his recs letters were weak:: " He did well in my ap calc class, I am sure he will be successful in college."  With to slight intended, the kid's overall package does not seem that impressive.

    my cynicism comes  from helping over 100 students from my local h.s., over the last 20  years, apply to UCs. They all apply to UCB and UCLA. Nearly all end up at UCI.. When their parents first contact me in the 12th grade, and show me their kid's 4.0 gpa and 1400+ SAT,  I already know they are going to UCI.  The main reason is that the parents but so such much emphasis on grades and SAT, the students did not participate in things that would boost their candidacy.  When I tell the kids that they needs some ECs,  they run to a couple of weekends of river clean-up, food kitchen, etc. I heard many college admission rep say that anybody can be straight A if all they do is study.  They would rather take a 3.5 with activities, because that student  adds life to the campus, and could have been straight A.

    • Like 6

    Explain paying for college

    in The College Board

    Posted

    On 10/2/2023 at 10:40 AM, kokotg said:

    I say this every time a thread like this comes up, but I do think a lot of lowish income parents with academically high-achieving students aren't aware that there so many schools out there that meet demonstrated need or come close (often through a combo of need-based and merit aid). Either they don't think their income is low enough for significant aid or they don't think their kids can get in because they assume every school that meets need is Harvard level or they just aren't aware of the vast landscape of colleges out there beyond public universities. It's certainly true that this won't be helpful for every situation, by a long shot, but it's definitely worth running some net price calculators at colleges that meet demonstrated need and seeing what things look like before you rule them out. AND looking at student profiles at some of these schools to see if your kid has a shot...they're not all Ivy League and equivalent schools. Just to throw one example out there, St. Olaf meets demonstrated need and has a 66% acceptance rate in the non-binding Early Action round. 1350 median SAT/30 ACT. So it's not easy to get into, exactly, but it's not Harvard, either. With the caveat, as pointed out by Farrar, that most of these schools are need aware, so borderline kids with greater financial need are going to lose out to borderline kids who can pay full price. I've sent two kids to private colleges that meet need now and in both cases it's been as cheap or cheaper than keeping them in-state (but living on campus) would have been, and that's even living in a state where tuition would have been free for them (i.e. we would have been responsible for room and board and fees). And we're not rich by any means, but we're not destitute, either. 

    Speaking of Harvard, https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/why-harvard/affordability#:~:text=Harvard costs what your family,percent of your annual income. Harvard and maybe 5 of the schools that appear on every top ten ranking are far more affordable than most people imagine.  My kid is not at Harvard (rejected), but his family contribution on total cost of attendance is less than what his cousins (family incomes under $80k per year) at UCs are expected pay.

    • Like 1

    Incoming freshman - check in here

    in The College Board

    Posted

    Since i just saw an Uber acknowledgment that my kid took a ride to an Amtrak station yesterday at 6:00 a.m., , and today being a school holiday, i can only assume that he is off to see his high school sweetie attending college 3 hours away. So, I think he is  not having difficulty adjusting.  Can't ask him about this trip w/o revealing my source.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 9

    Explain paying for college

    in The College Board

    Posted

    Don't overlook National Merit.  I just now joining in because OP kids seem past the 11th grade.  But, now that conversation has broadened, I bring it up.  There are many schools that give free rides, some with stipends, for NMSF and NMF.  But, to have a fairly reasonable shot of reaching NMSF takes some planning starting around 7th grade.  A kid  that has completed Precalc (rather than Alg 2)  by end of 10th grade will have more than enough math to do well.  The verbal portion is very teachable.  Just take a couple of practice tests in 8th grade and  start  training any weakness.  Then 9th and 10th grade start taking practice SAT tests--the NM test and SAT are very similar.  the SAT is a little more challenging, but not that much more.   Plus you kill two birds with one stone, by prepping with SAT materials. The reason a lot of really smart kids don't make NMSF is because most high schools treat it like a practice SAT exam.  No prep or practice, just get a baseline for the  real SAT.   In my state, a high achievement state, NMSF are kids most likely to get 1500 on the SAT.  In some very high achievement areas like MD or D.C., the winners are kids likely to 1530+ on the SAT, However, there are many low achievement states, where a projected 1380 might make it.  

    The actual amount of money National Merit awards is one time $2500.  But, there are a lot of schools that will offer full rides for NMSF or NMF, regardless of financial circumstances.  If I remember correctly, there were even a few schools that we looked at that did not even require a financial aid app.  It didn't help my kid because most of the very generous National Merit scholarships schools are in the south or mid-west.   My kid only applied Northeast, and one on the west coast. 

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