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hopskipjump

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  1. Oh, duh. I obviously missed that connection in a big way. Off to read that thread... Thanks RootAnn. 😊 As stupid luck would have it, I have a painful family history with an *actual* religious cult as a youth and therefore have a strong, extremely negative reaction when I hear the term used. Sense of humor gets drowned out on this topic and gives way to a much stronger, panicked, drowning-in-quicksand emotion. There’s no sense of humor in that place - and no way I was going to make that connection myself. lol So sometimes I need a hard nudge for perspective - because my brain immediately leaps to a bad place. Thanks for that nudge. 😊 All’s good and I’m thrilled for DD to join the ranks of Plansrme’s type of “cult.†Phew 😅
  2. Hmmm. 🤔 okay then? Wouldn’t have connected a kindhearted “welcome aboard†email to a religious cult... I’m going to choose to not look at her new department quite that way. 👠:)
  3. It's honestly so nice to have some others understand the pain dd went through when the professor gave her the news. We're big believers in "What's meant to be..." but, still. OUCH! I'm laughing at your comment about getting music kids into college and it winding up cheaper!! That's how we felt when DD1-the-athlete went to college! I was like, "Wow! We don't have to pay for her travel anymore! Someone else does that!" and "We don't have to pay for her uniforms anymore! Someone else does that!!" "No more monthly fees!" Woot!! :hurray: And - too true about the music being more important than ever. Amen to that. DD has plans "other" than being a musician. She simply wants to continue focusing on her instrument because her other interests don't necessarily "need" a degree. So, she's hoping to blend them all into an entrepreneurial lifestyle throughout school and beyond. She considered music ed, but reallyreallyreallyreally doesn't want to have to learn other instruments (she plays a string, a woodwind, and brass instruments already... so I'm not sure why she's so inflexible about this. But there it is.)
  4. This is so true!! It's pretty cute - she's received congratulatory notes from a couple of the professors already! lol They are *really* excited to have new blood joining their ranks! Hopefully the students will be as welcoming (she knows not-a-one at this point). :laugh
  5. My kids are taking Apologia Chemistry through a local class. The only "intentions' for this was to give them a somewhat solid footing for AP Chem next year. Their teacher insists that the kids can take the CLEP after Apologia Chemistry (they're using the second-edition Apologia Chemistry book - not the newer one, and NOT the Advanced Chemistry book). This seems like nonsense to me, but I've ordered the prep materials anyway, so we can look it over and hopefully discover that he is correct! Has anyone's student(s) taken the CLEP after using Apologia Chemistry? Was it successful? (neither of them are considering a college major that will *require* Chemistry. They just have to take the 4-8 hours of any Lab Science, and if they pass a CLEP, that will work!) (annnd, if this is possible, I'm re-thinking ds's need to take AP Chem next year. Maybe he should do AP Physics instead? AAAAAHHHHH!)
  6. PLEASE DON'T QUOTE. I might take this down later. :) Thank you! ♥ I'd posted a while back that dd1 wanted to change majors (she's at the end of her sophomore year now, and her school requires that she "Declares" a final major by the end of this semester). You guys gave some GREAT feedback for us to chew on and she decided it was too risky and would remain her original major, with a math minor. It ate at her. Kept her up at night. So. She made an appointment with her academic advisor (we'd made up a full four-year plan with everything spelled out). The academic advisor explained more about the mathematics department at this university (it's tiny) and dd found out that the math department basically schedules in classes based upon whoever "needs" whichever classes each semester. Those classes aren't even always entered into the "everything" course wizard database, because they just hand-enter in those classes for the students. (keeps the schedule from getting so cluttered, I'm sure, with math classes that only a handful of kids are going to take) She had a meeting with the mathematics department head, and he put her completely at ease. He explained that if a student needs a class, he will teach a class of one if it's necessary in order for the student's credit-hours to align properly. The classes are often 3-5 kids in the upper-levels of math ... which ... I cannot explain how good this is... is PERFECT for dd. She will absolutely excel in a situation like this. Same people, same professors, same classmates... it's perfect. She has anxiety approaching professors for help or questions when she's in a large class - but in a small class where she'll feel like she knows the prof? Easy peasy. They looked over her schedule. He told her which classes he's already teaching for the next 4 semesters (that aren't shown as "available" on the schedule) and they penciled in everything and she has zero shortages now! :hurray: He said if there's a particular class she's REALLY interested in, to let him know and he'll email the other students and see if they want to make another section for that particular class. She can also choose to do an Internship or Independent Study with any of the professors there. This school is heavy on the pre-med/health/environmental/biological sciences side of things. So it's not surprising how small the math department is. However, he gave her data regarding previous graduates (there are only 2 seniors in the program right now! :lol: ) and their results were solid (good jobs straight out of graduation and/or continuing education). So. She changed majors. :svengo: At the end of her sophomore year. She hasn't been this happy/relieved about her major-decision - EVER. She's always been on the fence about it, but just couldn't think "what else" she wanted to do. This. This is what she wants to do. She was looking toward the next two years with a bit of fear and loathing. Now - she's excited for the challenges ahead. She's also registering to be a Math tutor starting next semester. So I'm a VERY happy and proud mama. This is what we hope for - for the kids to take the reigns of their own lives and make big-life decisions. This kid wasn't ready for that when she was a senior in high school and needed a LOT of hand-holding. It's such a beautiful thing to see her fully coming into her own at 19. :) I'm SO glad she took it into her own hands and pursued the information. (and a little annoyed at the school for having such poor information for US to evaluate on our own... :glare: But she's learned a lesson there too! Never take "no" for an answer if it's something you care about. Go in and talk to the officials about it and get the "real story") Anyway. Just wanted to update, thank y'all for the great information, as always!
  7. THANK YOU GUYS!!!! :grouphug: A bit more info: While dd hasn't traveled to universities to make official visits, she has met several professors when they have been here, locally, for master classes. Or at competitions. Or when she's been at a summer music festival/workshop and has had lessons and master classes with those individuals while there for weeks at a time. So, the visits will be brand-new, but she will be visiting *some* familiar faces and wants to take a lesson with those familiar faces 'in their own territory" so to speak. How do you ask how much they charge for a lesson? Do you just come out and ask while setting up the time for the lesson? Hi Professor so-and-so, I would like a private lesson with you when I'm there visiting the school... btw - how expensive is this gonna be? :lol: DS has had a couple of lessons with university professors and they haven't charged him anything (we didn't ask in advance... I just sent him in with $$ and when he asked at the end of the lesson, they waived him off...)
  8. Interesting about being taken seriously. Definitely something to think about!! She was considering a BA, but we were warned that BAs are often not taken as seriously either. The music world is so snooty!! :rolleyes: (said by a non-musician!! :p )
  9. Yes, we've "visited" some schools and have attended recitals, concerts, master classes that were open to the public... but she hasn't "officially" visited any yet (other than the nearby one, where she practically lives). There are maybe two within driving distance. The rest are a trek. THANK YOU!!
  10. I've asked a similar question over a year ago, but am asking again for new information if anyone has it. Any words of wisdom for applying to music schools? Both stand-alone conservatories and those that are within a university? DDs Plan A is a performance degree. Possibly with a minor in business or computer science. Possibly with a double-major (she will have quite a few accumulated CLEP/AP credits by then, so at some schools, this might be a realistic possibility). All of these "possibilities" simply vary depending on which school we're talking about, and what will be, or won't be, possible there. She and I are both Type A Planners. The knowledge that she will not have any scholarship info in her hands until end-of-March or sometime in April is killing us slowly. She has a Plan B and a Plan C already mostly mapped out (finalized today!). It's the Plan A that's giving us the vapors. Any tips? (DD1 was a recruited athlete... so I keep defaulting to how the coaches handle recruits and have to smack myself into remembering that the music world is *quite* different!) Specific Questions: 1) Did your student sit-in on ANY classes at that school they applied to? IF so, did they sit in on a music class, or a gen ed class? 2) Did your student meet ANYONE (a student) within the program itself when they had their audition/interview? IF so, did they just "happen upon" this person, or did a professor set someone up to walk them around a bit? 3) Was your student able to watch any of the concerts, recitals, master classes happening at the time of their visit? IF so, did anyone interact with them at these events? 4) Did your student take a private lesson with a professor(s) at all of the schools they auditioned for previous to their scheduled audition? I imagine this is not normal, since the distance between programs is quite great. So, sometimes the audition is the FIRST time the student meets the professor? (and sometimes, I understand, the main professor isn't even always there for auditions, but instead, they video the auditions to watch later) 5) Was your student "cut off' during their audition? I keep reading that a student might be cut off once a professor has "heard enough to make a decision" and that this "has nothing to do with the likelihood of acceptance." But we've not yet met anyone who was cut off... so... how common IS this? (I know it probably varies wildly from instrument-to-instrument, but I'm still curious) Finding "her tribe" of people within this instrument is actually a huge concern of dds. The "type" of person who plays this instrument seems to be in 2 or 3 solid boxes. Some programs are definitely geared toward one of those particular boxes and if she can't interact with other students, she can't really tell what type of Box this program caters to... She has friends going through the process this year and NONE of them have sat-in on any classes at any of the schools they auditioned for! I would've thought that was "normal," but now we're doubting this! There are a couple within-driving-distance schools she's interested in, and I'm wondering if we should spend time over the next two months, or early fall visiting those and meeting the professors... or if she should just wait until application time? Showing interest is good, though, right? Argh. It's all too much. :cheers2:
  11. My dd lost out on a major scholarship at an in-state university because her lack of interest was obvious. She bombed the interview for several reasons - but also because when they asked the "why do you love the idea of going here?" types of questions, she wasn't able to disguise the fact that she really didn't want to go there, but rather, was at the interview because her mama wanted to her have a safety. :lol: The scholarship went to someone with significantly less "credentials" than dd, but who was overjoyed to attend that university. When we got dds scholarship from that university, we just busted out laughing. It was sooooo piddly. So tiny. They really, really didn't get the feel that she wanted to be there. Oh dear, it was bad. lol DD2 may apply for this same scholarship at this same university, and it will be a 180-degree difference in interest because, for her, this school truly offers many of the things she is looking for (in her "Plan B" scenario... but they don't have to know that... :001_tt2: )
  12. Very cool @JennW in SoCal! My surprise is that I'd thought the program was more focused on "academics," whereas my friend's dd's experience seems focused on the work-experience and the behind-the-scenes experiences - which seems to be in-line with JennW's son's experience. I'd honestly thought the program was: job-shadowing or interning some of the "desk jobs" or "career jobs" during the daytime hours with classes held in the evenings! I'm not sure where I got that idea... but that's what I imagined! So when friend told me her dd's job (lifeguarding) I was surprised - because that's just "a job" that any college kid could get ... if that makes sense? I know this girl's college major and just didn't see what lifeguarding has to do with it, so I was confused. I obviously misunderstood the purpose (dd will want to apply in either case!). @katilac I'll visit the disboards! I haven't been over there in a decade and never would've thought to check. Of *course* they have a forum for this! :lol: There's a forum for everything over there! lol
  13. If so, how was their experience? A friend's daughter is currently doing this and I've been following along and asking questions. It's not anything like I'd imagined! DD2 will most likely want to apply eventually, and so I'm curious to see if others' experiences are similar to my friend's dd's experience. (She's having a GREAT time... it just wasn't what I was expecting it to be! So I'm wondering if there are variations or if I just originally imagined something vastly different from the actual experience)
  14. nm - I think we stumbled upon just the thing tonight!
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