If, by PT school, you mean Physical Therapy (if not, you won't need to bother reading the rest of what I've written, lol!) - there are some options for grad school. You'll of course need to fact-check my words here... I'm going on memory from research done several months ago. :D Clemson (I think it's Clemson...) has an in-state deal for Physical Therapy. If you get the degree there, you can apply to have the state pay for the last two years of grad school (and the student has to work for the school system for two years after graduating). Baylor has an arrangement with the Army - they pay for your grad school tuition in return for 3 years working for the Army. There were other schools with varying degrees of "assistance" - but those are the two I am recalling at this moment. Some schools offer graduate scholarships to undergrads who continue their studies there (or transfer) - but they are individually based, and, in most cases, competitive. That's about all the help I can give you about those, though. :) At least the FAFSA/assistance will help quite a bit for your dd's undergrad years!!! :hurray:

Had one and loved it (them)!!!

n/m :)

Too late! 😂😂😂 Can't wait until we are back home and I can start looking at this directly. If it's a third of her scholarship $ (after tuition/books) - it is going to be several thousands of dollars every year that we aren't prepared for. So- I'm very much hoping that she'll fall into a different bracket. 😖 At least I'm getting it sorted out now, I guess!

Yes - to all of this!! We live in an area where 99.9% of the students go to college in-state. The state has horrible scholarships - usually about $3k for a top-tier student. Only über-rare circumstances warrant a full-tuition scholarship here. Therefore, apparently, the local tax people aren't well-versed on what to do when a student exceeds the tuition-only amount. Add in that DD is going out of state (so, this is OOS "income?") so I ask them how that works (does she have to file only in her home state, or also where the "income" is earned (although that state doesn't have income tax so far as I understand...) --- and their brains just kind of implode and they look helplessly at me and say they'll "figure it out." I want to pay someone who has btdt and can make sure we/dd aren't over-paying! Not to be someone's Guinea pig and pay them as they sort it out. :/

1/3?!?! 😳 Ugh!!!! Hers is an overage after COA. So a student who isn't working, but receives scholarship $ is somehow supposed to come up with thousands of cash-dollars in taxes each year?? It's all insane!! Gah! I'm going to pull up last year's turbo tax and start playing with it immediately after getting dd moved in. I had no idea it could be that much %. 😶

Her scholarship exceeds the cost of tuition (she will actually be getting a small check for "overage" this year) and that's where the accountants I've spoken to get all flustered and uncertain. I'm sure they could figure it out, but I've been shocked at how (so far) none of them can answer relatively simple questions I have! I'll buy turbo tax as soon as it's out and play with it using a mix of last year's numbers (because I won't have all the current info yet) and her college information and see how secure I feel. It's really the mix of "her" taxes still somehow being linked to ours that I can't wrap my brain around. She had to file separately last year (because turbo tax told me she needed to), so how will "they" know what our/parent's tax rate is when we are filling out her taxes?! Gah, I feel so tax-stupid! 😖 And possible quarterly taxes??? Omg!!! For such a tiny amount owed? ðŸ˜

So glad this thread was started & this question was asked!! I returned the two sets of microfiber sheets we'd purchased and bought cotton sheets instead!!! ðŸ‘

UMass Amherst has a solid kinesiology program.

I am so there with you right now. I've always been emotionally steady- but right now, I feel like a lunatic. Peaceful and content one moment, teary-eyed and sniffling the next. The house - every room - has evidence of her packing/moving. In less than two weeks (OMG) - - - she's off on her new adventures She's packing clothes & I realized that when I see her again she will have new clothes that I wasn't there when she picked them out (she's never been big on shopping with friends - it's always been the two of us...). 😫 One more thing that will change!! I've used the term "bittersweet" often as my kids are growing up. But this is, by far, the most bittersweet time I have ever experienced in my life. And I'm not really enjoying this part. 😑 Dh is becoming more withdrawn as we get closer. It sure wasn't his idea for her to go to school so far away. *sniff* She's his best buddy- and he is gonna miss her like crazy. 🙠They're gonna be happy, though. Right? 😶😄

Thanks for the links and IRS forms information! @katilac , unfortunately, our taxes are complicated in the first place. We currently do use Turbo Tax and it's served us well... but with being so unsure of what is "dds" and what is "ours," I really want an in-real-life person to walk me through it this first year. Hopefully, Turbo Tax and I can reunite the following year!!! :D

That is fantastic!!!!! What an exciting opportunity!!!

I still haven't had any luck finding a tax accountant for the upcoming year (finding someone who seems to have at least *some* experience with university expenses, figuring scholarships, etc into everything has proven far more tedious than I expected...) But - simple questions for those who have btdt, or who have a good idea of all of this---- as I try to sort which receipts we need to keep as we go along. Assume we are paying cash, no loans involved. (And these are overall minor quibbles in the grand scheme of $$ with taxes... But taxes alarm me and I want to have sort of a clue. Thinking I should go back to school & become an accountant myself!! 😄 As one day we will have three "dependents" in college... I'm hyperventilating at the insanity that is going to be!!! 😳) DDs book costs ARE tax deductible, yes? JUST textbooks? What about online access costs, etc? Or binders to hold loose leaf books? (DD likes the ones that are $15 a pop and I'm seeing that those add up quickly! lol) Room and board? No "supplies" are deductible unless they are purchased "on demand" specifically for a class or major requirement. Would that apply to things like lab coats, etc? Or only larger purchases like computers? Long shot question .... What about clothes purchased specifically for her sport? (Practice gear) That isn't covered by the school - but she buys it specifically for that purpose. Travel costs launching her from one corner of the country to another? I know it gets stickier when the scholarship funds get mixed into the equation... Hence my search for a guy who knows what he's talking about on an official level! lol But for now, just knowing which receipts & costs to keep extra close tabs on will help ease my mind. :) And you guys always know so much more than I do!!!! 💚💚

Mine is lifeguarding (which has turned into far more hours available than she or I really anticipated. We forgot that the last time she lifeguarded, she was not yet 18... so we'd just assumed she'd get about 20 hrs a week...) She's enjoying it, though. She did an internship last summer, which she loved... but we thought it'd be a good idea for my somewhat-sheltered senior heading far-away to college to spend the summer meeting a bunch of "new" teenagers and twenty-somethings. And, it has been a good decision and she's having fun despite working more than planned. So, between working out, trying to make sure she's not missing anything for college (paperwork, etc), buying everything for college... she pretty much has zero time left for anything else because she's so exhausted! lol

Yes. I don't know. But - ugh. They are tedious to be around. :ack2:

**sob** **sniffle** We're looking at a 5-6-month stint in the spring semester. We'll see how the fall semester goes (about a 4-month gap). If it feels like an eternity, we'll plan a trip for at least mom & dad to fly to her and give IRL hugs and hop back on the plane so she can get back to her studies. :) DH is taking it very hard right now that we are nearing the end of the "having everyone all together" phase of life. While we will surely have them all together for Christmas/summer right now - once kids #2 and #3 start college... the schedule juggling for everyone involved gets so complex. We simultaneously hope dd will live overseas one day (what an opportunity! What a life-expanding journey!!) and that she will live next door to us forever and ever because overseas sounds farther and farther away the closer we get to her being old enough to actually DO something like that! :lol:

The more I am researching her instrument/opportunities... it's these festivals/camps I am worried about. :/ Apparently - most of the upper-level kids go to these from infancy. :huh: DD wanted and asked to go to one or more this summer but since dd#1s schedule (travel, university orientation, etc) was so up in the air, I dismissed DD2s request due to the expense and timing. :o I think we have under-valued dds true love of playing, focusing instead on her more concrete interests, and she's been dividing her time among many things that could have/should have been spent on music. She's 15, starting 10th grade now (plan is to spend this year playing and to figure out where, exactly, playing fits in to her future plans). She's been playing *seriously* with her current teacher for about a year and a half... with about 2 "lesser" on-and-off years before that as we bumped around between instructors. There is a local camp she may be able to still fit in this summer - the visiting instructors are outstanding. However, her instrument isn't up to standard for a camp like this, so I had figured we should first focus on instrument (these are usually hand-made... but nowhere near HERE, so we will have to travel quite a distance to a place with multiple, already-made instruments to try out), and do the camps later... but if she goes to this camp now... that would open up time for a couple distance-camps next summer... Yikes. So much to think about! :willy_nilly: She has three summers (including this one) before applications. So, we are teetering on too-late as it is. Totally my fault for not fully realizing just how serious dd was and for minimizing her requests... :blushing: :sad: Ah well. Live and learn, right? :) Luckily, her teacher, though young, is absolutely outstanding and I have no worries in that department. One thing we did right! :rofl: Yay me! :thumbup: DD is a plucky, hard worker and once I gave her the go-ahead for unlimited, whenever-she-wants practice time this summer, she leapt on the opportunity and is ravenously diving into tough material and near-constant practice (when she isn't texting... :001_rolleyes:). We should know by December if she's flourishing with this, or ready to make more traditional plans.

A HUGE congrats to your ds !!! That's fantastic!! I post heavily-edited things about dd, but I imagine that will change quite a bit now that she's an adult. I mainly post things so that family know what she's up to (SHE doesn't post to social media at all on her own volition. Snapchat only... which doesn't go to family). I've never posted test scores or grades, but did post one of the scholarship offers dd received (and afterwards realized that, since it was an automatic scholarship, someone could have looked the info up and determined her "minimum" test score... But figured no one would bother going through that much trouble, so I left it, but left out future offers.) That's why this board is such a wonderful resource where we could ask questions and mention things about our students without fretting over judgment or jealousy or busy-bodies or whatever. I was/am genuinely happy for each and every happy post here - it's so exciting!!!!!!

Very good to read - thank you for the reminder!! Yes, I've got to remind myself that time spent following a passion isn't time wasted - even if it doesn't become "the" thing. 😊

Many thanks for the input!! It looks as though it would be manageable if she chooses that path. But, yeah, the crossroads is definitely here. She just can't spend as much time as she often does on this if it's not THE goal (I didn't include time she spends listening to recordings, etc..). I'm planning a trip this fall to a couple music conservatories (and also other universities in the same area) so that she can see/be/hear/experience what that looks like in person. She's usually one who knows immediately if something is a "good fit" or not - so I figure she will either fall in love with what she sees, or know that it's not for her fairly quickly. I think we will have to start with piano lessons first thing. If she hates the piano, that's probably a good sign that music school isn't for her. ;) (she plays a few other instruments, but her primary instrument is definitely HER instrument. Everything else is just distraction.)

I am curious what the schedule of a "serious" music student looks like at the 8-12th grade level. Dd is at a fork in the road- and, I think, if she wants to take it very seriously, we need to amp up her routine, but I'm really unsure of what that really would look like. Right now, she's at weekly hour-long lessons and her practice time varies wildly from a half-hour a day to three hours or more (depending on what else is scheduled... Hence her needing to make some hard choices, I think, on where her time is being spent). Also thinking we need to add in more music theory, music history into her school day? Her teacher touches on this during lessons - but maybe I should add another mid-week lesson with someone else to cover these topics exclusively? (Fwiw, she doesn't play the piano. Maybe she should start if she's considering a music conservatory for university?) Signed, The Mom Who Knows Absolutely Nothing About Music and Wonders Why Her Children Fall In Love With Things She Doesn't Understand I can (and will) be talking with her instructor soon to get his input (he is amazing). But I'm very curious to know beforehand what "serious" music study looks like in other homeschooling households to see if it seems overwhelming or manageable to us. :)

The REAL ACT book was very accurate for dd - eerily so, each time she took the test!

I have nothing useful to add (since my oldest is a senior this year...) - but every. single. time. I log on and see this title pop up on the list, I read it as "returning student-financial-aid," and think "Why? Why would anyone return free money?" :lol: Then, I remember that I've read this thread and its valid contents and re-read the title and it reads entirely differently "Returning-student financial-aid"! But - seriously - every time I read it, I read it the other way. lol Good luck - the thought of waiting this long for that kind of vital information turns my stomach. :mellow:

You guys are always so helpful! Thank you! :) I think she's looking at dropping Calc for this semester. IF she decides she does want to take Calc I (or possibly test in to Calc II) later, she can. That will leave her with 14 credit-hours (including the 1-credit Freshman seminar class) - and a little breathing room the first semester to learn the ropes. She is knocking out one major-specific-requirement, and three for-grad-school requirements (Psychology is also a major-specific requirement, and English is a Gen-Ed requirement). So, there will be nothing "extra" with this schedule adding to her workload, just the necessities. Next week, she'll talk with others from the university and get a game-plan set into motion. Phew! :willy_nilly:

Three or more new questions... :D 1) If you've already had a college freshman and have BTDT, how many credit hours were they able to juggle successfully? DD and I have been going over options for her schedule - finally found a happy mix of classes that she was happy with - but it's 17 credit hours. For reference, she's taken AP-level English, Psychology, Calculus, Physics, etc - but isn't using any AP credits. She wants to take the first-level, basic class for each of those (looks like this college uses the same Bio I book she used for AP Biology and the same Physics book she just used for Physics! Yay for relatively "easy" classes hopefully!!). English Comp (3) honors Calculus I (4) honors Psychology (3) Biology I (4) one of the classes required for her major (looks like a fairly easy class) (3) Neither of us have any reference points and can't quite figure out if this is too much or not? She'll be talking to the academic advisor, of course, but from reading here, I know that an academic advisor can have zero idea of what's going on... She's an athlete, so will also for the first-time-ever, be juggling very early morning practices in addition to school. (she will also be asking these types of questions to girls on the team already... she just wants to have a good idea of what she's has in mind before doing so) 2) She is sort of building a major within a major - so a lot of her "free" electives are going to be 4 credit classes (Calc, Bio, Physics, Chemistry). None of these are required for her major (but will be required for grad school). Calculus is the wild-card. If her major (and grad school) only require College Algebra and Statistics...... should she take Calc I & 2? She was, at one point, considering adding a Math minor (but decided she doesn't have the time), so she likes math... BUT we are feeling unsure about TIME and imagine that Calc I & II are going to take a lot of time. But... it feels weird to take a "dumbed-down" math course and take College Algebra (even though, admittedly, she IS taking Calc I when she's ready for Calc II... so she's already stepping-down a bit... but knows that she will learn a lot from a new professor about Calculus and doesn't want to jump into the "middle" with Calc II...) 3) She's not yet talked to the academic advisor (I think she has an appointment next week), but from communicating with other incoming freshmen, I guess there's some sort of Freshman Seminar class? I think it's a 1 credit hour class, maybe? From the looks of the other kids' schedules, it's three times a week. :mellow: What is this class usually about?? We made up her mock schedule before realizing this was a real thing she needs to take. :huh: And THAT would throw her credit-hours to the 18 credit-hour mark - and that (plus this additional 1-hour-plus class three times a week) pushes it into Crazyville, doesn't it? So - dropping a 3-hour course seems the best idea - but she can't drop English and if she drops Psychology, she loses one of the honors classes (she needs to review the requirements for honors college... neither of us can remember how many classes/year she needs to take). That class has an awesome teacher, and I'd hate her to have to drop it. Ideally - she will always want the fall semester to be a heavier load than the spring semester... but I'm not sure how "plannable" that's going to even be? :willy_nilly: 4) In the long run, though, if she takes 4-credit-hour courses that aren't "needed" for her major, then eventually she's going to cancel out some of the 3-hour "free electives," right? So, theoretically and mathematically, she would attain the needed number of credits, but have fewer classes to show for it. Right? So, instead of having a nice semester where she can take basket-weaving or ballroom dancing (please, no one be offended... :o ) --> instead, she will be taking Chem I & II for "fun." Am I anticipating this correctly? Is it ALWAYS this kind of juggling act? I'd handed it over to her to figure out - and was wondering why she was having such a struggle. Then we both started sorting through options and I understood her struggle! lol