may want to figure out one or two more SAT subject tests that she would like to take, dependent on her areas of interest, and time them for shortly after completion of the relevant course (ideally by the end of junior year, as it is quite stressful to test in senior year with applications occurring.) :iagree: Amen about the stressful testing during senior year! Due to several factors, dd had only taken the PSAT in 10th and again in 11th. Scheduling conflicts caused her to not be able to test until April of her junior year - and again in September and October of her senior year. Those fall-of-senior-year tests were HARD!! And we had to send in test scores multiple times. DD2 has already been notified that she's going to test, test, TEST during her JUNIOR year. We are not doing that again. Cannot over-emphasize the bolded enough. The NCAA actually has a pretty helpful homeschooling webpage now (they did not have it when I started the process, but received a lot of help from a mom here who helped guide me). The NCAA is known for "changing the rules" mid-stream, so even if you find the answers you seek NOW... KEEP UP TO DATE on the NCAA changes so you can adjust accordingly! Two sisters in my dds sport found out right before their senior year that the online school they had been using for 2 or 3 years was no longer NCAA-approved. :huh: That meant the NCAA would. not. accept. three. years-worth. of. their. core. courses. :ohmy: There was some mad scrambling. I would also advise to NOT send in your paperwork until the fall of senior year. The NCAA does NOT check it as it comes in... and once you've send in a partial transcript, it becomes concrete. You cannot adjust or add-to as you learn of significance of certain factors. The colleges can see that transcript (iirc) and if it doesn't match up with the one you have to send them (each college interested in your DD will need a transcript AND a screen-shot of your dds test scores sent to them before an official visit can happen) - so you want to make sure the transcripts are all identical so there aren't any questions. My dd didn't take early AP classes (her first was jr year) and couldn't fit dual enrollment into her insane schedule, so I can't help with that, sorry. BUT - CARRY that NCAA manual around with you - by the end of the process, I knew it practically back-to-front by memory. Whenever I called the NCAA people, I could quote from the thing like a Bible. Good luck to your dd (and to you!!) :patriot: A friend advised me that the NCAA people really ARE there to help you through the process, which I agree with - they were always very helpful and friendly... What I found, in reality, though, was that most of them had zero real understanding of how VAST the homeschooling community IS and how different we all do what we do. So, their answers often tried to force me into a "box" that honestly did not adequately represent dd's homeschooling experience. I learned to be a lot less fastidious, and answered questions in as broad a brush as they asked them. ETA: We did include two of dds 8th grade classes with the NCAA paperwork. Algebra I was one, and I can't remember the other. She had over-the-required-number of core courses, so I can't remember if they included the Algebra I class into the tally or not!

Agreeing with all of the above. Keep the course titles simple for the NCAA. Fancy-schmancy course names and dividing things up too much (ie. "English 9" and "American Literature" as two English-related courses) could complicate things. Our courses for English were titled "English I: American Literature" or something similar to that, and just one English credit per year, even during the years where dd spent waaaaaaay more hours-than-required for the course. Write the course descriptions as you go along. I didn't. :bored: And it made for a long few weeks while I dug through paperwork and tried to remember what on earth dd did for English in 9th grade, lol! After I got over the panic and hit "send" to send all the info to NCAA - the hardest part was waiting to find out if it was approved or not! (You don't find out until a college requests the file). Those were a long couple of weeks (I didn't send in the paperwork until the beginning of dd's senior year, so she was already lining up official visits by that point).

I don't even bat an eyelash at this particular casting decision. Nancy Drew could use an update. I'm far more upset that ABC is remaking Dirty Dancing into a tacky TV musical with Abigail Breslin as Baby. :huh: Where have all the original ideas gone?? :confused1:

OK. Once I send these in, I can revise at least once after we have finished our taxes, correct? What if I make a bone-headed mistake (not naming names... but some homeschooling mothers in this household make bone-headed mistakes from time to time...)? Can I revise it to fix the mistake, and then revise again when we've done our taxes? (I realize that would be FAR from ideal... but the certainty that I'd be ABLE to fix it ,if it were needed, will allow me to tell the perfectionist in me to chill -- and to hit "SEND" on these things once I have checked them over a dozen times...)

So tragic, heartbreaking, and terrifying. :(

This made me literally laugh out loud. :rofl: Life is sure funny sometimes!! lol!

:iagree: ITA! They do understand - and, yes, make sure dd has solid answers to the above questions. If they happen to find out that she's up for other scholarships at other schools - that should make her even more appealing, not less! :coolgleamA: Each university will have to fight to win her favor! :D Good luck to her!!!

Prayers that he is out of surgery and stable and that you are all able to have a restful night!

Yes, he will be fine. :) NCAA regulations only deal with NCAA-specific sports.

OK - post-graduation clinical fellowships hadn't entered our minds yet (I mean, she knows about them, but we hadn't considered their place in making those connections and networking and having to apply for those positions!). So. Much. To. Think. About! :svengo: The only grad schools she's looked at so far are Baylor and Boston University. We'll dig through the websites of some of the "dream job" places (she wants to work with children or athletes) and see what schools we find in the bios and compare that info with what we find at places where she wouldn't ideally want to work. That's a great idea to get some "real" perspective. Looks like any of those schools will accept her undergrad as long as she has a high GPA and GRE score, and excellent recommendations... so for the undergrad portion it still looks like she could pretty much go "anywhere" for that degree without much difference in the end. Some of the grad schools have work-agreements with the city (Clemson, iirc... the state pays for the last two years of the DPt program and you work in their school systems for two years afterwards), or the military (Baylor's program is through the Army and the Navy, iirc). She plans to be a graduate assistant coach while getting the grad degree, so that should help pay for the grad degree as well. Lots of different paths to get to the same end, it's looking like. Which is very good. Choices are good. :thumbup1:

I just ignored my typo and held my breath. No one even seemed to notice (and mine was a typo in the GPA! I corrected it with the midyear transcript I sent in a few weeks ago...). DD did receive one phone call from an honors college when her ACT score on her transcript didn't match the ACT score they had on file. We'd sent the honors college an updated transcript with her newer ACT score - but the university itself hadn't updated her records to reflect the new score - so there was a discrepancy. DD explained why her transcript didn't agree with their on-file test score and they made a note of that. Within a week, the university had updated her records with the new score (that we'd sent to them a couple months before... but she'd already been accepted, so it wasn't a priority to update, I guess). So - I say leave it alone - and if they have a question, they'll ask (as opposed to discarding the application or something drastic)

After doing more research, it even seems that where she gets the grad degree doesn't matter so much. Apparently, since everyone has to take the same test at the end... if you pass... then you're set to go. Networking and recommendations are far, far more important in the grand scheme of things. So finding a program that has a 100% (or close) pass rating that is affordable is more important than a prestigious undergrad or grad school for this particular career. Interesting! It's different from what I learned about getting an engineering degree (which is the direction she's been heading for two years...). Thanks everyone for the input. It's very appreciated!!

Exciting!!! Dress sharp - comfortable (she won't want to be tugging at her neckline, or find out that she's unable to sit down easily in a pencil skirt during the interview!), but sharp. If your dd is shy or introverted - practice mock interviews a LOT before she's in a conference room or someone's office having to talk about herself - a LOT. Read through all the mumbo-jumbo (FAQs, "brag" pages) to ensure that she doesn't ask "obvious" questions and so that she will sound informed about the school itself as well as the scholarship she's competing for. Good luck!!! My dd wishes that ALL the college applications for admission/scholarships/honors could have been done in-person. In-person interviews are so comfortable for her. Those essays nearly did her in, though! lol

I think she'll do that. Yeah - the weekends are weekends before meets (coach won't let her off on those weekends... if she leaves anyway, he'll bump her down to the next level. Certainly NOT what she needs to happen while she's still negotiating with coaches!) or the weekends OF meets. No way, no how, can she ask her current coach for "time off" at those times. Especially when she already has a pretty-much-full-ride-scholarship offer through an athletic offer to this school - but she says that since she has a solid shot for the academic full ride, she'd like to make the effort to interview for it (it will save the athletic dept. her scholarship $$ and they can offer it to another athlete... hopefully improving the team...). :) Telling the uni. coach that she's stalling on the offer because she's trying for the academic scholarship is buying her some desperately needed decision-making time.

My two absolute must-haves in a kitchen are a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. If I had to pick between the two, I'm thinking I'd pick the garbage disposal. Can't imagine life without it. We don't dump whole leftover plates down the thing - just little bits and pieces that didn't willingly leave the plate when I scraped it off into the trash can. Ours has been going strong (knock wood) for over 15 years. Maybe longer.

Another one in the books :) Temple University, President's Scholars scholarship, honors college

After the reviews... *I* want to apply to go there! lol

DDs schedule conflicts are due to her sport. She's being recruited to this school for her sport, so I am *thinking* they would not take her reasons as a slight to the school since she's already been on an official visit there and demonstrated interest.

Hmmmm... brainstorming out loud here... DD is up for a competitive academic scholarship at a particular university. They gave her 6 weekends to choose from to visit (all of the kids up for various scholarships can come on any of those weekends). Unfortunately, for many unavoidable reasons... those weekends are ALL not-possible weekends for her. Has anyone had experience requesting a Skype or phone interview when an IRL interview is "required?" She's already visited the school, so has no need for another Grand Tour.

Nope - she's been homeschooled all the way through. I know about their ridiculous transcript issues with homeschooling, so we are being cautiously optimistic. Her final transcript will come to them from a local homeschooling "agency." It isn't a state-approved one (we don't have those here) - but it will be as official as official can be. If, when the time comes, dd decides that this IS the place for her - if they maintain that she has to take the GED because of their antiquated policies, she will. If she decides their team is where she wants to spend a gazillion hours a week... I won't let a little red-tape stand in her way. I will fight it tooth and nail until the verylastminute, however. You'd think - since her transcript and classes were already put through the NCAA wringer - they'd be okay with it! :glare:

DD was accepted to UMass Amherst with the Chancellor's Award scholarship and invited to their Honors College (which was great news! We weren't sure if she'd be invited or not!). It was nice to have some new news after weeks of waiting! Darn those holidays slowing everything down! lol

Congratulation on the new grandbaby - hope that he gains strength quickly and that your daughter recovers quickly. What a whirlwind!! Hope that Egypt was amazing!!

N/A deleted since it didn't really relate to Penn State. :)

the recent grad school questions have been fascinating to read through! (please don't quote) DD is 99% sure she is going to grad school. Neither dh nor I went to college, so we are in complete uncharted territory here with our own life experiences to draw from. And while we don't want to put the cart before the horse and focus on grad school at all right now - - - I do have a question that matters now. She is being told over and over and *over* again that where she gets her undergrad isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things. Provided that she completes her undergrad, makes high grades, scores high on the GRE, participates in additional projects (research, etc), gathers strong recommendations, writes a strong application and/or interview... participating in the honors college would be beneficial... then she can theoretically apply to any grad school she wants and have as good a shot as anyone else in making the grad school program. Is this true? True-ish? Or complete bollocks? Would it be weird for her to contact the local state flagship grad school program NOW and ask THEM that question? To ask them how much weight *where* she gets her undergrad degree will factor into the decision process? From the stats she's finding online, it looks like many/most of the top-ranked grad programs have an acceptance rate of about 12-18% and an average GPA of 3.5-3.9. :blink: So, to ME, that screams UNDERGRAD MATTERS. But, she is being told from many angles that it just... doesn't. (she has applied to the local state flagship for undergrad... but it's low on her list because she really would like to go farther away from home and see the world a little bit. But, their grad program is pretty strong, so it's on the table of consideration...) (She has a potential free ride from a smaller, lesser-known university. She's visited, she liked it there, liked the team she'd be with, and she loved the area. Hence the question. She can earn any degree for undergrad as long as she takes ten (iirc) specific courses within that degree. She's looking at Physical Therapy DPT programs for grad school...)

We aren't to the post-acceptance slump yet - still in purgatory - waiting. Maybe that's what's keeping us motivated... this eternal blasted waiting. :lol: