Help me sort thru some ideas about whether we should have DD go another year of high school

[Carpe Diem]

Hello. I am wondering about pursuing an extra year of high school for my DD so that she could DE at our local, high-acceptance state school and then be more ready to consider going away and accessing freshmen scholarships. She is 18 and has a July birthday. It would give her a chance to get a higher score on the ACT and possibly get full tuition all while she could be earning college credits via DE. She is interested in nursing but really isn't certain that is for her. If you know me from the past you may remember that she had at one point gone to the local high school after I had gone through cancer. She had all A's. We then considered that her 8th grade. So in a sense she has already done 5 years high school. She has been accepted to Carthage College, Oakland University, Marquette University, Northern Michigan University, and a few other small Catholic schools (one that gave her near full tuition already but she isn't sure she wants to go there at least not now). She applied to University of Wisconsin, which is her dream school because she is a Badger fan but we made a mistake and her transcript was sent in on the last possible day. She ended up being wait listed. We can't afford the OOS tuition anyway but I read with interest an article that maybe they will offer more merit aid especially to OOS. So maybe we should accept the waitlist and see what happens with whether she was selected and the financial piece they offer.

 

So, in my mind doing another year could allow her to mature and let her DE so that she can see if she wants to attend our local school. She could maybe make herself more stronger of a candidate by taking some SAT 2 subtexts which she hasn't yet.she is taking one AP class right now. The other thought was maybe to send her to madison area technical college and then have her transfer into UW Madison. She could live with a Grandma but may e that would be isolating and not very exciting although maybe comforting. another idea was to have her go to our local school and then let her take a summer class at Madison so that she feels she gets her Badger experience. So, I know my thoughts and ideas are all over the place here. I just want to figure out what is the best for her. I feel like there are so many great colleges out there that arent even on our radar. another year would give more time to find them. Any thoughts about any or all of my ideas? Thank you for reading.

[Harriet Vane]

Good to see you again.

 

I am not sure about this, so you should definitely double check my opinion.

 

I think she does not have the option to take a fifth year of high school if she already applied and was accepted at these schools. On her application and on the Common App, you would have listed the years of high school and you would have listed a graduation date. If she does not have failing grades or a special needs diagnosis, then I think the schools in question would view your plan as just plain going to college. A fifth year of high school would not be an option. That would change her status from freshman to transfer student. 

 

One really nice thing about large schools is that they are so anonymous. Call the public universities and talk to an adviser. Though I will warn you--often the advisers there are generalists who flounder when confronted with out-of-the-box situations. Nevertheless, you could get a more specific answer, even if you have to go up the chain to a manager. Just don't give your dd's name or your name, so you don't put any red flags on her account.

[8filltheheart]

I wouldn't do another yr, but that is just personal opinion.

 

My main reason for posting is that I called UW-Madison about their proposed increase in scholarships bc my dd wanted to apply there. Their response was in the article they said "may," not will. At this point in time, they have no plans to offer merit $$ to OOS students.

 

Also, look into residency requirements. Most states do not care where the student's legal residence is as a college student. All residency requirements are based on the parents. There are a few exceptions, but I wouldn't count on living at grandma's making a difference w/o knowing for sure.

 

So, if another yr is a plan she wants to pursue, I would do it for different reasons.

Edited March 29, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart

[JanetC]

Is the problem that you cannot afford any of her choices or that she doesn't like any of her choices as much as she likes her dream school?

 

There are a lot of seniors who either didn't get into or couldn't afford their dream school, and there are a lot of seniors who have second thoughts about their schools as decision day approaches. This is normal and doesn't mean someone is not ready to graduate.

 

If you thought her high school education was complete and she was college ready before you got your admissions decisions, I would not do a 5th year of high school to "red shirt" her. If there are specific academic or maturity weaknesses you need to shore up, by all means work on those, but that isn't what I'm reading in your post.

[JennW in SoCal]

Ummm, no.  High school seniors don't get "do overs" just because they don't like their list of college acceptances.

 

You planned for your dd to graduate and start college and clearly some colleges felt she is ready if they not only accepted her but offered scholarships. She can always start someplace then transfer and, if her grades are good, she will have as many options in transferring as she would as applying as a freshman (though I know it might limit financial aid and merit scholarships).

 

But what does SHE want to do? Have you visited the schools that have accepted her? Has she stayed over night on campus or attended classes and pictured herself there? Most college freshman don't know what they want to major in, or they change their minds along the way, but in a good college environment they will mature and find their path, whether they stay in that college, transfer to another college or take a break to work.  And yes there are hundreds of college options out there, but it may be that one of the small schools that accepted her will be the right fit.  You'll go crazy second guessing.

[73349]

I would encourage her to enroll as a freshman at your local school, and transfer elsewhere in a year if that doesn't turn out to meet her needs. Why complicate things?

Edited March 29, 2016 by whitehawk

[Lori D.]

At this stage, you've committed to graduating by sending out the college applications and completion of high school credits and tests. So no, DD can not do another year of high school to try and boost test scores and pile up some dual enrollment credits.

 

I'll just suggest a different tack: have DD do a gap year.

- That allows her to do some maturing and exploring to see if she really does want to go into nursing or not.

- It allows her re-contact the schools she's already applied to and ask to be re-considered (esp. for aid) as a freshman for the 2016-17 year because she is taking a gap year.

- Doing a medical/nursing volunteering gap year will look AMAZING to colleges and boost admission chances and possibly aid, too.

- That gap year also allows her to apply to other colleges -- and to apply *early* in the time frame, like, fall of 2016.

- A gap year also allows her to take any SAT II tests (and possible re-tests of SAT or ACT) this May or June to boost test scores -- all of those test scores WILL be then considered for 2016-17 college applications.

 

Specific nursing/medical/health resources for a gap year:

AmeriCorps: Community Health Corps -- domestic (US) health service projects; serve for 1 year (room/board is covered by a provided stipend) and earn a tuition credit of $5,730 at the end of your year of service

AmeriCorps -- use the search function to find Health options in the state of your choice -- MANY have Mar. 31 application deadlines for starting this summer (and most programs run 1 year), so look quick!

Gap Medics

Projects Abroad: International Nursing Interships

Go Overseas: Medical Gap Year Programs Abroad

 

Another gap year option: work in a hospital for a year. Some hospitals even have work/tuition reimbursement programs. So getting on with the hospital now allows her to see if she really likes nursing or not (or other medical area). And if there is a tuition reimbursement program, they work with your schedule for school when you do go, and pay for part of your tuition, and in exchange you work for them for a year or two after graduation. Even if there is no work/tuition program, working at the hospital would give DD the opportunity to get a lot of experience, see if she likes nursing (or the medical field), and earn some money towards paying for college.

 

 

Good luck! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Lori D.

[katilac]

Nope, I wouldn't do another year just on the chance of getting better offers next year. She's done 5 years of high school, she's 18, time to select the best choice she can afford and get to it! I personally would be worried that another year at home, DE, wouldn't be 'enough' or would feel like spinning her wheels. 

 

A gap year is an idea, but I guess I'd be a little reluctant to do that, for many of the same reasons as above, and because she'll have little time to plan it or get deferral answers from her current acceptances. 

 

I wouldn't consider U of W one way or the other as far as deciding on DE or gap year; I might wait and see if she moves off the waitlist this year, but mostly I would think that she's not likely to get good aid this late in the game (but don't take my word for it, it just seems to make sense). 

 

What does she want to do? My dd is 17 with a July birthday, and she is bouncing off the walls to get outta here and get started! 

[Carpe Diem]

Hello everyone! Thank you for your replies. I hadn't thought about the fact that we said she was graduating and applied for colleges and been accepted as a reason she couldn't do another year of high school. I did ask one school, UW-Madison, about it and they didn't say we couldn't do another year of high school but rather they didn't recommend it.

 

My dd is not itching to get to college although I tell her she will love it once she gets started. She has enjoyed homeschooling so much she wishes she was still 16 and could keep schooling at home. Although she isn't keen on my idea of another year of high school as she feels it would be embarrassing and weird.

 

After reading your replies I think the local college is where she should go. I do have a feeling she will want to transfer her sophomore year and it will be frustrating a bit because she could have gone to that school (assuming it was one she has been accepted to) as a freshman and received the freshmen merit scholarships. Or if she can stand to go away her freshmen year, Oakland University, due to the advanced nursing programs they offer that it might be easier to get into down the line if she starts there.

 

Thanks again!

Here's an out of the box idea:  Many of the very expensive New England private college prep schools now offer what they call a "post graduate year".  This is for students who have legitimately graduated from high school, but aren't quite ready for college, or maybe want to improve their chances to get into a college of their choice.  This year focuses on academics, but it isn't DE, nor do the courses count as college credits, so after this year, students enter college as true freshmen.  It is like an academic gap year.

 

I wonder if it is possible to do a homeschool equivalent?

[JumpyTheFrog]

My dd is not itching to get to college although I tell her she will love it once she gets started. She has enjoyed homeschooling so much she wishes she was still 16 and could keep schooling at home. Although she isn't keen on my idea of another year of high school as she feels it would be embarrassing and weird.

 

She could spend the summer studying for CLEP tests.