Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 1, 2016 Posted October 1, 2016 While my kid is off doing his SAT Subject Tests, I'm polishing the counselor documents for his college applications.  I think we may even see some completed apps this weekend.   The self imposed deadline for apps is Oct 14.  I read the first draft of his Common App essay and it is just charming.  It manages to present his unique experiences and also be pretty engaging.   14 Quote
quark Posted October 1, 2016 Posted October 1, 2016 Thank you Sebastian! Essays started but not materializing in any speedy way :scared: . Hoping for submissions 2 weeks before deadlines. 1 Quote
Gratia271 Posted October 2, 2016 Posted October 2, 2016 Our self-imposed deadline is October 10. DD is doing really well on her end, but I am still grappling with the counselor letter... 2 Quote
Arch at Home Posted October 2, 2016 Posted October 2, 2016 DD's 13 essays are in different stages of completion and most have been proofread. Luckily, her Common App essay just needs a bit of polishing and it is ready to go. Dd thinks that the apps that don't require extra essays could go out soon. (I hope this week.) I will be glad when she is done with this stage but then she will need to do scholarship and honors program essays. Arg! 3 Quote
Luckymama Posted October 2, 2016 Posted October 2, 2016 Dd's first deadline is Oct 14 (for a scholarship) which we have adjusted to Oct 7. That application includes 6 essays which vary in length from 200 to 800 words. Two are perfect, two need one more read-through, and two are still rough. Â Her other self-imposed deadlines are Oct 21 (9 essays; some already written can be reworked) and Nov 11 (for the regular decision schools; 8-9 essays but most are really short, 100-200 words). Â I have to finish the counselor letter and edit the school profile. Again. 3 Quote
JeanM Posted October 2, 2016 Posted October 2, 2016 I'm mostly done with the counselor letter and school profile. I need to work on course descriptions, but that is mostly copying/pasting/formatting correctly. Â DS really needs to get it together. He's got a draft of the common app essay, and he's asked 2 teachers for recommendations. He's planning to ask for at least 1 more letter, and he needs to get going on supplemental essays. I'm worried because he's really busy right now between a heavy course load, extracurriculars, and a part-time job. Â We're doing one more trip next weekend to visit schools, and then hopefully he'll get everything done ASAP. Hey, I can dream, right? Â 2 Quote
8filltheheart Posted October 2, 2016 Posted October 2, 2016 Dd's goal is to be done by the end of the week. Â She was planning on being done this past week, but she has had some other major issues come up that had to take first priority. Â Â I had all of my stuff done in August. Â Dd has already received an acceptance. Â ;) 10 Quote
creekland Posted October 2, 2016 Posted October 2, 2016 :lurk5:Â It is so nice being at this stage of watching Hive kids. Even with middle son's med school apps, all we had to do was provide his ACT scores - and hubby did that as I was out when we asked for them. Â OTOH, you still have yours around daily to converse with and hug, so I suppose there are pros and cons. Â :confused1: Â Best wishes to y'all - with acceptances and finances! 3 Quote
regentrude Posted October 4, 2016 Posted October 4, 2016 Thanks. Somehow I have this hanging over me heavily. But then I resumed working on it today and realized that my course descriptions and school profile are pretty much complete except for minor adjustments; the counselor letter is in draft form, and the transcript just needs to be finalized with senior spring courses. So, I'm feeling much better. DS claims to have written his essay and sent it off to DD for editing, and he asked his boss and a college instructor for LORs. The boss already has her letter written. Our self imposed deadline for the first application to his top choice is October 15. There is a chance that this could actually happen. 5 Quote
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 5, 2016 Author Posted October 5, 2016 Another one done, and another acceptance today! We are so close I can taste it. I think may be all of my docs are done for Common App. I'll use the same recommendation for several other schools and programs. Did my last check of the transcript and course description until mid year update. Â I do have to wait for ine transcript from DE that I want to fold in. Â Almost there. 3 Quote
quark Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 All my stuff was done a while ago. But I. Keep. Going. Back. To. Fiddle. Â Just can't help it. If the kiddo could be done soon then we could submit and I won't have to fiddle. So I blame him completely. :glare: Â Latest bit of anxiety...I have only given him an unweighted GPA all this while and now the thread on hs2coll has me worried that I am shortchanging him. So I'm now wondering if I should provide a weighted GPA too. :mellow: Won't this feeling ever end? Will I ever feel like I've not messed up some how? :mellow: 3 Quote
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 5, 2016 Author Posted October 5, 2016 All my stuff was done a while ago. But I. Keep. Going. Back. To. Fiddle. Â Just can't help it. If the kiddo could be done soon then we could submit and I won't have to fiddle. So I blame him completely. :glare: Â Latest bit of anxiety...I have only given him an unweighted GPA all this while and now the thread on hs2coll has me worried that I am shortchanging him. So I'm now wondering if I should provide a weighted GPA too. :mellow: Won't this feeling ever end? Will I ever feel like I've not messed up some how? :mellow: Â This won't make you feel better, but I am in favor of weighted gpa. Â I actually list both. Â Â I figure that a school can use the unweighted or even calculate gpa using their own special system (one app seems to only consider grades 10-12). Â But I didn't think that anyone would weight it if it didn't come that way already. Â I do understand the fiddling. Â I keep doing it to. Â Partly because I keep finding things to fix. Â But a lot of it is not very necessary. 2 Quote
Gratia271 Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 All my stuff was done a while ago. But I. Keep. Going. Back. To. Fiddle.  Just can't help it. If the kiddo could be done soon then we could submit and I won't have to fiddle. So I blame him completely. :glare:  Latest bit of anxiety...I have only given him an unweighted GPA all this while and now the thread on hs2coll has me worried that I am shortchanging him. So I'm now wondering if I should provide a weighted GPA too. :mellow: Won't this feeling ever end? Will I ever feel like I've not messed up some how? :mellow: I share your anxiety about the whole process. I didn't think I would stress over this, but I keep wondering if somehow I have overlooked things or shortchanged DD etc.  We also felt the need to change to a weighted g.p.a. against both of our wishes because several schools DD spoke to said plainly that they wanted a weighted g.p.a.  Part of our struggle is that she is pursuing several distinct avenues in terms of school selection that really necessitates different approaches. With one common app to submit, it gets draining trying to accommodate everything. What we have endeavored to address throughout is establishing a cohesive message that really unites all of the separate materials submitted by her, me, and LORs so that it provides a complete yet concise picture of DD. I never imagined it would feel so overwhelming..... 4 Quote
quark Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 I figure that a school can use the unweighted or even calculate gpa using their own special system (one app seems to only consider grades 10-12).  But I didn't think that anyone would weight it if it didn't come that way already.  I do understand the fiddling.  I keep doing it to.  Partly because I keep finding things to fix.  But a lot of it is not very necessary.  Bolded is a very good point. Decided that I won't be able to sleep until I added the weighted gpa in so in it goes. You guys are pretty persuasive! :thumbup:   I share your anxiety about the whole process. I didn't think I would stress over this, but I keep wondering if somehow I have overlooked things or shortchanged DD etc.  [...]  I never imagined it would feel so overwhelming.....  Thank you for sharing this. This is exactly my worry too. Did I mess up? Could I have been more tuned in to awards/ competitions/ other nice looking extras? A part of me knows that my kid might not have liked me to push him towards those things though. I worry that all the unschooling we did, although immensely enjoyable, might be reasons why he isn't accepted in some places. Silly things like that. But I have to remind myself that those were some of the most engaging courses we've done by far. We were co-learners, bunny-hopping together over these beautiful, fertile, verdant meadows and really stopping to smell the roses (carrots?). We had so much fun. That must count as something!  But now we have a weighted gpa and thanks to all the independent studies, it's somewhat "diluted". I'm going to drive myself crazy. :sad: This process is making me doubt all the wonderful things we've done.  I think a few more :smash: and I'm going to send it in. Good luck all! 2 Quote
Gratia271 Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 It is so weird how the self-doubt creeps in. I didn't imagine I would feel this way. I look at my daughter, the beautiful person she is and all she has accomplished, and simply want to make sure my part of the application process is worthy of her, that they see who she is and not just an amalgamation of academic accomplishments. Her "statistics" are the least remarkable thing about her. I have struggled and struggled to find the right words to present these other aspects.   I have experienced more anxiety about this process than I ever did about how to present myself in law school or practice. For my part, I just did it. But this is my daughter..... 5 Quote
Gratia271 Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 But I didn't think that anyone would weight it if it didn't come that way already.   DD was told by at least one school that they won't weight it if we don't, and that merit scholarships are keyed to gpa. So we changed everything.  1 Quote
Luckymama Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 I'm fiddling with everything too. Sigh. I rearranged the entire transcript! What the heck?! Today I'm going over the school profile One Last Time (honest). Tomorrow I'll look at the counselor rec mess. It doesn't help that I'm writing a second rec letter for a very very selective scholarship for a school that could be a great fit for dd. Â Btw I have weighted and unweighted grades listed on the transcript with a short blurb stating that AP/DE/honors receive +1.0. I go into greater detail in the school profile, but I wanted it listed there for someone scanning quickly. Â I have found myself awake at 2am questioning all the choices we have made since beginning homeschooling in fifth grade. 5 Quote
8filltheheart Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 I'm fiddling with everything too. Sigh. I rearranged the entire transcript! What the heck?! Today I'm going over the school profile One Last Time (honest). Tomorrow I'll look at the counselor rec mess. It doesn't help that I'm writing a second rec letter for a very very selective scholarship for a school that could be a great fit for dd. Â Btw I have weighted and unweighted grades listed on the transcript with a short blurb stating that AP/DE/honors receive +1.0. I go into greater detail in the school profile, but I wanted it listed there for someone scanning quickly. Â I have found myself awake at 2am questioning all the choices we have made since beginning homeschooling in fifth grade. You guys and all your second guessing are making me second guess myself. This time I did not give any weighted GPA, but I did label courses honors! Difference is we have hit submit and there is no changing anything. It is what it is at this point. 2 Quote
quark Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 I am considering removing the weighting after speaking to my very experienced and much respected counselor. I felt like the weighting went against my goals. Made me think yucky things about our homeschooling. I guess we'll just have to see what happens. Â I'm trying to tell myself that in about 2.5 months all of this will be over (and then it will be the waiting which I can't do much about). Â :grouphug: to all. Gratia, I know what you mean. I could do this for myself over and over and over and maybe even laugh and be happy doing it. For my kid, it feels so different. 1 Quote
8filltheheart Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 Quark, I have weighted in the past. I didn't this time bc after reading on CC for so long, it is abundantly clear there is zero standard GPA format. Kids in some schools are on a 6 pt scale. Others are on a 5. Still others are on a 4.5. Then younhave the schools with zero weighting. Â I decided schools are just going to reweight anyway if you get past a certain threshold. The scholarships Dd is applying for are not GPA based, but competitive. Her unweighted GPA is not going to make or break her application. Â All of the schools she is applying to also seem to have adcoms just for homeschoolers. I am assuming they must have their own way of processing things. Â I have done my best. So has she. At this point it is out of our hands and what happens happens. 2 Quote
snowbeltmom Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 I didn't weight my boys' gpa's. Â However, if they had been applying to schools that award merit aid based on gpa, I would have. Â I don't think it makes much difference in admission outcomes whether the grades are weighted or not, but I do think a weighted gpa can result in higher merit awards at schools that award merit. 2 Quote
quark Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 I went back and unweighted it (I wonder if I could break the record for most transcript revisions). :tongue_smilie: I don't believe most of DS's chosen schools offer merit aid in the way that other schools do. Quote
Gratia271 Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 I didn't weight my boys' gpa's.  However, if they had been applying to schools that award merit aid based on gpa, I would have.  I don't think it makes much difference in admission outcomes whether the grades are weighted or not, but I do think a weighted gpa can result in higher merit awards at schools that award merit.  Some of the schools on DD's list specifically said that the weighted gpa was necessary for merit, while others have said it is irrelevant. Oh well... Quote
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 5, 2016 Author Posted October 5, 2016 (edited) I am considering removing the weighting after speaking to my very experienced and much respected counselor. I felt like the weighting went against my goals. Made me think yucky things about our homeschooling. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.  I'm trying to tell myself that in about 2.5 months all of this will be over (and then it will be the waiting which I can't do much about).  :grouphug: to all. Gratia, I know what you mean. I could do this for myself over and over and over and maybe even laugh and be happy doing it. For my kid, it feels so different.  I weighted, but I also think that you have to look at the documentation in its entirety.  If the weighting seems to minimize what were significant education experiences then it might be a net negative.   Schools also have to take into consideration what was possible at the individual school.  If that were not the case, then the school that weighted most would get the highest scholarships.  I know that in the Common App, there is also a question that asks what the highest average gpa is.  I wonder if college use some sort of ratio to rationalize gpa.  I did have one school  (Actually the one where ds1 ended up.) where the head admissions rep said that they were required to list gpa by the Dept of Education, but that they didn't consider it at all in admissions, because the numbers were so varied.  ETA:  In other words, if it diminishes what you did or makes you feel yucky, then it probably isn't worth doing.  It doesn't really matter what other people are doing. Edited October 5, 2016 by Sebastian (a lady) 3 Quote
Nan in Mass Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 All my stuff was done a while ago. But I. Keep. Going. Back. To. Fiddle. Â Just can't help it. If the kiddo could be done soon then we could submit and I won't have to fiddle. So I blame him completely. :glare: Â Latest bit of anxiety...I have only given him an unweighted GPA all this while and now the thread on hs2coll has me worried that I am shortchanging him. So I'm now wondering if I should provide a weighted GPA too. :mellow: Won't this feeling ever end? Will I ever feel like I've not messed up some how? :mellow: I think the I,ve messed up feeling is part of the price we pay for homeschooling. It doesn,t go away but it gets mitigated by the places where you can see that you did something right. Â Fiddling... yup... and it doesn,t help when your son suddenly looks at the half inch stack of application he,s stuffing into an envelope and says, "When I chose to homeschool for high school, I had no idea it was going to mean that my chances of getting into college were going to hinge on YOUR writing ability! I would have thought twice about it if I had!" Â I didn,t weight anything. I sent an ungraded, undated transcript and used their community college gpa to fill the gpa slot. Mine got in everywhere they applied. Â Hang in there... Â Nan 2 Quote
Nan in Mass Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Oh - and I dealt with all the independent stuff youngest did by having an "Independent Project" section. I assigned credits for "classes" in that section by time spent. Some were a full year long, others just a quarter of a year. The transcript was organized by subject, so this worked. It allowed me to emphasize some of his accomplishments that otherwise wouldn,t have shown on the transcript. Â Nan 1 Quote
quark Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Thank you so much for the supportive thoughts and being so reassuring everyone. Going to submit my first counselor section today (maybe tomorrow)! Hugs! 5 Quote
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 6, 2016 Author Posted October 6, 2016 I'm making progress. Â I have everything written. Â I am now waiting for one transcript to arrive in the mail, so I can include that student copy with my transcript. Â If it arrives today, I think I can assemble and mail paper copies and upload e-versions to the places that take those. Â That would make for a very nice weekend. Â 1 Quote
Gratia271 Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Thank you so much for the supportive thoughts and being so reassuring everyone. Going to submit my first counselor section today (maybe tomorrow)! Hugs! Â Yay! :hurray: Â 1 Quote
quark Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Thinking of all of you. Good luck Sebastian. So many mixed feelings. My only kid. My very first college app submission as his counselor. In what could possibly be my very last year of homeschooling when everything about this learning lifestyle is so close to my heart. Â I don't imbibe alcohol but hard liquor sounds quite tempting right now. 2 Quote
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 6, 2016 Author Posted October 6, 2016 Thinking of all of you. Good luck Sebastian. So many mixed feelings. My only kid. My very first college app submission as his counselor. In what could possibly be my very last year of homeschooling when everything about this learning lifestyle is so close to my heart. Â I don't imbibe alcohol but hard liquor sounds quite tempting right now. Â Oh I get the mixed feelings. Â Last year I amused myself by mentally writing paragraphs of the recommendation letter I wouldn't send. Â It had things about my kid that an admissions office would never know or would not understand. Â It is sobering to try to summarize both academic aptitude and achievements and also personality traits in just a few pages (across several documents). Â Â I can say that when the acceptance letters and scholarships started coming in, it was an incredible affirmation. 2 Quote
swimmermom3 Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Dd's first deadline is Oct 14 (for a scholarship) which we have adjusted to Oct 7. That application includes 6 essays which vary in length from 200 to 800 words. Two are perfect, two need one more read-through, and two are still rough.  Her other self-imposed deadlines are Oct 21 (9 essays; some already written can be reworked) and Nov 11 (for the regular decision schools; 8-9 essays but most are really short, 100-200 words).  I have to finish the counselor letter and edit the school profile. Again.  :svengo: I am in absolute awe of the both of you. Give your dd my best wishes. She's a remarkable young lady and is going to do great things. Next time I am out your way, we'll have to raise a glass of wine - or three!  2 Quote
swimmermom3 Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 All my stuff was done a while ago. But I. Keep. Going. Back. To. Fiddle.  Just can't help it. If the kiddo could be done soon then we could submit and I won't have to fiddle. So I blame him completely. :glare:  Latest bit of anxiety...I have only given him an unweighted GPA all this while and now the thread on hs2coll has me worried that I am shortchanging him. So I'm now wondering if I should provide a weighted GPA too. :mellow: Won't this feeling ever end? Will I ever feel like I've not messed up some how? :mellow:  :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: He will get accepted into a college and will pack his bags and go.  You will then wonder if you did enough to socialize your homeschooled child. You will wonder if you taught him the right study skills to survive and thrive in college. You may well still be asking yourself if homeschooling was a mistake.  Then you will find out through nefarious means that your child showed up at the Library of Congress with three girls in quest of reader cards and that he played a drinking game during the presidential debates, but made it to his early morning class where he sent you a picture of the PowerPoint presentation that shows a 1918 artwork entitled "White on White," because in spite of homeschooling, he still dislikes modern art.  You'll be wondering if his grades will be good enough to maintain his scholarship and get into the early masters program.  I think the wondering doesn't go away any time soon. You will make mistakes and you will make incredible contributions to the person your son is now and the adult he is becoming.  About the transcripts, I put both unweighted and weighted grades. My thought was that his future professors and advisors will be dealing with a real student with real strengths and weaknesses - not a perfect student. I didn't want any aspect of the transcript to smell of "spin," if that makes sense.  5 Quote
quark Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: He will get accepted into a college and will pack his bags ... Â Then you will find out through nefarious means that your child showed up at the Library of Congress with three girls in quest of reader cards and that he played a drinking game during the presidential debates, but made it to his early morning class where he sent you a picture of the PowerPoint presentation that shows a 1918 artwork entitled "White on White," because in spite of homeschooling, he still dislikes modern art. Â [...] Â I think the wondering doesn't go away any time soon. You will make mistakes and you will make incredible contributions to the person your son is now and the adult he is becoming. Â About the transcripts, I put both unweighted and weighted grades. My thought was that his future professors and advisors will be dealing with a real student with real strengths and weaknesses - not a perfect student. I didn't want any aspect of the transcript to smell of "spin," if that makes sense. Â I needed this so much! How did you know mine hates white on white too? Â Thanks Lisa! 1 Quote
swimmermom3 Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 It is so weird how the self-doubt creeps in. I didn't imagine I would feel this way. I look at my daughter, the beautiful person she is and all she has accomplished, and simply want to make sure my part of the application process is worthy of her, that they see who she is and not just an amalgamation of academic accomplishments. Her "statistics" are the least remarkable thing about her. I have struggled and struggled to find the right words to present these other aspects.   I have experienced more anxiety about this process than I ever did about how to present myself in law school or practice. For my part, I just did it. But this is my daughter.....  This is lovely.  While I disliked putting all of the documentation together for the Common App, I also realized that together (at least in my mind), it told a cohesive story.  Don't let the self-doubt rob you of the beauty and excitement of this moment.  I am sure your part of the application process will be worthy of your daughter. You've done a good job.  3 Quote
swimmermom3 Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 I needed this so much! How did you know mine hates white on white too?  Thanks Lisa!  Two years ago, we were down in San Francisco and went to both the Legion of Honor and the de Young museums. At the de Young, Sailor Dude was well, "transfixed" by a huge white canvas with a small blue border. The exhibit said something about projecting your emotions or thoughts on to the canvas. I thought I was going to die laughing as all the boy kept saying was "What! What! Are you kidding me???"  He could handle just fine the Great Courses art course I made him take and going to our museum to practice what he learned, but I thought that white canvas that required him to "project" was going to make his head explode.  1 Quote
swimmermom3 Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 I think the I,ve messed up feeling is part of the price we pay for homeschooling. It doesn,t go away but it gets mitigated by the places where you can see that you did something right.  Fiddling... yup... and it doesn,t help when your son suddenly looks at the half inch stack of application he,s stuffing into an envelope and says, "When I chose to homeschool for high school, I had no idea it was going to mean that my chances of getting into college were going to hinge on YOUR writing ability! I would have thought twice about it if I had!"  I didn,t weight anything. I sent an ungraded, undated transcript and used their community college gpa to fill the gpa slot. Mine got in everywhere they applied.  Hang in there...  Nan  Oh my gosh, Nan! The part in bold had me laughing so hard.  Homeschooling is hands down the weirdest, counter status-quo thing I have ever done in my life, so feeling like I've messed up is kind of the norm now.  Two of my husband's sisters homeschooled their children long before we started with Sailor Dude, and honestly, I wondered why anyone would want to put their child at such an incredible disadvantage. :tongue_smilie:  In turn, I've taken a lot of flack through the years from my family for homeschooling. Last spring, dh,ds, and I attended a dinner in our city for students who had been accepted to university ds ultimately decided to attend. It was both awe-inspiring and a bit terrifying to find out that four of the six students at dinner had attended the most elite private high schools in our city. The fifth student came from a highly rated public school and then...there we were. On the ride home, my dh commented that ds and I must be very proud of what we had accomplished. It was difficult to explain to him my feelings of being "a fraud" and ds said that when he says he is homeschooled, he thinks people are waiting for him to break out into Turrets syndrome or something else that explains why he can't be in a "real school."  You can't sit with these kinds of thoughts for long or they will make you crazy.  And then every one will know why you really homeschool. :D   2 Quote
Nan in Mass Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Lisa, you mean like that I homeschooled because my sons couldn,t deal with real school? 1 Quote
Nan in Mass Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 (edited) Quark, hugs. Try not to worry too much. You,ll miss your son like crazy and that will be really hard, but you and your son have been learning partners for years now. That relationship is unlikely to end just because one of you is becoming an adult. Lisa gave you examples and I will give you my own examples from yesterday and today. Yesterday, I had to drop what I was doing and go help oldest, whose transmission was failing. We spent quite a bit of time in the car together during which he told me all the cool bits of information he,s discovered recently, like that the French were on the Confederate side during the Civil War. And today, youngest, who is a college senior now, called to thank me for forcing him to learn how to write a 5 paragraph essay fast and then went on to tell me about what he,s learning in thermo fluids and the really cool final project he has to do for the class (design and write up a plan for a solar plant that will power a small town, including budget and and who you would get to do the work - his school is super project oriented and this class is all projects but this is an especially cool one!). Most weeks he calls to tell me discuss what he is learning. It really stretches me, and often all of mine call as soon as they,ve learned something particularly cool, to make sure I know it too, and to discuss the implications. That part hasn,t ended for us, even with long term girlfriends to share with. : ) Â Nan Edited October 6, 2016 by Nan in Mass 2 Quote
swimmermom3 Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Lisa, you mean like that I homeschooled because my sons couldn,t deal with real school?  :D Nan, I prefer to think that real school couldn't deal with our sons!  By the way, Sailor Dude is still sailing. This was his third summer as a certified US Sailing instructor and he thinks it's the greatest job ever. We have been pleasantly surprised at the number of doors it has opened and how small and interconnected the sailing community in general really is. One of ds's fellow college sailors is related to someone ds crewed for down in California.  I am guessing your guys are still out on the water on a regular basis?  2 Quote
quark Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 (edited) Oh gosh you guys make me wish I had gigantic arms that could stretch out and hug all of you in one huge group hug. :001_wub: :001_wub: :001_wub: Â I am so thankful we homeschooled. I am so glad for the years I had learning with him. And I am so glad for the laughs we have shared most of all. How could we laugh like that if he was stuck somewhere learning things that were not meaningful to him? Â Lisa, DS laughed over your post and googled the SF MOMA exhibit that made him do something very similar to SailorDude. It was a white canvas and painted white on top of that. No dots. No borders. Not even a scratch to reflect someone's scarred life or whatever. Just plain ol' white on white. Hanging on a wall. Something he and DH had to pay big bucks to go see. :blink: Edited October 6, 2016 by quark 1 Quote
8filltheheart Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 (edited) I never doubt the choice we made in homeschooling. I know what I see in my kids--a love of learning that goes beyond anything I have ever seen in their friends. Â The awesome responsibility of selling our homeschool to universities, that, otoh, can leave me quaking in my boots! I worked really hard at trying to capture Dd in all of my counselor materials, and as hard as it was, I think I succeeded. Of courses, she makes it easy bc she is such an amazing young woman. :) But she also has a mind of her own and she thwarted the traditional DE or AP route. With the exception of French and Russian, every course she took, she took at home. It is a truly homeschooled transcript. We'll see. Â One of the schools turned out to require the GED from homeschoolers. I didn't notice until everything was submitted. I contacted them and told them to withdraw her application. They said they would not require it from her. So, that is a positive sign! Edited October 7, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart 5 Quote
swimmermom3 Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 Oh gosh you guys make me wish I had gigantic arms that could stretch out and hug all of you in one huge group hug. :001_wub: :001_wub: :001_wub:  I am so thankful we homeschooled. I am so glad for the years I had learning with him. And I am so glad for the laughs we have shared most of all. How could we laugh like that if he was stuck somewhere learning things that were not meaningful to him?  Lisa, DS laughed over your post and googled the SF MOMA exhibit that made him do something very similar to SailorDude. It was a white canvas and painted white on top of that. No dots. No borders. Not even a scratch to reflect someone's scarred life or whatever. Just plain ol' white on white. Hanging on a wall. Something he and DH had to pay big bucks to go see. :blink:  I truly miss the cooperative learning with my son and our current events/political discussions.  Quark, you can share the rest of the white painting story with your son as a cautionary tale. This is a link for the de Young and I think the paintings in the third photo were the ones he was looking at, although I thought there was only one. You get the idea.  Anyway, when it was time to register for his college classes, Sailor Dude was "too busy" and was slow to register even though I was nagging him. As a result, his schedule showed two registered classes and three wait list classes. When dh went to make the first payment, we discovered that you don't get your scholarship money if you aren't registered full time. Ds felt overwhelmed by trying to work out a schedule. Things are a bit more complicated by the number of credits he already has.  I juggled and juggled and came up with a workable schedule that avoided wait lists and met his Gen Ed and major requirements. Sadly, the only class open that met the fine arts requirements was Modern Art History for the 19th and 20th Century. I thought about his reaction at the de Young, but can I confess to being slightly gleeful when I showed him his excellent schedule and then explained how I got there? Sailor Dude is usually a quick learner. I doubt he will be late in registering for spring semester! :D  The caption that came with the photo from class of Malevitch's White on White was "Just let me die." 4 Quote
quark Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016  I juggled and juggled and came up with a workable schedule that avoided wait lists and met his Gen Ed and major requirements. Sadly, the only class open that met the fine arts requirements was Modern Art History for the 19th and 20th Century. I thought about his reaction at the de Young, but can I confess to being slightly gleeful when I showed him his excellent schedule and then explained how I got there? Sailor Dude is usually a quick learner. I doubt he will be late in registering for spring semester! :D  :lol: :lol: I've told him. He is trying not to choke on his dinner while the laughter engulfs him. Poor SD!  1 Quote
Nan in Mass Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 :D Nan, I prefer to think that real school couldn't deal with our sons! Â By the way, Sailor Dude is still sailing. This was his third summer as a certified US Sailing instructor and he thinks it's the greatest job ever. We have been pleasantly surprised at the number of doors it has opened and how small and interconnected the sailing community in general really is. One of ds's fellow college sailors is related to someone ds crewed for down in California. Â I am guessing your guys are still out on the water on a regular basis? Â That,s great about the sailing! Once you truly get the bug, I think it persists. Â Oldest is talking about buying a live aboard sailboat. He took a friend and borrowed Grampa,s boat and cruised in Maine for his vacation. Pretty gutsy of him. The boat was prickly with fishing rods and flying a dancing bear bedspread when we met up with him for dinner. Middle one is sailing a schooner these days. Youngest spent his vacation sailing with us, or rather, sleeping or reading in his bunk. He was pretty tired. He wants to come with us next year again. Apparently he had a good time despite the fatigue. So yes, all still sailing, especially the older two. Youngest is struggling his way through engineering school and doesn,t have much energy to spare these days. Â : ) Nan 1 Quote
Nan in Mass Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 And you really think he,ll pass that class, Lisa? You are being way optimistic lol! Or you son is better at dissembling than mine are. Â I read a play about a white painting recently. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_(play) It was a cultural mismatch for me so I didn,t really appreciate it. My brother-in-law recently had an opportunity to buy one of the paintings in a series of island paintings that he adores. It was of the island in the fog. He declined the very expensive honour. We have trouble buying stuff we can do ourselves. If he had, I doubt it would have caused such problems. We would have shrugged, said he was crazy but it was his own money, and then forgotten about it. Your son might enjoy listening to the audiobook. Our library had it. Â Nan 1 Quote
Gratia271 Posted October 9, 2016 Posted October 9, 2016 I am finally done with my part! I submitted everything, and DD has submitted two applications so far. :) 5 Quote
goldberry Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 DD was told by at least one school that they won't weight it if we don't, and that merit scholarships are keyed to gpa. So we changed everything.   I have heard this also.  I am including both. 1 Quote
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 12, 2016 Author Posted October 12, 2016 I have pretty much finalized my documents. Â Took forever to get the course descriptions right, because I kept finding big errors after I'd printed a bunch of copies. Â I had to correct and reprint pages and insert them into the stack in the right place. Â I've sent out a couple packets already. Â Uploaded my portion for a couple schools. Â I have just the homeschool notes to write for Common App. Â Â 4 Quote
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