cael
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Post by cael on Dec 16, 2014 12:58:47 GMT -5
It's such a racket. Even if I did get a state job and became eligible for free tuition at UMass, I'd still be paying probably 2/3 of the total cost, so it would save me money, but not as much as you'd like to think. Are you 100% certain? Because all my wife had to pay for her classes so far (1 each semester) has been the costs of the books and parking. As her husband my first attempt at the MBA costs me $1,300 for my first (and only) semester there in fees + the costs of books. Hope to go back once I move back. Last I checked (because my dad was a state employee and my mother was eligible for his discount) it was only tuition you got free, had to pay all other expenses. Maybe it's different because she works at the college instead of just some department within the state? i'd have to check though if I ever got into a state gig.
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justme
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Post by justme on Dec 16, 2014 13:13:53 GMT -5
From Carl's post it looks like she gets everything but books and parking covered as the employee. But he has to pay fees too. I'm guessing the kids would be the same structure as a spouse.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Dec 16, 2014 13:14:41 GMT -5
The Haitian: So, let me get your comment straight: your MIL cleans and cooks for you right now and she will be the care provider for any children you have while you and your wife work. This could be for many, many years: but the minute you feel you cannot take care of her, you're going to put her in a nursing home. Nice guy: is she aware of this plan? If my mom had been alive to do all of that for me, you bet your bottom dollar (and mine) that I would never have put her in a nursing home. Have you been to one of those places? We took care of our MIL when she was bedridden, could no longer talk, etc.. Was it easy? Hell, no. Was it the best financial decision for us? Most certainly not. But there was no way we would park her in a nursing home after all the wonderful things she had done for us.
Sorry to get on my soapbox but your comment hit a nerve. Ok that is a load of crap. I don't care how much you do, sometimes the very best you can do is put someone in a nursing home. My Grandpa had Alzheimer's and as he wandered and would get lost out on the farm, there is no way with all the care in the world that people could care for him their. Eventually he would have fallen down the basement, or wandered out into the pond or just walked out into the pasture one winter day. Some situations, the best you can do is put them in a nursing home. Sometimes you simply cannot care for the person.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Dec 16, 2014 13:59:33 GMT -5
The Haitian: So, let me get your comment straight: your MIL cleans and cooks for you right now and she will be the care provider for any children you have while you and your wife work. This could be for many, many years: but the minute you feel you cannot take care of her, you're going to put her in a nursing home. Nice guy: is she aware of this plan? If my mom had been alive to do all of that for me, you bet your bottom dollar (and mine) that I would never have put her in a nursing home. Have you been to one of those places? We took care of our MIL when she was bedridden, could no longer talk, etc.. Was it easy? Hell, no. Was it the best financial decision for us? Most certainly not. But there was no way we would park her in a nursing home after all the wonderful things she had done for us.
Sorry to get on my soapbox but your comment hit a nerve. Ok that is a load of crap. I don't care how much you do, sometimes the very best you can do is put someone in a nursing home. My Grandpa had Alzheimer's and as he wandered and would get lost out on the farm, there is no way with all the care in the world that people could care for him their. Eventually he would have fallen down the basement, or wandered out into the pond or just walked out into the pasture one winter day. Some situations, the best you can do is put them in a nursing home. Sometimes you simply cannot care for the person. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/yeahthat.gif) At a certain point some people need 24 hour care, which not everyone is able to provide. After caring for my Grandma for years, my Mom has just told us to put her in a nursing home when she gets bad. She doesn't want to be the burden on us like her Grandma was to her. And even then eventually my Grandma had to be in a nursing home, she was like having an adult sized 2 year old in the house. If you didn't watch her every minute she was getting into trouble & she started having severe anger issues/tantrums.
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workpublic
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Post by workpublic on Dec 16, 2014 16:39:28 GMT -5
Boy am I glad I grew up when life was good for the American worker My mom was my daycare. ;-)
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workpublic
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Post by workpublic on Dec 16, 2014 16:42:26 GMT -5
We had "that house" for snow days skip days and after school partying. But it was the opposite, it was the one house where the mom worked. ;-)
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Dec 16, 2014 17:16:11 GMT -5
I can only hope my kids let me wander into a pond. No way do I want to put them through the hell of me losing my mind.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on Dec 16, 2014 19:09:44 GMT -5
The Haitian: So, let me get your comment straight: your MIL cleans and cooks for you right now and she will be the care provider for any children you have while you and your wife work. This could be for many, many years: but the minute you feel you cannot take care of her, you're going to put her in a nursing home. Nice guy: is she aware of this plan? If my mom had been alive to do all of that for me, you bet your bottom dollar (and mine) that I would never have put her in a nursing home. Have you been to one of those places? We took care of our MIL when she was bedridden, could no longer talk, etc.. Was it easy? Hell, no. Was it the best financial decision for us? Most certainly not. But there was no way we would park her in a nursing home after all the wonderful things she had done for us.
Sorry to get on my soapbox but your comment hit a nerve. Just so you know, All nursing homes aren't horrible. My grandmother's was lovely. Different floors had different levels of care. There were several atrium you could go and watch the boats cruise on the ocean. It was clean, staffed with people who gave a damn (and were well vetted, getting a job there was not easy), and there were different activities every day for the residents. They had a salon. Families were allowed in including small pets who passed a screening. Immediate family members could stay over for a day or two if they wanted, especially if something wasn't going well. They threw birthday parties for the residents in the atrium, with cake and decorations silly party hats. It's not like we banished her somewhere and never saw her again. She was happy there and family was able to see her daily. They just could provide the specialized medical care that we could not provide.
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Dec 17, 2014 1:46:49 GMT -5
My house was sort of the hangout house when I was a teenager. Still, there were probably no more than 3-4 kids there at a time (my parents wouldn't allow anymore). This was by no means everyday either. My parents also weren't shy about telling teenagers it was time for them to go home. My house was the hangout house when the kids were growing up and for many years 6-10 kids was normal in my house on an average day. Good thing I came from a large family and could handle that number of kids. That and the fact we lived in SE Asia and had a live-in housekeeper ![](http://images.proboards.com/new/grin.png) While I love kids, I'm not fond of cleaning...
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chen35
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Post by chen35 on Dec 17, 2014 9:57:20 GMT -5
We plan on using what we currently pay in child support to help pay for college. So we don't save as much for it as I'm comfortable with, but I'm hoping cash flowing it won't be too big of a deal.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Dec 17, 2014 11:15:07 GMT -5
As kids get older the cost of daycare does go down.
For DD (now 12) costs were something like this:
Infant care to 14 months - $225 a week Toddler to 2 yrs - $200 a week Toddler to pre-school - $185 week 1/2 day - - $175 a week before and after school care $165 a week. 12 and older - no daycare
For every drop in daycare costs DH and I just took that money (we never had it anyway) and put it in DD's college fund.
We don't let lifestyle creep take place. DD get's one extra activity to be balanced. She doesn't "need" fancy clothes, private dance, sports, AND music lessons.
Summer and winter sports through the park district are dirt cheap, traveling teams are a huge money waste IMHO.
So far we've got about 2.5 years of a 4 year public college in our home state saved. Now that we're not paying any daycare we should be able to ratchet it up even more. The goal is to have enough saved to cover room and board at an in state public school by the time she graduates HS.
Yes, I know she may get more financial aid at a private school, but you can't even begin to plan without some type of baseline.
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Dec 19, 2014 18:09:56 GMT -5
...:::"I don't know many after school activities/sports that would costs 2k/month either.... Not any I would let my kids join anyway.":::...
Horseback riding perhaps?
I wonder whether or not the money formerly going to daycare would immediately become available for college savings. On paper/in theory it does. In practice, there are lots of other variables going on that could eat up that money. Very few things are static. Perhaps the couple is saving for a home. Perhaps employment situations change and a stay at home spouse becomes possible, but at the expense of the extra income that was paying for daycare.
Who knows what the state of college will be in 18 years. Even with modest growth, unless wages pick up, college will be unaffordable to many.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Dec 22, 2014 9:05:28 GMT -5
The Haitian: So, let me get your comment straight: your MIL cleans and cooks for you right now and she will be the care provider for any children you have while you and your wife work. This could be for many, many years: but the minute you feel you cannot take care of her, you're going to put her in a nursing home. Nice guy: is she aware of this plan? If my mom had been alive to do all of that for me, you bet your bottom dollar (and mine) that I would never have put her in a nursing home. Have you been to one of those places? We took care of our MIL when she was bedridden, could no longer talk, etc.. Was it easy? Hell, no. Was it the best financial decision for us? Most certainly not. But there was no way we would park her in a nursing home after all the wonderful things she had done for us.
Sorry to get on my soapbox but your comment hit a nerve. I'm glad you feel that the care you provided for your mother in law was best. I think that's great. But your comment that anyone who puts their parents into a nursing home doesn't care about them fucking pisses me off. I spend a lot of my time "at those places" and as previous posters have said, the staff and level of care is wonderful. The socialization with their peers alone gave my grandparents new life, and there was no way that we could have provided that at home. And yeah--your post hit one of my nerves.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Dec 22, 2014 9:25:36 GMT -5
A We don't let lifestyle creep take place. DD get's one extra activity to be balanced. She doesn't "need" fancy clothes, private dance, sports, AND music lessons. Summer and winter sports through the park district are dirt cheap, traveling teams are a huge money waste IMHO. No offense, but how do you expect her to compete? Particularly, when colleges will want to see her get top grades, volunteer, hold down a job and be in a couple of activities? My 10 year old had no experience playing basketball. He's the only one on his team of 10 who hasn't. Fact is, he doesn't play as well as the other kids that have been doing the Y (BTW, the Y starts benching kids in 4th grade...) My DS also understands, now, how he cannot perform at the same level of his peers. I feel bad for him when he says "Well, I know the other kids did much better. But, I feel good that I did a,b,c with very little experience." DS loves baseball. The only option, now, for him is little league. And, there, he's competing against kids that have more experience and parents that drop money on coaching. The rec department only offers Tball and machine pitch. You age out of machine pitch at 7 or 8. And, actually, the rec department doesn't offer girl's softball. So we have no option for DD other than little league once she ages out of machine pitch. The kids that learn instruments rarely do as well as the kids that get private instruction. It's not a knock on public school teachers. An orchestra teacher can't teach 4 instruments at once to 40 kids. It just doesn't work. We did swim lessons for DD1 through the rec department, and again at a private pool. Guess where she made more progress? We also allowed dd1 to try dance through the Y, and again, we tried a studio situation. Through the Y, it was like herding cats. At the studio, she actually learned something. We take a two-tiered approach. If it the child wants to just try something, we go through the rec department. If it's clear that there's interest and they might be good at it, then we switch to better instruction. Getting accepted into college isn't about being a jack of all trades, master of none like when DH and I went to school. Simply being a "good" kid, having decent grades isn't enough anymore.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2014 9:34:40 GMT -5
A We don't let lifestyle creep take place. DD get's one extra activity to be balanced. She doesn't "need" fancy clothes, private dance, sports, AND music lessons. Summer and winter sports through the park district are dirt cheap, traveling teams are a huge money waste IMHO. No offense, but how do you expect her to compete? Particularly, when colleges will want to see her get top grades, volunteer, hold down a job and be in a couple of activities? My 10 year old had no experience playing basketball. He's the only one on his team of 10 who hasn't. Fact is, he doesn't play as well as the other kids that have been doing the Y (BTW, the Y starts benching kids in 4th grade...) My DS also understands, now, how he cannot perform at the same level of his peers. I feel bad for him when he says "Well, I know the other kids did much better. But, I feel good that I did a,b,c with very little experience." DS loves baseball. The only option, now, for him is little league. And, there, he's competing against kids that have more experience and parents that drop money on coaching. The rec department only offers Tball and machine pitch. You age out of machine pitch at 7 or 8. And, actually, the rec department doesn't offer girl's softball. So we have no option for DD other than little league once she ages out of machine pitch. The kids that learn instruments rarely do as well as the kids that get private instruction. It's not a knock on public school teachers. An orchestra teacher can't teach 4 instruments at once to 40 kids. It just doesn't work. We did swim lessons for DD1 through the rec department, and again at a private pool. Guess where she made more progress? We also allowed dd1 to try dance through the Y, and again, we tried a studio situation. Through the Y, it was like herding cats. At the studio, she actually learned something. We take a two-tiered approach. If it the child wants to just try something, we go through the rec department. If it's clear that there's interest and they might be good at it, then we switch to better instruction. Getting accepted into college isn't about being a jack of all trades, master of none like when DH and I went to school. Simply being a "good" kid, having decent grades isn't enough anymore.Is it really that hard to get into college? Yeah, I can see not making the cut for the elite schools, but do we really need to push kids starting in grade school to get into college period? It seems to me the biggest obstacle anyone ever talks about here with kids going into college is paying for it, not getting in.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Dec 22, 2014 9:43:55 GMT -5
No offense, but how do you expect her to compete? Particularly, when colleges will want to see her get top grades, volunteer, hold down a job and be in a couple of activities? My 10 year old had no experience playing basketball. He's the only one on his team of 10 who hasn't. Fact is, he doesn't play as well as the other kids that have been doing the Y (BTW, the Y starts benching kids in 4th grade...) My DS also understands, now, how he cannot perform at the same level of his peers. I feel bad for him when he says "Well, I know the other kids did much better. But, I feel good that I did a,b,c with very little experience." DS loves baseball. The only option, now, for him is little league. And, there, he's competing against kids that have more experience and parents that drop money on coaching. The rec department only offers Tball and machine pitch. You age out of machine pitch at 7 or 8. And, actually, the rec department doesn't offer girl's softball. So we have no option for DD other than little league once she ages out of machine pitch. The kids that learn instruments rarely do as well as the kids that get private instruction. It's not a knock on public school teachers. An orchestra teacher can't teach 4 instruments at once to 40 kids. It just doesn't work. We did swim lessons for DD1 through the rec department, and again at a private pool. Guess where she made more progress? We also allowed dd1 to try dance through the Y, and again, we tried a studio situation. Through the Y, it was like herding cats. At the studio, she actually learned something. We take a two-tiered approach. If it the child wants to just try something, we go through the rec department. If it's clear that there's interest and they might be good at it, then we switch to better instruction. Getting accepted into college isn't about being a jack of all trades, master of none like when DH and I went to school. Simply being a "good" kid, having decent grades isn't enough anymore.Is it really that hard to get into college? Yeah, I can see not making the cut for the elite schools, but do we really need to push kids starting in grade school to get into college period? It seems to me the biggest obstacle anyone ever talks about here with kids going into college is paying for it, not getting in. X 2 Unless your kid (or you) plan to aim for the top Ivy League schools out there I wouldn't worry about registering your kids in a million activities to make the cut. 1 or 2/year is more than enough, at least enough to have something to write about. And I am 100% on board for the "no traveling teams", mommy/daddy don't got time for that. And while sports are awesome and teach you some great skills, academics will always be first and foremost. We are both nerds , so we are all good with raising another generation of nerds!
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Dec 22, 2014 9:47:04 GMT -5
A We don't let lifestyle creep take place. DD get's one extra activity to be balanced. She doesn't "need" fancy clothes, private dance, sports, AND music lessons. Summer and winter sports through the park district are dirt cheap, traveling teams are a huge money waste IMHO. No offense, but how do you expect her to compete? Particularly, when colleges will want to see her get top grades, volunteer, hold down a job and be in a couple of activities? My 10 year old had no experience playing basketball. He's the only one on his team of 10 who hasn't. Fact is, he doesn't play as well as the other kids that have been doing the Y (BTW, the Y starts benching kids in 4th grade...) My DS also understands, now, how he cannot perform at the same level of his peers. I feel bad for him when he says "Well, I know the other kids did much better. But, I feel good that I did a,b,c with very little experience." DS loves baseball. The only option, now, for him is little league. And, there, he's competing against kids that have more experience and parents that drop money on coaching. The kids that learn instruments rarely do as well as the kids that get private instruction. It's not a knock on public school teachers. An orchestra teacher can't teach 4 instruments at once to 40 kids. It just doesn't work. We did swim lessons for DD1 through the rec department, and again at a private pool. Guess where she made more progress? We also allowed dd1 to try dance through the Y, and again, we tried a studio situation. Through the Y, it was like herding cats. At the studio, she actually learned something. We take a two-tiered approach. If it the child wants to just try something, we go through the rec department. If it's clear that there's interest and they might be good at it, then we switch to better instruction.
Getting accepted into college isn't about being a jack of all trades, master of none like when DH and I went to school. Simply being a "good" kid, having decent grades isn't enough anymore. No offense taken, it's an honest question and everyone's perspective is different. Your bolded sentence is key. DD will never get any type of athletic scholarship, and it honestly bothers me when I see so many parents counting on/putting pressure on kids to perform well as their only means to fund college. I know parents that poured thousands into traveling teams only to have their kids get burnt out on sports and refuse to play them in later HS/college. Takes all the fun out for some IMHO. We (well mostly DH) spend a lot of time with her on academics (no we do not do her homework for her). Not to brag on my kid but she recently tested at 93 percentile in language arts and 89 percentile in mathematics. She's carrying almost straight A's and should not have a problem getting admitted. She plays an instrument and that is the one thing we're springing for private lessons. It's an instrument I've played for many years and I can in all honesty say that she is picking it up much quicker than I or my peers did. We are (6 months in) at the point where her current teacher has suggested we find someone who teaches only that specific instrument, she's picked it up that quickly. She's gone to sports camp at the park district during the summer several years (again she's not the best and that's ok) and wants to start volunteering at the local shelter. She's also in a book club at the local library. We try to find out what her strengths are and play to those. As long as she continues on as she is, I have no doubt she will have several colleges admit her. They may not be top tier and that's ok, many schools offer great educations without the pedigree - I know as I went to one myself. Finally, and I know this is a turnoff for some, but we are perfectly fine with her attending a faith based/associated university. Both her father and I did and in general, I think those are not as competitive for admission and have higher graduation rates (at least they did when I attended).
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Dec 22, 2014 10:04:56 GMT -5
A We don't let lifestyle creep take place. DD get's one extra activity to be balanced. She doesn't "need" fancy clothes, private dance, sports, AND music lessons. Summer and winter sports through the park district are dirt cheap, traveling teams are a huge money waste IMHO. No offense, but how do you expect her to compete? Particularly, when colleges will want to see her get top grades, volunteer, hold down a job and be in a couple of activities? My 10 year old had no experience playing basketball. He's the only one on his team of 10 who hasn't. Fact is, he doesn't play as well as the other kids that have been doing the Y (BTW, the Y starts benching kids in 4th grade...) My DS also understands, now, how he cannot perform at the same level of his peers. I feel bad for him when he says "Well, I know the other kids did much better. But, I feel good that I did a,b,c with very little experience." DS loves baseball. The only option, now, for him is little league. And, there, he's competing against kids that have more experience and parents that drop money on coaching. The rec department only offers Tball and machine pitch. You age out of machine pitch at 7 or 8. And, actually, the rec department doesn't offer girl's softball. So we have no option for DD other than little league once she ages out of machine pitch. The kids that learn instruments rarely do as well as the kids that get private instruction. It's not a knock on public school teachers. An orchestra teacher can't teach 4 instruments at once to 40 kids. It just doesn't work. We did swim lessons for DD1 through the rec department, and again at a private pool. Guess where she made more progress? We also allowed dd1 to try dance through the Y, and again, we tried a studio situation. Through the Y, it was like herding cats. At the studio, she actually learned something. We take a two-tiered approach. If it the child wants to just try something, we go through the rec department. If it's clear that there's interest and they might be good at it, then we switch to better instruction. Getting accepted into college isn't about being a jack of all trades, master of none like when DH and I went to school. Simply being a "good" kid, having decent grades isn't enough anymore. What are you talking about? I went to a state college and they still accept kids primarily on class rank+ACT Scores...and it's considered a great college. You're experience sounds strange to me. We have programs administered through the park district and then we have "little league", but little league is just basically a non-profit that is run by volunteers. It's not like your average kid in little league is getting private coaching. It's all kids/parents that want to play in a league for a relatively low cost and not sink a bunch of time/money into it. I know that sports start earlier and earlier for kids, but I don't think a few years of practice in a league gives you that much of a leg up. I didn't play basketball in a league until I got into 7th grade, but was playing basketball in front of my house almost my entire life.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2014 10:11:37 GMT -5
My oldest will never be good in any sports. He just won't. He's an awesome trombonist, but sports. Not happening and we've tried a lot. I'm just happy he likes to swim. He has no interest in competing, but is on a team and goes to practice several times a week so at least he's getting exercise.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Dec 22, 2014 11:14:43 GMT -5
No offense, but how do you expect her to compete? Particularly, when colleges will want to see her get top grades, volunteer, hold down a job and be in a couple of activities? My 10 year old had no experience playing basketball. He's the only one on his team of 10 who hasn't. Fact is, he doesn't play as well as the other kids that have been doing the Y (BTW, the Y starts benching kids in 4th grade...) My DS also understands, now, how he cannot perform at the same level of his peers. I feel bad for him when he says "Well, I know the other kids did much better. But, I feel good that I did a,b,c with very little experience." DS loves baseball. The only option, now, for him is little league. And, there, he's competing against kids that have more experience and parents that drop money on coaching. The rec department only offers Tball and machine pitch. You age out of machine pitch at 7 or 8. And, actually, the rec department doesn't offer girl's softball. So we have no option for DD other than little league once she ages out of machine pitch. The kids that learn instruments rarely do as well as the kids that get private instruction. It's not a knock on public school teachers. An orchestra teacher can't teach 4 instruments at once to 40 kids. It just doesn't work. We did swim lessons for DD1 through the rec department, and again at a private pool. Guess where she made more progress? We also allowed dd1 to try dance through the Y, and again, we tried a studio situation. Through the Y, it was like herding cats. At the studio, she actually learned something. We take a two-tiered approach. If it the child wants to just try something, we go through the rec department. If it's clear that there's interest and they might be good at it, then we switch to better instruction. Getting accepted into college isn't about being a jack of all trades, master of none like when DH and I went to school. Simply being a "good" kid, having decent grades isn't enough anymore. What are you talking about? I went to a state college and they still accept kids primarily on class rank+ACT Scores...and it's considered a great college. You're experience sounds strange to me. We have programs administered through the park district and then we have "little league", but little league is just basically a non-profit that is run by volunteers. It's not like your average kid in little league is getting private coaching. It's all kids/parents that want to play in a league for a relatively low cost and not sink a bunch of time/money into it. I know that sports start earlier and earlier for kids, but I don't think a few years of practice in a league gives you that much of a leg up. I didn't play basketball in a league until I got into 7th grade, but was playing basketball in front of my house almost my entire life. According to my sister (who has a high school Junior), some state schools are ultra-competitive. My sister said that based on the University of Michigan's standards, she would not have been accepted - she was #2 in her class, had straight As, and a 32 on her ACT. Today, that isn't enough. Don't get me wrong, there are still great schools that most kids with good grades are going to get into - my alma mater, no problem. But it isn't just Ivy Leagues that have set the bar through the roof. Big name state schools with good reputations have done the same.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Dec 22, 2014 11:23:47 GMT -5
What are you talking about? I went to a state college and they still accept kids primarily on class rank+ACT Scores...and it's considered a great college. You're experience sounds strange to me. We have programs administered through the park district and then we have "little league", but little league is just basically a non-profit that is run by volunteers. It's not like your average kid in little league is getting private coaching. It's all kids/parents that want to play in a league for a relatively low cost and not sink a bunch of time/money into it. I know that sports start earlier and earlier for kids, but I don't think a few years of practice in a league gives you that much of a leg up. I didn't play basketball in a league until I got into 7th grade, but was playing basketball in front of my house almost my entire life. According to my sister (who has a high school Junior), some state schools are ultra-competitive. My sister said that based on the University of Michigan's standards, she would not have been accepted - she was #2 in her class, had straight As, and a 32 on her ACT. Today, that isn't enough. Don't get me wrong, there are still great schools that most kids with good grades are going to get into - my alma mater, no problem. But it isn't just Ivy Leagues that have set the bar through the roof. Big name state schools with good reputations have done the same. This is especially true of schools with lower than average tuition - they can afford to be ultra selective to increase their stats. All this aside, there are still plenty of quality schools out there that won't turn down a 32 ACT and 3.5+ GPA.
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Deleted
Joined: Jul 5, 2024 11:50:52 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2014 11:27:57 GMT -5
What are you talking about? I went to a state college and they still accept kids primarily on class rank+ACT Scores...and it's considered a great college. You're experience sounds strange to me. We have programs administered through the park district and then we have "little league", but little league is just basically a non-profit that is run by volunteers. It's not like your average kid in little league is getting private coaching. It's all kids/parents that want to play in a league for a relatively low cost and not sink a bunch of time/money into it. I know that sports start earlier and earlier for kids, but I don't think a few years of practice in a league gives you that much of a leg up. I didn't play basketball in a league until I got into 7th grade, but was playing basketball in front of my house almost my entire life. According to my sister (who has a high school Junior), some state schools are ultra-competitive. My sister said that based on the University of Michigan's standards, she would not have been accepted - she was #2 in her class, had straight As, and a 32 on her ACT. Today, that isn't enough. Don't get me wrong, there are still great schools that most kids with good grades are going to get into - my alma mater, no problem. But it isn't just Ivy Leagues that have set the bar through the roof. Big name state schools with good reputations have done the same. True. Flagship schools are right below Ivies. U of M - Twin Cities has an acceptance rate of only 44%, but there are a lot of other state schools in the U of M system and most of them are around 70% acceptance. If you have your heart set on the Twin Cities one you can always prove yourself for a year or two at one of the other campuses and transfer in.
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Ryan
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2014 13:40:36 GMT -5
Posts: 2,209
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Post by Ryan on Dec 22, 2014 12:14:45 GMT -5
What are you talking about? I went to a state college and they still accept kids primarily on class rank+ACT Scores...and it's considered a great college. You're experience sounds strange to me. We have programs administered through the park district and then we have "little league", but little league is just basically a non-profit that is run by volunteers. It's not like your average kid in little league is getting private coaching. It's all kids/parents that want to play in a league for a relatively low cost and not sink a bunch of time/money into it. I know that sports start earlier and earlier for kids, but I don't think a few years of practice in a league gives you that much of a leg up. I didn't play basketball in a league until I got into 7th grade, but was playing basketball in front of my house almost my entire life. According to my sister (who has a high school Junior), some state schools are ultra-competitive. My sister said that based on the University of Michigan's standards, she would not have been accepted - she was #2 in her class, had straight As, and a 32 on her ACT. Today, that isn't enough. Don't get me wrong, there are still great schools that most kids with good grades are going to get into - my alma mater, no problem. But it isn't just Ivy Leagues that have set the bar through the roof. Big name state schools with good reputations have done the same. I don't know how she could know that to be honest. She might not be accepted, but I don't think anyone would tell her she has no business applying being #2 in her class and with a 32 on her ACT. Besides, I'm not sure why everyone would be so obsessed with getting into the most difficult schools. I have friends that went to U of Illinois for engineering (ranked #6 in the nation for engineering) and friends that went to U of Iowa (ranked #42) and Northern Illinois (top 50). If you mix up all the graduates from these colleges, I don't think you'd be able to tell who the better who went to the better college. So why expend the effort to get into an elite university?
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Deleted
Joined: Jul 5, 2024 11:50:52 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2014 12:24:25 GMT -5
According to my sister (who has a high school Junior), some state schools are ultra-competitive. My sister said that based on the University of Michigan's standards, she would not have been accepted - she was #2 in her class, had straight As, and a 32 on her ACT. Today, that isn't enough. Don't get me wrong, there are still great schools that most kids with good grades are going to get into - my alma mater, no problem. But it isn't just Ivy Leagues that have set the bar through the roof. Big name state schools with good reputations have done the same. I don't know how she could know that to be honest. She might not be accepted, but I don't think anyone would tell her she has no business applying being #2 in her class and with a 32 on her ACT. Besides, I'm not sure why everyone would be so obsessed with getting into the most difficult schools. I have friends that went to U of Illinois for engineering (ranked #6 in the nation for engineering) and friends that went to U of Iowa (ranked #42) and Northern Illinois (top 50). If you mix up all the graduates from these colleges, I don't think you'd be able to tell who the better who went to the better college. So why expend the effort to get into an elite university? Yeah, I think she still should have tried. I don't have stats on Michigan, but University of Minnesota flagship school that is tough to get in still accepts students with lower ACTs. ![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/91744361/Capture.JPG) Personally, I hope my kids don't want to go there because it cost the most of all of them too.
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gooddecisions
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 13:42:28 GMT -5
Posts: 2,418
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Post by gooddecisions on Dec 22, 2014 12:33:14 GMT -5
I don't think I would get into my alma mater (state flagship) if I were to apply today and I was in the top 5% with a variety of varsity sports, clubs and a job. Times have changed and it's more competitive than ever.
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Bob Ross
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 14:48:03 GMT -5
Posts: 5,882
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Post by Bob Ross on Dec 22, 2014 15:00:17 GMT -5
Sounds like you need to move to the Midwest. ![](http://images.proboards.com/new/smiley.png) In my trailer park, daycare works on the round robin system, and everyone gets a chance: Mumbly Joe, The Willie Nelson lookalike who smells funny, that woman who's always shouting stuff... Sometimes one of the kids gets eaten by a bear, but kids are like Doritos as far as bears are concerned. Crunch all you want, we'll make more. ![](http://images.proboards.com/new/cool.png)
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