Time to start thinking about college

[nittanycheme]

Nov 14, 2018 14:21:27 GMT -5 ners said:

minnesotapaintlady At least he has an area that was low that he can bring up with a little work.

My younger nephew really wants a 30 so he can get a scholarship to the school of his choice.  He scored a 28 composite. I think his lowest score was a 25.  Hard to bring the composite up based on his numbers.  He will know shortly.  He is not sure what his major will be except for something in business.  He is interested in completing as quickly and inexpensively as possible.  He will have 1 1/2 years of community college completed when he graduates high school in May.

His older brother knows what he wants to do.  Finished 2 years of community college.  Transferred to a 4 year school.  Was told when he transferred in he was on track to finish in 2 years.  Cannot get into the classes he needs for spring and oh we made a mistake you were never on track.  

So, my DH has been going for his associate's degree in business doing an evening and weekend program at our local 4 year school (well know for being one of the "best value" schools.  He did his schooling somewhat backwards in that he did his certificate in HR (his actual field now) first, which is essentially junior and senior level courses, then went back for his associates.  Which essentially meant that he had to do a bunch of gen-eds and a couple of non-HR type business courses.  One of the required courses hasn't been offered for the last 2 semesters or the next semester, and it is now the only class he needs to graduate.    They are working with him; they already had to work with him to get his phys.ed. requirements since they don't offer a lot of choices/times for those in evening/weekend - they allowed him to take a health class instead.  He is just finishing up that class.  Once the other class wasn't offered next semester either (its the second level accounting course), he contacted his advisor.  The advisor and the dept head suggested that he just take another business class and they would allow it to count towards his degree.  As a bonus for him, he already had 3 "leftover" senior level courses from his certificate that weren't fulfilling associate degree requirements, so he asked if one of those could count.  They are ok with that, and once the department head actually signs the form, he will be done!  Its been like 10 years....  I am so glad I did my undergraduate as a full time student.  When you are part time and only can take one or two classes at a time, it takes forever!  I actually feel bad for those people who actually need that second level accounting course to move ahead with their coursework.

[oped]

Ok. Picked the boy up today and can i say college boys are gross. And he is getting a kit and caboodle of cleaning supplies for Christmas. 

He was NEVER that way at home? He said with 4 of them there and no one cares what's the bother? 

ALL of his spices etc were directly on the counter. I was like... why not put them in a cupboard? He said he wants to use them and his cupboard isn't big enough... but there is NO counter space left... I was like what is in that little cupboard by the stove... I don't know... look. oh.. it's empty... so like in 4 months no one has opened that cupboard? 

I threw away their sponges. Those things were putting bacteria on the plates, not taking it off... 

[tractor]

Dec 6, 2018 19:46:37 GMT -5 oped said:

Ok. Picked the boy up today and can i say college boys are gross. And he is getting a kit and caboodle of cleaning supplies for Christmas. 

He was NEVER that way at home? He said with 4 of them there and no one cares what's the bother? 

ALL of his spices etc were directly on the counter. I was like... why not put them in a cupboard? He said he wants to use them and his cupboard isn't big enough... but there is NO counter space left... I was like what is in that little cupboard by the stove... I don't know... look. oh.. it's empty... so like in 4 months no one has opened that cupboard? 

I threw away their sponges. Those things were putting bacteria on the plates, not taking it off... 

That’s how they build their immunity to all the germs in the world. My son has 7 guys living in one house, I don’t even want to know what the bacteria count is in that place.

[milee]

Dec 6, 2018 19:46:37 GMT -5 oped said:

Ok. Picked the boy up today and can i say college boys are gross. And he is getting a kit and caboodle of cleaning supplies for Christmas. 

He was NEVER that way at home? He said with 4 of them there and no one cares what's the bother? 

ALL of his spices etc were directly on the counter. I was like... why not put them in a cupboard? He said he wants to use them and his cupboard isn't big enough... but there is NO counter space left... I was like what is in that little cupboard by the stove... I don't know... look. oh.. it's empty... so like in 4 months no one has opened that cupboard? 

I threw away their sponges. Those things were putting bacteria on the plates, not taking it off... 

It's so sweet that you think they're using the sponge at all...

[oped]

That boy loves to cook. And I know you aren’t a fan of food pics but one example...



At the time I was like, perfectly cooked. Now that I’ve seen the kitchen... far be it from me to suggest cooking a steak to well, but 

[milee]

That looks really good!  If it were my kid I'd probably just pretend I hadn't seen the kitchen and tell myself it was building my immunity.  

[TheOtherMe]

My two oldest nephews actually shared an off campus apartment for two years with another guy and a female.  DN2 shared the bathroom with the female.  He said she kept the bathroom and shared kitchen clean.  When the living room got too gross for her, she would clean it.  She did not not clean the bedrooms of anyone but herself or the second shared bathroom.

I dated a guy in grad school in Boulder.  He was from Tokyo.  The first time he took me to his place (shared with a lot of guys who didn't speak English in the apartment), I told him it was so gross that I refused to use the bathroom or eat there.

[Deleted]

Nov 14, 2018 11:33:35 GMT -5 milee said:

Given that he went into that test blind if he even does 10 minutes of the online study a day, I suspect he'd see a fairly large increase in his score.  Familiarity with the test format, a few little tips/tricks... very possible he'd land easily within that 31-34 range for TC.

He got a 31 this time! 

English and Reading are still his low ones at 30 and 28, but he got 34 in science and a 32 in math.  Writing isn't graded yet...and he spent a total of one evening reviewing what to do for that, so I'm a little worried there.  He's thinking he wants to do it again, but I'm not sure it's worth it.  

[alabamagal]

That is awesome.

I wouldn’t think he needs todo it again, but then if he is showing signs of motivation, let him go for it.

My kids all did SAT twice. I think there is some point where you’ve done the best you are going to do. My first 2 only did a little better 2nd time. 3rd kid did lower than expected 1st time, then spent summer with study and practice and improved quite a bit.

[oped]

Daughter got into her first choice. Now she’s questioning if it’s her first choice. Gah. That child.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2019 20:05:38 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

That is awesome.

I wouldn’t think he needs todo it again, but then if he is showing signs of motivation, let him go for it.

My kids all did SAT twice. I think there is some point where you’ve done the best you are going to do. My first 2 only did a little better 2nd time. 3rd kid did lower than expected 1st time, then spent summer with study and practice and improved quite a bit.

I think he could possibly do better if he really tried, but he won't put any effort into studying for it.   The only reason he prepped for this one is I bought the online course and paid him $10/week to do it.  He finished 95% of the course, but I think he kind of half-assed it most of the time.  I think he'd be better focusing on his classes and his Eagle project the next 6 months.  

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2019 20:40:39 GMT -5 oped said:

Daughter got into her first choice. Now she’s questioning if it’s her first choice. Gah. That child.

I can totally see my kid doing this if he actually pulls off getting in.

[TheOtherMe]

Feb 20, 2019 20:40:39 GMT -5 oped said:

Daughter got into her first choice. Now she’s questioning if it’s her first choice. Gah. That child.

I did the same thing, but waited to question the choice until I had already enrolled.  That cost me some $$$ and a year of not going to school.

[Deleted]

He bombed the writing again.  Even worse than last time.  6/12.  Last time he had a 7.  He was all bummed and I told him he put zero effort into preparing for that, so it's not a huge surprise.  

[gs11rmb]

Oh, I'm sorry.  Knowing he didn't put in any effort doesn't lessen the disappointment.

Ask me how I know...

[Deleted]

I told him I doubted it was any reflection of his actual writing ability, but they have very specific things they're looking for and grade them very fast.  You hit the bullets you get the points.  He should have taken time memorizing the format/content they wanted and he did not.  

His composite score is great.  He might have killed his chances for U of M with the writing, but whatever.  If he doesn't want it bad enough to put in the effort, then I'm not going to pay for him to take it again.   He's way too busy the next 6 months for it anyhow, so maybe in the Fall. 

[alabamagal]

Colleges are supposed to look at highest scores, so I wouldn’t stress out too much about the writing. None of my kids got very high scores on writing portion of SAT, back when it was a separate score. I’m honestly surprised that my ODS essay was even graded because his handwriting is horrendous.

All my kids went into STEM related majors. We want more STEM majors, right. They all rocked the math portions, with ODS near top score. Language scores were only good. Their total math and language scores were almost identical. The kid with the highest math and good language and average essay score did the best in college.

[Deleted]

I'm back.  This college stuff gives me headaches. 

I'm planning on telling DS to have a list of schools together this summer that he's interested in applying to this Fall, but I don't know what is a reasonable number.  They always say 2-3 Reach, 2-3 Target, and 2-3 Safety schools, but I don't think that applies to us because my kid is probably stuck in MN for financial reasons.  He's been doing things at school in the counseling office where they identify the Target schools and his are all places like Purdue and VA Tech.  Places we cannot afford.  So, he basically has one Target school and a crap ton of safety/extreme safety schools.  He's going to apply to Huntsville since they said he'd probably get free tuition, but other than that I don't see the point of applying to a bunch of safety schools that he's guaranteed to get in outside of the fact that it will give him another 5 months to choose I guess.

Anyhow, what are people doing/did with their kids?  Shotgun approach or calculated choice? 

[justme]

I was stuck to in state schools too - unless an out of state school gave me a lot of aid. (Unfortunately my grandparents had all died so my parents had some inheritance, but it was for the retirement but not in retirement accounts. My FAFSA expected contribution was almost half of my parents yearly income!!) I visited 3 of the 4 biggest state schools and 1 of the lesser known ones. 2 of them I refused to go to and before my lazy ass got around to apply for the other 2 I'd consider I got into my top choice with a really good merit scholarship. After that I just only applied to those who asked me to apply for free, but none matched what the instate school gave me.

With reach, target, and safety schools that's several hundred dollars of application fees!! Do any of them do a (not sure if this is the right term) rolling admissions? I know mine, and maybe other state schools, did it where if you were above a certain level they'd give your acceptance basically as soon as they got it (I heard 2 weeks after I applied) but if you weren't as good it would take longer to hear. I had classmates who found out they were waitlisted at the same school months after I had my acceptance even though we applied around the same time. 

[tractor]

I let my kids decide, but unless your super focused and a massive overachiever, looking/applying to 2-3 would be plenty. Remember, there’s often application fees of $50 or so each, so they can add up quick, plus the essays, letters of recommendation, etc that multiply with each application.

My boys really didn’t want to look to far/wide so it was a fairly easy process. Don’t let it get overwhelming, it ruins some of the fun.

Try and visit at least two so he has something to compare/contrast to each other.

[oped]

Son went local tech then applied and transferred to his main choice... i'm not sure i even paid an application fee to the local? I must have... 

Daughter applied to the one she wanted and a safety. She was going to do a third but decided not to. Got into both. 

I don't know... If he is doing early, especially if he is doing early decision i'd do the one he wants and then look at the requirements/deadlines for the safeties after that maybe? 

[Deleted]

There aren't any with early decision.  All give you until April or May to decide.   I have a feeling he's going to just do three which seems really anti-climactic.  I think I over-stressed on the college prep.  Both the state schools he'll apply to use the Common App.  Neither requires an essay or letters of recommendation.  They both have application fees, but pretty much every other school in MN either doesn't or waives them in October. 

We visited Duluth last week (was his second choice, but he seems to have fallen in love with the place, so who knows), and they do housing assignments based on date of admission even if you don't confirm until May, so we'll want to apply there right away in case he has any kind of housing preference...which he probably won't anyhow.

[Deleted]

Even the reciprocity states are hard to stomach cost-wise because we lose the MN grants. 

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Don’t write off/overlook private schools outside your geographic area. They often have deep pockets and love to draw kids from outside their area. Minnesota is an exotic land to schools in the Mid-Atlantic and South. 😏

[stillmovingforward]

He'll want housing preference so he doesn't get priced into the really expensive dorms. It can make thousands of dollars of difference.

[tractor]

Duluth is awesome for almost 4 months of the year 🙂, actually I love the town if you can find a sunny day away from the wind. I think it would be a lot of fun for a college student.

[Deleted]

They never have to go outside.  The entire campus is connected by tunnels or skyways and the kids wear shorts all year.  We like the area.  We vacation on the north shore almost every year, so he's no stranger to the area.

[justme]

Apr 23, 2019 13:50:52 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

They never have to go outside.  The entire campus is connected by tunnels or skyways and the kids wear shorts all year.  We like the area.  We vacation on the north shore almost every year, so he's no stranger to the area.

The hell! We need that in Florida!

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2019 13:53:16 GMT -5 justme said:

Apr 23, 2019 13:50:52 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

They never have to go outside.  The entire campus is connected by tunnels or skyways and the kids wear shorts all year.  We like the area.  We vacation on the north shore almost every year, so he's no stranger to the area.

The hell! We need that in Florida!

I would definitely need that in Florida!  Me and heat don't go well together. 

[justme]

Apr 23, 2019 14:08:23 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Apr 23, 2019 13:53:16 GMT -5 justme said:

The hell! We need that in Florida!

I would definitely need that in Florida!  Me and heat don't go well together. 

It was so gross walking sometimes. There were a few times I picked my schedule because it kept me out of the hot sun the longest. Class A in the next building Class B a 20 minute walk at 1pm...hard choice!