<p>Because y’all have always been so good about helping this single parent get thru the last 3 years of preparing for and living through the college app times, the many decisions along the way, the stress of some bad parts to that, the shared smiles through the good parts, assistance with the big move-in and first year of college, support when I could’ve gone to drug mule prison over a red garment bag (!) and all sorts of great advice along the way, I wanted to share something special with you. </p>
<p>My kid is already looking ahead to the possibility of grad school (ok, she always has been!) and she recently found out she was selected as one of 30 McN@ir Scholars at her college. I already told a few buds from here about this so they have to hear about it again. LOL Forgive me for swapping out the “a” in certain words with a “@” but the kid attends a small college so while I want to go ahead and share some stuff with y’all, I try not to make identifiable posts such as this one come up in CC searches!</p>
<p>"The Ronald E. McN@ir Postb@ccalaureate Achievement Program is designed to prepare students who have traditionally been underrepresented in graduate studies for graduate work leading to a Ph.D. As participants in the program, students will have access to skills building courses and tutoring, research experiences with a faculty mentor, and individualized assistance through the graduate school application process. Students must meet the eligibility requirements for the program and must show an interest in attending graduate school. </p>
<p>Benefits of Being a McN@ir Scholar
•Access to individualized advising and career planning
•Tutoring available to maintain competitive GPA
•Stipend paid for conducting research (also includes room and board)
•Assistance with graduate school application process
•Financial support for graduate school visits and presentations at professional conferences
•Application waivers and fellowships available nationally exclusively for McN@ir scholars."</p>
<p>She’s going to do a 6-week research project on campus next summer and will stay in a campus house with several other students who were also selected for this program. </p>
<p>She’s in an incredible place for her, attending a college that has already given a very hard-working, low-income student a ton of FA, great friendships, and other support. Because of all her merit and need-based aid there, I still only pay for her textbooks. Every time they send me a statement that says, “you have a credit, send no payment”, I just about burst into tears. That has been the case with every single statement from them, by the way. Now they’ve selected her for this program that can assist her in her preparations and desire to attend grad school one day and I couldn’t be more thrilled for her. She still has plenty of work to do to get herself there but it’s nice that her college wants to try to help her with her big goal. </p>
<p>Her college had popped up on our radar when she was a HS sophomore but she told me she wasn’t going to put it on her list of possibilities because they didn’t offer the exact regional studies major she was interested in at the time. (she wanted one a bit broader even though their major was where her true interests lie) But we took another look at it in her senior year after 2-3 people in this group were talking about what a great college it was. So thankful for y’all and your recommendations! She is loving her college, is president of two school clubs, the rep for her campus theme house, and about to submit her application to study abroad in Tokyo for her entire junior year. (thankfully, her generous FA will follow her there too!)</p>