<p>Bethorama33–it could. Some schools, if they offer financial aid, will apply outside scholarships, say from a local business, as part of that financial aid. Say you are awarded $10,000 in financial aid (not merit) and you get a $1000 from a local business, some schools may pull $1000 of that financial aid and only give you $9000 in aid from the school so you still only have $10,000 in financial aid. We haven’t come across any schools that do that for strict merit aid though (there probably are some, we just haven’t found any of them). If you need substantial financial aid, it’s a question you should be asking. I personally don’t agree with this practice as bringing in outside scholarships is still “new” money to the school and should be considered part of the expected family contribution since these outside scholarships have nothing to do with the college itself, but…I don’t make the rules :D.</p>
<p>It’s “A” day here–application day. Plan is to be DONE with all applications by bedtime tonight!!! We had a late night last night with marching band so everyone is moving slowly this morning.</p>
<p>So, HOw DO they score the ACT? I am finding it difficult to understand. Also, if my DD did not fill out her Grades for all her classes, will that keep them from sending her scores to her? She didn’t want to give “all that information out”…?</p>
<p>I am taking my daughter to her first college event today. We have an information session to attend in Atlanta. Which school? Carnegie-Mellon! Hey, you might as well start at the top and work back, right? :)</p>
<p>Drmom-your daughter will get her scores. I think the grade information helps with colleges’ target mailings. A college may ask for students with B averages, so ACT sells them that list.</p>
<p>russgenious–many schools waive app fees if you apply on line or via the common app. The few schools on our list that do not have free online apps have either emailed us or given us a code when we visited to apply for free. Also, every school will waive the app fee if you check the box that you can’t pay the fee. I don’t know of any school that actually checks if you can or not. If app fees are expensive for you, they would rather waive the fee vs not having you apply.</p>
<p>Parent15–thank you. That was what I was hoping…but, ya never know!<br>
DD has been “waking up” to college stuff! She stayed up till 2am looking on websites…“I found lots of other schools to apply to”…ugh! At least she is beginning to get excited. I hope that fuels her attention to the applications, essays etc. She was willing to contact schools to set up interviews! YAY! We are hoping to get everything done, including interviews before Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>@SteveMA - so really you just check the box? Wow! We have a couple of fee waivers (one from an Open House and the other thru an alumni) and was feeling lucky to have those!</p>
<p>ConfusedMominMA–we haven’t because we haven’t needed to because all but 2 of the kids’ apps are free anyway but other friends have told us they have done so and haven’t had issues at all, one family we know has done this for 3 kids so far. Now, financially their situation is different than our family and coming up will all of the fee money would have been a strain on their budget. They have 3 in college right now so money is tight for them. If we had to pay for all of the apps for our kids, it would be around $1000 probably so that is a lot of money to a lot of people.</p>
<p>drmom123–our kids did fill out grades for all of their classes and the ACT has it wrong anyway. I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s just for solicitation purposes for colleges and if you don’t get some of the mailings, be happy!! :D. I don’t think our kids looked at a single school that sent mailers unsolicited. Some of the schools they were interested in already sent info though.</p>
<p>As for scoring, they score across several subsections and average those scores so if she gets 29 on every subsection, her composite score will be a 29. If she gets a 24, 32, 29, 34, that averages to 29.75, which they will round up to a 30 for the composite score. She should take at least one sitting with the writing portion and as our kids’ teachers told our kids, score an 8 or better on the writing and you are good to go, less than that, take it again. There isn’t much weight put on the writing section of either the ACT or the SAT.</p>
<p>Just checked DD’s college email box. She got an email from a coach that started “Seen your information…”. Thanks but no thanks :D. It’s a total commuter college so she wouldn’t be interested in the school anyway.</p>
<p>Russgenious - my son got a postcard about being a priority applicant and was given a code to use on the CA for “other fee waiver”. Most of those priority no fee applications I’ve seen were free anyway if you applied online. This was the first school where that wasn’t the case. Again, it pays to be attentive to the mail and emails that come in.</p>
<p>SteveMA–thanks for the explanation. It is helpful to know the “range” and numbers. You are soo right about the postcards. At first, wasn’t it just so fun to see the mail…now…I feel like putting out a blue recycle bin in front of the mailbox!<br>
It is a beautiful “fall-feeling” day here…what a nice change.</p>
<p>Ds started back to work this weekend. That’s where he is now, but he’ll be home any minute. There’s lots of little stuff that he needs to take care of, college-wise. The list grows …</p>
<p>First FB games: Hope everyone had a great Friday night both on and off the field ;)</p>
<p>Tx5: Wishing S3 a great CC season!!!</p>
<p>Scholarships: Great tips!!! Wll be checking with my local Kohls this week ;)</p>
<p>Thankfully, our 2 stayed out of trouble while we were away;)
D14 went to a sporting event for the first time in 2 years for her school and was able to actually watch what was going on…she then proceeded to say it was WAY better then cheering on the field.</p>
<p>Jr spent all Sat getting ready for his interview at the Marshall School of Business at USC on Thurs. Not sure who is more excited…him or me :D</p>
<p>DD IS DONE!!! All apps, supplements, essays submitted. Just need the GC to get her end of things done. DS is dragging his feet on his last 2, which are his easiest apps, no essays, not sure what the deal is there. They WILL be done today. Then, I am passing the baton to DH and HE can get them to get cracking on the scholarship apps :D. (in my dreams anyway).</p>
<p>Hoping for great ACT scores for all the kids that took it yesterday!</p>
<p>SteveMa – that is soooo unfair! S’13 has requested transcripts, LORS, and written the common app essay. Most apps are ready to go except essays/supplements . . . which could take all fall!</p>
<p>We went to a semi-local MIT info session today. They certainly know who their target audience is . . . they really focused on the fun, quirky, intellectual, collaborative, prankster culture – definitely the type of place S’13 would love to be. Now he just needs to win the admissions lottery, and I need to win the megamillions to pay for it.</p>
<p>Mommy dearest: you and me BOTH!!!
Jr has been getting emails and phone calls from the Track Coach at MIT…but as we all know…that doesn’t men much…</p>
S’13 has requested transcripts, LORS, and written the common app essay. Most apps are ready to go except essays/supplements . . . which could take all fall!</p>