@PAO2008 have you tried looking at some of the MOOC sites (e.g. Coursera, EdX or Udacity) for some online AP calc courses? They do have them. For example I just searched on EdX to see what came up for BC calc and found: https://www.edx.org/course/apr-calculus-challenging-concepts-davidson-next-calapccx
Maybe it would help? the courses are free and there are usually lectures and online forums for discussion that might be helpful.
@Mysonsdad I have been thinking about your sonās friend and the fact that he doesnāt win election type in person events and has not managed to āwinā at the scholarships so far. It seems to point to him maybe being a person who who is a great friend but maybe a little out of sync a little with the popular culture/viewpoint. Maybe ask him how his interviews are going and see what he has discussed so you can provide some guidance?
Our state flagship also has a refundable deposit, as long as you let them know by 5/1. He is definitely very interested and we went ahead and made the deposit even though there are a few other schools in contention. After I did it, I remembered that we also did that with my D09 and it was no hassle getting a refund when she chose another school.
@PAO2008 - I am sorry to hear your sonās teacher is being so obtuse about the grading and not realizing that the grade is as important as the AP test score.
My D16 just experienced a similar situation in her AP English Lit class. She has never earned a grade of less that an 89 in English, ever. (She earned a 92 in AP English Comp last year and a 4 on the exam.) She is pretty solid in English. AP teacher this year has been a bear. D16ās 1st semester grade was an 80 after a couple of critiquing essays where the teacher did not agree with D16ās opinion. She was consistently bringing home āCā on her essays which I just couldnāt understand after all of her other HS English teachers have spent the last 4 years telling us D16 was a good solid writer. Her mid-term transcript was sent off this week to a school that deferred her and has requested the transcript. This 80 is the lowest grade that she has ever received in HS, so annoyed because right now D16 has a 91 in AP English and all of a sudden her essays seems to be up to snuff, although D16 says she hasnāt changed the way she is writing. Not that it matters the mid-term reports has been sent, class rank for graduation was based on GPA as of the end of last semester. So it really doesnāt matter what the grade is now. I suspect the 80 will be the nail in the coffin of the deferral school.
At the other end of the spectrum D16ās AP Calc AB teacher lets the kids self-grade and they do group tests/corrections. His theory is when kids are stressed out about the grade and are being harassed by parents about their grades they donāt perform well and canāt concentrate on actually learning the material. No one really gets below an 85 (He reviews their test and if he feels a kid is falling behind he requires them to come in for extra tutoring which I think is the trade off for the grade yourself policy, if you are gonna lie about what you really deserve you are only hurting yourself and your are gonna have to spend extra time working it out with him). His kids pass rate (4s/5s) is in the 90th percentile and he was named a regional teacher of the year last year. Not sure if D16 is really learning anything or not, we will see when the AP exam rolls around. He is a teacher that āgets itā.
@sseamom - right now she is 99% sure that DPT is what she wants.(Although I think in her heart she would like to be a music ed major). I never changed my major (International Studies: USSR & Eastern Europe) which I decided on as a junior in high school nor did my husband (Chemical Engineering), but just about everyone we went to college with changed their major at least once! We are all very practical in our family and I would bet that D16 would finish out the BS/DPT program even if she decided she would rather do something else. I am pretty sure that my husband has slogged through nearly 30 years as a chemical engineer (petroleum) because of the salary not because he loves chemical engineering, he has often said that he would much rather be working in food science. I followed my heart but never really worked with my actual degree. I earned a post graduate paralegal certificate and worked as a paralegal.
@texaspg - D16 would be doing the direct entry 6yr BS/DPT not the 7yr athletic training BS/DPT. The traditional route is 7yrs, 4yrs undergrad then apply for grad school DPT which lasts 3 yrs. A bonus at Duquesne is you graduate in 4yrs with a BS in Biology and also a BS in Health Science than move into the graduate portion for 2yrs to earn the doctorate. You are out in 6yrs with 3 degrees. but if you look closely you actually attend school during the summers between the 4th, 5th and at the end of the 6th year so that is where missing 7th year is made up (so really you donāt save any money you are still essentially paying for 7 years as the traditional programs usually donāt make you attend during the summer)
Is there a thread anywhere that people can post 1. What their degree was in and 2. What they do now or did for a career? My friend was saying the other day that they should have people come in and talk to kids about that kind of thing since so many seniors stress so much about picking a major only to change or end up doing something totally unrelated.
So glad the necessary travel is fitting together nicely @labegg. That should help keep the stress level manageable.
Things have gotten a bit more complicated here. DSās distant 3rd choice has offered him a scholarship that makes it his least expensive option. He is considering it but I really donāt think it is the best fit. His top two are about 45k apart on price based upon my attempts at estimates. He has gotten at least 1 call or email a day asking him to make a decision soon since last Saturday. I think he would be happy to, if the FA packages were here.
@labegg My AP Lang teacher sounds a lot like your Dās AP lit teacher. Heās an incredibly harsh grader. The highest Iāve gotten on an essay/paper is a 6- which is an 81. In fact all of my papers have been that. The highest anyone has gotten is a 7 which is high eighties I think. And his reading quizzes are impossible even if you read. Itās just a rough class I have a high 70- definitely dropping my grade.
@readingclaygirl - sometimes it is impossible to figure out what a teacher/professor is really looking for in an essay. I remember my first college essay/paper was a critique of a book for a Western Civilization class. It came back with a big red D+. I had earned a B for mechanics and an F for content. I was shocked. I had tested out of the freshman composition requirement during orientation and generally thought I had decent writing skills. I was not very kind in my critique. Little did I know that the book had been written by the Professorās wife (who went by her maiden name). I keep explaining to my D16 that sometimes itās not about how you write, but what you write and it is super important to know your audience.
@labegg Do you know how the school addresses financial aid for the two needed summers? Would those summers be fully self-pay? I ask because summers seem to be rarely covered by free aid. Not sure about Federal student loans and summers either. But those would be considered grad school semesters, correct?
The summers are fully self-pay and are grad school credit, which is paid per credit hour. They have not offered any merit for the graduate portion of the program, just the undergrad. So far only one of the BS/DPT programs that she has been accepted to has extended the merit aid offer into the graduate portion of the program. Another, a 7 year program, actually offered merit aid ($5000 per summer term for up to 3 terms) to cover summer terms for 2017, 2018 and 2019 (so not during the graduate portion either) but we have not sat down to figure out the actual value and how or why she would be taking summer school as the anticipated undergrad curriculum does not necessitate summer terms.
IDOCs being sent is not like a likely letter they either request them or not from everyone. They do this so they can send out a final financial aid letter with offers of admission. One of my sonās EA schools did this early so we already know his exact financial aid/merit for that school. Each of the schools asked for slightly different things but when you upload docs it does not ask to specify what doc each one is so I guess the schools asking for less stuff get extra stuff.
@GoodGrief16 I hope that didnāt turn off your daughter to the school! My son had a wacky interview for the same school last week. The man was very nice but wanted to talk in great detail about all the other schools my son had already been accepted and is in process for scholarships. My son really wanted to be sold on the school as he is having doubts about being so far away instead the interviewer convinced him that maybe he should deposit elsewhere before he even hears. Itās such a long short that wonāt bother me but then again he could get in and perhaps that would be an opportunity he should consider more. I would consider telling the school after admissions come out because really no interview would have served the school better than someone getting starstruck by a kid other offers. The alumni was not an undergrad alumni and is not in a field similar to my sons so maybe that was part of the issue.
@labegg Duquesne does offer merit for the graduate/professional degree portion of some of their accelerated degrees. I think this was the first year for it, but they extended the merit awards for the PharmD program for the entire six years. Hopefully they will do the same for the DPT program too. Good luck!
D16 has started on her housing application now that she made the enrollment and housing deposit. She got stuck at the section asking about hobbies and about what sheās looking for in a roommate.
We are working on IDOC as well but I still canāt file Federal taxes because we havenāt received an expected 1099 yet. That wonāt be released until 2/15 at the earliest (which makes it tough to meet one of the collegeās 2/15 deadline). Annoying having to report all the same information over and over again (often with estimated numbers).
@dyiu13 at my first job out of college I was becoming friendly with another co-worker fresh out of college. I remember taking a walk with her during lunch and extolling all of my interests and activities trying to impress her. When I asked what she liked to do, she said, āI really like naps.ā I was so impressed by her honesty, I remember the conversation 20 years later.
@dcplanner, that is funny that your son had an odd experience too. It didnāt turn her off to the program, was just kind of strange.
@momofzag, I am exceptionally weary of giving the same information over and over on different forms!
Another college off the list again tonight, as D learned that she did not make the finalist cut for the full tuition scholarship at one of her favorite schools. This was not a prestigious school at all; I think Iāve mentioned before that itās a state school that doesnāt even have its own forum on CC. But she loved the mountainous location and the fact that they had a ski team. Iām relieved though, as itās one less school to agonize over!
Good luck on the scholarship weekends @carolinamom2boys, @Booja and anyone else I missed. Sā16 is off next weekend for a scholarship finals weekend as well, and of course it conflicted with an invite from another school that he hasnāt been able to visit yet that wanted to fly him in after we had booked his flight that they would reimburse him for at the end of the visit. Ugh. He did get another likely in the mail today and then a no on another scholarship invite at a safety school. Oh the ups and downs and it never goes as expected. Guess thatās why they call it a roller-coaster!
A little late to the prom talk, but S has gone to every winter ball, prom and sadie hawkins with a different girl. He has many girl āfriendsā and asked the older ones first that had never been asked to a formal dance. He has two suits and wonāt rent a tux because, like his brother, he doesnāt see the point in paying to wear someone elseās clothes. He just gets a different shirt and or tie to match his dateās ensemble. H does not get it as he avoided all such functions in high school. Then DH got his because D '10 was on bball homecoming court and they get escorted by parentsā¦haha. Had to show up in his suit, no less. I thought that was hilarious until S '16 got selected for court this year. Guess I looked presentable, because his oldest sister saw the pictures her dad sent during the event and wanted to know about her brotherās ādateā. S '16 handled it well. H lost it entirely. Let me tell you, homecoming court with our youngest of 5 and as a grandma, no lessā¦somehow that is just plain wrong. Wait I know, we are just too old for this!
Sorry to hear about the not so happy deferrals and other sad news, but we have a long way to go. Speaking as someone that has been down this road many times, hang in there everyone. I know it will all work out in the end!
IDOC- Nope, they just like to torture everyone. At least next year there is only one college involved. No deeper meaning to that request.
@petrichor-Congrats on the scholarship! What a great surprise!
Congratulations to everyone on the continued acceptances. What an accomplished group.
@GoodGrief16-I think that school is where our Sā13 attends and he would not recognize it by that description. Let me know if you want more current answers to any questions! And S '16 had his last interview today too. One thing off the list at least!
@GoodGrief16 -Ok, I thought I was done for tonight, but this is strange. I think that was one of S '16s safeties also as he got a no today from what sounds like the same place and scholarship. It was also a favorite and a school that he knows very well but very much an outlier. Still, they handle the news better when it is sandwiched by good news, donāt they?