@HiToWaMom Normally it is 3 semesters and back in my day most co-ops took 4.5 years to graduate. It would depend on how many hours you might advance place and then what classes you take in the summer.
yes - @NCComputerNerd says – AP credit can certainly shorten the time required to complete a degree - 4s & 5s given credit and pretty generous on courses for credit but no AP Physics 1 or Stats credit as I recall.
@CA1543 , @NCComputerNerd , Thank you for answering the NEU questions. Somehow my D got interested in the school all of a sudden in the last couple of weeks. She likes the idea of Co-op.
When my Ds cooped several yrs ago (he graduated from college in 2011), over the course of his coop semesters, he earned about 2/3 of his post graduation salary (above the US median income). He also received full benefits. He was able to graduate in 4 yrs + a summer session.
Fwiw, it makes sense that there is no AP credit for physics 1 since it is an alg based course. Only cal+ based courses are credit worthy for engineers. (I don’t know for sure, but I wonder if that is why there is no credit for stats, either, bc it is not cal-based???)
@Mom2aphysicsgeek my D16 got a full ride to UF due to NM and she is very excited now. (I’m even more excited because I don’t have to pay a dime!) It’s funny because it was literally her last choice and she went through the motions of applying, and then applying to the honors, never thinking she would actually end up there. But she is really looking forward to all that UF has to offer. It all works out in the end. ;
@greeny8 — congrats on the full ride!!! What is UF?
Congrats to those who are finally finishing school and good luck to those heading off for the summer.
@greeny8 That is awesome! My Ds went through some emotional roller coasters his sr yr, but a full ride is a huge blessing and he loves Bama. (Just make sure you are prepared for your tax bill in Jan. We now make quarterly payments so it isn’t such a shock to the system.). I’m sure she is going to fall in love with UF bc most kids really do bloom where they are planted.
I’m hours behind so I hope I’m not repeating anything.
@mtrosemom Care to share the name of the Icelandic tour company? That kind of hiking trip appeals to dh and me 
@Mom2aphysicsgeek – does your comment above mean that you pay taxes on the value of the full ride? Are those taxes at the parents’ rate or the student’s rate?
^^^^ Yes…please do school us about taxes on scholarships!
You mean taxes 101 that even tax accountants can’t answer??!! 
The amt of tuition and QEE (qualified educational expenses…meaning books, and some fees–but not all) are tax free. Anything above that amt are filed on form 8615, the kiddie tax form. They can claim their personal deduction, but their tax rate is not only at the parents rate, but the parents unearned income rate.
In addition to scholarships, REUs are also considered unearned income. So just when you think they have earned income, it turns out they don’t.
Read Pub 970 and you’ll learn a lot. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf (We had a question this yr and not a single accountant could answer the question.)
Yikes, I guess I am an idiot because I didn’t think of scholarships from a college as “income.”
This one’s easy for me, because my wife had taxable scholarships (full ride that went beyond QEE) undergrad, and I some of my fellowships were taxable in grad school.
It’s all pretty straightforward, actually, if you assume all income is taxable, and then you deduct things like QEE from that.
Remember that a good tax accountant can walk you through it. QEE includes board (up to the amount charged by the university for on campus housing even if student lives off campus), books, computer used for school (this just changed as it used to be only if required), etc. We didn’t pay anything this year for D15 and we had scholarships beyond tuition and 529 withdrawals.
@disshar That information is incorrect. QEE does not include board. Straight from Pub 970
Computers are not tax deductible unless they are required for enrollment.
If you did not pay taxes on scholarship $$ covering board, you tax accountant gave you bad advice. Fwiw, we have not had good luck with accts. Full-rides are not common and every single act we have tried to talk to knew less than I did from learning what forms to read here on CC.
@dfbdfb The kicker isn’t that they are taxable. It is that they are taxable at the parents unearned income rate. Our Ds pays about 1/3 of his non-QEE scholarship in taxes. This yr, with his REU, that means out of his $5000 grant and his travel reimbursement, (I don’t know how much his housing allowance was bc it was included), he knows that 1/3 is gone immediately. (Depending on the housing allowance, (the food plan was going to cost a fortune, so I am assuming the housing isn’t cheap either), he may end up with 1/3 of his grant $$ after paying taxes.
That is certainly not HIS tax rate. His taxes would be 1/3 of that amt if he was taxed at his own tax rate vs our unearned income rate. If it was considered earned income at his rate, the amt would be negligible.
529 withdrawals are not taxable if used for qualified expenses (which for that purpose includes room and board). So did your 529 withdrawals cover room and board (with scholarships beyond tuition covering costs such as books)? If so, there wouldn’t be any taxable income on the scholarships.
@CT1417 Thanks…UF = University of Florida
Gosh I haven’t even thought about the taxes. Time to call my accountant! Thanks CC!!! :x
@flatKansas I’m going to ask D to do the EA applications that have nothing to do with NMSF first, then once the announcements come out she can make more decisions based on that.
Ok, @saillakeerie and @vandyeyes , I’ll put Case Western in the Binder of Destiny. That’s the first time I’ve heard good things about it-when I read the trip reports for it they all talk about how bleak and miserable it is. But I keep hearing good things about the school wrt computer science…
Every time I see one of those NSHSS bumper stickers I think, braggy AND ignorant, that’s a helluva combination.
I confess to someday wanting the college stickers that say X College Mom that go on the back of the cars, but both girls told me not to, so I’ll respect their wishes.
@CA1543 thank you for your review of Tufts and NEU. D17 put Tufts on her list, but we’re trying to subtly nudge it back off the list because of the lack of merit aid, and now with the size and location of the CS department, that may help do that. We’re trying not to kibosh her choices (as of now consisting ONLY of Tufts, lol), but encourage her to keep looking.
The trip to Colorado was a resounding success. We have a safety school that rivals the dreamy reach schools in “fit” in my D’s eyes…whew!
University of Colorado Boulder: This was our first stop after traveling all morning. We had lunch in the quaint shopping area alongside campus and DD was already hooked. Beautiful setting at the base of the mountains with many of her favorite shops and restaurants.
Info session and tour were the standard fare but I couldn’t help but appreciate their marketing genius of promoting “Be Boulder.” I was surprised how many prospective students were from OOS but maybe that is more the norm for summer. Campus was beautiful and somewhat compact–I tried to imagine 30,000 students in the same space come Fall and thought it might be a bit tight. DD loved the community center (fitness center) and just a few minutes into the tour it didn’t seem like the dorms, dining facilities or any other feature could sway her (although I thought they were all average). Academics meet her needs (neuroscience/biology) and she was intrigued by the integrative physiology program. We have been leaning toward mid-sized schools so she even stated she was surprised how much she liked such a large university. Happy kid, happy mom!
University of Denver: This was the leader going into this trip–mid-sized, private, good reputation. However, it had to outshine CU Boulder and win over DD who had just discovered her ACT scores dropped across the board*–it was difficult to see DU through the vail of dried teardrops and self-loathing…ugh! Not to mention 100 degree temps and physiological altitude adjustments! Info session and tour were standard. I was intrigued by their quarter system schedule, unique Study Abroad program and generous credits for AP/IB but DD was unmoved. We both found the campus a bit tired and camp-like in places and the dorms dismal. The tour guide closed the tour with “I like it here but it’s not for everyone–come here if you like it.” It is now off “the list.”
Colorado State University: This was a late addition to our trip schedule and DD discounted it immediately after falling in love with CU-Boulder. I bribed her in to making the 1.5 hr trip to Ft. Collins with lunch hoping she would at least consider attending the info session but no luck. We ended up driving by the campus after enjoying lunch in the quaint college town. Never made “the list.” I didn’t resist much since we were facing a second tour in one day at 100 degrees!
*she has a great ACT score w/o the essay but one of her schools require it; this was her ‘w/essay’ attempt and scores dropped 2 pts. across the board–competitive but not good enough in her eyes–we’re not done testing–ugh!
@MotherOfDragons Thats our plan too! He can’t escape from the apps that don’t rely on NMSF, moo ha ha.