I was so busy at work this week and barely logged on.
Welcome to the de-lurkers! I have been on the board for a long time. My D17 is my only child so this is the first and last time to go through this process. My D is a quirky kid that follows his own path. He is great at science and math but also loves history and writing. He is currently writing four screenplays of different genres. The horror story is one that really creeps me out. We are from a suburb in a huge Texas city and son goes to one of the biggest public high schools in the state. My D17 is a ballet dancer in a Rah, rah town. He doesn’t want to dance as a career but still wants to be creative. He is thinking something like RTF at UT Austin would be great. I think he will move back into the house in four years. Meanwhile, he is writing his Oscar night acceptance speeches. He can literally see full movies in his head and needs to learn how to make it happen. His grades and test scores are great but we want him to go to a school with lower pressure but still smart kids. It has been an interesting search.
He is a picky eater who has survived at many summer dance intensives so foo is not a high factor. He can always keep peanut butter in his room. With all that being said I think he is most interested about big schools and their opportunities. S17 might apply to some of this early app schools. He is visiting a few in September. Before the craziness of the Nutcracker season sets in.
Question about the process. I am told Bama App. is relatively easy to complete. Is there an additional step to qualify for full tuition merit and any other scholarship. Wondering what is the process. Thanks
@MichiganGeorgia On the UA application was there a spot to list your senior year courses? I printed out an app and we submitted the online one and there was not a place for this. Just wondering!
For those applying to Bama, if your kids are interested in CBH or Fellows make sure your kids take those applications seriously. While the university and honors college apps are incredibly simple, those 2 programs are extremely competitive but definitely worth the effort of applying. Both also come eith additional scholarship opportunities.
My Ds loves CBH and it has definitely prepared him for a career in research. It is what made Bama a good fit.
Fake kid has to have a name that does not ‘blow his cover’. I’m trying to be delicate with this. I chose “McLovin”. No middle name. Heck, no first name either.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Portland State is high on my Midwest D’s short list. D wants coastal Pacific Northwest with more than 10,000 students. We visited and liked it. Not a sports centered university which suits D.
@dfbdfb That is so funny! I never thought about the issue of fireworks at high latitudes.
** Senior Trips ** @MotherOfDragons How horrifying! I’ve never heard of such of a thing. Granted, we don’t really do senior trips here. The senior excursion depends on how much money the kids have raised since their freshman year and is usually a picnic at a local park. One class raised enough money to take a dinner cruise on a local lake but that’s it. If the kids want to do an overnight trip with their friends, they have to join band or chorus, and those are very tightly regulated — I’ve helped chaperone them. The behavior you describe would cause such a scandal that I suspect that the school would ban any more trips.
** Jobs **
Most kids here look for work but it’s hard to get. We’re in one of those areas where a majority of the fast food jobs are being done by adults and retirees. My kids mowed and maintained several lawns until they were able to get better jobs after high school. DS’17 has all the lawns to himself now and gets around $150 per month so that helps with his expenses a bit.
** 200th Independence Day **
I remember it well, because I was in the hospital recovering from a bicycle accident!
For those interested, AP scores come out starting 7/5 based on your physical location (why don’t they do it by state of residence?). Here is the schedule:
@Ldoponce, please don’t take this the wrong way, but if your D has a 36 ACT and 4.2 GPA, why would you want to pay full price for college when lots of schools would offer full tuition or full ride? Especially if they want to increase their diversity.
I can see maybe if she got into Harvard and such, and you have the money, but even for top students that is hard.
@BigPapiofthree for UA’s main merit scholarships, you don’t need to do anything else. They will award those based on app as they are based on GPA and test scores only. Once you have the acceptance, your student can log in to their mybama page and fill out the scholarship app for departmental and other scholarships. Those aren’t awarded until spring.
@brindlegreyhound You might want to look at Western Washington University. Gorgeous physical setting in Bellingham and no football team! About 15K students.
Watch out for those Texas Tech scholarships. They look like they require a 3.5 to maintain! We know a few kids coming back after one year because they lost their scholarships. UGH.
D is not in the running for NMF but honestly, I hated the Texas A&M engineering session. It was basically “we are so large we will not even know you are here, heck we don’t even have room for you but have fun clawing each others eyes out to get into the major of your choice after one year.”
@2muchquan Maybe more of the application will become available to you when after payment when they email the app ID code? We’ve only started one app and had a similiar experience. Part 1 of the app my son completed would be better referred to as creating your app account and pay fee to access the app. I do not recall seeing anywhere for him to enter his senior year courses but they permit uploading a resume so I’ll make sure he adds them there. Perhaps they rely upon the transcript for this info.
Texas Tech scholarships: I would recommend accepting a smaller amount (if possible) as the GPA requirement is less stringent for smaller scholarships. For example, the $4,000/yr scholarship requires a 3.5 GPA, while the $3,000/yr scholarship requires a 3.0 GPA. Plus, any scholarship worth $1,000/yr or more automatically qualifies you for “in-state” tuition. A pretty nice deal. Their website has all the details.
QOTD:JOBS: you know who * doesn’t * need an $8/hr job? ** ME **.
it is a hot button issue in my household right now. while we all agree about the value of a teen job, we dont see eye to eye on exactly how to accomplish it. transportation is the biggest stumbling block-with mine not yet driving, it would fall on my shoulders to get her back and forth, and frankly, i dont wanna. (call me selfish).
teen jobs are sort of scare here. there are a lot of service opportunites in the tourist area, which is roughly 6 miles from my house. being a holiday weekend, my neighbor just left ** 2 hours early ** to get there. (there is no way in hades this would be reasonable for a teenager job-you’d spend more idling than you’d make.) many of those jobs are who you know anyway so it can be hard if you havent been here for generatons.
the mainland jobs tend to go to 55+ workers. these were typically teen jobs, but the retired need to still work to afford it here. its depressing on both ends. many of the retail jobs changed their requirements to 18+. did you know you cant get hired at the dollar store until 18 because they use box cutters???
but they can operate a fryer at 15 in fast food. think about that.
fast food is the last real opportunity left for kids. notmyboyfriend got his first job at mcD’s and hates every second of it. he was however thrilled his first paycheck was $90. while i completely get that its all relative, i honestly had a split second thought of it would be much less of a hassle to just GIVE my kid $90 and call it a day. (there is that selfish thing coming out, lol).
and dont even get me started on the need for working papers…that is a whole other GIANT pain.
so in summary…
maybe this school year. after we determine how difficult it will be academically.
Regarding teen jobs: I should have clarified my post. My D quit her main AC (varsity orchestra…it was a big drama when the head orchestra was fired and then the other two QUIT…D was DONE) and so she did not really have any big ECs other than her small photography business. AND she had a $3800 summer trip she wanted to take. So this small job working 4-8 a few times a week was totally doable.
@jeepgirl - There wasn’t a place for senior schedule. Also DS wanted to go in and check the app later to see when they show that the act scores and transcripts are received but they haven’t given him a CWID so I assume that is coming soon…
