@IABooks At Bama the professors have to let them know at the beginning of the semester whether or not classes are on the +/- system. More of ds’s classes have been than have not been. For Bama’s Bama GPA requirement, an A+ translates to a 4.3. For official transcripts, however, there is not an A+ (I don’t understand that part 100%. Ds’s GPA is a 4.2something so really understanding the entirety of the +/- system hasn’t been an issue.)
Bama factoid: Students who maintain straight As get to wear a red cap at graduation. (Ds’s current objective. )
We got two mailings from Columbia; one for D, one for me. Mine explained that YEAH, we are TOO affordable, we meet demonstrated need! Two problems, however:
Our EFC, according to several calculators, is going to be pretty darn high.
D’s ACT is 24.
So yeah, thanks Columbia, but I think we’ll pass. I have absolutely no clue what list they plucked our name from.
@whataboutcollege … re: Interviews. It may be different for each U. S17 hasn’t submitted any applications yet. At his 1st choice U interviews are “recommended” AND they must take place at least 30 days prior to when the application is due (so by 10/15 for 11/15 ED). Since he won’t have time to get to the campus once school begins, he had his interview in mid-July. (It was set up on-line via the same process to set up info sessions & tours).
DD got her senior schedule. Leadership, AP Lit, AP Gov/Econ, AP Calc, and a free fourth block so she gets out of school early. She also wants to get a job. And she has to write like 15 college essays! Ummm, not sure when she’s going to sleep!
@MichiganGeorgia I was talking about schools in general, and should have made that more clear. However, even Tech wants it’s undergraduate students to graduate! You can switch as a senior, but you do need approvals and a reason (as a freshman/sophomore, not so much). Co-Ops are still progressing toward graduation. You still have to take 12 credits, get your courses approved, etc.
GT is much less “demanding” than it’s peers. For example, at GT, you can drop an unlimited number of courses (though it may cause someone to ask questions about your transcripts), while at UF, you’re limited to two, after which you’re no longer allowed to drop a class (I hated that rule…grumble…grumble…).
You’ll always have students that would delay graduation as long as possible…I had one friend who graduated from Tech, 10 years after entering as a freshman (got kicked out once for grades and then had to work his way back into school). He’s had a great career (he’s currently a technical director for a major transportation company), but knowing him, he would have been happy spending another 2 or 3 years at Tech.
Now that I’m on a roll…
My best friend was a business major at UF. After being in the college for almost 5 years, he got called into the Dean’s office and was told enough was enough. For the next two semesters, he had to meet with the Dean and she ensured he took classes that counted toward graduation. She also ensured he was able to get into each one, even if it was at it’s enrollment limit. He got more “advising” that final year, than the first 4 combined. Today he still tells me he wished he could have delayed graduation for another year or two…
If I could have dropped a few more classes (grumble, grumble…), I would have happily taken another year to graduate…good times…good times B-)
@MomStudent2017 Thank you very much for the info!!!. I need to gently inform D’17 about that I guess She gets a little annoyed at me talking about college everytime I say something to her.
@Gator88NE D’17 is having GT on her list right now. Do you know if it is easy/hard to get business (such as marketing) major/minor in addition to the engineering major there? She is still picturing it as a tech school (vs. a university like UMich). Thanks!
@whataboutcollege The minor isn’t hard, but double majoring can be and often doesn’t make much sense when one of your majors is engineering (other than double majoring in a foreign language).
At GT you can do a minor or earn a certificate. When we visited Tech, we met an Industrial engineering major (ISyE) that was earning a minor in economics and a certificate in finance.
If I remember this correctly, minor’s appear on your diploma and requires a formal process for approval. They take 6 or more extra classes, and these classes can’t also count toward your major’s core requirements.
Here are the details on the Engineering and Business minor, offered by the Business school. It requires 7 classes/ 22 credits.
A certificate is much easier to earn, as it only requires 4 or so classes, and doesn’t require all of the approvals of a minor. It does not show on your diploma, but will appear on your transcripts.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek, my kid who gets a range of weather (80-90 summer, 30-40 in winter) is NOT looking at northern schools even though some might be great fits because he does not want to deal with really cold weather. He’d never come out, or he’d come out and go back in - kind of like a groundhog.
I think it depends on the kid. I know people who have lived in northern Ohio all their lives who still struggle with winter. I love cold winters with a lot of snow. Like the changing seasons.
If your kid is really interested in Minnesota or MSU and is a reasonably adaptable kid, I would say give them both a chance. If your kid sits around in a sweater when its below 75 degrees, then maybe not.
BTW, my son really like U of Minnesota. They were incredibly responsive to questions. They essentially created a personal admitted student day when he couldn’t attend any official ones. He loves the cold though.
I have a coworker who said when she moved from Dubai to US to attend RIT, she was really struggling with the weather. So it might be a tough situation.
)
She gets a little annoyed at me talking about college everytime I say something to her.