Congratualations to all the new acceptences and EC wins and swags !!! <:-P
D has submitted all her apps. The last LOR is also downloaded by all schools as of yesterday. We are in a waiting mode ( some scholarships apps to be completed, but not too many). We haven’t received any encouragning words or swags from any school she applied, not feeling any love here :((
I mentioned a few pages back about my D’s near meltdown because she was not doing well (in her mind) in MV Calc, and had a test coming up that she felt she was going to do poorly in. Well, she just texted, and she aced it. Can you say: ‘cry wolf’? Way too hard on herself. Really a factor in the type of school I’d like her to attend next year!
When my D aced her Calc midterm a couple of weeks ago she just came home and stuck it on the Fridge like in the good old days 
I like the justified too but I think it’s because when I went to college and the first Macs came out and could use a word processor to write papers and with a click of a button you could justify it - that was just so cool. And how easy was it to turn a 4 page paper into a 5 page paper 
@hadmeathello D got an A on hers but was still unhappy with the grade. These kids are very hard on themselves.
I get so confused with this justified talk! To me, there is right justified, left justified, full justified. And then right justified ragged left , left justified ragged right. Centered ragged. TOO MANY OPTIONS!
LOL. I love the way full justified looks in many ways, especially in print, but more often than not it creates odd spacings that in reality…can look like typos to many.
Of course, I’m still not over the single versus double spacing issue between sentences. And then there is the whole to indent or not to debate (which I think the CA overrides anyway…a good thing as far as I am concerned);
@hadmeathello and @carachel2 Congrats to you both on the acceptance letters! Brings joy =D>
@hadmeathello, I’m enjoying your JOTD! As far as the margin conversation, I personally prefer justified, but all the graphic designers in my marketing department say that aligned on the left and right ragged is the way to go because it’s easier on they eye, easier to read…
@eandesmom – I am still (incorrectly) double spacing after every sentence.
@Fishnlines29 – “aligned on the left and right ragged is the way to go because it’s easier on they eye, easier to read…” I think that is how I use Word, but other than favoring a font and a larger type size, I don’t think I mess with the system settings.
@Dolemite – “when I went to college and the first Macs came out and could use a word processor to write papers and with a click of a button”
But then there was the 20 character string of back slash whatever that you had to type out in order to force anything to print. (Or was that on non-Apple computers?) My school was part of what was then called the Mac Consortium (I think), so 20 college campuses using the new 128K Apple computers. The excitement a year later when the updated model came out as a 512K.
Congrats to all with apps submitted and even more so, to those with acceptances in hand. The long march continues…
http://www.bie.edu/ParentsStudents/Grants/
^@Dolemite you might want to do some research on scholarships available to Native Americans (and/or descendants).
In case this might help others — regarding UMD - made a mistake on recommendation - clicked wrong button - did not waive FERPA rights. We could not correct it after submitting the application. Called Admissions office today and was told ask teach to email it to them - that was a relief. Still GC says that transcript must be snail mailed!! Seems unlikely to get there by Nov. 1st but fingers are crossed. ACT ordered last week has not arrived either. Wonder if for UMD they are strict in requiring 100% of app pieces in by Nov. 1.
omg: I just checked and my D has a 75 in AP Physics right now which is an improvement over the 70 she had a few weeks ago due to a 35 on a test (completely unheard of in her lifetime) 
She’s freaking out. This is highly unusual and she’s been struggling with the teacher since the beginning. She’s made every effort to go to extra help etc but her teacher literally tells them to read a chapter that night on their own, do all the problems and “figure it out” and expect a full on test the next day without having an opportunity to ask questions first.
Also, her HS school moved to “semester” grading this year (which clearly is good for us at this very moment) AND they moved to a rotating class schedule (every 4 days) which reduces the teaching time by about 1/4. Her AP Phy teacher has stated numerous times because of this it’s just too bad, kids will have to figure it all out on their own.
I probably wouldn’t be so concerned but I think maybe colleges with 1/1 deadline will see this grade and this is what she wants to MAJOR in… Not sure what to do short getting a private tutor (more difficult than you think and costly) and she can’t drop it… Arrrgh.
Do any of her schools actually require quarter grades? If it’s not a ED school I don’t think most need them until the semester so she has time to bring it up I would highly suggest she get on Kahn Academy, absolutely saved my son last year. Mind you it was with hours and hours and hours of Kahn Academy but it really made a huge difference. In his case, it really was the only way to get any kind of practice because they never actually had homework it was all self study with not a lot of direction on what to study.
I feel your pain, we have less than stellar grades in 2 classes, and I am banking on the EA schools not needing anything until semester. However, on the positive side he does have until 11/13 to bring it up for the quarter which is likely though not as much of an improvement as should be possible by semester end.
@CA1543 – I just broke down and called UMD. Very annoying approach. Apparently LORs can be submitted via Naviance, BUT unless the applicant lists the GC’s name and the teachers’ names in the ‘Invite LOR writers’ section, the blasted app cannot be submitted. Nowhere do they explain that. Same with not wanting to submit SSN. Have to fill in a placeholder of all 0’s.
This is giving me a bad feeling about the school.
Thanks for the heads-up about FERPA. Will make sure that son verifies that. I know he has waived in Naviance or CA or wherever that happens, but assume based on what you are saying that MD’s own app must ask the same question.
@CT1417 that’s crazy , does your naviance not automatically upload to the common app? I know for us our high school requires us to go through naviance and we were told that if we list recommenders in the common app first it actually locks everything up and kind of breaks the link somehow. That’s not good I’m sorry.
@Fishnlines29 – I have heard how expensive physics tutors are—more than $100/hour here, and that is going bak several years to when a friend hired one for her D.
Does your school calculate a quarter grade as a placeholder? Our school reports on semester basis, but the grade as of the end of the first quarter is cemented in place and becomes 40% of the grade for the semester. So, 40% 1st Q, 40% 2nd Q, & 20% midterm (or final, for second semester). This approach makes it difficult to recover from a 75, but if her school runs the grade as a full semester, and you can find a tutor, there is more hope to pull the overall grade up.
Good luck. We faced this with older son and he dropped down a level in Oct so that the lower grade was not reported to his ED school.
Son’s UMD status page is a mess. If you recall, we called them to check on missing items and they told us that they had all the items but they were not allocated to his application. Well today several of those items are still marked as missing. Still no ACT scores. The upper section says GC recommendation is missing, but the lower section says GC recommendation has been received. Application says incomplete and deadline looms. What to do?
@eandesmom – Thank you!
The current issue is only with UMD as they use their own app. It is workable, but given what I have heard about some state schools not accepting any components of the app after the 11/1 deadline, I wanted to be certain. Also wary in light of the earlier Naviance issue where Naviance forced out the wrong LOR to GT who only allows one LOR. There really seems to be no wiggle room with these state schools. Something to think of in case one enrolls there…
My son asked the UMD rep during the HS info session. I think the rep should have explained the process in a way that allows the students to complete the app w/o calling Admissions. Having said that, many of these reps are brand new hires who have probably never logged on to the app system!
@STEM2017 – I have no idea, but the scenario you describe is the one I fear. Tempted to not even apply at this point.
Does anyone know if this is their first year using their own app or has it always been this messy?
@Fishnlines29 My daughter also struggled uncharacteristically in physics with a teacher who wasn’t very responsive to student appeals for help. It was unfortunate because she developed a dislike for the subject matter because she thinks she doesn’t have the capacity for it. I don’t have any words of wisdom to impart, just some moral support. Does the teacher curve? How does your D’s performance compare to the rest of the class?
@ct1417 Don’t let my scenario stop your DS from applying. I just called and gingerly explained that son is in school and cannot call himself. They reassured me again that everything is in, but still not attached to his application. This made me feel better…kind of. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Just afraid that we’ll call on Nov 2nd and get the “Who told you it was complete?” response.
After all, I’m an attorney specializing in Murphy’s Law. 50 years of experience.
@Fishnlines29, I feel for you. I would break down and hire a tutor. Even if it’s close to $100 an hour as @CT1417 stated. What your daughter is up against is needing to improve in a short amount of time.