Patting myself on the back for submitting FAFSA. :))
The hardest part is the security questions on various financial institute sites. I do have passwords can you let me in please? :-&
Who was your favorite teacher? (was it mine or child’s for this coverdell?) Who was your childhood best friend? (damned if I remember) what did you want to become when you grow up? (the answer was not lego designer? huh?)
Finally, about to call the custormer service, I found automatic phone account balance system. very secure… hmm… Well, at least they give the balances on various accounts if you manage to enter ssn and a pin which I don’t remember setting up.
As usual, FAFSA thinks we can afford more than we think we can.
Anyhow, slogging through CSS is going to be much harder. (
@CT1417 there were many things about UMD’s website and application that aggravated D17. However, she said she liked the school enough that she was willing to forgive the wonkiness of their online face.
Physics tutors-if you live in the north atlanta area (otp), I can recommend an excellent one-older guy that graduated from GT a long time ago. Fabulous tutor. IIRC he was $45/hour. PM me for deets. (no relation, just a good tutor). D17 said he saved her butt in IB Physics last year.
He’s been teaching math and physics (I think in canada), and he’s awesome.
I can pay my tuition bill on my credit card, but they really charge me extra for it. IIRC it was about $100 in fees extra. H got grumpy and made me trot down a check to the admissions office the next time, lol. This was on about a 4k tuition bill.
@RightCoaster I do not think I would include a note drawing attention to the C. I think they’ll probably just keep tabs on it and check it before allowing admittance to make sure it’s going up, not down. A letter won’t do anything (imo) because they’ve seen stuff like that a million times, I bet. Precalc is hard. It was D’s only C ever in HS (back in sophomore year).
@ct1417 is that the Eats, shoots, and leaves book?
I know I’m only supposed to put one period after the sentence now, but my motor memory makes me do two. So there. Take that.
@dfbdfb if you like nerding out over fonts read Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore. I think I probably mentioned it earlier this month.
I’m listening to the audiobook about two women, Nellie Bly and ugh, can’t remember the other one’s name although she’s the more interesting historical figure, who raced each other around the world in less than 80 days. Eighty Days by Matthew Goodman. Sounds super intriguing, right? Nope; the writing is SO slow and stodgy. I may have to do research and re-write it for maximum awesomeness because right now it’s just maximum snooze…
The girls are not allowed to remove the tests from the room or photograph them in any of their classes. They’re also not allowed to do test corrections. Take the test, get the grade (don’t get to look at the results, either), and move on. Lazy effin’ teachers.
@mtrosemom Your story about your thesis reminded me of the story my DH tells about his doctoral thesis. When he was proofreading (fortunately) his thesis, he realized that he had spelled “ultraviolet” as “ultraviolent” throughout the paper. This was back in the days before computers and search/replace.
I agree that teachers should really be keeping an eye out for seniors as marking periods approach this first semester as it could make or break some kids, which is heartbreaking. Hard to juggle if you have a class that is a mix of grades but still, it would be nice.
I would just like to see test grades recorded, given back and reviewed with the kids in a timely fashion! I am sorry but it doesn’t take 2-4 weeks to grade tests and quiz’s and upload the grade. Given how most classes weight, it makes a tremendous difference. Generally speaking I don’t think the kids get to take the tests home but it varies by teacher and I’m really not sure what the policy is this year.
We have 3 grades we are dealing with. I don’t expect our EA schools to want quarter grades so am not overly concerned but I’ll still feel better if all is resolved before quarter reports.
I know that generally speaking APES is considered an AP light class but at our HS it most definitely is not and is viewed as quite difficult. That is in large part I am sure due to the teacher (who is outstanding but does go deeper than required in all her classes) and the fact that with a start date after labor day, they are on a compressed timeline to get all the material in before the AP test date. He “should” be able to get that up to an B-B+ by report card and A by semester, he has the opportunity to make up some points on a larger assignment but is currently at a B-. Calc is currently a C+ but we are over 2 weeks out on a test grade and another quiz yesterday. Again, should come up to the B level but the 2 week out test grade wait is killing me as it was a ton of points. They can retake one test per semester and he will definitely be exercising that option as he bombed the first test. The last issue is Theater Tech however I seriously doubt it’s a real issue, it’s just not many grades uploaded at all, so that’s a B+. I would be shocked if that is not at an A by quarter report.
The kid is a solid B+/A- kid but he needs to keep the transcript that way. I am not overly worried, the start of every year goes like this but will feel much better when the lowest grade I see is a B!
@dfbdfb I like Baskerville, I cannot go so far as to say I love it. Then again, I don’t love any one font. That would be so limiting. Like choosing a favorite wine, color, musician or book.
@eandesmom I don’t check grades anymore but this one kills D. Some of the teachers are awful about getting grades in on time. D kept complaining before quarter grades were finalized about one teacher that had graded but 1 assignment through the Friday before grades were due. I told her to be a nice pest about it.
@itsgettingreal17 the only saving grace with the Theater Tech teacher is long standing history with both kids and having been through the pain of no updates until the 11th hour. In this class I am assuming he will have some kind of participation grade as 50% of the class is hands on and none of that is reflected yet.
But Calc (and S19’s PreCalc) is killing me with the huge delays in test grading! S19’s french teacher is doing the same thing…little to no uploads and then by the time it is in the system, the kids can’t address issues. Poor S19 has a C- in French 4…due to missing assignments that were in fact turned in.
@SincererLove that’s funny about the physics b book, at least you picked up a book in the first place, something I should do lol
@LoveTheBard Love the “parent’s prerogative” school, I had one of those! though I think maybe I need one more, that she loves. My D only really has what I would consider two safeties on her list and only one she could picture herself at.
@STEM2017 I told my daughter about the Kahn Academy, she was like “mom” 8-| " everyone knows about that" “yes, yes, yes i’ve seen the videos”
and in addition to your comment about NYC schools, my nieces had to TEST to get into their preschool/kindergarten, how ridiculous!!!
On a similar vein, both D17 and D19 have already stated how stressed they are about this quarter’s (and by extension, 1st semester’s) grades. The first quarter just ended a week and a half ago, but there are now only 25 actual school days remaining in the 2nd quarter. Their school finishes the second quarter as winter break begins, so there is no “holiday hangover” before semester exams. D17 had all As first quarter, but she got a 77 on the first Calc BC test of 2nd quarter, so the struggle of trying to bring up her grade in time for the end of the quarter begins. She says she is not “too worried” because there are still two more tests to help her average, but the stress is definitely there.
Add my D to the list of kids stressed out this semesters grades. She is struggling with Calc BC and AP stats and her honors Medical Interventions class is stressing her out as well. I think part of it as senioritis has already started to set in for her. She has lost a lot of motivation to study and now she feels she is behind in those math classes and struggling to get caught up. She really needs to get in before school for some extra tutoring.
I keep telling her to hang in there…college will be so very different.
@panyward Those questions are really “insecurity” questions they really make things less secure. Pets names, kids name, mom’s maiden last name. My husband refuses to use them and if a site requires them puts in gibberish. And then he’s had problems and now can’t get into the cell-phone web site at all. I agree asking what my “favorite” is of anything could get me to say about 3-5 things, and I could have spelled it in more than one way. Did I capitalize it?
@MotherOfDragons Thanks for the recommendation of Mr. Penumbra’s - I really enjoyed that book!
And hopefully that rubber chicken is making the rounds - I will need it for our GC dept. - DD goes in & asks a question & he has no idea what she is talking about whether it is about dual enrollment (this will be her 4th semester of it & have done the song & dance with him the previous 3 semesters) or about the required school format form (or whatever it is called) that is required for a particular college - apparently he never gets his emails!
And to add to the love of senior year, the AP Lit teacher is on family leave (which I feel for him), however the long-term sub has no control of the classroom & when I talked to her at parent-teacher conferences, she told me that they are having fun. Then she singled out DD the next day in class to tell her she is “in complete control”. Meanwhile, my DD is ready to scream because she actually likes learning. And currently, they have a short term sub for 2 weeks while the long term sub is on vacation.
I was perusing WPI’s common data set and noticed they want FAFSA and CSS. So far we’ve just done the FAFSA (so we could have a good laugh and then cry). Do we need to do the CSS before the acceptances come out, or does it matter?
It seems that CSS wants everything in the retirement account… which for me is all over the place in little bits. UGH
And my former employer has been changing managing companies like flipping house. UGH.
I also expect to get tiny pension defined benefit. I don’t know if I am supposed to calculate net present value of that? UGH.
