@my2caligirls - D’s college class did show up on the A-G summary after we manually entered it under Transcript Entry but there was no value assigned to it. She was able to edit it - she took an music class so she filled an “F” in the box which corresponds to the arts requirement.
@ShrimpBurrito that major at UBC sounds awesome! I hope she gets in.
DD’18 had a rare Saturday without a cross country race, so she filled out another application - didn’t hit “submit” on it yet. Making a little progress when she can.
EMT work is a great resume builder for medical school, so I am sure it is good for PA school too.
We are getting to the “he looks like he will get into a few colleges of his choice, but will he really because of his poor ECs?” zone. He now knows if he is possibly going to college next fall, he has to apply. His grades are starting to creep out of the cellar.
Working and volunteering on the college apps has gotten to me. It was hard enough for my “normal” eldest to find a job, and for an autistic kid to do so is nigh impossible. When we look at gap years, we probably will look at programs that qualify as work experience with hopefully an educational bent.
The trick is, the gap year presentation is in April, so he will be applying without knowing if and where he is going for a gap year. We are seriously thinking about a travel gap year, with me taking a sabbatical from work for a semester or two. He is interested in ancient history, so we might do something related to that.
On a different note, has anyone used Parchment to get percentage chance at various colleges? It worked well for my S15, and I’ve got some numbers that look good for my S18, but I’m worried about the difference in their ECs (S15 ran out of room, 10 spots weren’t enough! And he had leadership too!).
@DiotimaDM around here I think you have to have 18 mos of EMT experience and then can get paramedic training at a communtiy college, not sure how long that takes.
So maybe he can focus on the Public Health or Psych with premed prerequisites for now, and do theater as an EC, and then work on the paramedic certification during a summer or two?
We are getting ready to leave for our college visit. The weather is nasty. D20 suddenly wants to join us and D18 isn’t thrilled. I’m glad I kept the reservation for the larger hotel room after H said we should bring everyone with the heavy rain.
D20 is not academically oriented but maybe the visit will inspire her. She will also make the trip more interesting since she is more fun than the proverbial barrel of monkeys…as in buckle your seat belts. D18 is all business.
Grandma decided to come, too. She needs a little get-away since she’s had a very rough couple of years and no break at all from an intense job and family responsibilities.
With my oldest, we went on several college visits together, and Grandma seemed to know right away what was the best fit for D and that’s where she wound up going. Let’s see what vibe she picks up this time.
@MACmiracle my D would hate everyone crashing her college visit tour trip. I hope it works out for you all, and that this becomes a fun, memorable trip for all of you!
My S would hate it too. Hope it works out for you all.
@MACmiracle hope you have a great trip. I don’t think D would want grandma along, but gma is a little crazy. Grandma is taking Niece18 on college visit next week cause the parents can’t take her. Can’t wait to hear how that goes. It’s a school that D wants to visit too, but I didn’t want her going with N or Gma.
@MACmiracle , Grandma is the College Whisperer!
Maybe I could borrow her sometime?
Woo hoo, finished and submitted FAFSA. EFC was a pleasant surprise, never knew that could happen!
Speaking of college visits, we’ve just booked a re-visit at UNM, and DH gets to come this time. S wants to meet with EMS and Public Health. Mom wants a re-tour of the dorms and DH wants a look-see at the place we’ll be sending our one-and-only for the next several years.
We’ll be there over Veteran’s Day weekend.
Re: EMT plus experience for paramedic - That’s the way it is here in CA, too. You have get your EMT-B, then work in the field for 12 months before you can go for paramedic. It’s different at UNM, though. The EMT and paramedic certifications are part of the BS in EMS, so the experience portion in between is waived. In addition, because these are regular university classes, he can do it for free as aprt of his NMF scholarship, assuming that’s how he chooses to spend one of his four years.
S is planning to transfer his certification from CA to NM, which involves taking a class on the differences between CA and NM scope of care. There are academic pre-reqs for paramedic, mostly including a year of Anatomy & Phys with lab, so he’ll do those classes as a freshman.
Once he’s out there, he’ll see if there’s work he can get either with campus EMS or with the adjacent hospital.
We’ll see if he’s still interested in paramedic after his first year is done.
D took SATs for the last time yesterday. We also had a discussion about her essay the other night. She is almost done and she is happy with it. I haven’t seen it but I am proud of her topic and what she told me of it.
Since yesterday she looks like a 20 lb weight came off her shoulders. Still has yet to submit a single app but she is getting close and I am happy to have my girl back, if only for the weekend.
D submitted her first app today to Clemson. Woohoo.
The first big senior year milestone is behind us, homecoming week is over. I am sad and happy all at the same time.
Hubby and I had our big FAFSA date today! We are all filed for both DDs. We cut DD2018’s list down to a manageable 10. Might need to file for 2 more schools but those are CSS schools. Realistically the 10 we did today are the ones she will ultimately choose from if accepted.
S is working on his NMF essay today. I gave him the prompt and the word limit weeks ago, before the news even came out (make that months ago).
So today he sends me a draft for proofreading.* It’s just under 1,200 words. /headdesk
In my early writing days, one of my jobs was to write the 25-word blurbs you see in book catalogs, so I grok brevity. I can cut words like nobody’s business. But turning 1,200 words into 600? That’s not a cut job; it’s a complete re-write.
He pretty much has to start over. Next time, read the instructions, kiddo.
*I will proofread for him when asked, meaning I’ll mark spelling errors, typos, etc. I will also give verbal suggestions along the lines of this is wordy, this is unclear, you need to support this point better. I will not write it or rewrite it for him.
1200 words! X_X Ouch!
For the record, there is a current thread with some fantastic suggestions for editing too-long essays/personal statements:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/2022112-writing-a-200-word-essay-is-hard-p1.html
Yay for all the progress you guys are reporting on college apps!
Productive weekend in our house, too. H and I completed the FAFSA and S18 submitted 6 more applications, submitted a document in support of his previous application, and submitted a competitive merit scholarship to one of his schools. A few more applications and scholarship essays to get done, but I finally feel like we’re getting there.
Quick question: on Coalition App, is my daughter’s weighted 4.68 GPA on a 4.0 or 5.0 scale,?
Anyone having issues with Common App? S18 applied to several schools through Common App this afternoon, but now when he logs in, none of the tabs come up, and there is a red exclamation point on the screen. I’ve never seen that before.