My D thanks you all for your sympathy. Over the weekend, the HS theater put on She Kills Monsters, a play about a woman who explores the world of D&D after her teenage sister, a Dungeon Master, dies, and leaves her notebook of scenarios behind. The theme of getting to know somebody close who recently passed away was appropriate, as was the background theme of exploring and celebrating their life.
On the up side, D’s best friend, or, rather, unofficial sibling (the two have grown up in each other’s home since kindergarten - her friend is our “other child”, and vice versa) decided on a college last week. She ended up choosing a public comprehensive. Because she has some learning disabilities, she has rarely received the credit she deserves for how smart she is. Luckily, she will be a big fish in this place - a nice amount of merit money that comes with a whole host of benefits, honors program, etc. She was planning on attending another school, but things messed the finances there, and she was at loose ends. Luckily, she really liked the new place, and it was a better choice for many other reasons. She was the last of D’s friends who did not know where she was going. So, all of D’s friends are going to excellent colleges, and all are extremely happy with their choices.
@liska21 Maybe they did the math. I doubt we will be re-filing FAFSA or CSS again, unless specifically requested for a scholarship. It doesn’t make financial sense to me to do unsubsidized loans. I was very willing for D to take out the minimum subsidized loans, but if you don’t qualify, why fill out the forms?
We filed FAFSA thinking we might have S19 take the loans but, in the end, decided we might just offer him a loan from us instead. Still haven’t decided if we will will do that or not. We would only do it because he chose one of the most expensive schools on his list. He told us he’d be willing to take the equivalent of the government loans in order to go there.
@homerdog We may be saying the same thing. My point was, if you know the student only qualifies for a loan where interest begins accruing immediately, but it’s not really really necessary, no need for FAFSA. Yes, D is also taking a loan from Mom.
She actually had $4K need at Purdue, so she was offered the subsidized loan (single income). Would have taken it if she’d ended up there and used the float even though it was under budget.
@homerdog Universities that are focused towards education, usually regional universities. They’re four year universities, and may have graduate and even PhD programs, but are not geared towards research. Universities like Western Michigan, UW Stevens Point, Minnesota State U, Mankato, etc. Some are doing well, while many are suffering the same fate as the poorer small LACs, as they lose students to larger public universities, and as populations continue to shrink in rural areas.
@homerdog I thought directionals were public universities that have something “directional” in the name, like Western, Eastern, Southern, Central etc. Northern Arizona University would be a directional as would Western Michigan.
As I understand it, @MWolf’s description and what I consider a directional are the same thing. They frequently have a direction in their name, so that’s where that descriptor came from, but the idea is not just that they have a direction name but that they are non-flagship publics like MWolf describes. DD is going to one that does have a direction in the name but if she had chosen Minnesota State Mankato or Winona State I would still call it a directional. I didn’t know the term till I came to CC, though, so that’s just what I’ve picked up on here.
@homerdog & @Corinthian, “public comprehensive” (or “regional public”) is the more official term, “directional” is a slightly pejorative term. A lot of time, they don’t have directions in the name, though—consider the University of Maryland Baltimore County, which is a public comprehensive sibling of the flagship University of Maryland College Park. Public comprehensives are called that because they offer a wide range of majors rather than a specific slice like a focus on engineering or healthcare or teaching or such (though historically, a good number of them started out more focused and grew in scope), and they’re mostly more strongly teaching-focused than the flagships (although most do have a research component to their faculty’s workloads).
And, of course, West Virginia University is a flagship despite the direction in its name, but that (and the Dakotas and Carolinas) have that as a matter of necessity. Also, nowadays a number of the regional comprehensives rival their states’ flagship universities, as for example William & Mary (which has arguably transcended the “regional” label in the past couple decades), Maryland Baltimore County, Northern Arizona, and both South and Central Florida.
@peachActuary73 I understand the many reasons it might not make sense to file. But I was surprised that a) the math worked out that way for 84% and b) 84% choose not to take out the federal loans. That’s not a judgement. I just would not have guessed that %.
We didn’t file FAFSA with D16 after her year 1 since it wasn’t required for her scholarship and her ‘reward’ for her scholarship was to be ‘debt free’. S19 choose a school that will cost much more and we said he has to cover some of that cost (the federal loan amounts). We (he) did qualify for 3.5k in federal subsidized loans so the cut-off can’t be that low. Our EFC is high.
I have heard the term “compass-point universities” for the ones that have a direction in their names, but that also may have a slightly pejorative meaning.
It occurs to me that a large proportion of the non-filers may be receiving aid that isn’t attached to the FAFSA, such as GI Bill benefits, that for many students make things affordable without the need for loans or work-study.
@liska21 nice that your S got the subsidized loans! Wonder how that is determined if you have high EFC. I don’t think it has anything to do with the school itself. I thought it’s just the government deciding that and one had to have fairly low-ish EFC to receive the subsidized version.
@SwimmingDad thanks for the well wishes! Hopefully he recovers in the next few days. It’s supposed to be warmer and sunny this weekend too. The weather here has not been conducive to product training either. Big picture, it’s not a big deal. But he really wants to finish strong and end on a high note.
Two kids he competes with from other towns have injured themselves and can’t compete for the remainder of the season, so he feels fortunate he just has a temporary setback and should be able to perform. I feel bad for the other kids, nice kids, state champs, and they don’t get to finish on a high note. It happens.
In other news, son took AP Physics test and said it felt crazy hard. Physics is one of his stronger subjects. He said that everybody thought it was more difficult than expected, even with all of the training, review and practice they’ve been doing. Rest of AP tests occur all week long and then he is pretty much done with school. He goes to school until next Wed to wrap things up, but has about 7 school days off before graduation. Crazy how fast this year has gone by. The hardest stretch for us was Nov 1 thru Dec 15th, when decisions came out. Overall a pretty calm year though, and son19 has been able to keep up with his studies, enjoy sports and other EC’s, and have a lot of fun with his friends too. Successful year for sure.
@RightCoaster, my dd took AP physics C and said it was super hard as well. She took the bio test in the morning and had to run to the physics test with no restroom or snack break.
Curious about the kids who took any of the Physics APs. Are they planning on using those scores for credit? I’ve always heard that it’s not always wise to do that and might put the student in a position to struggle once they get to college if they’ve passed out of the beginning of the physics sequence. S19 has decided not to take the AP Physics test and to just start from scratch even though most of the kids at our school tend to get 4s and 5s on the tests. Same with math - he took BC last year and got a 5 and took MV this year but will just take his college’s placement test to determine where to start when he gets to school. I doubt he will have to go back to the first two semesters of calc but may end up repeating MV.