Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[mamacatnv]

Torchy's?

Yep and despite the lack of resume and the 2nd interview in her school clothes of Tshirt and Shorts - she got the job! Aye yi yi..........She is so excited

Good for her to keep practicality in mind. We visited a community college today. DD liked it a lot and is considering an Associate's Degree in Graphic Design. Possibly not going on to get a Bachelor's. Unlike most here, we don't really have anything saved for college. DD has a good chunk in her savings account that will help a lot with living expenses and books but no 529 or anything. We can help a little each year. She is a good mostly A student with a decent ACT score but not an extraordinary one. She would love to be done in 2 years with little to no debt and then out making money instead of racking up a big student loan. Obviously student loan debt is a big issue these days and I don't want her to be in that boat. But on the other hand there seems to be so much emphasis on the 4 year degree. I know she can decide later whether to go on.

DD is on her own financially as well. With DS we paid half of his state university costs which included room and board. In 2011 after 20 years as an engineer with the same corporation, my DH was laid off. This threw us into a complete financial tailspin. 6 months later the company I worked for moved from Nevada to Texas and asked me to come along. Long story short, 5 years later, DH is still either underemployed or unemployed. He has been working contract off and on for the 5 years, nothing permanent. Needless to say the savings have taken some major hits and we can't help DD at all. I feel really bad that we can't give her what we gave her brother but it is what it is and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Thus I really encourage her to look at State schools. Not only is the tuition reasonable but the merit aid is also much better than anything we have found for out of state public schools. I realize private is a whole different ball game in what they may offer and while we haven't discouraged private we remind her that $$ is a huge factor.

 

[robinb]

Good for her to keep practicality in mind. We visited a community college today. DD liked it a lot and is considering an Associate's Degree in Graphic Design. Possibly not going on to get a Bachelor's. Unlike most here, we don't really have anything saved for college. DD has a good chunk in her savings account that will help a lot with living expenses and books but no 529 or anything. We can help a little each year. She is a good mostly A student with a decent ACT score but not an extraordinary one. She would love to be done in 2 years with little to no debt and then out making money instead of racking up a big student loan. Obviously student loan debt is a big issue these days and I don't want her to be in that boat. But on the other hand there seems to be so much emphasis on the 4 year degree. I know she can decide later whether to go on.

Here in Wisconsin some of the 2-year schools have a thing called the "UW Madison Connections" (https://www.admissions.wisc.edu/apply/connections/) where students go to partener schools start their 2-year degree and finish at the UW Madison. The students have access to libraries, access to IT, they have a UW Madison student ID, they can buy athletic tickets. Does your state have something similar? It might be worth a call to your state flagship school's admittance office to ask.

 

[bjscheel]

Yep, we are going to visit two private colleges too, just in case they have a lot to give her. I say private colleges are a lot like Kohl's. They start with a high retail price but you never pay that price We'll see but I just don't think she will be offered enough to make it affordable. Even the state schools are going to add up to quite a sum over 4 years time.

When I went, a private college gave me a great offer and I went for two years. First year was really cheap, I had a lot of first year scholarships. Second year was about twice the cost, and my parents were tapped out by the end of it. I ended up finishing the last two years at night school that was offered by a 4 year college in partnership with the local cc. I think I borrowed a total of $4000 which was very manageable.

I'm going to have DD read about the Honors Program at the cc. If she can get just one more point on ACT, she can apply for it and have up to almost half of her tuition covered. It is extra class work of course.

 

[bjscheel]

Here in Wisconsin some of the 2-year schools have a thing called the "UW Madison Connections" (https://www.admissions.wisc.edu/apply/connections/) where students go to partener schools start their 2-year degree and finish at the UW Madison. The students have access to libraries, access to IT, they have a UW Madison student ID, they can buy athletic tickets. Does your state have something similar? It might be worth a call to your state flagship school's admittance office to ask.

Oh, yeah, I'm sure I saw something about that.

 

[yeahdisney]

DD ACT did not improve. She applied to her 3 schools she is interested in. One sent back a package that week she is accepted for 2017. Is that normal?

 

[bjscheel]

DD ACT did not improve. She applied to her 3 schools she is interested in. One sent back a package that week she is accepted for 2017. Is that normal?

For the one that DD has applied to so far, they promised an answer within two weeks, and I think it did come within a week.

 

[robinb]

I realize private is a whole different ball game in what they may offer and while we haven't discouraged private we remind her that $$ is a huge factor.

I would still look at the private schools, especially the ones that waive admission fees. What do you have to lose? They will often offer enough of an academic incentive to attract students that makes them competitive with public state schools.

 

[robinb]

DD ACT did not improve. She applied to her 3 schools she is interested in. One sent back a package that week she is accepted for 2017. Is that normal?

Congratulations! I have heard of kids getting admittance letters already. When is her deadline for getting back to them?

 

[AustinTink]

Yep and despite the lack of resume and the 2nd interview in her school clothes of Tshirt and Shorts - she got the job! Aye yi yi..........She is so excited

Good for her! Congrats! We love Torchy's.

 

[yeahdisney]

I did not ask her yet about the deadline. I read the cover letter to see it it was a real acceptance, it was. It stated, with her grades she can be in the honor program and then the letter instructs her were to go to apply for that. She said she has started that part of the application.
Her first choice school might provide you with a decision in December, that is the one we are watching. I guess I thought that would then be when all the acceptance letter would arrive.

 

[Poohforyou]

DD ACT did not improve. She applied to her 3 schools she is interested in. One sent back a package that week she is accepted for 2017. Is that normal?

My dd applied to 1 state university that has rolling admission. It's her safety school. She should hear within the next few weeks.

She also applied to 3 private universities. 1 as non-binding early action (answer in January) the other 2 regular decision (answer by the end of march). All have a may 1st deadline to accept or decline.

This weekend is FAFSA and CSC

 

[McKelly]

Congratulations! I have heard of kids getting admittance letters already. When is her deadline for getting back to them?

My daughter has been accepted to two colleges already - both private. Full ride scholarship interviews are in November already.

 

[mamacatnv]

Anyone sitting for the SAT tomorrow? DD is taking it for the 4th time but since the May scores were lost its technically only her 3rd, the 2nd under the new format.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Anyone sitting for the SAT tomorrow? DD is taking it for the 4th time but since the May scores were lost its technically only her 3rd, the 2nd under the new format.

DD is. She took the new one once last spring and just finished a prep class. We are hoping her score goes up 100 points or so. It would make her reach school a little more attainable.

 

[v.t.]

Anyone sitting for the SAT tomorrow? DD is taking it for the 4th time but since the May scores were lost its technically only her 3rd, the 2nd under the new format.

My boys are, but have a band contest immediately following. So we are leaving before 6 am to get to the high school where the contest is. So I am not hopeful of good scores.

 

[punkin]

Nope! We are done! At this point it is what it is.

 

[laughinplace199]

Nope! We are done! At this point it is what it is.

Same for DD. She took it twice, one with the old format and one with the new.

 

[Poohforyou]

My dd took the old one once after a summer with a private SAT tutor. She got an amazing score and announced she was one and done.

 

[robinb]

Anyone sitting for the SAT tomorrow? DD is taking it for the 4th time but since the May scores were lost its technically only her 3rd, the 2nd under the new format.

My DD is "for fun" whatever that means. She'd been studying a little but not as much as she needs to. She also has a swim meet tomorrow but her coach said she could come late.

 

[aprilgail]

Anyone sitting for the SAT tomorrow? DD is taking it for the 4th time but since the May scores were lost its technically only her 3rd, the 2nd under the new format.

These kids idea of "fun" sure is not mine! My daughter is retaking the entire AP bio course for "fun"- she loved the class in 9th grade so she is retaking it this year for fun...