<p>Weighted vs unweighted–yes, so very tough to keep it all straight! Until junior year, my son was away at very challenging boarding schools academically that did not weight, but were NOT EASY…(he wanted to go there to escape the non-intellectually stimulating environment he thought he was leaving behind here in our hometown!) </p>
<p>Well, he came home with his tail tucked between his legs toward the very end of sophomore year and enrolled in public high school. Took two AP courses junior year and five AP courses this year, so a very tough senior year schedule here, too.</p>
<p>So, his weighted is very close to his non-weighted b.c he really only had those two weighted AP courses at the end of his junior year to boost things up a notch. We’re really hoping for a strong finish, but the first semester senior year raised my hopes–as some of you have said, it was just the fact that he FINALLY got really serious about applying himself and showing his intelligence by showing some due dilligence. ;)</p>
<p>Well, finals are done so now we just have to wait till grades are posted next week. Hoping that he did well. I haven’t seen him since he left for school this morning. They get to leave after their finals so he got out at 10:30am and I’m sure went off to lunch at a fast food locale with some friends and then back to someone’s house to play video games and relax after finals. Nice when they are at the end of the week so they have the weekend to relax with no homework.</p>
<p>Got the big envelope from URI today (found out online a few days ago that he got in), but no money!! Was hoping for some since the NPC asked for GPA and SAT scores and indicated that he qualified. :(</p>
<p>DS had his best semester ever, which is great, but with no weighting (no AP or honors classes offered), he’s still on the very low end of our group here.</p>
<p>So jealous of those with kids who have become independent this year! My husband just keeps telling me that I can’t go away to college with DS so he better stop relying on me. His favorite imitation of our kids is “mom, mom, mom” in the same monotone voice as " bueller, bueller, bueller."</p>
<p>I swear I’ve tried to push them out of the nest, but DS1 & 3 just aren’t receptive. DS 2 is far more independent and I don’t think I’ve done anything different with him. I have been hands off this year with #1 and it’s been a disaster. He spent the entire week trying to make up and turn in assignments due back in oct-dec - and the semester ended last Friday! I guess college will be a real eye-opener. </p>
<p>For those of you with kids who still rely heavily on you, do you think a college close to home would be a better option or a crutch?</p>
<p>Idahomon,
Congrats on Univ of Redlands with money. Is that #1 now?
Do you have any more you are waiting for?</p>
<p>We still have three we are waiting for and I think we will not know until March.</p>
<p>Just sent a long Financial Special Circumstances letter with supporting documentation to University of Denver in the mail today. Hope it works! Someday when this is all over I will post anonymously and explain our circumstances so that someone else in our situation can benefit.</p>
<p>Mom Full of Q’s - I second the suggestion to use Naviance if it is available. It is the only way to make sure you are not comparing apples and oranges and get an idea of whether a school is a match for your child. It was by far, the most helpful “tool” we used in the college search process.</p>
<p>Joisymom - My kids’ school uses Naviance but I have never found that section when looking through the website. How do you get to the section of Naviance?</p>
<p>Good luck Coral on Denver FA! I would hope they read through it and consider all the circumstances before making a final decision. This whole FA thing is exhausting!</p>
<p>I would say Redlands is #1 in MY mind now. Not sure about DS. I think he needs time to adjust-- he was sure he would be rejected/deferred since the decision took so long. Then he got the acceptance with no mention of scholarships, so it was a small step up in his mind, and then just yesterday the second letter came. He is waiting on one more which is his huge reach RD school. I told him last night to think about his top choices at this point and look up the Admitted student days for those. To me it would be difficult to choose Denver with no $$$ vs several of his other options with significant $$$</p>
<p>Our HS does no weighted grades at all-- so it always surprises me when students have 4.8 gpa or whatever. We also don’t have + - factored in-- so all grades are A = 4 B = 3
etc. We also have almost no AP classes offered (3 total I think) so maybe that is why they don’t do any weighted grades. Of course we are in the second lowest state for education funding in the nation ( don’t get me started)</p>
<p>MomfullofQs–your child should have his own password for Naviance that will provide you access to the best feature, at least as far as I have found. In addition to the scattergrams, I find the ‘compare me’ feature under the colleges tab very helpful. Everything lights up in green or red to tell you if your student’s stats are higher or lower than the avg accepted student from your school. Our HS uses the last five years of data but some schools have ten years of data on there. </p>
<p>If you have your child’s password, the scattergrams will plot your child’s data point on the graph.</p>
<p>Confusedmom—go to colleges tab, type in a college (or select one from your child’s list). Once on the college page, select graph. Excellent feature!</p>
<p>Ok, maybe our school doesn’t offer that feature.</p>
<p>Under “college Research” I have the following options: Super match, College Match, college Lookup, College Search, college resources, college maps, Enrichment programs.</p>
<p>:( maybe it is under your kid’s account? Look for it. It is the very best thing about naviance. It lets you assess your child’s chances more realistically than the college’s general statistics.</p>
<p>I only use my DS’s account. I can’t remember the password for my account. I just tried to reset my password (thinking that the scattergrams might be under my account) but that didn’t work either. Oh well.</p>