@kt1969, I think this might be one that requires the knowledge of the finaid forum! One of my oldest D’s friends decided at the last minute (post-acceptance) to do a gap year and worked with her college to keep her aid. However I suspect this girl’s aid was merit and not need-based.
If you do venture out to the CC fringe, give as much info as you can or say up-front the things that you don’t know which might be important.
@kt1969 I agree, that the financial aid forum would be a good spot, it’s just far out of my knowledge base! I do think the first question, of citizenship and residency needs to be answered. My understanding is that gap year deferrals depend on the school and would assume the financial package is part of that application/negotiation. But I have zero direct experience at all.
Minor progress today and hopefully a bit more by this evening. I’ve been out of town all week at a work event and caught up briefly with S17 as I drove him to work. Kind of cute actually, while he has been at this job since May, he’s never had an opening shift and had no idea how to get in! I’m like…go stand by the door and see if you see anyone that can let you in.
DOH!
It’s such a tightrope. I can’t bring stuff up but if I wait, he will bring it up unprompted.
Anyway, he had a brief counselor meeting this week and has another one scheduled for next. I knew the one was supposed to happen but hadn’t mentioned it yet or asked about it and lo and behold he brought it up on his own. Sounds like he needs to fill out a brag sheet for her. It was supposed to be focused on graduation stuff for the first meeting and then college/4 year plan for the next but since he only needs 2 classes or so to actually graduate there wasn’t much to talk about and they moved on quickly.
He asked if he should attend the FAFSA meeting at school and then went on for a solid 5-10 minutes about how overwhelming it all is and he cannot imagine doing all of this on his own and that he didn’t know what he would do without me and was really grateful. He has some friends in that boat, trying to do it all on their own, either parents are disengaged or it’s strained (kid living at grandparents kind of thing) and he is so stressed on their behalf it’s sweet. I offered to help but it sounds like they are really leveraging the GC and school resources so that is good.
It also turns out they will be working on personal statements in AP Lit. Kids that are already done with it can use the time for supplements or scholarship apps. YAY! I like that, a lot! I am unclear if the english teacher will be looking at them or if it’s just work time. S wasn’t exactly sure “when” they’d be doing it, schedule wise. He did make an interesting observation, his english teacher (one of his LOR writers) is assuming all the kids in the class are on a 4 year college plan. Basically "telling"them that is what they are doing, and assuming all are applying to schools that require the personal statement (not all our state schools do). And while that is definitely the majority of this class, and his friends, it is not all. One friend plans to join the military for cost reasons and I am sure there are others who might be feeling pressured by this. So, I have mixed feelings. Selfishly for my S it’s a great thing but I can appreciate his sensitivity to his classmates possibly having some issues with it.
Ordered cap and gown, announcements this week. YIKES!
Grades are NOT where they need to be. While I don’t doubt his ability to fix things, he has in the past, I sure wish it wasn’t how he was starting out the year. Very defensive about being in his business and not letting him handle it (I am, asking isn’t taking over lol) but oh, the drama with him sometimes. That was yesterday, today he was all Mr. Chatty and thankful. Sigh. On the positive side, the benefit of EA is it will be on the strength of the junior year, I don’t know that any will ask for a quarter report so only plan to send if it’s strong (or they ask) and otherwise wait for semester end. 6 weeks till quarter end though so there is lots of time.
S17 is thinking about a gap year so it’s a question we have been asking. One school he is interested in doesn’t accept deferrals and told him to just apply for the following year as a freshman while another said deferrals are granted on a case by case basis and any merit aid should stand as long as he didn’t take classes anywhere else. His response was that he doesn’t want to take classes during that year or he wouldn’t need a gap!
One note to all moms of boys - make sure they register for selective service as soon as they turn 18 or they will get NO federal aid.
@techmom99 I think S17 registered when he got his drivers permit…no?
Not in NY, you don’t register for Selective Service through DMV unless you are 18 or over.
I’ll have to check but I swear it came up when we went to get his permit and they checked the box.
S is positive he signed up for selective service when he got his permit and I definitely recall it as well. I checked and this is what we have
*1. Optional, where a man, age 18 through age 25, can opt to have his information transferred to Selective Service for registration by checking a box when applying for a state learner’s permit, driver’s license or renewal, or I.D. card.
Thirteen states, two territories, and the District of Columbia have driver’s license legislation which provides for the option to get registered with the Selective Service System. *
So no more steps needed on that front. YAY. I guess.
Some progress yesterday.
Common App questions completed for the 11/1 schools and all general questions. Remaining to do. Final essay edits and upload. Activity list edited and finalized. I believe he should be able to submit his 2 11/1 CA schools next weekend. I’d like them done then as the following is homecoming and it will just be too busy. WWU can be the weekend after if needed, although in theory it’s possible it will be ready as well.
question for all Music Audition
One of his schools has a music scholarship that he will be trying for (for non majors). He can upload a music resume, which we will do and then needs to audition. There are 2 local audition dates or he can submit video. He really wants to submit video versus the live audition, as he can control (and edit) it. In all fairness he does have a conflict with one of the dates but not the other. As we are local (60 min drive) this seems a bit lame to me and might not be perceived well. On the other hand, he isn’t auditioning for the school itself, just non major scholarship placement and jazz ensemble placement. What do you guys think?
Started WWU App. Ran into a few questions. We can’t tell if he should put he has been a student there or not (he took one class this summer, has a transcript with 1 credit lol). I’ll email them on that. But it didn’t find him in the system though he had to have a student number for the class. Kid created a new account which I’m not sure was correct or not so…need to check on that.
question for all doing WWU app Activities Section
When I’d read app info elsewhere I got the impression they wanted an expanded activities section and then you also had the option to upload a resume. The actual wording once in, was an either or kind of thing. S wants to just upload his 1 page resume which does include everything (though doesn’t go very deep, given space limitations). What are the rest of you doing for this section? I get his point, why create something new but worry somehow it’s not “deep” enough. Which is likely silly for a safety but…
We also started the FAFSA and he created one portal at a school that values interest and that’s one way to show it. Sadly the portal didn’t reveal any new scholarships he can apply to. Bummer. However the one interesting surprise while working in the common app was that we’d kind of forgotten (at least from an app standpoint) that he does have 2 relatives that attended one of his schools (uncle and cousin). I don’t know that it will make a difference on admission, but I sure hope it does on money. LOL! Seems pretty tenuous but hey, they asked the question and we actually had answers.
We had a weird hangup in the family section on the common app, somehow due to H’s 4 colleges and 3 degrees (though I did enter “no degree” correctly for that one). All info complete yet no green check. It took actually emailing CA to get it resolved but they magically fixed it on their end.
FAFSA - Haven’t even thought about it. I will fill it out even though we won’t qualify for anything other than loans that we will likely not take. But I’m honestly not looking at it till December. I have a lot of stuff going on at work, I’ve been working every single day & will probably do so with the exception of next weekend and just don’t have the time.
@endesmom About the Music Audition: I’d just do submit a video, as long as he doesn’t do the video himself. Most of my friends kids who submitted auditions with the applications (not music majors) paid for time is a fancy studio. I don’t think you need to do that, but if he has a friend to do the video and a good microphone.
Found out this weekend that I can’t submit S17’s SAT’s until he gives me the password to College Board site. He changed it on me a few weeks ago. And I still haven’t heard positively from the school about NM commended. He needs to hear officially if he’s going to put that on his apps.
And he just admitted that his online Health isn’t as far along as I thought. He had given me the impression that it was almost done. (I was nagging him to get it done before school started.) Turns out he’s barely started. I’m trying not to worry about it too much. He doesn’t get it done by early Nov, and he will have to take the class in school spring semester. And to do that he will either have to fit it in 0 period (at 7am) or replace his EC with health. He’s the one that will be paying the price.
D17 and I went to a local info session for Denison yesterday. She seemed to really like it. I wasn’t hearing anything that made them special (Personal attention from professors! So many activities and clubs! Something for everyone!). Is it possible I’m jaded already? The one thing I did like is that the kids on the panel who shard their experiences seemed really down to earth. Maybe not the greatest public speakers, but that just made them seem more real. I think the school went up on her list.
Just got the Early Aid Estimator in the mail from College of Wooster. They are saying D would qualify for the Dean’s Scholarship at $27K a year, bringing net price to $31K just with merit, not loans at all. If that is real, I would be doing the crazy happy dance. D seems less enthused about Wooster than about the other Ohio schools on her list (the aforementioned Denison and Ohio Wesleyan), based on I don’t know what, but I think she might need to learn to love it, lol.
Today she has an interview with Ohio Wesleyan.
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I’m thinking not much progress has been made on personal statement for Common App, but D did inform me she was working on the supplement for American. Sigh. When I asked D if they were going to be working on the personal statement in her AP English Lit & Comp class she just looked at me like “how should I know??” Ugh. GC said that all senior English classes would be doing this. Would I be meddling if I shot an email to the teacher to ask? I fear that this will not be looked upon favorably by the teacher (he’s a bit grumpy), but it would really help me out to know if there is structured time devoted to this–it allows me to make room for fretting about other things!
@curiositycat333 the only reason to do FAFSA early is for possible merit and really I think that’s limited to mostly private schools. I know for Cal Poly we aren’t required to do it for the small OOS one my SD gets and it wouldn’t impact what OSU offers.
It would definitely be a professional video, he has the connections to do it so that’s not an issue. He has a great professional one with his band that I want him to link to in the additional info section and that link will go in his online resume. It’s not a solo though, but a nice ensemble piece (and he is the only trombone lol). Completely agree on that score!
I just saw that your MB doesn’t perform at halftime for homecoming. That is weird!!! Is it because that’s something to do with the homecoming court?
@klinska Wooster online came in at a lovely amount for us. I didn’t do the early aid estimator as they don’t offer Environmental Science. It seems like such a lovely school it bums me out. S is anti Ohio though, which also bums me out as Ohio Wesleyan (and Ohio University for that matter) seem to come in at nice numbers. Denison didn’t seem nearly as favorable if I recall but it’s been a while.
I’d email the GC for timeframe, I know my S just found out that his class was doing this late last week and has zero idea on the timeframe of it. It is frustrating as while it’s great that the class is doing something…it’s not at all helpful for any kids looking at ED or EA, especially with 11/1 deadlines. Or it’s cutting it close to say the least.
Would you list things like being a blood donor on the activities sheet? S17 has been donating blood since he became eligible at age 16 and is already a gallon donor club member. Prior to that, he would work as an escort at various community blood drives. It’s something that he is proud of and he has also convinced a number of friends to become donors.
@techmom99 , I definitely would list that as an activity, and certainly the escort work at blood drives would count as community service, I would think.
@eandesmom D submitted her WWU application this weekend and she uploaded her resume instead of typing in the activities separately. She had prepared a fairly comprehensive resume in her Naviance account so it was easy to do. I think it was 2-2.5 pages long total and replicated what she had in the common app, maybe with slightly more detail.
@endesmom Marching band doesn’t perform at half time & homecoming because the homecoming court is presented at halftime. So marching band performs before the game starts. Because it’s odd, few people are paying attention it’s never that great of a performance.
@techmom I’d pu the volunteer work at he blood drives as community service. Not sure I’d put down donating blood.
@techmom99 I would list it and speak to both, but lead with the volunteer part. I agree about putting it down as community service.
@snoozn thanks. S17 hasn’t updated the Naviance resume as we find it a bit klugy but his short form may be a bit too short (in my opinion) so I will likely tweak it for him.
@techmom99 you should definitely list it and mention the golden gallon club membership as well as his successful recruiting efforts. It is a wonderful effort he’s made here and he is right to be proud of it.
S17 submitted 2nd app – 1st was an OOS safety w/rolling admission that didn’t require an essay or LOR (he was accepted, but now waiting on OOS merit scholarship info) & 2nd was an OOS reach w/10-15 deadline that required GC LOR & essay (if accepted, hoping for departmental scholarship). We’re encouraging S17 to apply EA to all U’s, so he has deadlines of 11-1, 11-15 &12-1. He has one more essay to write & an activities resume to finish, and I see in Naviance that LOR requests are “in progress”.
Hubby filled out FAFSA on 10-1, even though we didn’t expect to qualify for need-based aid. Since this is all new to us, we want to make sure all bases are covered in case a FAFSA is required for merit/departmental scholarships. For those of you who haven’t completed it yet … your confirmation page gives the EFC – we expected the $ to be high, but it was much higher than we anticipated 
Interim grades are out; so far so good w/3 APs; especially since his weekends are consumed w/football & marching band. He MAY go to homecoming – a girl asked if he wanted to be part of a group of “friends”, but then she sort of dropped the ball organizing the group --homecoming is this Saturday!
Thanks to those who commended S17 for his blood donations. I am proud of him as well.
I filled out my FAFSA and won’t be getting anything. It’s about 13000 but I only did one for oldest boy, listing 3 in school at the time and didn’t count S17’s 529 account. If I have to list the 529 as an asset, it will be even worse.
I don’t think that he will qualify for enough merit at schools he’s interested in to defray the COA enough for me to let him go.
No apps in yet and I still can’t link common app and naviance. I will call the GC again on Wed (no school Monday or Tuesday for Rosh Hashana).
Was told at parent night that Naviance would be updated October 1. Confirmed with GC last week. Opened up Naviance this morning, and nope. Sigh. Seriously, don’t they realize that now is when Naviance really needs to be ready? I envy all of you who have schools that are on the ball about this sort of thing.
Turning in the transcript request form today. We’re definitely getting our $15 worth–we’ve got 15 schools on the form. I don’t expect that applications will actually be submitted to all 15, and D is starting to get serious about culling the list. Last night both Oregon schools came off. Now the furthest away she’s looking is Wisconsin (we’re on the east coast).
Last night’s interview with Ohio Wesleyan did not impress D17. I was disappointed to hear it. She said that there didn’t seem to be much emphasis on leveraging proximity to the state capital (Columbus–OWU is 20 minutes away) for internships, which for my D and her intended major, was an unpleasant surprise. The AO also seemed to get a little flustered when D responded to the question about other schools she was considering applying to, making what sounded to D like a desperate plug for OWU. Sounded to me like the AO wasn’t on her game–which is really too bad, because it’s interactions like this that make or break a decision to apply. Really hoping Wooster goes well on the 16th.
We’re going to try to make American work financially, so D will be applying there ED. That is definitely going to kick essay writing into high gear.