Here the paper work for the learner’s permit is pretty daunting. We had to provide: proof of identity - 2 forms (we used passport and original SS card- no copies allowed), Verification of Enrollment form (had to be requested in writing by parent and completed by High School only valid for 30 days), 2 forms of proof of residency IN STUDENT’S name (2 proofs of residency for the parent and and another affidavit - we used a bank statement sent to S - had to be mailed within 6 months and his last repost card that had to have his address and attendance information), certificate of completion of 6 hours of classwork from the driving course, affidavit for parental instruction and two page small print application form for learner’s permit, my driver’s license and once we got there we had to fill out a “DL 40” form that I have no idea what it was for but it did not ask for any information that wasn’t already provided on the other forms and documents.
The crazy thing is that you cannot use anything to fulfill more than one requirement. You would think that the verification of enrollment form from the school would count for proof of residency but nooo,
and the one thing that they didn’t want was proof of insurance! It took them three times as long to go through and scan in his paper work and documents then it took him to take the written test!
The good thing was that even though we got there a few minutes before they opened and there were 40 or 50 people in line before us, we were out of there in a little less than two hours and it only cost $16.
Joining in here. I am also the parent of a class of 2015, so finally have him graduated and off on a trip to Chile for two weeks with H for a graduation present. My S18 has one final today and one tomorrow and then we are off to Spokane Washington for a family visit and a tour of Gonzaga. We live in Michigan so this would be far away for him but we have family there and he is interested. Looking forward to getting to know all of you these next few years!
@wrights1994 I’m not a parent but I live in Spokane! Gonzaga is definitely a great school and has a great basketball team and my dad went there. Of course, I have no interest in going there, WAY too close to home lol.
2018 Son is winding up a two-week orchestra camp tonight, his first ever year to be one of the high school assistants to the 6th-8th grade students. He has enjoyed helping “the little kids”. Ha.
@snowfairy137 my dad went to Prep and my grandmother lives a few miles from campus. We are just going to see what he thinks of it. My S15 will be at U of Michigan Ann Arbor in the fall so a big difference!
We just got back from a family vacation to New Orleans. It’s probably our last for a while that will include S11, who is a newly-commissioned Army officer. He leaves Friday for training and a follow-on assignment to Hawaii, so we wanted to squeeze in one last trip.
While we were there, we toured Tulane with D18. It quickly rose to the top of her small list. We toured U of Chicago last year and she loved it. She felt Tulane was a more laid-back version of Chicago - better weather, more “fun”, gorgeous campus, but still serious academics. It was in the 90’s everyday, but being from Tennessee it didn’t seem too different from home.
She’s interested in medium-sized research university style schools, and would love to be in a big city. Location is wide open. Her intended major is something sciency - physics, chemistry…? She likes Emory as well, but we’d like to add a couple schools to the list that are less reachy. She has no test scores yet as a rising sophomore, but ended freshman year with a 3.75/4.05 weighted GPA (all As except for an 84 in honors Alg 2). Does anyone have suggestions for schools that would be more of a “match” and less of a reach?
@3scoutsmom, I was wondering if taking the new PSAT instead
of PSAT 8/9 while in 8th or 9th then again in 10th and 11th would give a better reading of their upward trend. Do you think one could compare SAT 8/9, 10 and PSAT/NMSQT just as well.
@VANURSEPRAC I really don’t know. Taking the PSAT 8/9 while in 8th or 9th will give you a better idea of how you compare to other 8/9 graders. I read the PSAT 10 will be just as difficult as the PSAT/NMSQT and that it’s really just an extra practice test given the Spring of 10th grade.
I think the College Board is going over board with testing! S18 will take the PSAT/NMSQT in 10th and 11th grade, I think we’ll pass on the PSAT 10 because I can’t get the school to tell me if/when they are offering it and he is signed up for the March 2016 redesigned SAT test so I’m not sure what the PSAT 10 would do for him.
I’m not sure which test my youngest will take next year, he has to submit a PSAT score for his high school application and needs the scores by March 2016. I can not get the school to confirm that they are even giving the PSAT 8/9 let alone when I’d rather him take the PSAT 8/9 because I think that’s more appropriate for our purpose. My older two didn’t take the PSAT in 9th grade and neither will my youngest. I think there is such a thing as too much testing!
Over the past two+ weeks I have exchanged email with two different GC’s, spoken to a third who ask me to email two different GC’s. From the answers I’ve been getting I don’t think the GC’s I’ve spoken to were even aware of the new PSAT 8/9 and the new PSAT 10, one kept insisting the 10th graders only take the PSAT in OCT even after I sent her a link to the the information on the College Boards web page explaining that the new PSAT 10 is given in the Spring.
@jcc I’m looking for similar places for my D16. Tulane is on our list. Emory and Chicago are not–too pricey; we are chasing merit. Other more urban affordable schools we have are Pitt, Temple, Univ Minnesota, Trinity (San Antonio). These may be bigger than you want though.
S’18 is likely to consider Tulane and Emory as well (though very early to tell). Both schools offer merit aid, but receiving merit aid (at least top merit aid) is competitive and should not be counted on. I hear Case-Western offers merit scholarships and may be similar sized and comparable admissions standards to Tulane (not really sure of that). I have heard that Washington & Lee and Bucknell offer merit and are similar-sized, but I really don’t know. Maybe Carnegie-Mellon?
We’ll be chasing merit too and really hoping for a shot at National Merit but it’s too soon tell. We should have a much better idea after he takes the SAT in October. The current front runners are: Texas Tech, UT Dallas, UA-Huntsville, his sister (d16) plans to go to OU. If you think your child has a shot at National Merit you should check out this list: http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
Careful with the merit chase. Some of these are very, very competitive. Others require the student to maintain a very high (maybe unrealistic) GPA. Always read the fine print and be realistic.
Also, it seems safest to make sure there is a financial safety or two on the college list. Avoids horrible disappointment in the end.
I highly recommend that anyone looking for merit aid first review the list from Kiplinger. It shows the percentage of “non-need” based aid and what the average award looks like. It is broken down into several categories: Private universities, liberal-arts colleges and public universities so you can ge a good look at what schools offer the most money to the most students. After you have a list of schools, you can go on the Common Data Set and see what sort of GPA/test scores will be necessary to be a good merit aid candidate. If you’re child’s scores are above the 75 percentile, they will stand a good chance. http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/
Thanks. That’s a good place to start. One word of warning, the “average” award can be misleading as some schools give a very few, very large awards and some more but smaller awards. This could look the same if taken as an average. One nice thing about merit versus need based awards are that the merit award should not change based on family finances…
Very good point about the “average award” and one we’ll keep in mind going forward. While I’m 100% in agreement that college lists and visits should be made with a clear picture of what is and isn’t affordable, our financial picture is likely to be radically different in another year or two. With that in mind, my focus right now is just helping my daughter get a feel for the types of schools she likes, since visiting at that point may not be an option for her.
She has a reachy list of Chicago, Tulane, Rice, Emory, Carnegie Mellon (legacy), Bryn Mawr, and then, some in-state public safeties. Still looking for some schools in between the two ends of her list. Someone mentioned Lafayette and Miami of OH, so may look at those as well. Thanks for the ideas, everyone!
You can use the Kiplinger list as a guide and then double check on the Common Data Set exactly how many students received merit aid. Our experience is that Tulane is very generous with merit aid but it’s important you apply early action. You don’t even have to wait for the Common App because they have their own online application.I would suggest that if you are applying to any of the schools with an admissions rate under 25% AND you want to get substantial merit aid, you have to view the process and winning the lottery twice in a row. It’s definitely important to figure out how much you can pay per year and adjust your list accordingly if admissions comes through but merit doesn’t.
Great point go2mom. With our older son we made clear that he could apply to schools as he wished, but that we would not be able to afford the COA if merit aid or FA did not come through (unlikely that significant non-loan FA would be available from most schools on his list). Communication of that sort, I think, helps manage expectations and avoid really bad feelings in the event that a difficult financial decision has to be made in the spring.
Tulane is a school that provides significant merit aid to a number of students and can be very affordable. We have several family members who have attended and all have warm feelings for the school.