Any college acceptance letters?

[DeniseM]

No forms have been given to us at all - my husband's ex is stating that my husband has nothing to do with the child in order to get him more money. I don't understand how that will help - I mean - government doesn't care if DH loves his son or not (he does) - they only care if he supports him (which is on record - he's paid child support for many, many years - never missing a payment.

I just read the next two posts - so it's clearly unclear. I'll have DH make a call... THANKS ALL!

I'm a high school teacher and I help my students do their financial aid forms.

1) Students use the income of the parent they live with and that parent's spouse, if any.

2) If the parent they live with receives child support, they are required to report it on the application.

3) The forms do not ask for info. about non-custodial parents, except for child support.

4) I would not call...

 

[LLW]

I'm a high school teacher and I help my students do their financial aid forms.

1) Students use the income of the parent they live with and that parent's spouse, if any.

2) If the parent they live with receives child support, they are required to report it on the application.

3) The forms do not ask for info. about non-custodial parents, except for child support.

4) I would not call...

I have helped my sister-in-law do my niece's application, and my understanding is the same as Denise's.

 

[thinze3]

And imagine the opposite situation, being in the top 10% of a horrible school, thus gaining automatic admission despite not having a good educational background. A few years ago I had a college student who could barely put together an English sentence and completely flunked every test, scoring ~25-30%. Really nice person, polite, always attended, etc, but absolutely unable to do college work - practically illiterate. It turns out he was from one of the worst inner-city schools, in the top 10% of his class, but with SAT scores as low as you could go. It's a shame, because he deserved a chance, but without a ton of remedial work he wasn't able to succeed, so he was being misled about his potential for a college education AND it was taking away a place from someone like those you mention.

You know this is an interesting topic of sorts. Texas A&M reps claimed to me in person, that a student should be compared to the other students from within the same environment. "How did you prevail in your environment?" They were essentially advocating the "top ten percent" law with the simplest of statements. I do understand the logic, but it does punish others by taking those spots away. Obviously there is a big dopout rate like those you mention.

On another note. The district I mentioned has two elementary schools as well. One of them takes in our neighborhood kids but also has a panhandle shape that goes down one busy street about a mile to incorporate a different group of kids in several large apartment complexes. This second group comes from a historically underprivileged area. I can tell you first hand (my kids attended school there) that just about all of those "underprivileged" students performed much better in high school than the same underprivileged kids down the street who were not given the same opportunity to attend the same quality of elementary school. There is definately something to be be said about your statement.

 

[sstamm]

My son is only a Junior, so no applications yet. I'm curious as to how many schools people apply to? An earlier post said 14, and another one said 3.

I imagine this varies widely. My DD (who is currently a college freshman) did a lot of research and we visited around 8 schools, before she decided where to apply. She did not apply to any school she was not interested in attending. She applied to 4 colleges, was accepted to all, and made her choice from those. (I am very pleased to report that she is very happy where she is and is successful thus far. She says she could not imagine herself any place else.)

Some students in her class applied to many more schools, just to see where they could get in, or because they were undecided. For some (but I'm sure not everyone) it is a prestige thing to see how many places they can get acceptances from. I guess others just haven't narrowed their choices yet.

My second DD is now a junior and is looking at colleges. The major she might be interested in is offered at most colleges, so she may end up having more on her application list than 1st DD, whose intended major was less commonly offered. In a way, that helped first DD narrow her choices right from the start. Second DD seems to be having a hard time even deciding where to look.

At the school presentation about the application process that we recently attended, the counselor said that most students apply about 4-7 colleges.

Good luck to you and your son!

 

[Luanne]

My dd applied to 4 schools. She's already been accepted at 3, and should hear from the 4th (which is already off her list of potentials) in the next couple of weeks. She researched schools she felt would be a good match and included a couple of matches, one that she felt was a reach, and one safety. She's said she's glad she applied to so few as it might have been harded to make a decision if she'd applied to more.

 

[pjrose]

You know this is an interesting topic of sorts. Texas A&M reps claimed to me in person, that a student should be compared to the other students from within the same environment. "How did you prevail in your environment?" They were essentially advocating the "top ten percent" law with the simplest of statements. I do understand the logic, but it does punish others by taking those spots away. Obviously there is a big dopout rate like those you mention.

That approach is well-intentioned, but often backfires they put someone in a completely different environment for which s/he is unprepared. It's sad. Your elementary school example is encouraging.