Selecting a University (in the US of A)

[Menolly]

I know for a fact there is a private organization specifically dedicated to offering grants for higher education to those with autism and related conditions (I'm going to search my college disks and see if I have the name. I ran across it doing research for a class on writing/creating IEP's. I'll post it if I find it)

Oh thanks! This I truly appreciate.

That's cool, but he should be getting this kind of guidance now. That's all we did for two hours a week from my freshman year on - reading up on colleges, test preparation, and learning about various grants and scholarships. We also went on a college tour trip every year. If he's not getting any of this, I strongly recommend you get on the phone with his guidance counselors and schedule some monthly meetings. He could be applying for grants and scholarships or even admission next year, and that's not a whole lot of time.

*shakes head*

I haven't heard of anything like this. But, this is Florida.
I'll follow up on this tomorrow at guidance. Very valuable information indeed. Thanks.

I don't know.
The plan scoring sheet says the score range is 1-32.
Perhaps since it is a practice ACT for 10th graders, it is scored differently?

Maybe. That would have been my guess. I believe there is a difference in the scoring between the PSAT and the SAT, right? If so then it would make sense for there to be differences between the practice ACT and the ACT.

*nodding*

Although comparing the PSAT to the SAT is simpler to figure out then.

Max SAT score for each subject is 800. On the PSAT it is 80. Add a zero on to the end of the PSAT score to supposedly get the SAT equivalent. So Beorn's 77 in reading would be 770 and his 74 in mathematics would be 740.

[aliantha]

Those are pretty sweet scores, Menolly. No wonder he's getting encouraging mail already... Batty's PSAT scores were pretty much the same as her SAT scores. Magickmaker's -- well, her PSAT scores were quite good (she was an NMSQT Commended Student, just like her mom ), and then College Board got into that scoring brouhaha before she took the SAT, and her SAT scores were lower than we expected. So she took the ACT too; her ACT scores were in line with her PSAT scores. So either College Board was overly cautious with SAT scoring during her senior year, or she'd had a bad day that day. Whatever. She still got into college, which, after all, was the whole point of the exercise.

I forgot about Hyperception's being a student. Of course you know about the FAFSA...

Syl, I know what you're saying about schools getting kids thinking about college early. I'm not so sure it's a great idea -- Batty was so burned out on the "prepare NOW for college!" drumbeat from 6th grade on that she practically refused to consider anything but community college. I had to bribe her to take the SAT at all.

Menolly, one place my kids' guidance office recommended for scholarship searching is fastweb.com.

[Auleliel]

Ah, yes. Fastweb.com is good. Completely forgot about it.

[magickmaker17]

So either College Board was overly cautious with SAT scoring during her senior year, or she'd had a bad day that day. Whatever. She still got into college, which, after all, was the whole point of the exercise.

Well, when I took the SAT, College Board had very recently switched over to the new SAT with the essay section, so they were still working out the kinks with that.
Also, I don't know if you remember this, but right before I took the SAT there was that incident where a bunch of people got wrong scores(I don't remember whether it was because of a big cheating thing or because the machine messed up, but in any case there was a big score problem right before I took it). So they were extremely careful in grading my SAT(it took a lot longer to get my scores), and I remember a lot of my friends complained of getting lower scores than they felt they should have gotten.

And Menolly, I say, why invite trouble. Don't stress out about it too much. You have a couple years yet to figure things out.
Also, as much as possible, let Beorn make the decisions. This is where he will be spending the next four years of his life. Students tend to be happier and like their schools better if they're the ones who chose them in the first place. The happier students are, the better they do academically and socially.

The best fit for you is not the best fit for your son. As much as he might have a mental disorder, he knows what he wants, and what he needs. I know it will be hard to let him go, but try to keep that in mind, and give him some space.

Also, try not to look at price tags. As everyone has told you, there is a lot of financial aid out there.

[Menolly]

And Menolly, I say, why invite trouble. Don't stress out about it too much. You have a couple years yet to figure things out.
Also, as much as possible, let Beorn make the decisions. This is where he will be spending the next four years of his life. Students tend to be happier and like their schools better if they're the ones who chose them in the first place. The happier students are, the better they do academically and socially.

The best fit for you is not the best fit for your son. As much as he might have a mental disorder, he knows what he wants, and what he needs. I know it will be hard to let him go, but try to keep that in mind, and give him some space.

This is probably the best feedback I've heard yet.
But I feel I have to at least trust the Office for Students with Disabilities before I'll be able to do that.

...if I'll ever be able to do that...

[[Syl]]

Yeah, 'cause so many people look back and wish their family had given them more space.[/sarcasm]

I'm not saying you have to have every detail mapped out and the envelopes ready to drop in the mailbox, but if neither of you have a basic game plan, I don't think you have a lot of time to get one going unless you want to scramble later.

But hey. Nothing wrong with going to community college the first couple of years until you figure things out. Saves money as long as the school he gets his Bachelor's from accepts the transfer credits (highly selective schools often don't, and I believe even many state universities will only take them as electives, though that may be only in cases where the schools are accredited by different regional boards).

[Menolly]

*shrug*

He's never been one to plan ahead.
And has never had "heroes" he wanted to be, or a career in mind. The true version of a "liberal arts" school would probably suit him to a "T," where he could check out various possibilities.

But, UF is supposedly a liberal arts school, and they instituted credit limits several years ago. If you switch majors, you have to figure out a way to get your requirements in for the new major without exceeding the credit limit, or you don't get a degree and have no way of getting one from them once you exceed the limit.

It seems to be more and more a diploma mill, instead of a place to mature and discover who you are. And I find that sad.

[Furls Fire]

With Brooke it was all pretty easy as far as picking a school (She wanted Berkeley since she was in 4th grade). And since she fast tracked thru her Junior year and graduated a year early, she took the SAT and ACT in her "sophmore/junior" year. She never took the PSAT.

Heidi is also fast tracking, and is doing her "senior" year. She wants to be a Veterinarian, so she has applied for both OSU (Oregon State) and Washington State Pullman, both have Veterinarian teaching hospitals. We have visited both schools and she has preference for Pullman. She already took both the SAT and ACT.

Both girls have been literally flooded with mail and email from schools all over the country. Brooke still gets it even tho she's enrolled at Berkeley.

I don't know too much about the financial aid process, so not sure how far in advance students have to apply thru FAFSA. We are fortunate enough to be able to have college funds set up for all the kids, so their educations thru graduate school are covered (we hope). Tuition will probably be doubled by the time our youngest child is ready for college.

[Menolly]

Thanks Furls.

It would be so much easier (or at least, I think it would be) if Beorn had an idea of even what type of career interested him. But he loves math, he loves science, he loves reading, he loves people, he loves animals, etc. The only thing he wants to avoid as much as possible is composition. Whether papers or fiction writing...

[aliantha]

Furls, I can't tell you how impressed I am that you've never had to fill out a FAFSA. Basically it's a gummint form that asks for info on the student's and parents' financial resources (mostly from your tax return); the Dept of Ed then churns out a number that indicates how much your family is able to pay for college next year. When you fill out the form, you tell the Dept of Ed which schools to send it to. The schools then use your info to calculate your kid's financial aid package. Each school sets its own deadline for receiving financial aid info. (I just did the girls' FAFSAs for next year over the weekend.)

College Board has its own aid calculation form, called the PROFILE, which some schools ask for as well. It goes into more detail on some things than the FAFSA does. The FAFSA is free but the PROFILE costs, like, $22. Magickmaker applied to one school that required the PROFILE, and then they didn't accept her, which kind of ticked me off (here I shelled out an extra 22 bucks and then they didn't take my kid?? Why I oughta... )

So either College Board was overly cautious with SAT scoring during her senior year, or she'd had a bad day that day. Whatever. She still got into college, which, after all, was the whole point of the exercise.

Well, when I took the SAT, College Board had very recently switched over to the new SAT with the essay section, so they were still working out the kinks with that.
Also, I don't know if you remember this, but right before I took the SAT there was that incident where a bunch of people got wrong scores(I don't remember whether it was because of a big cheating thing or because the machine messed up, but in any case there was a big score problem right before I took it). So they were extremely careful in grading my SAT(it took a lot longer to get my scores), and I remember a lot of my friends complained of getting lower scores than they felt they should have gotten.

That's right, that was the "perfect storm" year....

Menolly, I suspect U of F enacted the credit cap to discourage kids from being professional students. Plus I suspect some parents are annoyed that the school will let their kid take classes, semester after semester, without making much progress toward a degree. It's becoming routine at some schools for kids to take 5 years to earn a bachelors degree -- even those who aren't in a pre-professional program. My mantra is "4 years and out!" College costs too much to horse around, changing majors endlessly. IMHO.

But I wouldn't worry too much about what Beorn will major in. He may take a class over the next two years and fall in love with the subject matter. Or it may happen during his first two years of college. Seriously, you've got nothing but time.