Last year I was surprised by how easily the money came together for Nate's freshman year at Erskine.
Friday I was surprised by how easily I screwed up my calculations. Failing to notice that an invoice I received last fall was for just the FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR has cost me an additional $2,300. A costly error on my part. And one for which I had to transfer money from our home equity line of credit this morning.
Ouch.
But Nate is thriving. After a serious academic misstep this fall he seemed to rally over J-term (the period during January when students take just one class on a very intense basis) and raised his GPA significantly. He aced that class, which is really the least I can expect of a son of Mensa Boy's taking that particular subject: The History of Ancient Israel. So now he is hurdling headlong into spring semester and will try his level best to get his GPA to a level that will allow him to maintain part, if not all, of his scholarship money.
It was a quiet weekend here in Indian Land. My other two guys went to the beach with SCUMYs...South Carolina United Methodist Youth. They had a good time. I had wine with good friend Nannette and her beau Chuck on Friday night.
Saturday I hit the Jazz class in Fort Mill and then stayed to attend a Yoga class afterward. After that it was pretty much all downhill. The exercise was good, but quite a bit for this body, which proceeded to seize up and say "ouch" in as many was as possible. But it's a good ouch.
I read more of "To Kill a Mockingbird" which, I have to say, I'd forgotten was so. darn. funny! And I watched episodes of "Private Practice" on the internet. What can I say? I fell victim to the crossover episode of "Grey's Anatomy" and PP and had to find out what the heck she could have said to make him stop the proposal process?
And now my guys are home, it's beginning to darken outside, and it's time to start settling down for the work week ahead.
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Scholars Day
Yesterday we went to Erskine College for Scholars Day. I did not count how many students were there but it appeared be the entire class of incoming freshman.
We had a nice chance to hear from administration about life at Erskine while the students went to hear the same from current students. The administration made a point of assuring us that they will take care of our kids and give them individual attention. Class sizes are very small and the student:teacher ratio is 12:1. Total enrollment around 600. So it's easy to see how they are able to catch kids that are slumping.
Because the campus is out in the middle of nowhere, the campus has a ton of stuff for kids to do right there. Many of the students said they never lack for anything to do.
One thing the President said really stuck with me, and I hope it sticks with Nate when he hears it next fall at freshman orientation:
"You were a success in high school because you are bright. But at Erskine, everyone is bright. You will be a success here because you apply yourself."
Pretty cool. I sure hope he does!
I was impressed with the way Nate handled conversations with all the strangers. He maintained good eye contact (something I've not seen him do well before), and spoke politely and intelligently. Looking at him as he spoke to the music professor, I was impressed with his obvious engagement in the conversation and his open and interested body language. I was very proud. I'm also noticing that he's really a good looking kid! He's got a shy thing going on and those big brown eyes and the way he tilts his head down and looks up kind of through his bangs is simply adorable.
We had a nice chance to hear from administration about life at Erskine while the students went to hear the same from current students. The administration made a point of assuring us that they will take care of our kids and give them individual attention. Class sizes are very small and the student:teacher ratio is 12:1. Total enrollment around 600. So it's easy to see how they are able to catch kids that are slumping.
Because the campus is out in the middle of nowhere, the campus has a ton of stuff for kids to do right there. Many of the students said they never lack for anything to do.
One thing the President said really stuck with me, and I hope it sticks with Nate when he hears it next fall at freshman orientation:
"You were a success in high school because you are bright. But at Erskine, everyone is bright. You will be a success here because you apply yourself."
Pretty cool. I sure hope he does!
I was impressed with the way Nate handled conversations with all the strangers. He maintained good eye contact (something I've not seen him do well before), and spoke politely and intelligently. Looking at him as he spoke to the music professor, I was impressed with his obvious engagement in the conversation and his open and interested body language. I was very proud. I'm also noticing that he's really a good looking kid! He's got a shy thing going on and those big brown eyes and the way he tilts his head down and looks up kind of through his bangs is simply adorable.
Friday, April 04, 2008
"She's Daid!"
Yesterday I placed a call to a dead person.
Of course I didn't know until the gentleman who answered the phone told me. It's horrible to do that. All I could do was say "I'm sorry. I was calling about the scholarship offered by the Eastern Star."
Gulp. Couldn't I have left that second sentence out?
Anyway, I had to give the counselors a bit of grief for having me call a dead person. If this had happened Tuesday, I probably would have thought it was an initiation rite.
Today is the last day before Spring Break. The principal announced to the teachers that she would allow a dress down day (jeans) today. I'm wearing jeans, but I sure don't remember hearing an announcement or seeing an email telling us all we could. I can't imagine she'd let the faculty dress down and not the staff. We'll see.
Tomorrow Mensa Boy, Nate and I will go to Erskine College for Scholars Day. It's touted as being a day to recognize students for their academic achievements. You may remember that Erskine awarded Nate an $8,000 per year scholarship. I assume it's just the scholarship recipients that are invited. I'm looking forward to it, although we will be gone all day, so I imagine I'll be pretty tired tomorrow night.
A word about Erskine. And Winthrop University. And the University of South Carolina. Last week we saw the handwriting on the wall, telling us that Nate belongs at Erskine. It was handwriting we were very glad to see because it's Nate's first choice and MB and I loved what we saw of the institution last summer during our brief visit there.
The handwriting came in the form of financial aid letters from Erskine and Winthrop. Shortly after Nate received notice of his acceptance to Erskine, he got a letter telling him about the Garnet Scholarship. The day the letter came, I had just pushed the button to send the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). So they gave him this award without even seeing our financial situation. By the time all was said and done, Nate had an award letter worth $19,500 from Erskine, and only $3000 of it was a federal student loan. The rest is all free money (well, there's the work study).
We didn't hear from Winthrop until last week. They did not offer him any of their school money. They didn't offer him a federal work study program. All they put in the letter was the South Carolina HOPE scholarship and a bunch of federally-backed student loans. No grants.
Doing the math, it's actually going to be less expensive for Nate to attend Erskine, where the total bill will be almost $30k, than to go to Winthrop, where his bill would be about $20k.
USC? Nada. No letters.
Of course I didn't know until the gentleman who answered the phone told me. It's horrible to do that. All I could do was say "I'm sorry. I was calling about the scholarship offered by the Eastern Star."
Gulp. Couldn't I have left that second sentence out?
Anyway, I had to give the counselors a bit of grief for having me call a dead person. If this had happened Tuesday, I probably would have thought it was an initiation rite.
Today is the last day before Spring Break. The principal announced to the teachers that she would allow a dress down day (jeans) today. I'm wearing jeans, but I sure don't remember hearing an announcement or seeing an email telling us all we could. I can't imagine she'd let the faculty dress down and not the staff. We'll see.
Tomorrow Mensa Boy, Nate and I will go to Erskine College for Scholars Day. It's touted as being a day to recognize students for their academic achievements. You may remember that Erskine awarded Nate an $8,000 per year scholarship. I assume it's just the scholarship recipients that are invited. I'm looking forward to it, although we will be gone all day, so I imagine I'll be pretty tired tomorrow night.
A word about Erskine. And Winthrop University. And the University of South Carolina. Last week we saw the handwriting on the wall, telling us that Nate belongs at Erskine. It was handwriting we were very glad to see because it's Nate's first choice and MB and I loved what we saw of the institution last summer during our brief visit there.
The handwriting came in the form of financial aid letters from Erskine and Winthrop. Shortly after Nate received notice of his acceptance to Erskine, he got a letter telling him about the Garnet Scholarship. The day the letter came, I had just pushed the button to send the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). So they gave him this award without even seeing our financial situation. By the time all was said and done, Nate had an award letter worth $19,500 from Erskine, and only $3000 of it was a federal student loan. The rest is all free money (well, there's the work study).
We didn't hear from Winthrop until last week. They did not offer him any of their school money. They didn't offer him a federal work study program. All they put in the letter was the South Carolina HOPE scholarship and a bunch of federally-backed student loans. No grants.
Doing the math, it's actually going to be less expensive for Nate to attend Erskine, where the total bill will be almost $30k, than to go to Winthrop, where his bill would be about $20k.
USC? Nada. No letters.
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