Hear ye, hear ye! On this twelfth day of April, in the year two thousand eleven, the #1 son of Mrs. Hillbilly Mom returned from the Missouri state WYSE. competition with two medals clanging around his neck. 1st Place in English, Small Schools Division. 2nd Place in Math, Small Schools Division. His team placed second in the Small Schools Division, and fourth overall.
Also on this day in history, today, to be exact, the local paper ran a picture and a blurb about #1's recent Best in Fair award at the local junior college Science Fair. According to the blurb, #1 won a scholarship. That is news to us. No mention was made of it at the fair. We know that every year, a scholarship is awarded to a high school participant. We thought it went to a senior. #1 is a sophomore. Perhaps no seniors entered this year. Or perhaps the Best in Fair always wins the scholarship. This will require some further investigation. According to another article, which did not state the conditions to be met for the winning of the scholarship:
One qualified high school winner will also receive a Science Fair Scholarship worth $750 per semester towards tuition, fees, books, or housing, in addition to any other scholarship that the student may receive, such as the A+ state scholarship program, which does not cover books or housing.
Which would be a sweet deal. #1 plans to go to the junior college for two years before transferring to Rolla, the school of engineering. Not to be counting our chickens so early, but he is on track to make valedictorian or salutatorian, which is an automatic Trustees Scholarship, and he will most likely meet the A+ requirements for tuition and fees. Knock on that piece of wood newly-taped between Nellie's horns.
Of course, #1 is always on the lookout for greener pastures. He's shooting for a full ride to a school with more status. He is planning to retake the ACT at the end of his junior year, to see if he can beat his 1st-semester sophomore score of 31. The highest score possible is 36. Here's a may-or-may-not-be fact from Wikipedia:
Forty-five percent—1,480,469 students—of the 2009 high school graduating class took the ACT. The average composite score was a 21.1 in 2009.
According to About.com, the range of composite scores for Harvard students is 31-34, and for Stanford, it's 30-34. That's the middle 50% of their students. So I guess getting in is not a pipe dream for #1. The financial side of it? Pipe dream.
Sorry to keep tooting the familial horn. But I'm really proud of that young whippersnapper.
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6 comments:
GOING to Harvard isn't the goal for us redneck folks, HM. Getting the acceptance letter? Which he could frame? Respectable goal.
A 31? Sheesh.
I will be blunt - do not let him go to a "Junior College". He needs to go to at least a state university. Check on line for scholarship help. There is a big difference between a college and a university. He needs to experience that. I can't wait to hear your angst in filling out all the scholarship forms!
MommyNeeds,
I agree. It's the acceptance that counts.
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knancy,
I thought the first two years was just general high-schooly stuff. The basics.
Our junior college has a 2+2 or some such dealybobber with Rolla, Missouri University of Science and Technology. They offer courses that transfer seamlessly after two years.
Rolla used to be called the School of Mines and Metallurgy. We called it plain ol' UMR. All the engineers go there. It's our Georgia Tech. Here's a link with some fast facts:
http://mfge.mst.edu/umrfacts.html
Anyway, I'm having a hard time cutting the apron strings. The juco is only 10 miles away. He could live and eat at home. And be somewhat supervised instead of going wild the first two years. I'm remembering what I was like when I went away to SMSU. Which has now changed its name to Missouri State University. I can't keep up with all the new nomenclature.
And I forgot about the Missouri Bright Flight scholarships. He was looking into that last year. He seems OH SO EAGER to escape my clutches!
If he goes close to home, be prepared for an onslaught of boys who bring oozing testerone, raucous laughter, starving appetites (back up the nugget truck to the kitchen door), and laundry nobody wants to touch much less wash. Cheaper to pay tuition to the University and a lot less stressful......
Hmmm....maybe he could go to a local juco for a year and then see how you both feel about another one. That might help transition him. And you.
knancy,
I already have an onslaught of boys spending the night in the BARn after a day of playing paintball. Thank the Gummi Mary, it's often too hot or too cold here in Hillmomba to play paintball.
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MommyNeeds,
What a scathingly brilliant idea! We've got two years to dwell on it.
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