The Foreign Service Journal, June 2005

S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT 84 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 5 December break, it will be too late to contact teachers or guidance coun- selors for help. If you clearly prefer one college over all others, consider early decision, but remember that you are required to attend if you are accepted. (Your application will be due earlier in the fall, usually by Nov. 1, and you should get your admission status by late December.) Your odds of being accepted via early decision are usually higher. Early action is another non- binding option giving you more flexi- bility, but perhaps less of an edge. • If you will be applying for financial aid, mark each college’s financial aid application dead- line in your calendar as well (most are after the New Year). Remind your parents to have last year’s tax documents ready for access — they will need them soon. Most colleges are need-blind, which means that your financial situation doesn’t affect your admission. • Register for and take SATs unless you scored extremely well on the SAT in the spring. Plan to take any needed SAT IIs as soon as possible. • Continue to enroll in the most challenging courses you can. Admissions officers will be able to tell how motivated you are by how you view senior year: as an opportunity to learn even more, or as your chance to slack off. • Submit your applications. Whether or not you submit an appli- cation electronically using the Internet, some parts of your applica- tion will still need to be sent the old- fashioned way. If possible, use an express delivery service; snail mail and fax are other options. If you choose not to use the Internet for any part of the application, fill out the application forms in black ink unless otherwise specified. Stay well ahead of deadlines, make copies of everything, and perhaps have a friend in the States on hand to help out if needed. During the Spring Semester: You’ve sent all your applications, but it’s not quite over yet. If you will be applying for financial aid, enjoy partying on New Year’s Eve, because in a few days, you and your parents will start tearing your collective hair out over finances. Although finan- cial aid is too big a topic to treat in depth here, there are a few things you need to know: • Your parents will be doing their taxes early this year. In fact, prepare to be annoyed at how soon colleges want to see your family’s lat- est tax return. If you have not yet Continued from page 83 Continued on page 87 F R O M T H E D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 0 S C H O O L S S U P P L E M E N T Pat Olsen, “Home-schooling FS Kids? It Worked for Us” B ack in 1989, if you had asked me whether home-schooling might be a good option for my children, I would have answered with an emphatic ‘No!’ A Foreign Service spouse with three young boys, I was sure that home-schooling was an option chosen only by missionaries and a few counter-culture types. Times have changed. Home-schooling is now a popular and culturally acceptable choices. Many resources exist to support home-schools and state education laws have been written to respond to the rise in home- schooled children. Here are some of them: WWW.HOMEEDMAG.COM Library, resources, online newsletter, monthly publication. Look for their online Pocket Field Guide to Home-schooling. Click on “Resources - State Laws and Regulations.” WWW.NHEN.ORG The National Home Education Network WWW.UNSCHOOLING.COM Creating non-school learning environments WWW.CALVERTSCHOOL.ORG The Calvert School has offered home-schooling courses for almost 100 years. WWW.STATE.GOV/M/DGHR/FLO/19290.HTM Family Liaison Office, home-schooling resources.