Hey
I posted on this thread a while back saying I was working on a fic and a number of people have already very kindly assisted my research. I’m now asking for help again.
To recap, the initial premise for my writing was wondering how Tara came to be at UC Sunnydale in the first place. Her appalling home life is alluded to in the show, and from that I’ve guessed that she must have ran away, hence wondering how they’d found her in ‘family’. This then got me thinking.
As a Brit who has never even been to the States, what I knew initially about the education system out there came purely from watching shows like BtVS. I’ve enjoyed researching the system and seeing exactly how different it is to the U.K. one.
From my research I’ve developed what I hope is a feasible ‘time line’ for Tara’s college applications, and how she could have accessed the necessary funding. My original plan was to post all the chapters with Tara’s application here on Beta Pens to get it checked before posting on DCP. However, as I’ve worked on outline drafting I’ve seen that it’s likely to go across a significant number of chapters (as I’m writing other events in too, to build more detail into my version of her home life) and so this idea no longer seems sensible. (I may still post the first one or two chapters here for reassurance though.) I don’t intend to put lots of detail of tests and college application as, even with research, I know I wouldn’t get it right, but I do at least want to be able to sequence things properly. Also I already have some ideas of plot lines for when Tara has reached UC Sunnydale, so I don’t want to spend too long on how she could have got there!
It’s obvious that Tara must have had help with her application, so I’ve invented a few characters that will support her in different ways. I don’t intend to go into details of them here now, but rest assured Tara isn’t suddenly going to have tons of friends to help her (I don’t want to make her life too easy, I’m into angst!), but I think that she does needs 1 or 2 key people to make her application possible.
So what follows is my ‘time line’ for Tara’s college application, where relevant with my ideas for how Tara could manage to achieve that stage.
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May or June of junior year at high school – Tara sits SAT reasoning tests (her school makes everyone do this to give an external indicator of what type of colleges might accept them. Most pupils resit them in their senior year to increase their score)
Near end of junior year - Tara sees guidance counsellor (again something her particular school makes everyone do at this stage of high school to help them plan their futures) & starts thinking about college applications, even though her Dad will not allow her to go.
During summer holiday (is it called this in the States?) – Tara makes choices of which colleges to apply to with help from a couple of my own characters. She also starts drafting her personal statement & working on scholarship application(s)
Start of senior year – Tara asks the guidance counsellor and her art teacher (‘cos she’s going to major in art) to help check her personal statement and seeks their support in making scholarship application(s)
Early November Tara files applications for colleges including UC Sunnydale. One of my new characters (a non-family adult) will pay for each application (why this person would do this will, I hope, be apparent when people read the fic itself). Any postal correspondence will go through this person’s house, since clearly nothing could go to Tara’s house as her Dad must not know she is applying.
Early November Tara sits 2 or 3 SAT subject tests as required for her college applications (my research shows the colleges in California usually like people to have sat a two of theses in relevant subjects) and resists SAT reasoning tests hoping to increase her already high scores.
1st Jan (or very soon after that) – Tara files FAFSA to find out how much aid she is eligible for. I believe it is essential for her to do this to receive any financial support at all i.e. loans, grants or scholarships. I also believe that she would class as a ‘dependant student’ and so lots of information on her parents and their financial position would have to be filled in. I think this is probably Tara’s biggest hurdle by far in terms of getting college funding.
The easiest way round this is just to imply the form was filed and give no details as to how she managed it. I may well do that, but I have been trying to think what her actual options would be. The only remotely honest way I can think of would be for Tara to find the info on her Dad that she needs, either by old fashioned searching of the house while he’s out, or cheating and using magic (she is a witch after all
) to speed up the search (would this be classed as magic for personal gain and hence wrong though?). She could then fill in the form correctly and forge her Dad’s signature. Tara could probably do this without her Dads knowledge. The catch is of course that her Dad would never give her the ‘family contribution’ the state believes he can afford, so unless he is genuinely on such a low wage that the contribution would be zero or minimal she would be in financial trouble right from the start.
All the other options I’ve considered involve big lies somewhere e.g. saying both her parents are dead, or using someone else’s financial details (the adult who’s been helping her) and hope no one spots that it’s clearly fraudulent. For either of these options the form could somehow be ‘bewitched’ by Tara so whoever checks the form believes the details to be correct and passes the application as submitted without question or further checks. Again though is this an unacceptable use of magic?
Early Jan (after filing FAFSA if the scholarship deadline will allow it, as she’ll get more money that way) – Tara sends off an application for scholarships to places including one for an Art scholarship to UC Sunnydale (which would pay all of her fees, as it’s based on your ability as an artist and they want the best) with a portfolio of her work as required.
Mid-March – Tara hears that she has a place at UC Sunnydale with a scholarship
Late March – Tara files her statement of intent to register at UC Sunnydale and sends in housing application hoping to get a place in a hall on campus
Early September Tara travels to UC Sunnydale to start her new life.
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What I’d like to know is, do my ideas make sense and seem plausible. I want to know before writing too many chapters if I’ve made some fundamental errors which would leap off the page at any American kitten reading it.
Also I’d be interested to know how other kittens think Tara should complete her FAFSA. Do people like any of my ideas, and can you think of any other possibilities? Although I may well gloss over it in my writing, I am still intrigued as to how Tara could have accessed the funding she needs.
I would really appreciate any feedback people can give me.
Thanks
~Sez
) positions that can be taken during the summer intervals, or sometimes part-time during the school year, which are meant to provide a sort of "work experience" for the interested student. If the internship was at a big or important company in the student's chosen field (such as a big advertising agency, if one desires to go into this field), the internship is often included on a resume.
There is a reason for the title, but I'm not saying what it is yet!
I just hope that my finished product isn't dire!
....It has given me another idea of how Tara could meet Willow though. I’ve had a few ideas, but none I’m completely happy with. I’m trying to avoid being too close to cannon, although I may borrow a few concepts from there and re-work them to suit my version of events. I want to use my own ideas as much as poss, just eventually using S4 locations & characters to make life a little easier for a first fic! 
there cosmic dancer
so I'd better come off line and try and deal with it!