Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment type into DYS application?

I called and spoke with them before I sent my app off and they said it was fine to type the Discussion Questions responses into a word document and print them off. I copied and pasted the questions, typed my answers and stapled my printed pages to the original app sheets with a note to see attached pages for responses. The rest of the app, I wrote the information. My handwriting is atrocious even with concerted effort, so typing was better than them thinking that I'd allowed my 3yo write the answers, lol.

Though, we're still waiting, so no idea of it was a good strategy or not <impatiently drums fingers on table>.

I learned about a little program called Bluebeam Revu in a totally unrelated thread at this site about three weeks ago.

I've evaluated PDF software for a number of years and am not certain how I missed this little jewel. It is, without a doubt, the best PDF editor software available. You simply open your PDF and use the Typewriter tool or Text Box tool (the latter provides auto word wrap) and away you go. It also has a dozen or more other very useful tools and plenty of additional features.

You can download from www.Bluebeam.com and get a free 30-day evaluation of the full software (not crippled in any way).

AND THEN... when you are ready to buy it, visit a site like www.academicsuperstore.com and you can easily qualify for the student discount as a parent of a K-12 student, paying less than $60 vs. the $199 retail price.

I was surprised to find that the DYS app was not a Fill-In-Form, but with BlueBeam Revu, it didn't matter.

In my opinion, there is simply nothing better for editing an existing PDF, or creating one of your own.

Dandy
(Absolutely no affiliation with BlueBeam.com or AcademicSuperstore.com -- just a very satisfied customer of both.)

You can't edit or open pdf's, but OpenOffice Writer (freeware) can convert other formats to pdf.

http://www.openoffice.org/

A Q&D, if potentially tedious, method would be to use Word with the rulers enabled. Then just measure the areas of the form pages where you want your text and use the rulers to put your text where it needs to be on the Word pages. Superimpose your printout and the DYS form to check for alignment and when you've got it the way you want it, print your Word pages onto the already printed DYS pages. This might be too cumbersome for Page 1, but it should get you through the essay questions.

Using the full version of Acrobat might be equally cumbersome, as the line spacings won't necessarily align.

Just don't use Comic Sans.

Many thanks to everybody.
I am forwarding these responses to my hubby, as he is the more computer savvy individual in our house (not for long, DS is coming in pretty strong...

Thanks for this discussion. I have word processed all but one question. The regular fill in the blank stuff is filled in by hand.

I think I am going to follow the advice of just printing the 8 questions, making sure the name and "page x/9" on the top. Then stapling those in their appropriate place.