Terriamn, I use the "resize and skew" button in MS Paint to shrink photos. I right click on the large photo, "open with Paint", then take a guess as to what percentage to shrink the photo. If it's a large one, say 3 MB, I'll change the percentage from 100 percent to 15 percent of the original and the result will often be a good size to work with. If it's a 600 kb photo, I'll shrink it by changing the percentage to say 30 percent, and it will usually be a good size. Then I save it and it will replace the large photo with the smaller one. It's a bit of trial and error at first but I'm shooting for under 200 kb. I can also change by number of pixels but I keep it simple with the percentage button. Hope that helps. There are lots of free programs online that will work much the same way if you don't have Paint. Just do a search and you'll find one.
WMUTeach, it's uncomfortable when plans aren't known in advance, at least for me it is. Hope your daughter makes her decision soon so you can make your plans.