Parents of the HS Class of 2013/College Class of 2017

[Kelowna]

Midterms here already! Can't believe that time is going so fast!
So far no major problems grade wise. DS had to re-take a couple of quizes for which he "forgot" to study but is generally happy and learning quickly how to best approach each individual teacher. Homework - I expected much more. He utilizes his time on the bus quite well and does not have to stay up way, way late (well, he had to one time ).

I (alone) went to the college presentation the other week. It was Exploring College Options with Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn and Stanford. It was very well attended, the room was packed. Majority of kids were seniors, which I found odd. I thought that those events are frequented mostly by juniors, to do it in the fall of your senior year seems a little late, but maybe it is just me Another shocking thing happened when Georgetown representative asked how many of the kids present there already had their letters of recommendation ? - NONE!
What I have carried with me from the event is the notion that we hear frequently on CC - courseload and grades/GPA are the most important factors in the college admission process. I think that I will drag my S to one of those presentations in the future just so he can hear this! Looking long term is alomost an impossible task for an adolescent...

[reeinaz]

Wow midterms already. My kid hasn't even received his school ID yet. His school is also having a meeting with the seniors to discuss the college application process. I also thought it odd, like it should have been done in the spring for the juniors. But then I have to remember that CC isn't like most places. I guess it makes sense if you consider that most kids are probably taking their first SAT in the October sitting or trying to retake it to boost their scores. I have been getting on my son to read read read in hopes of improving his vocabulary. I keep threatening him with the 1000 words every high school student should know book as the alternative. He's a big horror fan so I got him an H.P. Lovecraft anthology. I also got him the novelized version of the 30 Days of Night graphic novel series. We'll see how that goes.

[RobD]

We have parent teacher conferences on Tuesday. Progress reports came home last week. So far so good. I think my freshman has adjusted pretty well. Her major annoyance is that all of her friends who are in band are unavailable for any social activities until November. She told them all that they have to quit

My oldest is a senior & quite a few of her friends are still trying to figure out where to apply. The local college fair (with 150+ schools) is this coming Thursday and I can't imagine waiting until Senior year to attend. I'll give my Freshman a pass though

They recommended that some freshman take the PSAT this year as practice (she's in a pre-IB English class) and they keep trotting out the fact that they have 4 NMSF's this year...one of which is her sister; apparently this has led to a few amusing conversations with some of her teachers. Nothing like sibling pressure.

[QwertyKey]

Kelowna, your Freshman is in Calc BC!?! I thought it was hard as a senior. How is he doing in it?

[Kelowna]

^^so far no problems, althought he did mention that the teacher is just cruising forward and at such a speed they will be done by Christmas His heaviest workload comes from Honors English (pre-IB) but even that is not overwhelming.
We also had P/T conferences last week and it is nice now to be able to picture the face of the teacher whenever we are discussing subjects/school work.
PSAT for practice in 3 weeks. This school produces A LOT of NMSF, I think 18 or 19 for 2008. He wants to do the PSAT and will go in absolutely cold. He does have some practice taking SAT (talent search), so this should be a nicer, shorter version of the latter. Will see.

As for being advanced enought to take BC as a freshman - it is not unheard of at this school. There is actually a freshman there who took BC in 8th grade. Is now taking math the the local flagship. Logistically it becomes a nightmare, I can already see that.
We will see how it goes, but graduating in 3 years is something that we have talked about. There is again conversations about boarding schools at our dinner table - something that son would not even discuss last year but this year is considering.

[historymom]

Oh heavens people I am so NOT ready to begin again. DDs are Rachacha' D1's age and also college freshmen. They are twins and launching two over the last year left me drained. DS is in the high school class of 13

My only advice (not that anyone has asked me) at this point is please please don't pressure your frosh...allow them to enjoy the relative peace of freshman and sophomore years. Guide course selection as "most rigorous course load" is extremely important to many schools, encourage ECs that your child is drawn to and enjoys. Encourage academics freshman year counts but recognize that many schools look at an upward trend very positively and straight As are not required to get in to the vast majority of American Universities and LACs. There are even kids at the top 20s who don't have perfect GPAs.

Feel free to research schools...It's fun but don't bring your child into the process so much unless they want to be. Follow their lead. And if they aren't leading anywhere for a couple of years so be it but you certainly can and should educate yourself on campuses, processes, and the timing of standardized tests.

That said, I took my girls on their first tours the summer between sophomore and Jr. years. We live in a rural area bereft of many options and I wanted to start to show them what was out there.

[Youdon'tsay]

I worry that this one will be so stressed out by college. He's competitive and wants to be the best. He sees what we're going through with ds1 right now and he told me, "Mom, we're making horrible memories!" I laughed so hard. You'd just have to know this kid. He was joking.

[Rachacha]

I definitely agree with historymom about seeing what they are drawn to - at first I was disappointed that D2 wanted to give up band in favor of an Intro to Business class, but after a few weeks I really see that entrepreneurial spirit coming out in her and how much she is enjoying the class (most students in the class only take it for the field trip to NYC). Other classes are OK so far - I am trying to encourage her to do well in Global since only the top students are invited to take AP European History next year (the earliest AP offered in our school) and I think she can handle the challenge.

D2 is also lucky that she gets to experience different colleges early since they host hockey tournaments at their rinks. She was at Kent State this past weekend and will be at Cornell/Ithaca in a few weeks so she will see what the largest schools are like. That was our first step with D1 to see what size of school she wanted and whether she would prefer a university versus an LAC (she chose the latter)

[mamabear1234]

My D is finding out how hard it is to have practice until 5:30, games twice a week, and get all her work done. Her social studies teacher assigns a lot of reading and essays, as well as longer term projects to manage. This is the same teacher she would have for AP Euro next year, so she can get an idea of her teaching style (many don't like it). All the other classes have more manageable workloads. I can't wait until field hockey season is over! Then we get a break until the spring sport starts up.

[Kelowna]

We are getting up at 5:30 A.M. every day so he can be on the bus at 6:20. One day a week there is a violin lesson at 6:00 A.M. so we have to be up at 5:00
DS is not complaining, it is me who has problems. It is a challenge to go to bed early enough to be ready to get up at such a wee hour.
Clubwise he is exploring, trying out different things. So far Robotics and Debate look good, but wants also to try Mock Trial and Crew (this hopefully not till spring!). Would do cross country but we are so far away from this school and I think they practice in the mornings.
I asked him about Honors Society (really enjoyed it in middle school) but got a blank stare and a "No" . Is Honors Society an important EC?
He is not doing any music at the school, despite playing two instruments. Bad idea?

[mnmom62]

Hello all!

New to CC and just starting to look around and read. D is in a pre-IB program taking AlgebraII. She is in her 9th year of Spanish, having come from a Spanish full immersion elementary and partial immersion MS. After a few weeks of class and lots of talk with upper classman, she's wondering if she's made a terrible mistake with the pre-IB track.

Insights are welcome, from anyone that has btdt.

She dances 18 hours a week and is a company member in a small youth ballet along with doing competitive dance in other styles. She's joined the debate team and has her first novice debate this Saturday, which she is really excited about.

She would love to dance professionally but knows it's not likely but thinks she'd like to try to do some sort of double major that includes dance or musical theatre and keeps coming back to Law.

Soooo... are there any SAT Subject tests we should try to get out of the way this year?

Her other classes are pre-IB Geography, pre-IB English and pre-IB Physical Science.

[Youdon'tsay]

Math I subject test comes after Alg II. Ds will be taking it this year.

[Kelowna]

What will she take in math next year? If it is pre-calc, she should wait and do Math II after pre-calc.
Most schools that require subject test require two, but some do require three.

Is she taking a full year of Geography? If yes, inquire if kids at the school are succesful with AP Human Geography after the pre-IB Geography course.
What is the progression in social studies? What kind of a history class will she take next year?
My kid is also pre-IB, so welcome to the club!

[PaperChaserPop]

Some familiar names. Yes, I have another son in high school. I can't believe how fast time goes by. Wasn't it just yesterday when I changed his diaper? I hope to enjoy this ride for the next four years.

I envy how some schools allow accelerated placement. Our hs doesn't. Even our state mathcount champ can only take the freshman level math, albeit at the highest level available.

[mnmom62]

Thanks Youdon'tsay - I'll look into the Math I test.

Here's the course description and yes it is a year long:

This class applies a topical approach to the study of the world. Topics explored include population, economics, settlements, urbanization, migration, transport, energy use, climate, landforms, environmental hazards, and environmental loss. Students will also learn to analyze cultures using a variety of approaches.

It's considered to be an Honors, MYP and Pre-IB course. I have a call into the counselor, so I'll ask about whether anyone has attempted the AP test when she returns my call.

Sophomores take a year of World History identified the same as above (H/MYP/Pre-IB), juniors take History of the Americas (HL) and seniors take 20th Century Topics (SL). Looking through the course guide, it looks like there are a couple other courses tagged IB that are only one semester... but are SL as well.

I think this is where she's starting to wonder if she's gone a bit off track in selecting IB, since many schools aren't really giving much credit for anything outside of HL courses, and some have a qualification that they get a 7 on the tests. She knows it's an outstanding program to round her out as a person, but she's starting to wonder if there isn't a better path through AP courses and dual enrollment.

eta: I forgot the math part. Her path as it stands right now is Pre-Calc next year, then AP Calc AB and as a senior the capstone IB Methods HL course. Math is her weakness, ironically, she just wants to "get it over with" as much as she can in High School.