<p>CHM: PM me if you have questions re: decision on private school; we went through this with my second daughter during middle school as well…good luck…</p>
<p>Same here as Rodney, CHM. But I will add that if we could do it all over again we would have done it for middle school.</p>
<p>Hi rodney. I have an ED son waiting to hear…nail biting all around.
Congratulations to momjr, holliesue, and emilybee. It’s nice when things start to fall into place.
rvm: you have the patience of a saint and quite a lot of sechel, too.</p>
<p>Well thank you! Much appreciated.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.elon.edu/e-net/Note.aspx?id=949053[/url]”>Elon University / Today at Elon / Elon hosts conversation on growth of campus Jewish life;
<p>Elon hosts conversation on growth of campus Jewish life</p>
<p>Parents, students, community leaders and Elon University administrators gathered Tuesday for a half-day conversation on the future of Jewish culture on campus as the number of Jewish students continues to grow and as the university embarks on a commitment to global engagement and diversity in its newest strategic plan.</p>
<p>Elon University president Leo M. Lambert welcomed parents, students, faculty and community leaders to the “Envisioning the Future of Jewish Life at Elon University II” on Nov. 16.</p>
<p>“Envisioning the Future of Jewish Life at Elon University II” follows a January 2008 gathering of the same name, a meeting nearly three years ago that resulted in the creation of a director of Hillel through the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Elon University President Leo M. Lambert charged the students, parents, alumni and community leaders in attendance with planning for a Hillel House at Elon similar to the Newman Center occupied by Catholic students on South Campus.</p>
<p>I find it very interesting and significant that they held a meeting specifically to discuss Jewish life on campus and that the University President was in attendance.</p>
<p>Jewliciously Yours at Maryland</p>
<p>“Jewlicious is a grassroots campaign at University of Maryland that connects Jews from all different denominations and ideologies to get together and celebrate Judaism. It brings a celebratory dare we say fun approach Judaism to Jewish students who are interested but dont know how to get involved in the Jewish community.”</p>
<p>Just saw first mention of this - sounds very interesting. We can see just from our conversations on this thread how many types of Jewish families there are - different levels of observance - varying opinions about interfaith relationships - and so forth. And as we have commented, programs aimed at Jewish teens and young adults that come on too strong often have the opposite effect - turning them off and pushing them away.</p>
<p>While UMD is not on S2’s list - this program intrigues me and I plan to learn more about it.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the good wishes. We’re still waiting for the ED decision but the other acceptances do take the pressure off. Like C4T said, it’s nailbiting time.</p>
<p>I was discussing applications with one of my daughter’s friends and she said that she had missed the early deadline at one school because she didn’t realize they had an early deadline. I was pretty surprised that her parents didn’t help her by making a list of requirements and deadlines, like we did. It reminded me of our discussion about being the project manager on the application process. There is to much at stake here to leave it all in a teenager’s hands.</p>
<p>momjr - agree completely - a spreadsheet with requirements and deadlines is key - particularly since many colleges change from one year to the next - I would never rely on Fiske or PR for that type of info since it can be out of date so quickly. Naviance is generally a good resource if you have it - but I really prefer to go to each college’s website to check deadlines. For example, American University has a new test optional program this year with a November 1 deadline - which is not reflected on Naviance. There is a lot to keep track of - I’m happy to wear the project manager hat when the time comes.</p>
<p>American - test optional? We might put American back on list. I wonder how test-optional will play into merit money.</p>
<p>At any school that is test optional, you typically have to have supplied scores to be considered for merit money.</p>
<p>cherryhill - the program was a test pilot this year - I have no idea what they will be offering next year - that’s why it is so important to check the website. For AU - the ED deadline this year was 11/15 - but if you were going ED and test-optional - then it was 11/1. They also opened the test optional program up to RD students - but again - you had to apply by 11/1 rather than the regular RD deadline. I have no idea how being test optional at AU would impact FA or merit money - worth a call if you are interested.</p>
<p>^^to expand re: American and test optional…</p>
<p>year 1: 2010 entering class: test optional introduced for ONLY ED students</p>
<p>year 2: expanded to all applicants IF and only if, completed application was in by November 1st (this is what RM was referring to)…</p>
<p>who knows what will happen in year 3…I actually didn’t realize that the deadline for the “test optional” was different than ED…that is just stupid and unnecessary in my opinion…rant over</p>
<p>Good news tonight! S2’s precalc grade is up from a 63 to a 73! Yay! Never thought I would be so happy to see a C! They are allowed to retake one quiz per quarter - so he met with the teacher - went over the material - and retook the quiz that he had failed - bringing that one up to a C - plus another C on a quiz earlier this week - so I’m really pleased at the progress. He is going to continue meeting with the teacher for help at least once a week - he seems to “get” it more thoroughly meeting with her individually than in class.</p>
<p>In an interesting twist - he also tutors middle school kids once a week…in math! Yes, we see the irony. But his opinion is that algebra 1 makes sense - precalc - not so much.</p>
<p>I’m also very proud of myself - no freaking out - no yelling - I remained completely calm - did not e-mail the teacher - just trusted him to work it out. I think a new level of high school detente has been reached.</p>
<p>Well done!</p>
<p>RVM - I know how you feel on both levels (that he took the initiative finally on his own and improved his grade and that a C is comparatively easier on the eyes than a D). My son got caught up in other work last weekend (Sunday night…again) and did not study for his ap Spanish test and got a 60 on it. As soon as I saw this grade online I was mentally recalibrating his college list! I know everyone, my college OCD. I really am working on trying to not follow his highs and lows too closely and focus on the bigger picture but, alas, I too am a work in progress. </p>
<p>On a positive note, last night DS was inducted into the Science National Honor Society.</p>
<p>RVM: I’m glad thinks are looking up. It sounds like your son is very motivated and is handling things well. Congratulations on using restraint. It’s hard to pull back and let kids handle things themselves.</p>
<p>Pre-calc is a killer class at our HS also. My daughter started it last year, struggled, and dropped it for an easier math class. She was worried about taking it this year, but her top school required it. Luckily, she has a different teacher, and she’s doing very well. It’s been a nice surprise.</p>
<p>For those of you with juniors, I know that this is a very stressful year. There’s so much pressure on the kids to get good grades, ace the standardized tests, learn to drive, etc. Not to mention the usual teen drama and moodiness. Hang in there!</p>
<p>good morning all…my daughter strolled in at 3:00am after the midnight showing of HP #7 and was wide-eyed and bushy tailed at 6:30 this morning…said it was great!!!</p>
<p>re: Pre-calc, RVM’s son: I have a strange feeling that separated at birth has taken on a whole new meaning…grade in pre-calc has definitely improved (relatively) with the weekly visit to the teacher; we have deferred decision to “stay or go” until January…since this is the second math on the schedule…</p>
<p>I don’t remember this course when we were in high school; I grew up in NY when we took Geometry in 10th, Trig in 11th and Calc in 12th…when did this Pre-calc show up? or is it just a break out of what used to be calc? no idea…but it is a “bear”…even for my strong mathy older daughter…it was her lowest math grade in HS also…</p>
<p>Next few weeks are gonna be a bit stressful for her and her friends (lots of ED’s)…they are already dreaming about the emails/phone calls…</p>
<p>Congrats to seiclan for your S’s Science recognition!</p>
<p>And to RVM for remaining calm…actually same thing is happening to me. My S1 received A’s all throughout h.s. and top honors.</p>
<p>My S2 just came home with his first h.s. report card as a freshman and he had A’s, B’s and one C in honors Bio. (He actually has a friend who received a D in regular Bio, not honors :eek:) I’m finally realizing every child is different and need to concentrate on what makes this child tick, differently than his older brother.</p>
<p>Now my question would be, does anyone take their kids out of honors at some point, for instance, honors Algebra and Geometry and put them into regular pre-calc? How would that look on transcripts, not too good? Or now that they are used to doing higher level work, keep them in the honors track?</p>
<p>My son also has an uneven track record in math. Freshman year he took algebra II and got a B or maybe a B+, His honors geometry was a wreck in sophomore year with grades ranging from A’s to F’s for tests and he ended up with a C for the year. That meant that he couldn’t take pre-calc Junior year so he took College Algebra which was a Dual Credit class with the local CC. He did very well and ended up with an A. He’s now doing honors Calculus and has an A. He says that he “gets” this kind of math. Or maybe it’s just the teacher. Our school has pre-rec’s for most core classes so there is not usually too much of a decision to make, assuming you go for the hardest class you qualify for.</p>
<p>chocchip: there are so many factors inherent in your question that I don’t think there is a “pat” answer…</p>
<p>1) what kind of schools does the student aspire to? if top 20, they want to see the honors designation</p>
<p>2) depends on your HS; is the precalc honors teacher the cream of the crop in the math dept? is the reg teacher eh? that holds for every class, actually</p>
<p>3) what does your child want to take the following year? most schools will NOT allow a student to take AP calc AB or BC without the previous year in honors pre-calc…and some schools don’t even have reg or honors calc as a substitute…</p>
<p>4) in ref to #3 above, what does your child think they might want to major in in college? also in ref to #1</p>
<p>5) you mention a jump from alg and geo to precalc…is there no alg II in your hs?</p>