<p>I place high value on the small successes. Making someone smile is one of those. Yesterday I got a wonderful email telling me that a link I’d sent someone helped her, saved her a lot of time. That made my day! </p>
<p>Wishing you all the very best and lots of “fat envelopes” (acceptances) from favorite schools in the mail over the coming weeks for your kids!</p>
<p>I am an older parent. After paying for 2 kids for college, my hope is they can find a job without feeling they have to go to grad school. I actually encouraged my younger son to pursue the physical therapy assistant program at the local community college. He is very fitness and health oriented, works well with elderly men, and can find tons of jobs in this field. I suggested he pursue this, work, and go on for PT degree or a business degree. At least he would have a practical skill. My son sees my point, but wants to try accounting or actuary science first. If he does not find the right major in college, he said he will consider the physical therapy assistant program.</p>
<p>I know kids who have graduated various programs and can’t find a full time job. This hurts. We want our kids to be independent.</p>
<p>rockvillemom:</p>
<p>I started reading this thread and got so interested in your situation, however, I can’t read all 374 pages of this thread and wondered:</p>
<p>Which colleges did your son end up applying to?</p>
<p>Any acceptances/rejections yet?</p>
<p>Love to hear the punch line!</p>
<p>pamom: There’s more to the story - RVM’s son is a junior now… you can get in on the story line now and will be here for the exciting party (apps in the fall and then the decisions!).</p>
<p>In the meantime, we are sharing all kinds of information here related, mostly, to colleges for Jewish B students.</p>
<p>Welcome!!</p>
<p>Shawbridge, thanks again for your insights, you’ve given us some things to think about.</p>
<p>Mdcissp: I can’t remember if I have already mentioned this but it is important that anyone who is considering a PTA program with hopes of going on to a PT license know that the credits earned in the PTA program will not transfer over to a PT program. I know PTA’s who made the transition and others who wanted to but didn’t have the time or desire to go to school for the additional time moving up would require. It is unfortunate but PTA programs aren’t designed to be stepping stones toward a PT license. A PTA who chooses to become a PT has several years of school ahead of them. The PTA experience could help get a student admitted to a PT program but it is important to know it isn’t as smooth a trainsition from one to the other as might be expected. However, aside from a brief dip in employment opportunities in the 90’s the job opportunities have been plentiful for the past 30+ years.</p>
<p>pamom59 - I’d love to hear the punch line too! Seriously - if I could skip a head a few months and take a peek into the future - would love to do so. But, alas - he is just a junior. He is taking the ACT again next Saturday - trying to beat his September score of 27. Planning to apply to Elon, College of Charleston, James Madison, Towson and Susquehanna. I’d still like to visit a few more schools - like Muhlenberg and maybe University of Richmond, but my son is done. So - that’s a quick summary - and I will keep you posted! :)</p>
<p>Muhlenberg is very popular with Jewish B students from our school in the Philly area. </p>
<p>I happen to have visited Muhlenberg and was very impressed with it, very nurturing environment, small classes, lots of support available for students. Known around here for an excellent theater program so it attracts a contingent of artsy students.</p>
<p>Their information session did indicate that in considering applicants Muhlenberg considers “interest” so that visiting the school would be important if your son decides to apply. Perhaps you could induce him with a visit to nearby Dorney Park? They also have two ED programs, and I believe the majority of students are accepted ED.</p>
<p>I personally liked Muhlenberg a lot although my oldest child who was with me at the time found it too small for her taste. Muhlenberg draws a lot of students from nearby NY/NJ/PA and mostly upper middle class, so there is not a lot diversity.</p>
<p>RVM, I am riding this roller coaster with you for the next year plus, since my son is also a junior. He is currently on a decline academically (at a time when most of his peers are putting in the extra effort and getting better grades). His recent response to my urging him to get with the program is “whatever”. We really won’t know what his final college list is until the end of this year, when we see how his SAT’s and final GPA and class rank shake out.</p>
<p>pamom - my son is not thrilled with small schools in PA - and I think his perception is that Muhlenberg is too artsy for him and he prefers to head south. I happen to think that it is worth a visit - coming from MD would be a plus - plus Jewish life there is very strong - has business and psychology - so it makes sense to me to at least take a day trip and see it - but he has not expressed any enthusiasm whatsoever. He agreed to keep Susquehanna on the list because we had such a great visit, it seems somewhat sports-oriented, has the programs he wants and I think it would be a safety/match for him. </p>
<p>seiclan - that must be frustrating. My son’s grades have been quite consistent - his GPA really has not budged in the past 2 years - very narrow range of fluctuations. Of more interest to me is how he does on the ACT this coming weekend - but really - it won’t change much. If he does not improve - he uses the 27 from September. If he does improve - it makes me feel more relaxed about his chances - but I doubt we will add any more schools to the list. But - we’ll see.</p>
<p>rvm - my daughter also had a 27 her first time around, then she put a lot of hard work into her “strengths” subjects - math and english and scored a 31 the second time around. Her subscores in both of those put her there.</p>
<p>Wow!! I’ll be happy if he gets a 28. He is doing well on the math and science sections - it’s the reading that kills him. But - we are done. He - with my permission - tossed all of the study guides into the recycling bin yesterday. He wanted a ceremonial bonfire - but I vetoed that idea. I have made my peace with this - he has never been a great standardized test taker and it is what it is. I just want to get through Saturday and be done with it.</p>
<p>PAmom, I think your summary is very accurate. I would add that the ratio of girls to boys is very high; the pre-med program is strong and intense; and that it draws more kids from NY and NJ than PA. </p>
<p>I understand your child’s reaction; the campus, although very nice, is very small. </p>
<p>I suspect this harsh Winter will drive many HS seniors to more Southern schools.</p>
<p>gee, Levirim, I thought it would have been גנבֿ (or ganovim)</p>
<p>rvm: I’m pulling for your son. That prep work should pay off. D1 got a 27 her first try, and chalked it up to “bad test taking.” She got a 26 a couple of months later, but hadn’t prepped, just used the “cross your fingers” method.</p>
<p>I was proud of her that she didn’t figure that just was “her” range, and tried again. But she did prep, much as the earlier post described. While I feared she would be disappointed again, she went in there and got a 31, too.</p>
<p>I just hope your son feels proud of himself for working at this. It will serve him in the long run. I can’t wait to hear his score! But I’ll be right there with you if it’s not what he hoped. The good news is that 27 is a very good score for really fine schools. D had a great list with her 27, and only changed it by adding a couple of reaches when she had the 31.</p>
<p>mdcissp’s post about being an older parent and hoping his kids can find work without grad school hit a surprisingly reverberating note within me. Maybe it’s because I’m older too, but I was thrilled that my first D found a good job she liked right out of school and my son seems to be taking internships in large businesses he’d like to go into out of school. I went to law school and always thought my kids would/should go to grad or professional school. But now I read about the surplus of law grads and the numbers from 2nd and 3rd tier schools doing grunt work (if they get jobs at all); MBAs looking for work etc., that I’m beginning to think, let them work for a bit.If a passion hits or need developes for a JD or MBA or PhD, they won’t have college loans so, they can get that other degree with help from employers, loans or their eventual inheritance. That way they’ll know they really want it and are not just marking time.</p>
<p>I also agree strongly with Shawbridge, but might not feel that way about grad school if any of my kids were potential engineers, scientists or mathematicians which I think will be in demand. Any advanced work in those areas would be excellent. Or maybe if along with a field they studied Chinese or Hindi. p.s. I also agree strongly with</p>
<p>It’s good to hear the success stories with the ACT. D did agree to do one timed section per night leading up to the ACT this Saturday. Until this weekend she had never looked at the ACT exam. She did a reading section and scored a 30 on it last night. Hopefully, by practicing a little this week she will have a decent showing on Saturday. She gets her Jan. SAT score back this Thursday. If she gets what she wants on it, then we are done, regardless what happens with the ACT on Saturday. If the SAT isn’t where she wants it to be, then we may work on the ACT. Sounds like just practicing to get the speed up seems the way to go. </p>
<p>I will also be along on the roller coaster ride for the next year.</p>
<p>It’s been said before, but it never gets old: For all SAT-ers trying the ACT - FILL IN EVERY BLANK!!!</p>
<p>Learning how to finish the sections was HUGE in D’s progress, and remembering to fill in all dots when she just had a few seconds left also was HUGE. It sounds horribly un-meaningful in terms of intelligence and education, but that’s how it is with the ACT.</p>
<p>Actually D’s “bad test-taking” was officially attributed (through educational testing) to needing a quick-moving situation to think better. They actually used a computer with slower and faster time limits to show when she lost focus and regained it. I think keeping her pace going with the ACT was a great bonus to her. For this reason, I never suggested that she give SAT a try after the disappointing ACT results. That and a really bad PSAT score. </p>
<p>She did take SAT2s, because 2 schools recommended them, and did terribly on one, OK on the second, and especially well on the one in her biggest strength. So who really knows?</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone! I know the feeling!</p>
<p>Rockvillmom and MDmomfromli -</p>
<p>I wish my son had taken the ACT test more than once. He scored 27 his first time (with very little prep) taking the ACT test but preferred the SAT. He just got tired of taking standardized tests and didn’t want to put any more effort into studying for the ACT. I also thought it was more important for him to spend his extra time studying for his classes. If he had scored higher on the ACT, maybe he wouldn’t be on the waiting list for Fall at UMDCP (who knows?). Fortunately, he still has some good options for colleges and I think it really helped that he had a fairly rigorous high school schedule with a decent weighted GPA of 3.86.</p>
<p>With S2, I am having him take several Mock SAT and ACT tests to really evaluate which test he prefers. He has a higher GPA (4.2) than S1 but he’s not the best standardized test taker. His PSAT scores were not great. But I know, he will take the prep work seriously, I have no doubt that his test scores should be higher. Much harder worker than S1!</p>
<p>Hang in there - junior year is so stressful.</p>
<p>EmmyBet - She now knows to fill in all the blanks! When she took the practice one on Saturday, she didn’t know that. She had just trained herself to leave things blank on the SAT so that she wouldn’t get penalized and now at the end of a section to just fill stuff in seems strange! </p>
<p>So anxious for Thursdays SAT results. </p>
<p>Funny story about filling in/not filling in test bubbles. My D2 is a freshman this year. Our HS has the freshman take the PSAT’s. She had never looked at one, etc. She has been listening to D1 talking to her friends about the SAT, leave things blank if you aren’t certain, etc. So D2 goes into the PSAT exam and if she wasn’t 100% certain she left it blank. Needless to say, a lot of the exam was left blank. Talk about taking instructions to the extreme! LOL!</p>
<p>Another passenger for the roller coaster ride here…</p>
<p>My S is also taking the ACT this Saturday and after 3 weeks of prep has now decided to switch gears and focus on the SAT instead! He is only taking the ACT now as a sort of “lets see how I do” but has decided that the time element just stresses him out too much. He was scoring 31-33 in the reading and English portions on practice tests but the math and science are bringing him down (and stressing him out). I have decided to let him make his own decision about this and hope it works out in the end.</p>
<p>About UMD - as another in-stater I have to say I was shocked last week when decisions came out. I heard of so many qualified students getting Fresh connection or just plain rejected. On the other hand, I also heard about kids with B+ grades and decent test scores who did get fall admittance. It really has become more and more difficult to predict what will happen in the crazy world of college admissions. As of now, my junior S is saying he will apply although he didn’t love it when we toured in the fall. We shall see what happens with those test scores.</p>
<p>Good luck to all the kids taking the ACT this Saturday.</p>