<p>Socaldad – I know you said you didn’t have any more time to visit Ohio schools…but…at least take a “virtual” look @ University of Cincinnati. Active Jewish population, D1 Nationally ranked sports teams and Greek (if you want it). </p>
<p>It is a lovely campus – but is urban. Also, not sure about their LD support.</p>
<p>@SoCaldad-Two things:<br>
<ol>
<li> SAT, as you probably know, tests reasoning ability while ACT tests specific knowledge of a subject. Many SAT tutors do not tutor ACT since they are two different methods of preparation. As I understand it, ACT is designed for you to run out of time and there is no penalty for wrong answers. So one strategy is to go thru the exam, answer all the ones you immediately know, so that when you run out of time you can go back and bubble in the ones that you didn’t know and you won’t get penalized. I think for some the ACT is easier to study for, and since most schools these days superscore, you can focus on your lowest score. I’m not sure if you are in SoCal, but if you are and want to get some names for ACT tutors PM me. I’m in South Orange County.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, my B student has narrowed it down to University of Puget Sound and Chapman. If I were going to bet, I’d say it will be Chapman. It has always been his number one choice, and we didn’t think he would get in, but he did (with no $$-Boo). He is going to their admitted students day on the 10th, and then back up to UPS on the 15th. From a Jewish perspective, this was new news related to Chapman that you all will surely appreciate:</p>
<p>Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Holocaust survivor and author of more than 50 books, has accepted an appointment as a Distinguished Presidential Fellow at Chapman University.</p>
<p>According to a statement released by the private university, Wiesel will spend spring semesters at Chapman through 2015. He will retain his faculty position at Boston University as well.</p>
<p>During his Chapman fellowship, he will meet with undergraduates in Holocaust history courses and possibly other disciplines, including history, French, religious studies and literature. </p>
<p>“On my two visits to Chapman University, I was profoundly impressed by the quality of the students and faculty, in particular Dr. Marilyn Harran, and by the way in which the university is teaching and remembering some of the most tragic events in human history, events that have had such a deep influence upon my life,” Wiesel says in the Chapman statement. “For these reasons, I have made the decision to return to Chapman annually as Distinguished Presidential Fellow.” </p>
<p>Harran, the Stern Chair in Holocaust Education, a professor of Religious Studies and History and director of Chapman’s Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, says in the release, "Professor Wiesel has been the face and voice of Holocaust memory and witness to the world, and an ambassador of humanity and hope for decades. He has consistently challenged us to learn from the Holocaust and to reject indifference, and–in his words–‘to think higher and feel deeper.’ We are unbelievably fortunate that he has chosen to return to Chapman and to share with us his knowledge and wisdom.</p>
<p>“I am stunned and deeply grateful that he will be with us in this new role as Distinguished Presidential Fellow,” she continued. “I know our university community will be profoundly enriched and inspired by his presence.” </p>
<p>According to the university, Wiesel first visited Chapman in April 2005, when he took part in dedication ceremonies for the university’s Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library. During that visit, which also marked the 60th anniversary of his liberation from the Buchenwald concentration camp, the university presented him with an honorary doctorate in humane letters, and unveiled a large bronze bust of Wiesel near the entrance of the Holocaust Memorial Library.</p>
<p>He visited Chapman again this past April to be guest of honor at the university’s gala “Our Promise to Remember: An Evening of Humanity and Hope,” which marked the 10th anniversary of the Rodgers Center and the Stern Chair. </p>
<p>During his Orange swing, Wiesel spoke to Chapman students and to middle and high school students who submitted winning entries in the annual Holocaust Art and Writing Contest sponsored by Chapman and The “1939” Club, a Holocaust survivor organization, according to the university.</p>
<p>“emilybee: I need to find a tutor like that for DS. Sounds great.”</p>
<p>Liny, I called a few friends with older kids and got recommendations from them. One was a retired English teacher who only took kids if referred from another parent whose kid she tutored and the math tutor is a teacher at the high school in my district.</p>
<p>He took an SAT prep class at one of the private schools summer going into his junior year and it was a total waste, imo. The only good thing about it was he had someplace he had to be every morning for three weeks instead of sleeping.</p>
<p>Emilybee:</p>
<p>Congrats to your S too on all his acceptances! What major is he choosing?</p>
<p>This is an example of how certain things work for some people, but not for others. My S1 took the SAT prep class through Princeton Review the Fall of his junior year. It met once a week on a Sunday for @3 hours each time. His first day he took a practice test and scored @1800 with no prior prep. Then he took class from @Thanksgiving to March and sat for the March exam. His SAT score went from the initial 1800 to 2200 with the class.</p>
<p>I will sign S2 up for the class in the Fall of his junior year too. But knowing that they are different children with different learning styles, I will also look out for an ACT prep class or tutor as well.</p>
<p>So as I understand it then…the SAT is more common sense driven and the ACT is more practical, school subject based? Which one do you answer all questions and which one do you get penalized for answering? Aren’t there three sets of scoring? Right, wrong and guessing? Can someone shed the light on the difference of the tests (and their scoring) once and for all? Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Oops, 2flipper2:</p>
<p>I meant to say how interesting that info. was re: Elie Weisel. Good luck to your S on his choices.</p>
<p>chocchip - the SAT is more reasoning based - which means the questions are more open-ended and can be confusing. You often have to draw conclusions and make inferences. You are penalized for guessing in that wrong answer are subtracted at the rate of 1/4 point each.</p>
<p>The ACT is more content-based - what you have learned in hs - knowledge regurgitation. The answers to a reading question can be found in the passage. There are no penalties for wrong answers - so you always guess - bubble in every question - even when you run out of time at the end. However, the timing is tighter on the ACT as far as the number of questions you have to answer per minute.</p>
<p>IMO - you can prep for the ACT more easily than the SAT. There are only so many types of science graphs and table they will show you - once you are familiar with them - it will be easier to do that section. You need some basic precalc/trig for about 4-5 questions on the math section.</p>
<p>Both of my boys did better on the ACT. I know that I am generalizing - but a kid who is a “deep thinker” might do better on the SAT. The rest - try the ACT.</p>
<p>Choccie, likely econ and/or pol sci.</p>
<p>Sorry, did I miss the memo that it’s ok to bash Orthodox Jews on a thread devoted to Jewish college students?</p>
<p>blossom - I did not in any way take socaldad’s comment as “bashing”. I think he was just saying that he heard that the Towson Jewish population included a lot of Orthodox Jews and was wondering if that was true. A kid from a Reform Jewish background in California might not have a lot in common with Orthodox Jewish kids from Baltimore.</p>
<p>I think he was just trying to clarify the composition of the large Jewish community at Towson. While there is a large Orthodox population in the Baltimore area - my guess is that those who attend Towson live at home and commute. It would be very difficult to observe strict rules regarding the Sabbath, for example, in a dorm. My guess is that most of the students who participate in Hillel are from Reform or Conservative backgrounds.</p>
<p>Here is a sample of Towson Hillel info:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>RVM- if what you say is true and most of these kids commute- than the concern about the large Orthodox population is even more nonsensical. Clearly no kid raised Reform in California will have to worry about having a shabbat meal with a kid who isn’t even on campus.</p>
<p>There are Orthodox students at lots of different colleges- I wasn’t aware that having a large number of them meant that other Jewish students would need to avoid those schools. Other than Yeshiva University where the undergraduate schools are not secular (unlike their grad programs) I can’t see why this is a relevant criterion.</p>
<p>blossom,</p>
<p>My sister-in-law is an extreme observant orthodox. My d was raised being around all of her traditions. She has experienced sitting apart from her brother and dad in shul, she understands who she can touch and not touch. She is well aware of the differences. There was no bashing. It was a question. I was seeking a clarification. I asked the question because a 17 year old was repeating rumors she heard.<br>
Thank you.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your explanation, RVM!</p>
<p>Then the tests that they take in Sophomore year, the psat and plan test are the ones that should indicate the student’s preference for one or the other? I know this is all common sense, but my S1 has always done so many things on his own, I want to understand it for myself for S2’s turn. Thank you so much for helping me to differentiate between the two! :)</p>
<p>Blossom:</p>
<p>RVM is trying to be all things to all people. Try not to take things that an poster said so seriously. Again, the word “fit” means different things to different people. Just leave it at that, okay?</p>
<p>one more thing…
My d is aware of the large orthodox population in Baltimore. Her aunt lived there for a few years. My d remembers vividly how she moved there for an arranged marriage to a man she never met. It was a difficult time for my sister in law, her children, and the entire family. It did not go well. Finally ended when the elders finally acknowledged the spousal abuse she was suffering. It was very unsettling. My children have not always observed the best of the extreme orthodox movement. </p>
<p>I am ok that she asked the question. I hope you now understand where the question came from. RVM was correct. We live among a large liberal reform community. My d wants to go to school where she will find many like minded kids. </p>
<p>With that, Shabbat Shalom.</p>
<p>2boys…</p>
<p>We will try to spend a couple of hours driving thru U. Cinn. Thanks for the idea. </p>
<p>ACT research is under way. Calls out to College counsellor and tutors. </p>
<p>With all the URI suggestions, In to that as well. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Socaldad, when my very dyslexic D first took the SATs and scored under 500, it was all I could think about. For months, I read the colleges books and grimaced at those SAT medians that looked like SAT mountains. My husband thought I was over obsessing on this one aspect of the process. </p>
<p>Well, he was right. Tutoring and lots of practice led to scores a fair bit higher, and she wound up getting into a nice list of small LACs that are just right for her. Two of them have SAT medians 100 points higher than her scores–and this is a kid with no real special hooks they were after…</p>
<p>My lesson learned? Just get the SATs, or ACT into what I think of as a range that won’t scare off the buyers. Just a little higher. Then help your kid pick well. Mine will be spending spring break visiting her two favorites, feeling like the academic queen of the ball. LD kids don’t get to feel that way too often. I’m savoring this.</p>
<p>Acsinga: Congratulations to your daughter! I’m glad to hear that she has some great choices.</p>
<p>chocchip - yes - the PSAT and the PLAN will give you a great sense of which test will be better. For my younger son - it was very clear once I had both results that he did far better on the PLAN and would thus be an ACT kid. Took the ACT twice and we are done. He has never taken a SAT.</p>
<p>AscinGa - I love your philosophy of just getting the test scores into a range that won’t “scare off the buyers”. Very sensible approach.</p>
<p>My D2 is another student who did better on the ACT. She took a Kaplan SAT prep course, and had somewhat lopsided SAT scores when she took the test - 1 each in the 700’s, 600’s and 500’s. She then took the ACT because a few of her schools would accept an ACT score in place of the SAT. We couldn’t find a convenient ACT course so she prepped on her own and even though her ACT scores were still lopsided, they were better across the board. By June she had an ACT score that was around the 75% or above for the schools on her list, so she was finished with testing. </p>
<p>My D1 had strong SAT scores and took the ACT once with minimal prep. She scored about the same on both tests.</p>
<p>RVM gives a good description of the differences between the two tests. I think that the ACT is great for kids like my D2 who are strong readers and quick workers. I think that she missed some of the trickly nuances on the SAT. Careful, thoughtful kids might do better on the SAT. I like the suggestion to try a practice test in one section to compare the two.</p>
<p>Thanks, Momjr and Rockville Mom. Here’s one of the things I found so interesting about this process: I was afraid that my D would feel inferior to all her 4.0 friends aiming for the Ivys and top LACs. Yet, in the end, they received far more rejection than she did, and her self-esteem wasn’t hurt a bit. I wish there was a crystal ball to tell us what we should be worried about, but I guess life doesn’t work that way. Instead, the eight-year-old who couldn’t read has turned into the eighteen-year-old who wants to study political theory and philosophy. (You know, in between PEOPLE magazine readings and episodes of Desparate Housewives…)</p>
<p>We’re still in NC on our Elon trip and not yet ready to post, but I did want to chime in for socaldad. I’m another whose child did better on ACT even without express tutoring for it. Just let your D try, it can’t hurt.</p>
<p>I have a friend whose son with grades similar to your D’s and Aspergers at Hartford, so it’s a viable choice. And URI too is a school within reach, look at booth.</p>
<p>RVM, I’m surprised at the Naviance stats you posted a few pages back for MU Ohio! As you may recall my D and I both enjoyed the visit there and if Elon should fall out of the final running, the choice will be between MU Ohio and UDel. Your stats though, give me pause.</p>