<p>^^At some colleges you can get language credit for either high AP OR SAT subject test scores. By the middle of his Jr year, when he is finalizing his SR schedule, and if he has an idea where he might like to apply for college, he should do some research and see what the language credit policies are. Then he can determine if he should take Latin AP[ because the colleges he is interested in recommend 4 yrs of language.]</p>
<p>One last thing-
IF you son wants to be competative at top colleges,[ and it sounds like he could be if his grades are great in HS] then you should know that the number of years many top colleges “recommend” students take Foreign Language, Math, History, English, Science should be taken as meaning “required”, whenever possible. Same with SAT subject tests.</p>
<p>dbwes, thanks, and no worries! Sure, I’d appreciate it if he wanted to shoot for straight As (perfectly possible for him, at least this year, with just a little consistent effort on his part needed) and go off to super-selective school, but that doesn’t seem to be the type of kid he is. The “many paths” message is one I definitely want him to get!</p>
<p>fireflyscout, tall child is not liking the Latin teacher right now. He knows he should take at least one more year of Latin, which would give him three years of one language, but at the moment, he’s thinking that after Latin III, he’ll switch to Russian for junior and senior year.</p>
<p>He had a couple of one-course scholarships to the local state U; he’d have loved to use them for German, but German has been offered in the middle of the school day, so that just didn’t work out.</p>
<p>MPM, thanks! His high school program requires four years of math, history, English, and Science taken there, so even if a kid comes in with, for example, two high school math credits (as my S did), the kid still has to take math all four years.</p>
<p>Language… well, if he goes through Latin III only, schools to which he applies will either like that, or not!</p>
<p>I think you have no worries on the Latin score. I really don’t remember any schools that require a fourth year of language, even if it’s recommended.</p>
<p>He will find the right school. I really think so.</p>
<p>This is an issue for all our kids. A friends kid was heartbroken to be rejected from Harvard, but she is thrilled at Yale. Yes, I know this is not the level we’re talking about (my kids either) but it highlights the point that college admissions are a matching game.</p>
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<p>LOL. Agile out, Google in is the trend now.</p>
<p>Whenever possible, it is better to visit colleges during the school year when kids are there. Try to use spring breaks and long weekends, not summers, for college visits as much as possible.</p>
<p>“there are no circumstances in which anyone should take an SAT II after applying to college”</p>
<p>JHS: The only circumstance would be to take an SAT II in foreign language after admission to try to place out of a foreign language requirement.</p>
<p>Gotta keep track of it someplace, and here’s where I’m doing it…! Avoid at will. :-)</p>
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<p>S did not take an SAT II. His teacher had no experience with kids taking it after taking the Honors Bio course, and S was cool to the idea. I’m cool with his being cool to the idea. :-)</p>
<p>He took the AP Psych test, and did well. </p>
<p>He’s at a college now for CTY, this a new site for him. After his second session, I hope we will go on a little road trip and see at least Ithaca and the colleges there, and perhaps another one or two – stopping points, you know! – along the way. Very casual, very laid back.</p>
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<p>Per suggestions here (thanks!), I will encourage him to take the Latin SAT II test as well next year. His school requires taking the AP test corresponding to an AP course taken, so the AP tests there are school requirements.</p>
<p>He got involved in a couple of ECs this year. Yay for that! He also took guitar first semester and starts private lessons second semester. Yay for that, too!</p>
<p>So that’s it so far.</p>
<p>On the financial side, I’ve projected EFC, gasped then fainted, and when I came to, built my gigantic workbook with multiple spreadsheets. Not that that makes me any better off financially, but at least I know just how little much I might be able to shell out.</p>
<p>I think your plans sound great. (I love plans.)</p>
<p>Thanks, MidwestMom2Kids_! I’m sure when my kid is a little older (he’s 14 now), he’ll take over the responsibility of planning and I’ll just be the credit card lady in the background!!</p>
<p>My son is 14, too, an incoming freshman. I wish we (he) had a plan. We’ll start thinking about this in a year or so. Your son is an incoming sophomore, right? Maybe we can use your plan. :)</p>
<p>Now that I think of it, I guess he does have a plan. He likes Big 10 schools (that are not Michigan) because he likes Big 10 football (as long as it is not Michigan). Maybe he’ll have a three-application plan: Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. Or we could add Michigan State - I just read in another thread that they have good merit scholarships and I know they are good for engineering (which is the direction he is leaning). And he has nothing against the state of Michigan…</p>
<p>But… but… Michigan is such a good school! How can he not possibly like it?!</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>(Yeah, I know about the rivalry between OSU and Michigan!)</p>
<p>Yes, my S is a rising sophomore now. The good thing about the roadmap is that it is, by necessity, flexible. 
If I knew how to get The Spreadsheet (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/496268-measure-my-impending-insanity-pre-college-spreadsheet.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/496268-measure-my-impending-insanity-pre-college-spreadsheet.html</a>) to you, you and I could share our number-crunching and a bottle of bourbon, too! (I may need the whole bottle of sedatives for myself, however, given what I saw of myself this past weekend once I knew AP scores were available.)</p>
<p>I don’t know that my S has any idea at all of where he’d like to go to school, except far away from his parents!!</p>
<p>You are looking good, Owlice. Better than we did, even with kid #3. We were soooo behind.</p>
<p>Agree to take SAT and II’s BEFORE senior year, just in case there is anything he wants to redo. Also he will probably have AP exams to take senior year as well, so no need for II’s spring senior year (since they won’t play a part in admissions and you don’t get any credit for them as you can for AP’s). It is much easier to pair subject tests with AP exams, you are already studying and subject tests do not cover as much material as the AP exams.</p>
<p>Also try not to limit college visits to summer as you will not get great feel for student body. Initial visits should be during school sessions, then you can always do summer when S has an idea about size and location.</p>
<p>Freshman summer is REALLY early, don’t be surprised at the “deer in the headlights” syndrome</p>
<p>exception, for the Math Subject test is take it at end of honors pre calc as there is no calc on that test.</p>
<p>Thanks, cpt! We’ll see how my impending insanity goes…</p>
<p>I have one shot at this. However did you survive doing this three times?!?!</p>
<p>4Giggles, yes, based on what others have posted, S will be strongly encouraged by this parental unit to take the Math II subject test next spring, as he will be taking pre-calc in the coming school year. And also based on what others have posted, S will be strongly encouraged to take the Latin SAT subject test, too, as he will have completed his third year of Latin (and may switch languages after that year).</p>
<p>So next spring is: SAT IIs in Latin and Math II (both dependent on what S decides), and AP Comp Sci and AP US Government (both required by the school). Can’t pair SAT IIs with AP next year, alas.</p>
<p>College visits at this point are just to stretch our legs while travelling, nothing more.</p>
<p>Just to play devil’s advocate a bit. Whether this is a good plan or not depends a ton on your child. Clearly your son is an excellent student and way ahead of the schedule of most top students … congrats on his achievements. But from the outside I do not know if he wants to take all these tests early and visit colleges early or is that your plan? For me, even given his advaced standing, I would not be in any rush to do things early unless he asked to. If he did ask … IMO it’s great plan. If he hasn’t asked … IMO, it’s your plan and not his plan (which is not great).</p>
<p>Owlice, I don’t know that I survived. THat’s why I’m stuck on CC!! Seriously, I wish I’d had some of this to help out, particularly with the second one. This kid around was quite ordinary. No big drama or trauma. The first two just about broke me.</p>
<p>From the mother of a very smart kid who’s following his own drummer:</p>
<p>–Make sure he takes ownership for the plan and decides how to carry it out.
–Then plan for the unexpected.
–Accept that it’s okay for your child to follow his heart and his passion.
–Support his quest for knowledge and meaning even if he takes a route you’ve never traveled.
–Understand that his choices may not be your choices.
–Don’t visit colleges until he’s ready–but ask him to be ready by the middle of his junior year.
–When you do take campus tours, let him walk at the front of the pack while you walk near the back.
–Talk enough about college in general so that HE asks the questions, not you.
–Set financial limits as best you can so there are no surprises later.
–Love his safety as much as HE loves his safety.
–Steer clear of parents and students who blithely pass judgment on others’ college interests and choices.</p>
<p>3togo, no worries! The only test he’s taken “early” has been the SAT in middle school, and he definitely wanted to take it. (Needed to to continue participating in CTY.) </p>
<p>College visits are not to tour them for possible application; colleges are good for stretching legs when traveling, showing them off when the school is significant in some way (H got his master’s at Ithaca College and his doctorate at Cornell) to someone close, or there is some activity that takes us there (usually me as the driver for the latter), such as robotics competitions, a class S is taking, etc. By the time he gets around to really looking at colleges to consider, he’ll already have seen a bunch of colleges, large and small, state U and private. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t expect a 14-year-old to have a plan for college yet. (Not my 14-year-old, anyway.) Heck, he has to pick a major area of study in high school after his sophomore year and he doesn’t know yet what that is going to be!</p>
<p>geezermom, thanks. He’s still a few years away from the “love your safety” stage, etc., yet, but it’s good advice for when the time comes.</p>
<p>cpt, I am glad I found CC when I did, as I’ve learned so so so much here! Books to read, some financial planning stuff to consider, and so on, and some of this should be considered long before the college look-see-application stage. And it looks to me that you’ve survived!! So far, anyway. ;)</p>