Parents of the HS class of 2010 - Original

[archiemom]

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or will it just put her in the deferred pile to make her parents feel better.

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<p>QM: My son was waitlisted by a top tier university, where he was a double legacy (and my FIL was an alum too). The school is known for an emphasis on legacy relationships, but his stats were only about mid-range and I always figured the waitlist-status was only conferred because of the legacy link. YMMV at other schools.</p>

[Queen_s_Mom]

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But after satisfying the school’s extended curricular requirements, plus taking band (required to audition for All-State Band) and a foreign language all four years, I have space for exactly one full-year elective.

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<p>My D is in a similar position. Unless she drops French 5 (which she really wants to take) , she has absolutely NO room for an elective-and she really wants AP Psych.</p>

[Queen_s_Mom]

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Now, if you and H have contributed, say, the cost of a new building to your alma mater…

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<p>Ha, I haven’t contributed a penny in the last 10 years.</p>

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Some will only offer that advantage if she applies ED though, so I would check on that.

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<p>My alma mater doesn’t have ED, only EA (which D was going to do anyway), but how would you check a particular school? I looked on the website and they say they weigh legacies but that’s all they say.</p>

[jackief]

<p>QM - the common data set should give a first indication on how much weight is put on legacy status. That plus the anecdotal evidence here, and you might try asking in that college’s subforum if one exists.</p>

<p>To those wishing to take AP Psych- if you can’t fit it in, it could always be a popular course to take freshman year in college. If you are trying to get another AP under your belt, the cc wisdom is that it is easy to self study. My D took a summer psych course and then studied the Barron’s prep book and got a 4 on the AP exam last year.</p>

[Queen_s_Mom]

<p>Excellent suggestions, jackief. I will post on the sub-forum (where I never ventured before).</p>

[astromom]

<p>I’ll second jackief’s comment about AP Psych. I’ve heard it’s easy to self-study and the shorter version of David Myer’s Psychology (Exploring Psych) was a great, interesting read and plenty detailed for my D, who studied it in a small homeschooling class. Barron’s seems to be the unanimous choice for the study guide.</p>

[BengalMom]

<p>LIMOM – our schedule is pretty strange compared to most.</p>

<p>Since we only have 5 periods, each is about 65 or 70 minutes, so more information can be covered. Each of our trimesters is equal to a regular semester (supposedly) because the classes are longer. So we basically have 3 semesters a year. We have some APs that are 2 tris, but most are 3. I don’t know how that difference works elsewhere. But it seems that on our 3-tri APs, we must move more slowly than those of you who have an AP for a full year, but for only 45 minutes per day. (?) We have a totally crazy system here, and I can’t wait until S is done with it!</p>

[LIMOMOF2]

<p>BengalMom - I agree - your S’s school’s system is a little strange. Confusing to me, but I guess you’re used to it, or the kids just go with it because that’s how it is. Just curious - for those APs that are only 2 trimesters long, they still have to wait until May to take the exams, right? So it puts them at a slight disadvantage as they may not have been to that class for a few months, and they may have forgotten some of the material.</p>

[ag54]

<p>You know, that’s a good question. My son takes a 1/2 year AP next year (it will either be govt or econ) and I wonder if he has to wait to take the test for the fall class in May.</p>

<p>That would be a disadvantage!</p>

[jackief]

<p>The AP tests are the same day for everyone (two weeks in May.) Some people who are on 1/2 year schedules like the fall APs because they can complete the course before the test. Since many school districts go through June, the AP classes in those districts have to finish the curriculum early and then fill the class with other work.</p>

[ag54]

<p>The way our school does it is you take either econ or govt in the fall and the other in the spring. It never crossed my mind that the fall test wouldn’t be taken until May.</p>

<p>My older son did it though with no problems, I guess I just never thought about it.</p>

[ag54]

<p>Hey y’all, say a prayer for my oldest son! He has his first job interview tomorrow!!!</p>

<p>With the economy the way it is, he’s really worried that he won’t be able to find anything. I hope that isn’t the case, but I’m nervous for him.</p>

[mathmom]

<p>I don’t know of any college that is willing to admit how much preference legacies are given. I haven’t seen anything helpful in a Common Data set. The best estimate I’ve seen is this one from a study of 19 top schools (The 19 institutions include five Ivy League universities—Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale; 10 academically selective liberal arts colleges—Barnard, Bowdoin, Macalester, Middlebury, Oberlin, Pomona, Smith, Swarthmore, Wellesley, and Williams—three of which—Barnard, Smith, and Wellesley—are for women only; and four leading state universities—Penn State, UCLA, the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, and the University of Virginia.) done around 2004: [A</a> Thumb on the Scale | Harvard Magazine](<a href=“http://harvardmagazine.com/2005/05/a-thumb-on-the-scale.html]A”>http://harvardmagazine.com/2005/05/a-thumb-on-the-scale.html)</p>

<p>The relevant bits:

The results for three special groups of applicants—underrepresented minority students, legacies, and recruited athletes—stand in sharp contrast. Members of each of these groups have a decidedly better chance of being admitted, at any specified SAT level, than do their fellow applicants, including those from low-SES categories. The average boost in the odds of admission is about 30 percentage points for a recruited athlete, 28 points for a member of an underrepresented minority group, and 20 points for a legacy. For example, an applicant with an admissions probability of 40 percent based on SAT scores and other variables would have an admissions probability of 70 percent if he or she were a recruited athlete, 68 percent if an underrepresented minority, and 60 percent if a legacy. Applicants who participate in early decision programs also enjoy a definite admissions advantage—about 20 percentage points at the 13 institutions for which we have data.

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Dean Fitzsimmons notes that at Harvard “legacy status is basically used as a tie-breaker between comparable candidates,” and our data confirm that legacy preferences are generally reserved for candidates with strong credentials. When we assign the applicants to the 13 colleges and universities for which we have sufficient data on legacies to three SAT categories, we find that the legacy advantage is much more pronounced in the highest SAT range than elsewhere. The adjusted admissions advantage for legacies with combined SAT scores below 1100 is just over 6 percentile points (and not statistically significant), the advantage for those with SAT scores between 1100 and 1300 is 18 percentile points, and the advantage for those with SAT scores of 1300 and above is 25 percentile points.

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[zoosermom]

<p>Crossing fingers AG54! Best of luck to your young man.</p>

[Youdon_tsay]

<p>Go Gator! :)</p>

[BengalMom]

<p>LIMOM – yes, that will be weird. It’s hard enough to get S to review for tests now, I wonder what it will be like when he hasn’t been to a class for 2 months!<br>
Our 2nd tri ends March 6 this year, so that will be quite a wait. Actually, I hadn’t even thought about that aspect of it since D never had a shorter AP, and S hasn’t had one yet.
This HS was built in 1969 and I think somebody was smokin’ something when they came up with this wacko system. Also, the school is concentric circles (there are NO straight halls), so there is a joke every year about lost sophomores asking for directions and being told to “go to the end of the hall and turn right”.</p>

[Queen_s_Mom]

<p>good luck AG54</p>

[ag54]

<p>Thanks for the good wishes!</p>

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there is a joke every year about lost sophomores asking for directions and being told to “go to the end of the hall and turn right”.

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<p>LOL - Now that is just plain mean! (but funny!)</p>

[BengalMom]

<p>Ag54, Good luck to your S! I will wish for calm nerves for him. And you!</p>

[BengalMom]

<p>Ag54, Good luck to your S! I will wish for calm nerves for him. And you!</p>