<p>I am curious…what constitutes “pass” for an AP exam? I ask because there was an article in our paper recently about local schools & AP exams which kept referring to a “pass rate” and we all know the exams are not Pass/Fail. </p>
<p>So is it generally accepted that a score of 3 is passing? Some colleges give credit for 3, others for 4 or 5.</p>
<p>FindAPlace–a passing rate of 15% in AP Chem means what?</p>
<p>I don’t know the statistics for every class at our HS, but I do know something like 95% of the kids in AP Calc get a 4 or 5. I would bet the same for the US & Euro History courses. Those teachers really prepare the kids and of course the kids know ahead of time it will be a lot of work.</p>
<p>FindAPlace - I’m so sorry about what’s going on with the APs at your son’s school. That’s so sad! Good luck figuring something out for next year. </p>
<p>How’d your S do on his road test? </p>
<p>zoosermom - well, you never know - your D might fall in love with one of those schools - then she’ll have to decide whether she can deal with the distance. My D’s geographic limits extend from Virginia to New Hampshire along the east coast. </p>
<p>mommusic - my D is the same way. Yesterday she got mail from schools that she’s considering, and she didn’t even look at any of it.</p>
<p>That info is a closely guarded secret at our school, but I have data from 2006. It’s interesting to look at. I think the school feels like parents will use the data as a referendum on the teacher, and I suppose there could be a correlation drawn in some instances, but the number of tests taken in a certain subject tells a bigger story to me. For instance, 38 people took the BC Cal exam that year, and every single one got a 5. Now, certainly there is some great teaching going on there, but kids who are willing to even take BC Cal self-select to be in that class and then attempt the test. Whereas the pass rate for APUSH is much lower, but that’s because everyone has to take it to fulfill their junior year requirement (or take it at the local cc) and so a “less-select” group of kids is taking the test (about 150 that year). </p>
<p>Anyway, in 2006 there was about a 68% pass rate, but I know last year it was up to 77%. I’m told that’s really good, but I have no idea whether that’s true.</p>
<p>So, when I finally checked the mail, ds did get tons, though not 30 pieces. All the schools were “name” schools on the East Coast and Midwest that he wasn’t at all interested in. BUT, what can people tell me about Kenyon? Whenever I start to look at LACs in other parts of the country it’s like they are all in the middle of conrnfields.</p>
<p>I ask because I have a friend who is using a college counselor and was told her ds was aiming too low. Because my ds is ranked higher than her son, she also thinks we should be looking at more selective schools, but I can’t find any I think he’d like. I read the visit reports on Kenyon, and several kids said “It’s gorgeous, I love it but can’t see myself here for four years.” Grinell seems to be in the middle of nowhere, too. (no offense to any Grinellians). Carleton will be too cold. Anyone have any ideas? It would have to be really special to get him to look out of the five-state area (Texas-Colo-Ark-La-OK). Pomona is the one place that intrigues him.</p>
<p>11 love letters from colleges yesterday. Most we had never heard of and, when I looked them up, their mid-range scores are lower than we’re aiming. Now I’m nervous that Son is aiming too high. </p>
<p>OTOH, he took a full-length practice SAT yesterday. Without realizing it, he took an “unadministered test.” That means he didn’t get a real score, just a “score range” that came in 1780 - 2040.</p>
<p>Ugh. What a range. At the bottom he couldn’t get into Maryland. At the top, his reaches are OK. He has 2 more full-length practices planned before March 14. For my own sanity I’ll have to make sure they’re “pre-administered.” I can’t deal with ranges. ;)</p>
<p>OK, our mailman may get the prize. 29 pieces of mail for DD yesterday after the long weekend. She ate it up. Thinks it means they all want her. She won’t throw any of it out.</p>
<p>I’m really going to try to implement the duct tape approach after raising my voice last week. Told her it was up to her to plan the visits over spring break.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - I’m not too familiar with schools in your five-state part of the country - but I’ve heard a lot of good things about Colorado College and Hendrix College. Outside of your area, there are just so many great schools from which to choose.</p>
<p>The ones we got in the mail yesterday definitely want D. She’s way over their 25-75 range in both grades and SATs. I am however, looking into all of them for possible safeties. I had not heard of 2/3 of them before yesterday.</p>
<p>Dad’o’2 - it’s so funny how different kids have such different attitudes about the college mail! My D hasn’t looked at any of it - she says “everybody” gets it and it doesn’t mean anything. She’s mostly right about that - but if she looked at some of it, she might learn about some colleges she’s never heard of and start doing some investigating on her own. </p>
<p>Yesterday, she got another phone call from Temple University - she was on her way out the door, so I said she wasn’t home and asked why they were calling, and the young man said they wanted to talk to her about visiting the school. She’s not interested in Temple, but she was a little more excited about the phone call than the mail. I guess she hasn’t heard about schools calling any of her friends yet…lol. Last year, she got a call from Sacred Heart, another school she’s not interested in attending.</p>
<p>Queen’s Mom - curious about which schools your D received mail from yesterday as D is looking for some good safeties. My D received a good range of mail yesterday - everything from Swarthmore to Lafayette to Creighton to Fairleigh Dickinson. Schools are now sending out mail about their honors programs, so it’s interesting to see what’s out there.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2, here’s a partial list because a lot of them just got dumped and I don’t remember what they were:</p>
<p>Randolph-Macon (I know nothing about this school)
Virginia Commonwealth
Moravian College (I know nothing about this school)
Drexel
Christopher Newport (??? it is close to the beach though ;))
Temple
Goucher (probably not a safety. more like a low match)
U of Central Florida
York College
Washington College (I think this was on DougBetsy’s S’s list. I know nothing about it)
Oglethorpe U (???)
Coppin State (ugh-definitely not!)</p>
<p>She also got UMiami (not a safety by any stretch) and Agnes Scott, which actually looks very nice. She is considering it.</p>
<p>Queen’s mom, maybe they did a mass mailing. Out of those you listed I remember also seeing mailings from Randolph Macon, Moravian, Drexel, Christopher Newport, U of Central Fla, York and Washington College. We might have gotten the others you listed as well (plus more), but I just do not remember. Actually, I know that we got more college mail, just do not know off hand who sent it.</p>
<p>LImom, I think we have a handle on things in our area (and both Hendrix and Colo Coll are on his list). I’m trying to figure out what there is outside the five-state region that is compelling enough to get ds to look at it.</p>
<p>The mail he rcv’d yesterday and pretty much dismissed: Juniata, Wake Forest,
SMU, Swarthmore, Columbia, Hofstra, Williams, Cal Lutheran. He did read the whole letter from Duke, but didn’t fill out the card. I’m holding on to the info from Texas A&M Honors College. </p>
<p>He did love the pencil sent by Denison. Anyone else get that? Clever, simple, low-key. Schools that do something different in recruiting really stand out for him. The letters are boring and “all say the same thing.”</p>
<p>I know we got others too. These are just the ones I remembered off-hand. Now that I think about it, Seton Hall and Siena college come to mind as well as Loyola of Maryland and Illinois Wellslyan (I can’t spell). Does anyone know anything about any of the schools people have listed.Most of them aren’t even on D’s school Naviance because no one apparently applies there. Only the US News huge book has any info on them and that’s basically just ratings-nothing about “feel” and “fit”.</p>
<p>[qupte]zoosermom - well, you never know - your D might fall in love with one of those schools -
[/quote]
And she might fall out of love with the boyfriend.</p>
<p>Queen’s mom, D1 spent a year at Moravian and loved it. It’s a very, very small school, though, and that presented problems which, along with her concerns about being able to student teach her, led her to not return after she had the long-awaited medical clearance post-mono. It’s a really good school, just really small.</p>
<p>D2 loves the mail. Absolutely loves to sift through and see what catches her eye and I find it amusing as heck. She responded to Wells because she liked the address of Main Street in Aurora, New York.</p>
<p>Oh yes, we did get Siena, Hofstra, Seton Hall, a Loyala (don’t know which one) too.</p>
<p>I knew someone a few year’s ago who had a relative who taught at Siena and he thought highly of it. I am pretty sure it is a Catholic College.</p>
<p>Christopher Newport is a newer and rising VA public school.'</p>
<p>York has a lower sticker price than many, and they tend to be more afffordable for a middle class B student. They are in PA.</p>
<p>Washington College is in a more rural area in MD. They do offer some shuttles to a mall where you can get other transit, I believe. They are very good with merit aid for a student with the right stats, but not so good with financial aid, (I think). This can leave the school less affordable in the end, so my son won’t apply. It is a LAC.</p>
<p>Goucher is a LAC near Towson U in MD. They have a push for study abroad and I believe that they require it. They have been coed for many years, but they were an all female school long ago.</p>
<p>Moravian is another LAC in what I heard is in a very nice area of PA. I think you can walk to nice little shops and restaurants in the area, although not sure.</p>
<p>Drexel is a private U, a city PA school, in what some feel is a rough neighborhood. They have coop options.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - Sorry I couldn’t be more help, but there are so many, many great schools outside of your 5-state region. If he has good choices there, and he wants to stay there, I would just let him be. </p>
<p>D received mail from several of the same schools as your S, btw (Williams, Swarthmore, Wake Forest). She’s gotten mail from Columbia in the past, though none yesterday. Same with Duke. She hasn’t received the pencil from Denison, though she’s also received mail from them - but that was a long time ago. Hofstra sends D mail pretty regularly, though also none yesterday. </p>
<p>Queen’s Mom - thanks for listing those schools - D has gotten mail from almost all of them at some point, though none recently (except U of Central Florida yesterday, plus the phone call from Temple). I checked a bunch of them out last year when they started arriving - Washington College looked really nice, and Randolph-Macon used to be all women but changed to co-ed very recently.</p>
<p>Have you guys noticed that a lot of the college mail looks exactly the same? Same envelope size, same typeface, same basic letter? They’re clearly sent out by one marketing firm, which tweaks the details for each college. At this point S only deigns to look at the ones which are different. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Yeah, the Catholic colleges are pretty much out for D. She would not feel comfortable at any of them. Any religious school would be a turn off actually (unless it was Jewish, I guess). A small school may actually be a better fit for her, but that’s my opinion. She is more interested in big, huge schools (she is looking at Alabama as a safety).</p>