<p>false alarm on the ACT test, she was misreading the answer key and mixing up the correct answer with her answer. We are getting the right answers now (phew, she was losing her composure and getting quite upset)</p>
<p>Jackief - I had just pulled out Dās ACT packet and was goint to ask you if you were sure you were reading the answer key correctly. Glad thatās straightened out! I would have been no help whatsoever, if you needed an explanationā¦lol. </p>
<p>FAP - good luck with getting the school back on track as far as APs are concerned. CD -great suggestions! </p>
<p>Not sure if the kids around here get college rings. Iāve never seen letterman jackets around here either, and while my Dās on several varsity teams, I donāt believe they give out letters of any kind.</p>
<p>LIMOM, really that should have been three posts.</p>
<p>just kidding!!</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>She has regained her composure and is getting through that science section better now. Most of the problems she would have gotten if she had more time, there were only a couple she and I had no clue on. My science is quite dated but I do know how to read a graph.</p>
<p>felt obliged to help out our post count since I gave the '09s one.</p>
<p>My D got her class ring VERY LATE senior year. She was too busy Jr. year to think of it although she wanted one. She got it just in time for the winter formal and now wears it all the time. It is really pretty and feminine. I donāt think of it as a class ring because in my mind they are those big gold things guys wore. Hers is really dainty and silver, '08 on one side SFHS on the other and her name inside the band.</p>
<p>GO 2010ās!</p>
<p>Our '09 friend Harriet also posted a link to a NYT article about how terrible the FAFSA is to complete. I also read it in the paper this morning. At this point we are not expecting FA, but thought that completing the FAFSA if needed for merit aid or unsub Staffords would be the plan.</p>
<p><a href=āhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/education/22fafsa.html?_r=1&em[/url]ā>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/education/22fafsa.html?_r=1&em</a></p>
<p>discuss 
:D</p>
<p>and to show that I do have some self respect left my first link failed so I am just editing to correct it, not reposting.</p>
<p>So nice of you to join us, esobay. 
Your Dās class ring sounds very pretty. </p>
<p>jackief - glad your D is feeling better about the ACT. I suspect timing was the problem for most kids in the science section. I wasnāt kidding though - when it comes to science, my mind tends to go blank. I didnāt even look at the questions yet - but I will.</p>
<p>Oh, and jackief, thanks for copying Harrietās link here. I was going to mention it earlier, but got distracted and forgot all about it.</p>
<p>Those of you lookin at class rings, the better buys are online. The school gets a kickback from the ring company to comes to the school and some of the boys rings can cost $600-800. Even the girls ring prices can get ridiculous. Doing a search will bring up about 3 online companies and one is particularly less pricey. There are kids here who have ordered through that company (starts with a D) and they are very pleased. You will also find that these companies will give you more options of mofits and engraving and styles than the school will. </p>
<p>D didnāt want a class ring so we bought her a nice birthstone ring instead. Sheāll wear it for years. </p>
<p>I bought my class ring from the local jeweler rather than through the high school and it was much nicer. I wore it through college but that was it. I didnāt get a college ring and I donāt remember any of my friends even considering one.</p>
<p>S2ās GF also just got her ACTs. Science seems to have been a killer this time around. She didnāt finish, either. She seemed very pleased with the rest of her scores, though.</p>
<p>FAP, aha! You already have the ear of decisionmakers ā so, yeah, I agree with you on your strategy.</p>
<p>CD, thatās good that she was pleased with her scores overall. Dās science in December was the real outlier compared to the other sections. I hope she can do better, but she is pretty happy with her composite from December so the aim is just to get the science more in line and maybe an extra point or two on the composite.</p>
<p>
I must be the exception to this view. Iāve completed FAFSA the past two years and it never took me longer than a half hour. Our taxes are due to be completed by our accountant this week and I have blocked out Thursday night to complete this yearās FAFSA (in advance of S1ās school deadline of March 1st). As long as I print out all current bank and investment statements in advance, filling out the form is pretty straight-forward. Sometimes I think folks just have trouble reading and following directions. Or maybe their financial record-keeping is not as up-to-date as it could be. Am I the only one who doesnāt hate filling out the FAFSA Form?</p>
<p>Assuming you guys have seen thisā¦you need to read through the whole article to get to the $1450 price tag charged to Dalton, Horace Mann, etc private school kids to help them get FAā¦now Iāve heard everythingā¦</p>
<p><a href=āhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/education/22fafsa.html?ref=todayspaper[/url]ā>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/education/22fafsa.html?ref=todayspaper</a></p>
<p>APs vary. AP World they learned stuff that the teacher thought should be in curriculum and wasnāt (so they learned about genocides) and they sort of reviewed for the Global Regents. For AP Calc they did linear equations, but in a very relaxed way. For AP Comp Sci they were planning to do projects, but it got canceled because of bldg renovations. AP Bio did oral presentations. AP Physics C watched Star Wars Movies and played ping pong on the lab benches. AP US History reviewed for the Regents Test. AP Econ did some gov work so that it could fulfill the NY gov requirement. AP Chem I think didnāt meet, not sure there.</p>
<p>Interesting how things vary, even within the same school. I know my D is hoping for a reprieve after the APs - at least in the classes where there are almost all seniors.</p>
<p>rodney, 20% of the students at Horace Mann are on financial aid at the school. The high school has a far more diverse student body than most of the public schools in the area. Additionally, a number of parents have lost jobs-think Lehman Bros, etc.</p>
<p>Archiemom:</p>
<p>Iām with you - the FAFSA wasnāt that big of a deal if you have your tax returns and financial records handyā¦ perhaps 45 minutes at the outsideā¦ </p>
<p>The result is definitely not pleasing 
but the process did not seem that hard to meā¦</p>
<p>As for the APs, so far the model seems to be a relaxed extension of the class - perhaps a project on the topic (e.g. in Stats, DS did a statistical analysis of some aspect of baseball) or something like that. I know that in AP Lang and Comp, the teacher plans to have them work on their college essays (great use of time as far as I am concerned). </p>
<p>We too have over a month after the tests before the end of the school year - and no regents tests in CA (we canāt afford them )</p>
<p>I guess Iām unclear on what regents tests cover, but given all the tests my S will have completed by the time he crosses the finish line, Iām glad CA canāt afford them! If they are better than the CA HS exit exam, then it might make a decent replacement.</p>
<p>Letās see, if I count up all the NCLB, HS exit exams, PSAT, SAT, SAT II and APs (making some estimates on the ones not yet taken and whether there will be any re-dos), Iām up to 31. This is on top of all the regular tests, mid-terms and finals that he takes in the classes.</p>
<p>GASP! The 2009ās are within four posts of us. Of course, looking through theirs, itās talk about the Oscars and such at the moment. Hmm, if thereās no connection to school, present or future, should it count?</p>
<p>I especially enjoy the posters on the east coast who think they are always posting while weāre asleep here on the left coast.</p>
<p>Not being a native NYāer I found the concept of Regents Tests a bit weird, but on the balance I think they are a good idea. They ensure a minimal level of competence across the state and a basic curriculum. For the advanced Regentās Diploma they cover most of the courses that colleges like to see. Passing grades and curves make them pretty easy to pass. For the AP courses followed by Regents, preparation is more a matter of not forgetting what you know than anything else! Really they are just a statewide final exam, and I donāt think any teacher in our school gives a final if itās a course with a Regentās exam. At least we donāt have to pay for them. :)</p>