<p>lol, IloveLA!</p>
<p>scualum - I hate to say this, but I think your D should take the SAT IIs, just in case she decides to apply to a school that requires them. I realize it might be a waste of time and money, but not that much of either, and itās better to have them ready to send rather than scrambling to take them in the fall, or even worse, in the winter. If theyāre not necessary at some schools, she doesnāt have to send them, but if she does well, sending them might benefit her.</p>
<p>msref - I wish I had something like that to use to bribe my D to do just a little prep. LOL.</p>
<p>zm, I agree with CountingDown. Have her put it somewhere on her application - āWhen I had the opportunity to visit the X dept. at the invitation of Y, I was very impressed byā¦ā or something along those lines. She could use the āAdditional Infoā space on the Common App for this.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2:</p>
<p>Iāll second your advice regarding taking SAT IIs to keep options open and stress levels down. From what Iāve read and heard, the SAT IIs are less anxiety producing than the SAT Is, except maybe for the homeschooled students who use them to prove their subject competence and take them by the cartload. Well, some stress can be caused by figuring out whenās the best time to take them around the SAT I, AP exams, etc.</p>
<p>In a couple of years, SAT IIs will become a moot point for CA students interested in the UC system. For now, it is de riguer.</p>
<p>I donāt know how ds does it. He left the house at 6 a.m. and wonāt be home until 11 p.m., but heās trying to apply for a summer camp and needs a teacher rec by the end of the month. His teacher said heād write one but needs a resume. Thankfully, ds has one from a job interview last year, and I said Iād try to update it for him this morning. I just did that. He sure does look good on paper! :)</p>
<p>BTW for those with sons, what incentives (ābribesā) work with them? Except for a select few, I donāt think earrings (one piercing or multiple) will do it. </p>
<p>For our S, I think he knows, once he gets his DL on an auto transmission, weāre not going to be spending the training time on the third car we kept for him (a manual 2000 BMW) unless he shows the proper, well, balance, shall we say, between his work and his play. I swear, with him, no matter whatās going on, come hell or high water, he must have his minimum of four hours a week of network programming (e.g. House, Heroes, etc.)</p>
<p>Well, hopefully, the upcoming āhell and high waterā isnāt the March SAT.</p>
<p>Hey, four hours a week isnāt bad!</p>
<p>Iāve never bribed D. I donāt reward much either. I figure itās her headache if she doesnāt make the schools I know she can due to laziness. I will help as much as I can, but ultimately it is her choice. </p>
<p>I did let her get a second piercing last month. It looks horrible IMO but she loves it.</p>
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<p>Thatās a great idea, but this isnāt a ātopā school and doesnāt have an additional info section and thereās only one essay, which she wants to use for the wow factor. I was thinking that she could email the geographic counselor for our area and say that sheās going to be on campus that day and ask to say āhiā to put a face to the name. Is that too pushy?</p>
<p>I donāt think itās pushy at all.</p>
<p>I think that sounds great, zm.</p>
<p>About bribes, weāve never done them, though I have friends who have done bribes/are doing them in regards to the upcoming SAT. If ds was looking at tippy-top schools Iād be tempted, but heās not aiming that high and is reasonably happy with his current score. If he scored really well Iād probably reward him with a favorite dessert. His currency is anything with fat and sugar.</p>
<p>ZM - that was exactly what I was going to suggest - expand the visit with the department to include activities with admissions - a meeting with an admissions staffer, a campus tour, an on campus interview, a āsit in on a classā - things like that which would normally be done on a campus visit when the department was not involved. </p>
<p>My DS went through a similar process when he was going through athletic recruiting - some of the schools recruiting him were extreme safeties - so he made a point of ensuring that he had a connection with admissions at the same time. Often times the athletic department secretary would coordinate things for him - perhaps the department could do this?</p>
<p>FindAPlace - Iām glad you agreed with me. Iām all about reducing stressā¦lol. </p>
<p>As for incentives for your S, I havenāt found too many material incentives that work for my S, but threats work wondersā¦lol. The threats usually go something like, āif you donāt clean your room by Friday, then you canāt go out Friday night.ā S is 12, but I see threats as being the way to go with him. For the most part, my D is incredibly self-motivated, and I donāt have to use threats or incentives. I didnāt push her to prep for the tests because I knew her scores would be good, even if they werenāt perfect. Now she can decide for herself if she wants to retake, but it will be with the agreement that if I pay for her to retake, she has to do some prep - not a lot, but a practice test or two.</p>
<p>Youdonātsay - yay for your S looking so good on paper. And I agree, 4 hours of tv per week isnāt bad at all. Neither of my kids watches much tv, but S definitely spends at least that much time playing video games with friends on XBOX Live.</p>
<p>QM - my D recently mentioned wanting a second piercing, but she has to wait until summer because of sports. Maybe sheāll change her mind before then? Doubt it!</p>
<p>ZM - that sounds like a great plan. Good luck.</p>
<p>My kids hardly watch TV at all anymore. They are both on the computer 24/7. ;)</p>
<p>ZM,
Asking to drop by the admissions counselor while sheās there is also a good option. Better than dropping a note afterwards.</p>
<p>Wow ā Iāve been away for a few days, and itās hard to catch up! This is quite a verbose thread. I canāt imagine what it will be like next year at this time! :)</p>
<p>S is taking the SAT this month and had planned to do some prep this last weekend, but then proceeded to come down with influenza. He started getting sick on Friday, but H didnāt take him to the doctor until Sunday morning Grrrā¦(I was out of town Thurs - Sun). He is still home and probably wonāt be able to do SAT prep this coming weekend because he will still be trying to catch up. Sigh.</p>
<p>Iām not bribing S to reach certain scores on his March SAT. But, I am giving him an incentive to focus, study, concentrate, and TRY! If he can convince me that heās doing that, Iāll pay half of the cost for a PS3.</p>
<p>Alas, itās not working. In fact, things are getting worse! His (2-part) score has gone 1270 ā> 1200 ā> 1150. WTH?!!? </p>
<p>Those scores would OK if he could demonstrate heās TRYING. But he canāt. He completely skipped all prep we had agreed upon for last week. At this point I say, no PS3. But do I dare tell him? Then he might really give up. </p>
<p>Ugh. What a hole Iāve dug. </p>
<p>Well, I guess he does care a little. After the third full practice, he called himself dumb and said the (3-part) 1720 was bad. Thatās unusual for a kid whoās usually cocky about his brains. He really sulked and moped around the house all day. </p>
<p>I tried to perk him up, but I donāt think I helped. Heck, even Iām kinda mopey about it. Itās the reason I havenāt posted here much recently. Oh well. </p>
<p>Donāt misunderstand me. I DO love the kid on the couch. I DO! </p>
<p>Itās just, you knowā¦</p>
<p>DougBetsy - sorry to hear about the troubles your S is having with the SAT. Sounds like heās a little stressed. Not sure how much free time he has, but maybe instead of practing full tests, he can just practice the areas that give him the most trouble?</p>
<p>Sorry, DB.</p>