<p>No rest for the weary … well, I guess he wasn’t really tired from the swim-a-thon. What do I know for 200 laps? </p>
<p>I’d forgotten that S goes somewhere today (UCLA he thinks, presumably the driver knows!) for the next level of competition with his calculus team of two. I hope they advance further this year. His teammate doesn’t need to since she’s in at Yale but per S, she’s still motivated and knows this means even more for S.</p>
<p>Good luck to your S, FindAPlace. Sounds like its a busy day for all. My D has a multitude of things scheduled through late tonight, and then tomorrow will hopefully have time to rest, though I’m sure she has plenty of homework/papers/studying for APs & SAT IIs to get through.</p>
<p>I don’t think I mentioned it, but D got her National Merit letter at school yesterday. I haven’t seen it yet, so I have no idea what it says.</p>
<p>FAP, timely post for me. Ds2 goes to HS this year and is trying to decide between debate, Model UN and mock trial. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Ds is sleeping in today. It’s been a crazy week between all the games, dad in hospital, etc. I think he needs/deserves it. This will be a fun weekend for him, before it all hits the fan with those six AP tests!</p>
<p>YDS, one thing to consider is the schedule. Both my kids were/are involved in Science Olympiad. They didn’t spend huge amounts of time except in the week or two right before a competition. They usually did an invitational (practice) tournament in the late fall, the regionals in January and states in March. They never made Nationals, but they would probably have interfered with all the business of late spring.</p>
<p>YDS, S2 has done Model UN and LD debate all three years so far and loved it. They generally don’t overlap that much at his school. MUN here is generally just a couple of tournaments, as there is not funding for lots of travel.</p>
<p>I love judging LD! Speech and debate is a wonderful EC. You develop skills useful throughout life. I’ll add my plug for swimming as well. It is a lifelong sport, and in addition to getting one in unbelievably good shape, I think it really teaches discipline and perseverance.</p>
<p>YDS:</p>
<p>Hmm, debate, model UN and mock trial. I guess the one added plus for debate is that (at least when I was doing it), the debate teams could also participate in individual speaking events at a tourney, as well as doing the debates. Back in the day, there was only one version of oral interpretation. Below is the list of events a student could participate in, here at the CA state tourney:</p>
<p>Policy Debate
Lincoln-Douglas
Parliamentary Debate
Public Forum Debate</p>
<p>Original Oratory
Original Advocacy
Original Prose and Poetry
Expository</p>
<p>Humorous Interpretation
Dramatic Interpretation
Thematic Interpretation
Duo Interpretation
Oratorical Interpretation</p>
<p>Impromptu
National Extemperaneous
International Extemperaneous</p>
<p>A rather extensive list for debate/speech, and it includes a taste of what a student would find in mock trial (original advocacy) and model UN (international extemp.)</p>
<p>A plus for mock trial is that the judges for the trial are actually in the legal profession and will give oral feedback at the end of the debate, which takes place in a real courtroom. However, not all students get to play the attorney role, and usually a student sticks with either defense or prosecution all year. With debate, any team member must be prepared to argue either side at any tournament. Also, I think with logistics, speech/debate teams have more chances to actually perform, when compared to mock trial, before the eliminations occur.</p>
<p>I don’t have much info on model UN. When I went to HS, we just did it in school as part of the history class … and I was assigned to a moderator type role, which was not so interesting but the teacher wasn’t about to assign me, a senior member of the debate team, to represent one of the nations, when the rest of the students were less skilled at that point … kind of like having JV play V.</p>
<p>Hello all. It’s been a few weeks, I guess.</p>
<p>GWU, AU, and CATHOLIC VISIT:
D (junior) and I spent one day at each school - information session, and tour at all three, plus a few extras where available: lunch with a student, meeting with a professor/academic advisor, and a sit-in on a Journalism class. She LOVED attending the classes especially! She really liked all three schools, but especially the city-ness of GWU. It was a great trip. I’ll work on getting our reviews into the Visit section. </p>
<p>Boy private schools really do it up right when they have visitors last week we went to UF and (though I was very impressed with both the campus and the students we met) it suffered in comparison to the private schools and one smaller state school weve seen it was pleasant, but not nearly as informative or accommodating. (For example it only took one contact to set up a classroom visit at the other schools, but at UF, I contacted several different people/departments to schedule a sit-in on a Freshman level English class and heard back from none of them (and it was several weeks before the visit, so there was plenty of time). I wont let that deter us from continuing to explore all the wonderful things that UF offers, but I wonder if that matches other peoples experiences with either non-private schools or perhaps with very large schools?)</p>
<p>UNBALANCED SAT SCORES: (there’s a question in here somewhere, honestly)
D is a fine student and hard worker, but doesn’t take multiple AP/IB’s, that’d be too much for her. She has never tested well in Math, though she does well in her Math classes shes a very hard worker and not-so-great test taker. (SAT Math = 550, ACT Math = 19)
I guess my question is
how concerned should I be that these math scores are going to drag down her overall scores and knock her out of the running for admissions and/or merit money? Her math teacher and GC seem unconcerned and I value both of their opinions very much. I just thought I touch base with this group to see what your experiences have been like. Granted, D will be applying for journalism programs, so I thought her Math scores might be interpreted as important, but somehow with the writing tract in mind but that was when she was knockin it out of the park with her writing which didnt show up on either the SAT (650) or the ACT (8/12, Eng+Wrt = 31). Im trying to figure out if I need to take the reins and formalize her Math prep. (So far my philosophy has been this is her journey if shes unmotivated and doesnt choose to prepare for the tests, shell get test scores that are representative of the level of work that shell be able to reasonably manage when left to her own devices and the schools shed be admitted to would fit both her motivation level and her abilities. Like most philosophies, its easy to hang on to it right up until it gets in the way of the money. HA! 
I dont want her to miss out on opportunities for programs or aid if it can be reasonably avoided.)</p>
<p>SENIOR SPENDING:
Senior year is looming. Im looking forward to all of it EXCEPT the money part (sorry single mom, school teacher). Im looking at my daughters high school account (she goes to a Catholic high school funded by all of her extended family), and making savings plans, second job plans, and trying to organize a spending plan for senior year. For those of you who have done this before
what were the extra expenses of senior year? Yearbook pictures? Yearbook dedications? Cap & gown? Senior luncheon? Grad nite? What else is there? Obviously, the amounts and some of the items will change from school to school, but Ive never done this before and I wanted to get a general list of extras started. Just want to be prepared! I wish there was a master list on our school website but I guess it would scare the heck out of parents if they saw it all written down in one place!!</p>
<p>1sttimemom: on the unbalanced SAT scores, check the following recent thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/701071-more-lopsidedness.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/701071-more-lopsidedness.html</a></p>
<p>In general I feel we should ask and expect our kids to make their best efforts in all subjects and then if they have done that, we should not push them too hard. </p>
<p>About debate: My D does policy debate. She has found it to be an extremely rewarding activity but at the same time it has been very challenging and time consuming. The school takes debate pretty seriously, it is a graded class that meets daily, and the team competes in tournaments around the country. They have to do a huge amount of research and they are constantly working on their debating skills (this is the form of debate that involves high-speed talking, arcane arguments and lots of jargon that makes it incomprehensible to the general public). It has needed far more work than APUSH AB Calculus or AP English. It also involves a lot of travel- with the consequent missed classes, make-up exams, etc. Luckily the regular season is over now so she can focus on her school work. Their team did pretty well- my D and her partner qualified for the ‘Nationals’ tournament of the National Forensics League which will be a week long tournament in June. And then in July she will go off to debate camp to start preparing for next year’s season!</p>
<p>vic - thanks so much for the thread suggestion! very helpful!</p>
<p>1sttimemom:</p>
<p>Check out this article on how to keep prom costs and expectations in check.</p>
<p>[Opting</a> for prom without all the frills - Los Angeles Times](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-prom25-2009apr25,0,1991197.story]Opting”>A prom without all the frills)</p>
<p>I think Speech and Debate has provided me the most out of any of my EC’s…</p>
<p>i’m so grateful for it every day, and cant imagine not doing it</p>
<p>My niece does policy debate and it is VERY time-consuming. She loves it, and it fills an important niche for her at a school that doesn’t offer all the intellectual stimulation she’d like. (Getting to the Harvard Invitational this year as a freshman was a real eye-opener for her!)</p>
<p>S2 is at an school with an IB program and they can’t muster enough kids to really get policy going – it is too big of a time commitment given their other coursework. LD was a good middle ground for S2 – tournaments started right after football season here, so he didn’t have lots of conflicts w/coaches in that regard.</p>
<p>^^i think its a blessing that don’t have policy
it’s an awful little event that does not embody the true meaning for forensics(COMMUNICATION)
any other event is superior…policy just looks harder, but i really don’t think it is</p>
<p>I’ve been away from the computer for a few days and am trying to keep up :P</p>
<p>DD (& I) are going to NJ/NYC at the end of school for her chorus’ Carnegie Hall trip; she’ll have a few weeks and then she’ll be at Vanderbilt for 3 weeks for a PTY program. She’s looking for a job, but having to explain she’ll need 3 weeks off in July is tough. She babysits on a regular basis though. </p>
<p>We went to visit Centre College yesterday; it is now officially off the list (which I had anticipated) but the visit brought up a couple of excellent points for her. She realized that the ease of getting to a campus is an issue for her; Centre is 217 miles from us as is U of Tenn but it is just under 3 hours to UT (and a straightforward drive) while it is 4 hours to Centre and 1 1/2 hrs from the interstate. Centre isn’t in the middle of a pasture; things have sprouted up around it; but it is pretty rural and she’s not comfortable with that. I told her that she needs to reexamine having Washington & Lee on her list if that’s the case. Centre itself was very nice; lovely campus although still recovering from the ice storms of this winter. DD sat in on her 1st class during a tour and LOVED it! There were 8 kids & the professor; it was a modern European history class. It will give her a good comparison when she sits in on classes at other places (especially larger ones.)</p>
<p>I had a vision of senior year Thursday night. It was the Spring chorus concert and the seniors were recognized. Their plans were listed in the program; 3 kids are joining the military and shipping out in July; a lot of UT. I’ll be interested in seeing the full school list at graduation. I was sitting there and realizing it will be my kid on that list next year! 18 days of school left here till she’s a senior.</p>
<p>And on a CC note: the junior gifted kids had their meeting this week, and they had a mom come in to talk to them whose DD had graduated last year: she’s in an Ivy now and was a Presidential Scholar etc. As she was talking to them and giving advice she said “there’s this website you should look at: CollegeConfidential…”</p>
<p>lol RobD! I don’t have much time to reply to many of the posts, the debates stuff sounds interesting, the only one of the ECs mentioned there we have is Model UN, and they only take about a dozen kids, D tried out this year and did not get in.</p>
<p>I will be off this site for several days. D and I are headed out today to Colgate/Hamilton trip. Back Mon night, but I just got news this morning that a cousin passed away so at some point, probably right when I get back in the driveway, I’ll be headed back out to NJ. I’ll wave to you peeps in that area as I drive through This has been tough as he has been battling melanoma for the past year. He is a few years older than me, was always a great guy as our families visited growing up, one of my favorite cousins. He was a very successful lawyer, tons of money for travel, huge house, any school his kids could attend, and now he is dead at 50. </p>
<p>Sorry for the damper, but carry on without me for the next week.</p>
<p>Good morning, all.</p>
<p>RobD - at least the visit to Centre College will be able to help put things in perspective for your D. It gives her things to focus on like location, size, size of classes, etc. </p>
<p>Still hoping for a possible meet-up when you’re in NYC, though I realize it might be difficult for us to coordinate our schedules.</p>
<p>And so funny about the mom mentioning College Confidential…</p>
<p>Jackief - I’m so sorry for your loss. I just hate hearing stories like that - and there are way too many of them these days.</p>
<p>In the meantime, enjoy your trips to Colgate and Hamilton - both schools are tentatively on my D’s list as well, and I wish we had time to visit them now, but probably won’t until summer, if at all. I’d definitely be interested in hearing what you have to say about both of those schools. Also curious about how they’re going to treat kids who plan to apply for FA. It sounds like a lot of schools that have been trying to go need-blind are having to become more need-aware.</p>
<p>D’s school definitely has Mock Trial, and I think there’s some type of debate club, though I don’t know anything about it. No Model UN - they have Model Congress instead. It’s a very popular club at D’s school - probably over 100 active members. Kids don’t have to try out, unless they want to be on the executive board - and they do that at the end of junior year as only seniors are on their board.</p>
<p>I can’t really compare the different clubs at your school, YDS, but at D’s school, Model Congress kids tend to be way more social than kids who participate in Mock Trial or debate.</p>
<p>jackie, I’m sorry to hear about your cousin. </p>
<p>Please report back on Colgate and Hamiliton. Both schools we’ve admired from afar, but probably won’t visit unless some of S’s scores come up.</p>
<p>Whoa, talk about lopsided scores…I was talking to D’s friend today and she was very happy with her SAT scores. She got a 1720. Very respectable I thought. That breaks down to about 570 per section and the girl, while she seems bright, is not a particularly good student (barely pulling a B in non honors classes and struggling). </p>
<p>As part of the conversation, I asked the breakdown:</p>
<p>CR:570 M:450: W:700</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. I figure there has to be an undiagnosed learning disability somewhere.</p>
<p>I know someone who had a 480m, 560v, and 600w, so not quite the spread, and had all kinds of acceptances with merit awards. GPA was about a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. This is not quite the same spread, but close enough. Don’t forget that many schools will not look at the writing score, so that spread will not be quite as large as you might be thinking.</p>