<p>psychmom, Any chance she could take the Lit class at community college this summer? S is taking a class at cc this summer instead of taking it AP in the Fall. He was not looking forward to this class but was very open to the idea of taking it this summer (or, as he put it, "getting it over with quickly), which leaves him room for the electives he wanted to take.</p>
<p>College Composition and Intro College Research do not sound “light” to me, although I know colleges look at these things differently, and since it’s not her strongest area perhaps these classes would be very helpful to her.</p>
<p>S had his final schedule, made one change to it and we just got the revised official schedule…with three changes on it. Oy vey. I am loathe to have S contact this wonderful, overworked woman again about his senior schedule but it has to be done.</p>
<p>psychmom- your D sounds similar to mine. Mine wants to take 3 language class and they are her strongest also (A+) and not take science or history next year. Since I can’t find conn coll cds online, I’ll have her send her question to them about this. I posted about this in more detail several pages back. Please let me know what you find out or decide also.</p>
<p>At our school there are only 6 available periods and most kids to not take 4 years of all 5 core classes. We also don’t have many APs and only about 10 kids (out of 60) take AP Lit. There are many other challenging English electives available. Again, this is why I said the context of the school is important.</p>
<p>D will apply to Conn Coll but not ED and it is not her first choice.</p>
<p>What fun today DD texts me this morning asking me if she has an ACT account as the scuttlebutt at the school is that the scores are up today (she had not taken them on a national testing date; all the juniors had taken them on 4/22 in school.) I go through the machinations to sign her up only to find that the only score there is from her 7th grade Duke testing. She calls when she got home to tell me that she got an email from U of Alabama reporting that they’ve gotten a score report from ACT for her, and the highest score on file for her is a 32. Since they only have one score, that’s the one from April! No breakdown but I am predicting 35-36 on English & Reading with 27-29 on Science & Math. Apparently they told the kids when they filled in the form last month that they didn’t have to put down their SS# if they didn’t have it and they didn’t have an admission ticket with an ACT # on it to log in that way. </p>
<p>Tonight is the honors awards night; 1st time she’s been invited. I’ve been warned that it “takes forever.”</p>
<p>And tomorrow is the AP English exam. That may be the last test for a while (pending SAT scores next week, and a decision on SAT IIs.)</p>
<p>pugmadkate, The summer cc idea is a good one, but right now I have her signed up for Brown’s Precollege Program for 4 weeks; she’ll be taking Intro to Chinese which I know she’ll love. I am doing this because I feel the need for her to experience “pseudo” college life before being thrown into the real thing. Oy vey is right…none of this is easy…to think I have to do this again fairly soon with her brother… think I’m changing my name here to psychomom!</p>
<p>jackief, There are many wonderful schools that will love the language angle, and I am curious to see where your daughter ends up. I am happy my daughter has found a passion for studying languages…it’s something she can develop throughout her life. She doesn’t have the intensity for academics as some of the others on here ( for instance, she’ll want to know how far it is to the nearest mall on these tours), and you know, sometimes I just have to laugh! I find myself sometimes needing to push her and other times I just feel protective…guess that’s why I am having trouble figuring out the AP schedule, and the whole college thing, for that matter.</p>
<p>pychmom- psychomom LOL!!! My D started Chinese at a summer program, Phillips Exeter two years ago and I agree with you on the pre-college residential experience. I attended an academic program like this when I was in HS and I found it very beneficial and wanted to incorporate it into a summer for each of my kids.</p>
<p>I will keep you and the rest updated as we find more info on her circumstances. My D wants to take Spanish and other romance languages also but no time currently!</p>
<p>psychmom…
i completely and totally feel for your daughter as i am in a similar situation.
i took AP Lang, AP psych, and APUSH as a junior…
I got the highest grade in AP LANG and a 5 on a paper(you need a 4 to take LIT)
However, i am simply not interested in taking lit. I am getting guff from guidance because we too do not have a middle of the road option. I will be taking college writing and shakespeare.
However, i am also taking AP world, AP gov, AP calc, and AP stats…(i like history and math…weird combo)
I think you should let your daughter not take Lit…she might be unhappy…plus her electives sound fun…
hope thiis helps</p>
<p>S2 got a 5 on APES last year. I think many kids underestimate the course and the exam because they think it’s an “easy” 5. It seems this is an exam a number of kids try to self-study, too. S liked the class a lot – it is very interdisciplinary and he had a strong bio class going into it.</p>
<p>That sounds like a lot of fun. Our local cc has two summer semesters, so perhaps check the dates? </p>
<p>Rob, that is great!</p>
<p>S has been really tired the past week and his allergies have been out of control. Turns out he’d stopped taking the 24 hour/non drowsy antihistimine and replaced it with an 8 hour/will- make-him- sleepy one. And he’s taken 2 of his 3 AP tests this year while in that state of mind. I swear, he looks, talks and so often acts like an adult but then…</p>
<p>On a better note, we had a good meeting today at school. Things have been confusing regarding class rank and now we feel like we understand it. Full steam ahead!</p>
<p>D’s taking AP Eng Lang today. Strange test, no studying/practice involved. We’ll see how that works out… Good luck to all AP kids today. Not sure which other test is being given.</p>
<p>S took AP Chem yesterday and reported it was “not so bad.” They’ve been prepared all year by these one-problem quizzes on reactions, which are apparently like the questions on the actual AP test. He’s been doing ok on the quizzes (only A in the class) but some kids have been doing horrible.</p>
<p>The rest of the year will be spent on easy labs to help out the class gpa! Doesn’t help your AP grade though… :(</p>
<p>Ds said they did a few things in his class to practice, but I’m not sure what that was. CR is ds’s weakest SAT section, so who knows what that means for the AP exam. Good luck, all!</p>
<p>Had a conversation with our neighbors, whose son is also a junior, a really nice kid (like ours) and doesn’t know what he wants in college (like ours.)</p>
<p>We laughed b/c they have been pointing out to their son whenever they see ours cutting the grass or raking, and we’ve been pointing out to OUR son the same thing, “See how he helps his father?”</p>
<p>The truth is, neither of them will lift a yard implement without being told to do it. :D</p>
<p>The grass is always greener … and better manicured! :D</p>
<p>Ds will be sooooo happy when this week is over. Of course, I reminded him last night that with the exams over he can start picking up some work. Poor guy!</p>
<p>good luck on today’s APs. The school work ever lets up with only a few more weeks of classes before finals. I am not going to mention looking at the Math 2 SAT prep and reviewing for USH SAT until at least after this weekend! Maybe Memorial weekend will give a little breather, we’ll see what we have for big projects due after that!</p>
<p>rocket6louise, Thanks for your input; you are now my daughter’s best friend! I took a better look at the electives, and as pudmadkate has said, there are some solid options that could help advance my daughter’s skills. I like astromom’s idea of giving her the option to go back to AP Chem and change the AP Lit to 2 electives. In this way, she will still be making her own decision, and she will still have a competitive schedule.</p>
<p>Thanks again, all, and best wishes to all the test takers today!!</p>
<p>CD, I was over on the AP exams forum and now I think I get why kids think APES is easy. Apparently, some kids who don’t like science take it in place of AP chem, bio or physics, so that they have some kind of science on their transcript, but then they take the test and don’t do well. Makes sense. Of course, ds took APES along with AP Physics, so he wasn’t taking APES as an easy way out of work; it’s just an interest.</p>
<p>I completely spaced out on the fact that Memorial Day weekend is coming. It’s been a whirlwind at our hour. S had 4 AP tests, H gave (and is now grading) two math finals from USC. We added a house guest to the mix but thankfully he’s self sufficient and lived in the area before, so a mug of coffee and a set of car keys and he’s off.</p>
<p>S isn’t pleased the AP English Language test is at the gym today but they need the space since it’s the most popular AP in the school. He said it would be like the last SAT (construction to tear up a parking lot was going on), except this one would have screaming freshman on the outdoor practice field. So I joked with him and said that the Jr/Sr on Link Crew (he’s one) could tell the frosh to pipe down or else the upper classmen will turn into a Lynch Crew. That made him laugh.</p>
<p>Since the rest of the kids in the AP Physics C class are all seniors, no one was in the mood to commiserate with him yesterday after the Monday test, poor guy. So he jokingly mocked them about being lazy seniors who don’t need to care since they know where there going to college. </p>
<p>So, he’s getting a bit testy as the AP season wears down, or wears him down. This resulted in frustration with the pencil sharpener this morning, to the point his face was red. I told him to take a deep breath and reminded him that everything he’s pushing through this year … the linear algebra, the AP Physics, etc … are going to show his academic rigor big time and the results will show next year.</p>
<p>Actually, he already knows the linear algebra has resulted in his snaring the research internship. If he does go the engineering route, I was pleased to learn from H that, just as O chemistry is often designed as a “weeded course” for pre-meds, so, too, is linear algebra used as a weeder course for engineers in some schools.</p>
<p>So I’m GLAD a holiday is approaching, to lower the stress level in our house.</p>
<p>The APUSH teacher assigned a genealogy/research project to keep the kids busy from now until the end of school. Blech. Son had to do one freshman year…not sure how much more he can do but he can’t crib from the earlier one, obviously.</p>
DD texts me this morning asking me if she has an ACT account as the scuttlebutt at the school is that the scores are up today (she had not taken them on a national testing date; all the juniors had taken them on 4/22 in school.) I go through the machinations to sign her up only to find that the only score there is from her 7th grade Duke testing. She calls when she got home to tell me that she got an email from U of Alabama reporting that they’ve gotten a score report from ACT for her, and the highest score on file for her is a 32. Since they only have one score, that’s the one from April! No breakdown but I am predicting 35-36 on English & Reading with 27-29 on Science & Math. Apparently they told the kids when they filled in the form last month that they didn’t have to put down their SS# if they didn’t have it and they didn’t have an admission ticket with an ACT # on it to log in that way. </p>