<p>FAP - Your S is like me, but lopsided in the opposite direction. I have 800s in CR, W, and Lit; 710 M, 760 Math II. How would you suggest I compensate? Recs are a no-go, as I’ll be getting excellent LORs from an English teacher (2 years, including AP) and a French teacher (will be 4 years and 5 classes by graduation). And maybe even a supplemental English rec… As you can see, lopsided.</p>
<p>At my D’s HS in rural SoCal they give out “Academic Awards” each year. 9th grade she got one in Art, 10th grade in Health, this year (tonight actually) she is getting awards in Chemistry, History (for APUSH), and Drama. </p>
<p>Of course this is also the night they are doing the elections for Interact and she is up for president. She has to miss the elections to go to the awards ceremony. One more night in a long list of double-bookings…</p>
<p>We had to call and remind S to check his scores, 2310.</p>
<p>We’re excited for him and he’s thrilled to have another “one and done.” I was a terrible test taker as my nerves would get to me. Thank goodness S is more mellow. I truly believe that is a big factor in these tests.</p>
<p>pmk, great job by your DS! Love that “one and done!”</p>
<p>I got “one and done” from right here at College Confidential! It was the only way I could talk my S into taking the ACT/SAT/SAT subject tests this year. He wanted to wait until his senior year, like he won’t be busy enough. So, “one and done” became his goal!</p>
<p>awesome goal pmk, and he is 2/3 of the way there! Do you know if any of his schools will require the SAT IIs in addition to the ACT? Since he has a strong ACT he could submit just that to schools requiring subject tests, if for some reason he doesn’t continue his awesome track record.</p>
<p>yay to the rest of the people posting great scores and also great award night booty!</p>
<p>Keil:</p>
<p>You seem very knowledgeable based on prior posts, so you probably already know that some top schools require a LOR from a math/science teacher and one from a humanities/social science/foreign language teacher.</p>
<p>Are you up for taking a subject test in one of the “harder” (in quotes since this varies) sciences, typically Chemistry or Physics? The Physics test is known for having a generous curve, like the Math 2. Does you school have a science club or robotics club where you can channel your inner science side?</p>
<p>Seriously, I think all individuals that are lopsided (as long as all their scores are in the zone which I’ll define as the 50-75 %, to be safe) need to remember one thing. In order to achieve the goal of making a well rounded CLASS, the ad comms by necessity will need to admit some well edged students (read: lopsided.)</p>
<p>In the case of my S, the goal is to assist him to creating a college application that says to the ad comms something like this: “Here’s a kid who shows all the promise of doing stellar work in the math/science area and says he wants to major in physics. His CR score is just fine for a physicist. Check out these essays.”</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone, especially PMK’s S! We’re cumul. SAT twins. :D</p>
<p>My friends and I were just discussing the concept of “chill.” (Texan “mellow,” maybe?) We unanimously decided that I am the opposite of chill; I stress out about everything, although the anxiety usually doesn’t affect my performance (great exception: music auditions).</p>
<p>FAP - I knew about the LOR requirement, but weirdly enough, none of the schools on my list require or recommend that. I will double-check before next fall, though.</p>
<p>I’ll be taking honors Physics next year and am scared to death, so no–no “hard” science tests, nor APs. The problem is that I don’t really have an “inner science side”… I go to a math/sci school, so the opportunities are abundant, but I’m apathetic about math–I do well, only because I work to learn the concepts and enjoy structure, not because I have any innate talent–and I rather dislike science, especially hands-on science (e.g. labs, engineering/building).</p>
<p>Check out these Urban Dictionary definitions for chill. I think 1.2 is the way teenagers in SoCal typically use the term, from what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>[Urban</a> Dictionary: chill](<a href=“http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chill]Urban”>Urban Dictionary: Chill)</p>
<p>Ds has a friend over working on a project. Over dinner he said he checked his SAT scores. I pretended I didn’t know them. He seemed pretty happy, especially because a girl in his class was in the 500s on the physics test. </p>
<p>All of a sudden, away from cc, his 690 sounds pretty good. :)</p>
<p>Keil, you had mentioned UChicago at one point, but I don’t remember if it remains on your list. It is a school that requires a math/science and an English/social science LOR, and foreign language is not either category. One can use FL as a <em>supplemental</em> LOR.</p>
<p><a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/firstyear/[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/firstyear/</a></p>
<p>Every year I see folks who realize in November or December that they need a specific type of LOR and start panicking. This is a REALLY good thing for your juniors to check on <em>now</em> with the colleges they are considering and as they start thinking about who will write those letters in the fall.</p>
<p>Having just finished looking at Chicago yet again, I have to reluctantly remove it from consideration. The Core is just too much; after this particular HS experience, I will be miserable in all those required science classes (4 quarters natural science, 2 quarters math)–not to mention the difficulty of unrelated double majors.</p>
<p>CD:</p>
<p>At least this isn’t as bad as the “last minute” discovering that the desired college requires X, Y or Z subject tests … uh, what are THOSE?</p>
<p>S came home saying he had the required meeting with the college counselor. I asked what she had to say. As usual, no founts of information, just a mumble of, “Oh, she thought I was pretty competitive and had a good grouping of schools.” Then he laughed and said, “I next figured she’s going into the shpiel (how IS that spelled?) about how it’s important to do something significant the summer between junior and senior year, so I beat her to it and mentioned the summer research internship. She said, “Oh, good!” and marked it off her checklist.” </p>
<p>Sounded like an easy meeting for the college counselor. :D</p>
<p>Keilixander, Congratulations on your SAT scores!</p>
<p>About lopsidedness: C.C seems to be full of lopsided kids and most seem to do just fine in the admissions process. In fact I bet most kids could be considered lopsided if you include their entire package…for example, while my D is not lopsided in her scores or grades, she is lopsided if you consider the fact that she does no athletics at all nor does she do any volunteer work nor has she ever had a job. Well, she is who she is, and I’m not going to manufacture a passion if it isn’t there. </p>
<p>Yes, there seem to be quite a few superhuman kids on C.C who excel at absolutely everything, but there are not enough of these kids to fill the entering classes of even the top few elite colleges.</p>
<p>VP:</p>
<p>And even with the raw numbers, you’d get the wrong impression on, say, how many 2400 scorers there are out there. Now that my S is settled on his SAT I, I printed off the CB table that shows scores by increment and how many were at each level (although for 2008, since 2009 won’t be posted until August.) This tells him it’s not millions who’ve scored higher.</p>
<p>Keilexandra-My D feels the same way as you about U. Chicago and its Core program. She was worried that if she went there, she wouldn’t be able to really delve into classes in her major until junior year. She’s actually drawn to open curriculum schools like Grinnell, Rochester, etc.</p>
<p>From the looks of our thread today (no postings so far!) everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend!</p>
<p>not yet IloveLA, but thanks for bumping this up! I am headed to Cape Cod either tonight or tomorrow morning. Depends on how efficient we are getting ready this evening! </p>
<p>D at is at the amusment park for Physics day. They had a worksheet I wanted to get a peek at it but I didn’t yet.</p>
<p>We don’t have anything in particular on tap until H returns from his trip to Montreal on Saturday. S is enjoying his physics labs and the pick up water polo games now that swim season is over.</p>
<p>Maybe I should stop reading the newspaper. One of the CA programs to be dismantled due to the budget crisis, it the Terminator has his way, are the Cal Grants for low and mod-income students. Welfare and health care for the poor will also be obliterated. Overnight, CA will become a very inhospitable place for the poor.</p>