<p>Congrats, ag54 - I know it wasn’t what you or he was hoping for, but it’s still a really good score. </p>
<p>D and her friends have not shared their PSAT scores - except that one girl told her she “got over 200.” I don’t think D has shared her scores either, but she isn’t one to share her grades anyway. It’s sort of strange though, as I know they all compared their SAT II and AP scores.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I think a lot of our students do not really understand the purpose of taking the PSAT and what it means. I was at school the day S got his scores and the kids were all just comparing percentages.</p>
<p>No PSAT results here, but nothing grand expected. In our area, a kid has to truly excel to make the cut. (S had 218 two years ago, which got him commended status.)</p>
<p>Karen, your S had a great score! Too bad that didn’t qualify him. Interesting how different areas of the country have such widely varying qualifying scores.
I guess S is lucky we live in a lower-scoring state, because he wouldn’t have qualified in most (all?) states in the East.</p>
<p>LIMOM, thanks. Yes, he’s pretty happy with it, although a bit sad that he couldn’t get 2 more points for commended.</p>
<p>He’s just focussing on that ACT now. Hopefully, one go and we’re done!!</p>
<p>He’s milking the arm injury for all its worth 
I really think he’s fine, maybe a little sore, but in one piece. He’s one of those kids who’s never had stitches or a real injury, so wearing a sling is a novelty… He’ll tire of it soon enough :)</p>
<p>yep, it was a great score, and since S didn’t qualify, D is not expecting anything from hers. (she thinks S is ‘smarter’, it didn’t hurt that he had a humongous vocabulary.) the good news, it took the pressure off of her before the psat.</p>
<p>Karen, your kids sound like mine, but switched – D is older, and yes, smarter… at least book-wise. Not so great on common sense. 
When S was anxiously waiting for his PSAT scores he asked me how D had done on hers 4years ago. His face fell when I told him – none of his practices were anywhere near her scores. But he is not D and we all know that and I reminded him. He is doing fine in his own right. But it’s funny when I want him to study harder for a test, or to care more about an assignment becuause I know he is not working anywhere close to his potential, he yells at me “I’m not (D)!!” Lol.</p>
<p>Karen - you hit on the conundrum in my house. My junior son is the last of 3, he always compares himself to his brothers (or thinks we do). My husband and I try really hard to bolster him, and both his brothers tell him that they think he’s the smartest of all.</p>
<p>Problem is - 1st son was a NMF, he was a slacker type student though, never really caring about his grades, but somehow eking out enough decent grades to be satisfied. </p>
<p>Then, 2nd son, not as good of a test taker as 1st, but anal about grades beyond a fault, so was valedictorian.</p>
<p>Poor #3 always feels like he’s falling short, although he works so hard and is doing great in my opinion! I’m really hoping that he can kick booty on the ACT, so he can have that in his pocket.</p>
<p>Honestly, his brothers are nothing but sweet to him, but sibling rivalry is there none-the-less.</p>
<p>Sibling rivalry is there in most families - it’s just so hard to avoid. BengalMom - we’re like your family - higher achieving older D. When I tell S that he is not working to his full potential, he yells at me that he is not his sister. D will likely be commended, not NMSF. I’m sure S will ask her results when it’s his turn.</p>
<p>ag54 - I know my D wasn’t happy with her score either - because she knows she isn’t going to be a NMSF.</p>
<p>Sibling rivalry is alive and well in my house. My Jr. D will also be commended. The real brain is Soph. S whose score this year was 18 points higher than his older sister’s. But miraculously, there’s no rivalry between those two. The rivalry is between S1 (the sophomore) and S2 (eighth grader). They fight over everything! S1 is a slacker but gets good grades. S2 is also a slacker and his grades are pretty mediocre. He thinks that it’s not fair that big brother doesn’t have to study to do well (and he’s right!). S1 thinks that if S2 just listened in class, he’s do fine. And I get frustrated that S1 thinks he can make pronouncements like that and “parent” his little brother. And around and around we go!</p>
<p>HS handed out the PSAT scores yesterday. My S remembered on the way to school and since it was still in his backpack, I asked him to pull it out so I could see it. It’s a 198 so we know what he needs to focus on for the real deal with the SAT in March. While the SAT is different than the SAT II, we know when he hunkered down to study for the Math 2, he reeled off an 800. And now, I can add the zero at the end of his score and show where this would put him at the schools he’s mentioned in passing.</p>
<p>D was Natl Merit Scholar, so S has a tough act to follow. He isn’t a perfectionist with school work like she was, thank goodness. She had no fun her sr. year. But he does like to get great grades, just doesn’t always want to work for them. Sigh.</p>
<p>When S2 was a freshman, H & I went to Parent Orientation night to meet the teachers, including his english teacher who had also had S1 three years previous. The teacher passed out note cards and asked parents to write down 3 things that she should know about our child. I wrote “A*** is not D**” for all three things she should know.</p>
<p>Hey, everyone. I just found this and thought y’all might find this helpful. Last page has the AP test schedule.</p>
<p><a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/ap-bulletin-students-parents.pdf[/url]”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board;
<p>Youdon’tsay - thanks for posting that - I knew it was available, but kept forgetting to look. Just checked the schedule, and D got lucky - she’s taking 4 APs, but she has a day or two between each one. </p>
<p>By the way, my D just called - she finished the ACT, and when I asked her how it was, she said “fine.”</p>
<p>Don’t you hate the word “fine”? That’s what ds said when he got out of his first-ever subject test. Says so much (don’t feel like I knocked it out of the ballpark) and yet so little. :)</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - I do hate the word fine, but that was the response I expected from her as she was calling from her friend’s car and she wouldn’t want to say much in front of her friend or her friend’s mom about what she really thought. If she thought it was easy, she wouldn’t want to sound like she was bragging, and if she thought it was hard, she might not want her friend to know that either. I’ll get the real scoop tomorrow as we’re having a ladies day out with her BFF and her mom. She’s much more likely to talk freely to her BFF than to me, so that was good planning on my part, making our day out together the day after the test. :)</p>
<p>Is it my imagination or do the photos on that brochure YDS linked in post #1374 look out of date (especially the middle one). I see the fundraiser bracelet on the arm of the girl on the right-- those were at least a few years ago…</p>
<p>in my house, I am the one to use the word ‘fine’ and drive my kids crazy </p>
<p>I can’t comment on the picture jym, I am not exactly in the fashion hub of the country, but I know a lot of brochures which reuse photos so it wouldn’t surprise me.</p>
<p>I was wandering through my bookshelves today and stumbled across a book that I wanted to recommend to you:</p>
<p>Questions and Admissions: Reflections on 100,000 Admissions Decisions at Stanford
by Jean Fetter </p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Questions and Admissions: Reflections on 100,000 Admissions Decisions at Stanford: Jean Fetter: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Questions-Admissions-Reflections-Decisions-Stanford/dp/0804731586]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Questions-Admissions-Reflections-Decisions-Stanford/dp/0804731586)</p>
<p>Written by the former dean of admissions at Stanford, it is NOT a book on how to get into Stanford - and, since it is now 10+ years old, the material is dated - but what it does do is provide a great insight into the mental side of admissions - how the people who make these decisions think and feel.</p>