<p>" I’m intentionally NOT reading ED/EA admissions threads! It’s too early to get that freaked out! I just don’t have the intestinal fortitude." </p>
<p>Smart choice IJD- not reading the ED/EA treads . . . I have been reading them AND I AM FREAKED OUT! I keep repeating to myself over and over, “they are all ■■■■■■, they are all ■■■■■■.”</p>
<p>^S lived through an ED deferral last year. I think I took the news harder than he did! In the end, everything worked out for him and his friends who were in the same boat.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard of the documentary “Race To Nowhere?” I heard part a radio program that was talking about it and then saw it on the Today Show this morning. From the few things I heard, it discusses exactly what our kids are experiencing today regarding workload, testing, stress. </p>
<p>D did miserably on the PSAT. Actually, her score was slightly lower than last year. I am rethinking the plan to do an SAT prep and maybe focus on ACT where her she score better last year.</p>
<p>(Wow – I’m posting! This thread moves so fast, I’m usually way too far behind…!) Re National Merit scholarships: for this year, at least, there are still some impressive offers on the table. Anyone with a child who will be a NMSF should take a look at the amazing offer from the University of Alabama. Go to the Alabama thread, and look at some of the old posts about the honors programs there, as well as the NMSF offers – really incredible. Of course, many schools will change what they are offering by next year, but it’s still interesting to get the lay of the land. Many colleges will get the NMSF list in August, so apparently the volume of mail will pick up quite a bit at summer’s end.</p>
<p>Thanks for the warm welcome everyone and welcome to Debbie as well! I have been looking through the thread and am so impressed with all the wonderful accomplished kids here. Such knowledgeable parents too! I’m looking forward to making this journey together.</p>
<p>PRJ - I am making a mental note of the way you handled your daughter’s last minute job app last night - well done! </p>
<p>lilmom - I’ve added “Race to Nowhere” to my netflix cue - it isn’t available yet, but I guess they’ll send it when it becomes available. It has become a weird, crazy, competitive world raising kids. I managed to resist most of that when my kids were younger - heck they went to a school with no homework or grades through 5th, 4th, and 7th grades respectively. I think it did them a world of good in a lot of ways, but once they hit high school, and we started looking at colleges for our oldest son, we realized that jumping through all of those hoops for grades and test scores do open some doors. My oldest very much wanted to go to school out of state, out of the midwest, and that meant coming up with money! Heck, our two state flagships are about $20,000 per year. </p>
<p>So I have a laid back hippie dude angel on one shoulder saying “they need to spend time in the woods, lie in the hammock listening to music and contemplating life, they need to take risks and experience failures on the journey toward learning who they are and to trust their own inner voice” and an uptight accountant-type with a clipboard on the other shoulder saying “mm-hmm. If he gets one more B he won’t have a high enough unweighted GPA to get the automatic $5000 off at state flagship U…he needs to take APUSH - all the smart kids take it…sure he’s stressed, but how will dropping his sport half way through the season look to colleges?” yuk. </p>
<p>I guess like everything else, it’s all about finding the balance.</p>
<p>Race to Nowhere makes me very nervous, since it proposes the solution is for schools not to offer challenging academic classes, as opposed to looking at all of the stressors in kids lives. A district that looks very much like our local hs (where my younger d will attend next year) is getting rid of all honors and APs because of stress and achievement gaps. I have kids who need academic challenge – they do much worse if not challenged and engaged (we’ve had this experience). </p>
<p>I’m also coming to the conclusion that almost all of D’s stress is coming from one of her ECs. I think this is a question of looking at the whole teen, not just the academic part.</p>
<p>Has anyone seen 2000 minutes? [Robert</a> A. Compton Presents Two Million Minutes The 21st Century Solution](<a href=“http://www.2mminutes.com/]Robert”>http://www.2mminutes.com/)</p>
<p>D1 received her PSAT result on Monday. Unless there is a sharp drop in our state’s NMSF cutoff, D1 will miss the cut. It was a bit disappointing after spending a lot time thinking and strategizing what we can do with the NMSF status. None of the NMS stuff I learned last year matters anymore; we are now in uncharted territory 
. D1’s college app journey will be a new experience for us, and I guess that’s something to be excited about! </p>
<p>One thing she has going for her is that she knows she can do better because she did a lot better in her pratice with the old PSAT tests. Time to work on her nerves for the January SAT.</p>
<p>PCP - your daughter must have had an off day if her practice scores were consistently higher. Good luck to her on the Jan SAT! My older son (freshman now) wasn’t NMF or commended, and he did very well in college acceptances - I’m sure your daughter will carve out a great path! </p>
<p>IJustDrive - I haven’t seen Race to Nowhere, but I’m with you on the need for academic challenges! I don’t think AP classes are the only way to offer challenge, but kids need to be challenged and excited and know what it feels like to work hard and see it pay off, and develop a curiosity to learn - which can be turned off by too much emphasis on memorization, constant deadlines, and test taking.</p>
<p>I am REALLY looking forward to the next 2 1/2 weeks with no school or deadlines or alarm clocks!!!</p>
<p>Congrats to your kids for those great psat score PRJ, Highbury, and Debbie!</p>
<p>Welcome Highbury and Debbie!</p>
<p>I think my son’s psat scores are being mailed and we’ll get them next week. I’m not expecting NMSF cutoff.</p>
<p>He is taking his last mid term right now. I hope it’s going okay. </p>
<p>Highbury - My oldest son is a freshman at Chapel Hill.</p>
<p>ETA - PN -
I agree!!</p>
<p>I don’t post much here, but I’ve been religiously reading the EA/ED threads over the last week or so. They are like something so grotesque yet fascinating I can’t look away. I’m going to be a basket case next year when I actually have a child going through the process.</p>
<p>Disappointment in our house about PSAT scores, too. D’s scores went down 3 points this year, putting her score one point above this year’s cutoff. Blech. So now comes the waiting game to see if she makes it next year or not. She was very nonchalant about the test this year since she did well last year, so I hope the score slide is a wakeup call. She’s taking two SAT IIs in January, and I think she’s going to take the prep a little more seriously this time around.</p>
<p>PinotNoir – I totally agree that drill and kill is not a way to learn. I think the problem isn’t so much the name of the class (AP/Honors/whatever) as it is the ability of teachers to teach a complex curriculum that engages and challenges kids. The whole point of AP/Honors/Whatever is to signal that this is a course that will require you to engage fully. It becomes problematic when the course gets bogged down with kids who can’t or won’t do the work, for whatever reason.</p>
<p>That being said, my D attends a school with no AP-labeled classes. The kids all know which classes are murderously hard, but I don’t think anyone from the outside can tell. I also think ALL kids get the box with “most difficult courses” checked off on the college counsellor recommendation, which seems fair since all of these kids have a harder course-load than they would at their local high schools. Given the kids involved and the culture of the place (and teacher letters), there isn’t any concern about weaker students doing better in the admissions game than stronger ones.</p>
<p>PinotNoir, thanks for your son’s encouraging example. </p>
<p>I’m not as worried about admissions as I am about financial safeties that comes with NMF. Missing the cutoff ruled out some decent financial safeties.</p>
<p>Still no PSAT scores, but we learned why today: according to the GC, in one of the classrooms, with five minutes to go, a student fainted. Therefore, there has to be some form of official investigation to determine if anyone in that classroom was placed at a disadvantage by the commotion. Until the review is complete, no scores will be released by the school. Of course, my DD was not in that classroom. Bummer.</p>
<p>On the bright side, our DD has just started receiving a wave of emails from colleges congratulating her on her success and asking her to apply to their respective schools next year. I suspect CB has sold her results to some colleges before she even knows her score.
:(</p>
<p>BUandBC - I hope your son has a wonderful 4 years at Chapel Hill. Everything we hear from local kids who attend is overwhelmingly positive. It’s so nice to live in an area where even the brightest kids aspire to go to the Flagship. When we lived up North state schools were often left as kids safties…kids here are dying for the chance to wear Carolina Blue!</p>
<p>(Both my sister and brother in law are BU alums.)</p>
<p>welcome to the new posters and congrats on excellent PSAT scores. Along with BCBU, DB, and psychmom I also have a college freshman, and then there are several here with sophomores. Lots of people to answer questions for those with their oldest in this group.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>How high a score will elicit that, close to a 240? Or is it school-specific, i.e., for a BS student?</p>
<p>^^ I’ve been wondering the same thing. D1 never received much email or snail mail, despite being NMF, but I learned later she checked the box on the PSAT that said “don’t give my name to colleges.” Pretty sure D2 didn’t check that box, but she isn’t receiving anything either, even with a score close right at a recent state cutoff. Not that I’m looking for more mail… ;)</p>
<p>To those of you who complimented my handling of D the other night, trust me, that did not come instinctively. I practiced on D1 - with her I was the frantic, nagging mom :o</p>
<p>To all the new posters I missed, welcome!</p>
<p>Did you all get that PUNCH newsletter email? Our very own DougBetsy is quoted in the first line, with a quote from this thread!</p>
<p>Lake42ks: Different colleges purchase different lists I think some buy 195+, others buy commended (201). Still others by NMSF, but that varies according to state and the range is set later in the year, so it can’t be that, unless they are going on last years range. DD got a bunch after her AP results came in last summer too. (Of course, you have to check the box saying it is okay to share your results with colleges.)</p>
<p>With my oldest it seemed there was a new batch of college mail with every test…subject tests, sat, act, ap. I think different schools have different cutoffs and some just seem to assault you no matter what.</p>
<p>Highbury - Yes we are very fortunate to have such a great state flagship. I’m from the northeast and never felt the same kind of love for state schools that is found down here.</p>
<p>We have not gotten any college mail here other than from schools we visited last summer (so we signed in on their mailing lists). I am not counting the military solicitations though. </p>
<p>My two D’s have been through the process, one is a college graduate and the other is a junior, so I also have sorta been there done that. DS is very different from his sisters both in time management and in raw talent so he will be looking at very different types of schools than they did with just one or two (state schools) overlap.</p>