<p>Hello All - new poster to this thread, it is time I start getting involved here on CC with S’s college search (class of 2012). I am a long time lurker and poster using CC extensively in search of schools for my older D now a freshman at Pomona. We learned about Pomona through the junk mail she received, yes it was the flip flops on the cover that attracted us enough to look further. I can give some advice to anyone looking into the Claremont colleges or just giving my opinion on LACs vs. larger universities.</p>
<p>We are still flying high - S took the SATs for the first time in December and scored a 2330. So blessed to be done with that part of the college process so early. I look forward to “chatting” with all of you.</p>
<p>^^ Welcome NJMom2 and congrats to DS. With a 2400 within a striking distance does he consider a second try? Also, will he consider a LAC or a university? Thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>Thank you and Happy Holidays to all. We had a warm and joyous xmas. Now comes blizzard. How does the weather look in Boston? We got the tickets to travel to Boston for a few days. Had planned to leave on Monday. Not sure anymore.</p>
<p>Welcome others who came on board. Fabulous to hear how well your kids are doing. </p>
<p>mihcal1, That was an OUCH joke on violists. I don’t think Primrose would drool on SAT or anything else for that matter. My kid plays violin but keeps getting viola xmas presents from her cellist uncle. Are we supposed to get some hint from that or shall we turn the table around and make him violist?</p>
<p>Oh dear Igloo-- Boston has 20 plus inches predicted, most falling overnight and during the day tomorrow. Plans are disintegrating right and left around here–I’d put the trip off if at all possible. </p>
<p>Hi, NJmomof2-- wow, what a wonderful score and…to have it done and know you’re going forward with high hopes? Priceless. Congratulations! </p>
<p>We had a great Christmas, friends had a great day of rest and Chinese food-- I hope everyone here did too! Now to try and deal with the storm and its consequences…</p>
<p>Good morning everyone! the moratorium on testing/college talk has been lifted here at home. DH and I talked about D self studying and taking the AP Calc test. She’s doing well in that class but it’s not AP. same in Chem. The teacher told her she should’ve been in AP.<br>
NJmomof2, congrats to your s!<br>
I hope you mak it to Boston, igloo! I hear there’s lots of bad weather out that way. We got rained on here in socal last night but now it’s sunny. That’s what we pay for, I guess!
Enjoy the rest of the day everyone!</p>
<p>Like many of you out there (from what I’m reading) we are in that uncomfortable bubble of not obviously qualifying for need-based aid, or at least not enough to make a significant difference. We really haven’t done anything with family finances except try to put as much as we can into a '529. Looking at the schools that excite D’12. it looks like she’s going to be applying to Profile schools. I know that there’s not a whole lot one can do (and we’re not talking about tons of money in any event), but what sorts of financial moves should we be making before 2010 is over? Should we realize losses? Move from stock funds into bond funds even if it means realizing a gain? Should D be spending her money and letting us put the difference into her 529? Am I worrying too much over something significantly less than $10K?</p>
<p>I sort of think of this as the same magnitude of decision as whether to make the January mortgage payment on Dec. 30 or Jan 2 for tax purposes – small but worrisome. Am I thinking about this in the right way, or is this a bigger deal?</p>
<p>Congrats on the score NJMom! We also decided that scores that high were not worth retaking (particularly with all lost points being the writing section). It’s so nice to be done with that!</p>
<p>The first semester grades are slowly trickling in. (D turned in her last paper on Wed. and took her last final exam on Tues.) The official grades aren’t due until mid-Jan., but so far, so good. There could still be a nasty surprise or two, but it looks like the stress and hard work is paying off for her.</p>
<p>The “to do” list for break is long, but it’s made (only 2 arguments about that). It’ll start getting productive around here next week, I think. Little sister (HS class of 2015!) has a ton of math over the break, so I’m hoping for some study days. A first look at AP prep sounds like a really good idea to me. May is going to be ugly.</p>
<p>IJustDdrive - we are in the same boat too! I was wondering the same exact thing. I had scheduled some meetings with financial planners, but husband was not on board (very eye opening experience!)<br>
Right now I have made a commitment to be very diligent with all the paper work for the coming year - so when we do apply for FA, I have everything in one place. I think moving money around will be more important as younger son begins applying and retirement will be that much closer. </p>
<p>I poke around on the FA threads and it is so overwhelming to me. I feel like I am being penalized for making good financial choices and for having thrifty spending habits.</p>
<p>not all f/a packages will be the same so keep that in mind. you’ll have the spring of next year to review the packages as they come in and compare.</p>
<p>ds’s December ACT results are in (and at a 29). he is happy to see that he raised his score by 3 points from last year’s take. he plans to take ACT again. he is strong math/science and reading, but always significantly weaker in English ( a lopsided kid ). we’re having a discussion about rather than worrying about raising the English if time wouldn’t be better spent focusing on raising the math/science/reading as those scores still have some room to move higher. any advice from others here would be appreciated. i recognize that the traditional thoughts are to probably work on raising the English but in this case, i think the time could be better spent upping the reading, math, and science as they come so much easier to him.
i think it’s entirely possible to raise composite by 2 points or more as he did no test prep for this ACT take.
on another note, he’s going to be contacting more coaches (football) as he’d like to play in college. with a 29 now, i think it’s a good start to the process.</p>
<p>DS got his ACT scores as well. Up in math 6 points, down in reading, up in science and up in English. He will still take the test again. He is disappointed but at least saw the difference studying can make. Looks like he will take it again in June.</p>
<p>Condor30, my D wants to play her sport in college,too. I’m hoping she does well with her testing this spring. I was going to sign her up for the Jan test but she felt she wasn’t ready so she’ll take it in the spring.<br>
That presents a different problem with the APs.
MizzBee, the positive outcome from your S’s test score is that he realizes the value of studying!</p>
<p>Condor, I think plain old maturation is an immense factor in test scores. I’d suggest you wait until…May? for the next test, so you can take advantage of six months of maturing plus some more prep-- you might get a big bump then. (As I head off to start working with D on prep for her first SAT in March…)</p>
<p>Lol, lilmom, she’d be most welcome! She could add to D’s harumphs: “Well, any college that thinks I need to know THAT is wasting its time!” We got a good start though before she flopped on the couch. I had her read the sentence correcting questions aloud-- she was correcting them in her mind as she read, so she didn’t notice the mistakes.</p>
<p>lilmom, my oldest d played her sport in college (4 years). it was a good experience. mizzbee, glad your ds’s composite was up. i understand that colleges will super score ACT now but i’m not familiar with the policy on it. that might be a help to some of our kids.
gwenfairfax, good advice about the maturation factor. my ds is anxious to take again and i am now thinking he maybe should at least get in one or two SAT subject tests. do you have suggestions on which he could take? i don’t have any experience with subject tests as older d did not take them. ds thinks he’d be ready for Math Level 2 (he’s in calculus now). dougbetsy, ds’s scores came in mail last week.</p>
<p>I wish I knew something about SAT II’s, condor…others have lots of info, I know… I’m going to have D take subject tests in May, right after AP’s so she can study for both at once. But I’ve seen tons of very specific info on here…someone else will know more.</p>
<p>I’m trying to read through the recent posts and catch up with you guys.</p>
<p>I hope all of you in the northeast have found your way out from under the snow!</p>
<p>Welcome NJmomof2 - Great first time score. How nice to be done.</p>
<p>condor - Colleges are superscoring the ACT now? I didn’t think they did that with the ACT. My son is planning to take the ACT in June. His older brother told him not to bother until then. He felt the knowledge gained in the junior year was useful to perform well on the test. </p>
<p>As to subject tests. My older son took the US History subject test after AP US and took the Chem subject test after AP chem. That worked and he didn’t need to study ahead of time. Math 2 is good to take as some schools will use it for math placement.</p>
<p>The panini maker has been a big hit. There have been a lot of paninis made in this house since Christmas. It easy, they taste good, and, best of all, the boys make them themselves!</p>
<p>FWIW, D took SAT2s right after she finished the classes, so Chem right after Honors Chem and Math 2 after Precalc. She’ll take English in May for synergy with the AP. When she took the other two, she was also studying for various outside exams and competitions, so it was stressful, but she got lots of bang for her buck.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that it’s best to take Math2 right after precalc (before calc) because there are techniques tested that you don’t use in calc, so you have to review topics you haven’t seen in a while (and there’s no calc on the Math 2 - so no benefit there). I don’t know for sure, though.</p>
<p>The question here is (still) AP English Lang or AP English Lit. D is thinking Lit could be more fun to study for, and her 1st semester English teacher says she can write the exam based entirely on what they read for that class (basically an English Lit survey course).</p>
<p>If they do, they do that for reporting, not for the benefit of the applicants IMO.</p>
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<p>SAT IIs and APs differ, but APs help. Even if you think you can get an 800, go though a prep book at least for a few hours (e.g., Barron’s) should help.</p>
). we’re having a discussion about rather than worrying about raising the English if time wouldn’t be better spent focusing on raising the math/science/reading as those scores still have some room to move higher. any advice from others here would be appreciated. i recognize that the traditional thoughts are to probably work on raising the English but in this case, i think the time could be better spent upping the reading, math, and science as they come so much easier to him.