<p>i googled this morning and found a June 9 2010 article on Washington Post site. Google “Do Colleges Superscore ACT and SAT Equally?” The author is Valerie Strauss.</p>
<p>The gist is that some colleges do superscore ACT and some do not. I’ll continue to look for more info. on the topic and let you know what I find. </p>
<p>That panini maker sounds like a good idea. I may have to check that out !</p>
<p>My son will take the SAT 2 in Chemistry and maybe also the SAT 2 in Physics in May (he is currently taking AP Chem and AP Physics). Anyone recommend one SAT 2 prep book over another? I was thinking to just get him the CB one.</p>
<p>Good morning everyone! My three teenagers are still sound asleep and probably will be until 11:00 or noon.</p>
<p>SAT II’s - I agree with everyone about taking the test whenever you’ve completed the most relevant course. My 2012 S just took Math II, and yes, it goes through precalc, although my son said there were a couple questions that were really easy if you knew some calc. He’ll take Physics at the end of the year (he’s in AP Phys B now), and maybe Lit (he’s in AP Lit now but it’s not his best or most beloved subject). I’m hoping he’ll look through a Physics SAT II prep book a little, because I’m not sure how close his AP class matches what’s covered on the test, but who knows if he will.</p>
<p>IJustDrive - my older son took AP Lang, and my 2012 son is taking AP Lit. The school my 2012S goes to has juniors take Lit and Seniors take Lang. I actually wish it was the other way around - I think taking the Language course junior year can help a lot with writing skills, which can help with SAT I test scores and writing essays for colleges. And it just seems good to study writing skills before you turn around and try to analyze someone else’s writing in Lit. If your daughter is looking at which to take Senior year, then i think she should take whichever she wants! if Lit sounds like fun, more power to her! I think my son would be enjoying his AP lit class if the teacher didn’t grade like she does - it’s very demoralizing for the students.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the testing info. This will definitely be a busy winter/spring for D and all of the cc friends!</p>
<p>The issue with AP exams is that no classes are labeled AP (supposedly every class is at an AP/College level) and kids choose which (if any) AP exams to take in January. D would like to appear well-rounded (or at least egg-shaped), so she wants to take one of AP Eng. Lit or Lang. exams. They don’t promise to give every exam, but both English exams should be safe. I think D will only take one of the two.</p>
<p>i googled and found a lengthy thread on cc entitled:
Can we start an official list of colleges, which superscore the ACT?
here’s the link:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/444349-can-we-start-official-list-colleges-superscore-act-6.html?highlight=superscore+act[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/444349-can-we-start-official-list-colleges-superscore-act-6.html?highlight=superscore+act</a></p>
<p>Seiclan - D used PR for Chem, and liked it well enough. She doesn’t have others to compare to, though.</p>
<p>Seiclan, my son swears by the Princeton Review book for chem. He went through the entire book - tutorials, drills and practice tests in about a week and got a 780. I also bought Barron’s and the CB subject prep book. The CB book is too short - he wanted an entire prep book devoted to one subject. He felt that the Princeton book filled in what his sophomore year honors chem teacher glossed over, and Barron’s had more difficult problems, but the tutorials were not as good.</p>
<p>He’s also taking the SAT Physics this spring, along with the AP exam, so he’ll prep for both at the same time. Over break, I noticed that he’s working on mostly AP problems, with the assumption that the AP exam is more difficult than the SAT in physics.</p>
<p>At D’s school, they take AP lang in junior yr and lit in sr. yr. D thinks I’m crazy to suggest that she take the AP tests for Chem and/or Calc AB. She’s not in the AP for those subjects but she’s doing really well and with a little self study, she could score well, too. Her only encourages AP testing within the AP class. No one we know has self prepped for a test here. If only D could think outside the box!</p>
<p>Barron’s is more of a review book than a prep book, not to learn something new but to see what you know. A 770 on Barron’s could mean an easy 800 on the real SAT II.</p>
<p>Phew, a great ACT score- as repeated by my other two who did much worse on the PSAT or SAT and ended up with a great ACT score. She wants to take it again but I’m thrilled with the first try- enough to get in to most schools she’s eyeing on the bottom end of their scales. Now for a little improvement, right there in the bullseye hopefully come May!</p>
<p>I just wanted to report that apparently my DS was replaced with an alien over the weekend. Since Saturday night, he has cleaned his entire room, organized his closet, donated childhood toys, books and clothing, written 15 essays for APUSH and gone online to research a couple of colleges for a closer look. All the while he has been respectful and happy. I don’t really mean to brag, but I thought I should put it in writing before it all ends!</p>
<p>MizzBee - Wow! Can you send that alien ship to North Carolina?</p>
<p>I’m just waiting for him to tell me some horrible news, like teenage pregnancy or expulsion from school.</p>
<p>mizzbee, what did you feed the kid? ;)</p>
<p>fourkidsmom - congrats on the great ACT score in the house!</p>
<p>MizzBee - Really, you must tell us exactly what you did to your son over winter break. My S is having a very sluggish vacation. Maybe it’s exactly what he needs, or maybe it’s a slump, but either way, he’s got a book he has to read for Lit and his room and backpack could use a good cleaning too. </p>
<p>There has been some drama surrounding one of S’s friends this break that’s making us limit how much unsupervised time our son spends with him, and it’s been a real downer for all of us. My S missed a fun day trip they had planned for weeks because of this. Ironic - the other kid gets in trouble, but because those parents are having a really minimal response, we feel forced into limiting what our kid can do with that group of kids. I’m in a pretty lousy mood about it, truth be told.</p>
<p>PN - I don’t blame you for limiting the amount of interaction between your son and what sounds like an unsupervised friend. Sounds like you are handling the situation correctly. I’d be right there with you. Good luck.</p>
<p>My son got his wisdom teeth out yesterday. I guess I can forgive him for not being productive.</p>
<p>PN Good job limiting time with unsupervised friend. Sometimes it’s tough to be the parent.</p>
<p>BUBC82 I hope your S is feeling better soon! He definately earned some unproductive time!</p>
<p>DS actually had a thoughtful mature reason to do all this. he told me that ths is a busy year, and he gets tired of coming home to a messy room with a list of chores to do. he feels like when he is home, he doesn’t get to enjoy himself because he is always working at something. since he has time, he wanted to declutter his room and life, so that he can enjoy the rest of the year.
I seriously wanted to cry. It was like watching a growth spurt of the brain.</p>
<p>Wow MizzBee - that’s great! he’s absolutely right - he will be able to relax and enjoy himself much more if life’s details are running smoothly. good for him - and for you - he must have been inspired by how he sees the rest of the house run!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the vote of confidence. It is hard being a parent, and I seem to be in the camp that doesn’t mind telling my kid “no” while some of his friends don’t really get many boundaries put in place by parents. it’s just really hard to see him miss out of something he was looking forward to for a long time. He and S1 actually had plans to go in a couple of days, so it didn’t seem so bad, but now weather is preventing those plans from happening. </p>
<p>Sometimes it seems true - “I’m a mom…if I see fun happening, it’s my job to stomp it out right away!”</p>
<p>ugh.</p>