<p>Gourmetmom –</p>
<p>I think both 2008 and 2009 were no calculator years.</p>
<p>Going through older tests doesn’t hurt. There were grading differences at some point in that time frame, though, from where they are today (I think different # of points for blank vs wrong). So, I don’t know that he can use them to gauge how we’ll he’d do on this year’s test. </p>
<p>But good problems are good problems…</p>
<p>jo</p>
<p>Interesting to read the updates on how all of our class of 2012 kids are doing. My daughter beat the cutoff score for our states PSAT, but just barely. Will probably have a tutor over the summer in preparation for the real thing. </p>
<p>With my son, we visited a few colleges during the summer between 10th and 11th grade. I am not sure my daughter is ready for this. My son was a blank slate as far as his college preferences at that time. My daughter has her hopes set on colleges that she knows we can’t afford and isn’t yet ready to open up to those that are more realistic financially. So, it may be wasted effort at this point to do any visits. Maybe that will change between now and summer, we will see.</p>
<p>Welcome back Gnu! When does everyone’s kids register for Junior year classes here? I went to a school advisory forum meeting last night and learned that the procedure and criteria for choosing core classes at our hs will be changed this year…it will now be based upon FCAT scores and first semester grades in that subject (with NO input at all from the teachers). This dosen’t sound like such a great idea to me.</p>
<p>I really don’t think they should approach the problems differently with or without calculator. These problems test you more on the conceptual level than on the complexity of computation. I agree with mahtinokc – “good problems are good problems…”</p>
<p>D1 reacted very well to her bio teacher’s foul-up – the teacher did not inform the class that no ingestion of any kind is allowed. She had to abandon her plan and find an alternative quickly. She asked a few classmates to see if anyone needs a partner. To her delight, and to ours, she found two girls who needed help. She brought in a few ideas and off they go!</p>
<p>Seiclan, D will register for Junior year classes in March. What is FCAT?
We are not going to visit any school this year except for Brown D’s “dream school”.</p>
<p>D will register for Junior year in March or so. She’ll meet with the IB Co-ordinator and make a plan for the next 2 years then. I’m not sure about college visits over the summer–right now she doesn’t want to apply anywhere too far from home.</p>
<p>I’m glad to see that the 2012 thread is back. A lot has happened since I last posted this summer.</p>
<p>DD’s freshman grades came back, and were significantly lower than she hoped. Her SAT Bio score was about 100 points below her practice tests, and she was starting to feel pretty discouraged. She’s gotten her grades up a little so far this year, but she seems unlikely to start churning out A’s anytime soon. She’s taking the toughest classload available, at a tough private school, and her teachers say she’s getting it. There’s just always something that keeps her from getting top marks. No big. I caught myself putting too much pressure on her a couple of times, and then backed off. She works hard.</p>
<p>Then her PSAT scores came in. They were almost perfect. So I projected her GPA and PSAT scores onto her school’s naviance graphs, and can’t find a single case of a student from her school with such low GPA and such high test scores.</p>
<p>Sigh. It’s probably not going to be a predictable application process, is it? I wonder if there’s a CC thread discussing such students.</p>
<p>We’ve toured a few colleges, casually, just to get a feel for her tentative likes and dislikes at this point, and to get her thinking about the process. Right now she requires seasons, research opportunities, a campus that looks like a movie about a college, and school spirit. We’ll see how that evolves.</p>
<p>I guess the biggest change since last year at this time is that she’s developing interests. Last year, I would read the EC threads and think, “but my daughter doesn’t do anything!” Well, now she’s tutoring kids at a local school, has a couple of clubs she’s very involved in, and has started applying for opportunities this summer. When people said it just sort of happens, I didn’t exactly believe them.</p>
<p>Perhaps I should take the same attitude about her strange grades and test scores. Maybe she’ll managed to make one go up, or the other down.</p>
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<p>FCAT is Florida’s K-12 standardized assessment test.</p>
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<p>I’m curious, how did she come to acquire a dream school so young? Almost every school my daughter discovers becomes, briefly, the most amazing place she’s ever seen.</p>
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<p>I want whatever you guys are giving your kids. Unless things change, close to home is not in the cards. DD wants out in the worst way!</p>
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<p>Yes, there is. You are not alone; there is an army of us :). Check this following thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/767118-under-3-6-gpa-applying-top-20-parents-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/767118-under-3-6-gpa-applying-top-20-parents-thread.html</a></p>
<p>We are in the process of planning D2’s first college tour. It will be the first week of her March spring break. We are thinking about heading NE first. She has decided no school in Boston, so maybe we won’t be heading that north. She wants to visit my alma mater, wouldn’t mind going there.</p>
<p>The second week of her vacation we may then head down to Mexico City to check out the city and an American International school for her. I maybe moving down there for work. It’s rather unexpected and I am concerned how it would impact her college process. She is fine about changing school, so we’ve talked about that.</p>
<p>In our household there is always unexpected, when you thought everything was under control…</p>
<p>Thanks, PCP. You rule.</p>
<p>Registration for next year will be in the next month sometime. I don’t see it on the school calendar yet.</p>
<p>The kids are talking about it already – asking others about classes they’ve had and what those classes (and teachers) are like.</p>
<p>For the core classes, there’s not a lot of choice except in science.
English: English 11 or AP English Language (approx top 25% of class will take AP Eng Lang)
History: regular US History or AP US History (again, approx 25% of class will take APUSH)
Math: whatever is the next math for you, usually regular or pre-AP
Science: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics B, AP Physics C, Physics I, Anat & Phys, or AP Enviro</p>
<p>Hi there. I’m rejoining the conversation. </p>
<p>D is a strong student (top 5%), but had surprisingly low scores on her soph PSAT. (No improvement since 8th grade CTY exam.) Oh well. It’s early in the game. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Thanks angry Dad for the explanation.
Brown is D’s dream school because She thinks it’s laid back and also one of the chefs from Brown worked at her summer camp. She thinks his cooking is amazing.
DougBetsy, I don’t know if it’s the case but D told me before they took the PSAT, the school told them that the test was not a big deal. She believes that’s the reason why quite a few kids did not do well.</p>
<p>My D still has not bothered to pick up her PSAT scores.</p>
<p>DougBetsy, my son seems like your daughter. He is a strong student (top 2% in tough classes) but had surprisingly low PSAT’s. I do believe that our kids just didn’t take the test seriously this time around since they knew it didn’t count for anything. My son left 22 blank on the reading section alone (yes, 22!). That said, my son will start an intensive SAT prep program of some type early this July or August. I know my kid. Once junior year starts and he has 3 or 4 tough AP classes and 3 or 4 honors classes plus his EC’s, he will not find the time to prep for the SAT or ACT. I will need to make sure that he understands this and that he starts the real prep this summer. </p>
<p>In terms of next years classes, we have an appointment with the college GC in Feb to discuss a tailored schedule for my son. He is a math/science kid and weak in English/Social Studies. He wants to take 3 science classes next year and we have to see if the school will allow that. He is thinking AP Bio, AP Chem and honors marine science and then saving AP Physics for senior year. Hope they will allow it (rumor has you are limited to two classes in any subject) since that is his focus. This year he has two maths (Precalc honors and AP statistics) and two sciences (honors chemistry and honors anatomy/physiology). I will probably have to “parent preference” him into honors English 3, since the school will try to make him take AP English Comp. and it just is…painful for him. His past semester’s A in English 2 honors was by the skin of his teeth and he hates English (though he loves his excellent English teacher). Yes, there is a pattern here.</p>
<p>Our school does offer honors US history in addition to regular US History and APUSH. I am also thinking honors for my kid is the way to go. He finds AP World an incredibly boring subject and the amount of reading he has for this class is just awful.</p>
<p>My D is also a weak test taker compared to her grades, there are a few of these on this thread. We will hopefully visit some test optional schools this summer before deciding on whether to invest in test prep.</p>
<p>She will do her schedule in March, may take two sciences. She is more math/science focused. Will not take AP hist or Engl, not her strengths.</p>
<p>At D’s school, the parent meeting about scheduling is in two weeks and the actual scheduling soon after. I’m glad to hear of other kids who are not doing the whole AP arms race thing - sticking to APs in their areas of strength and honors or regular classes elsewhere. D will take AP English and APUSH, and regular Spanish 3 (that’s the only option - no honors offered). </p>
<p>Up for discussion at the moment are math and science. The HS offers an integrated physics and analysis/precalc class that most of the top students take in the junior year, but D doesn’t feel like math and science are her strengths (of course , *I *think she is underestimating her ability ;)) so she’s lobbying to take the non-integrated (and presumably slower paced) physics and analysis. My only concern is whether this automatically means that the counselor can’t check the “took most rigorous curriculum” box on her college recommendation, and if that really matters.</p>
<p>OMG!! Angry Dad can I relate. I haven’t been on this thread before but boy I guess I need to be. My DS… exactly the same. He is a Sophmore this year and doing much better than last year. 9th grade was a disaster. I loved what you said about " teacher’s say she gets it but can’t seem to get the A for some reason or another" I can write the book on that. I was talking to his honors Chem teacher and he said that DS is brightest in the class and understands everything but ended up with a C+ at semester. URGH!!! Got his PSAT and is at the tippy top. Also, plugged into naviance and could find no one with a B average with high SAT scores. Oh well, gottta love em. The good thing is that he wants a small LAC with outdoor stuff to do. That’s it. We are heading up to the PNW this April. We live in S.D. CA. Keep me posted on your DD’s college search.</p>