<p>S took the ACT today, but he’s never taken it before so he wouldn’t know how it compared to past tests. He did say that time was more of an issue than it is on the SAT. </p>
<p>seiclan - my inclination was not to put S’s high school on the SAT test, because they show the test scores on transcripts also (all of them though). But I didn’t ever mention that to S, and he filled it in, so now his scores will all appear on transcripts. You know, with my 2010 S, we just kind of felt like we didn’t really want to worry about it or try to guess what colleges would think - we sent all the scores to all of his colleges and didn’t worry about it. I think that will be our approach this time too. S is taking the SAT twice and the ACT once, and a couple SAT II’s. We’ll send all the SAT scores in, and if the ACT is comparable, we’ll send it too. It’ll all be fine.</p>
<p>Wow - we are above freezing today and it feels GREAT!</p>
<p>Igloo: We did not send the free SAT score report to DD’s 1st choice because we did not know what her score would be. If she bombed it, we would use score choice to hide it - and just take it again. Turns out it was a good score, so we will have to pay to send it to first choice next fall. But the score was already sent to the state flagship and 3 matches, so we will save a little money there.</p>
<p>Hi mihcal1! It’s far enough away that I had to sit and think about it to realize my youngest S is 2015! I’ll hop over and check it out, but I’m not thinking about college yet - we still don’t even know what high school he’s going to!</p>
<p>My youngest just wants to follow in her sister’s footsteps. Not just about what HS, but most everything. Which is pretty funny, because personality-wise (and appearance-wise) they are as different as night-and-day. </p>
<p>I’ve actually had busy-body folks walk up to me and ask “are they both yours?” and when I answer affirmatively, follow-up with “from the same father?” !!!</p>
<p>Mihcal, you’ll be sunning in CA after 2015 and I’ll still be on cc. My youngest is the class of 2020. This is the first time I’ve seen it in writing and it’s scary! I suppose it gives me time to perfect this college thing…</p>
<p>D will be playing in a tournament during the March SAT so she will take it in May. She’s working on a short college list of 4 (more to appease me, Im sure.). Remember, she’s the one who made her choice early. I know she would not choose to go to that school if sports wasn’t part of the picture so I’m encouraging her to apply to other schools just in case she changes her mind about playing in college. She also plans to attend grad school so if we pay for undergrad and then grad, money will be an issue. So much to think about…</p>
<p>My DH was an only child, born when his mom and dad were 20yo and 21yo. He went away to college, on full scholarship when he was 17yo. His parents were DONE and scott-free when they were 37 and 38yo!</p>
<p>Anyone’s kid talking about junior prom yet? At D2’s new school, they don’t have a junior prom, but today D2 just asked me if we would fly her back home to go to her old school’s junior prom. It then dawn on me that it’s about that time of the year. Her old school’s junior prom is 2 days before her spring break, so we agreed to let her go if she could get a date. We are going to take the opportunity to visit some colleges.</p>
<p>^^ so sweet oldfort! We have senior prom but the juniors sponsor a winter dance that was a huge hit last Friday. And next week is February break-- phew!</p>
<p>Jr. Prom isn’t till April around here. DS dates a Senior so he went to the Jr prom last year. I’m hoping that they just go to senior prom this year as I really don’t want to spend all that money on two proms!</p>
<p>So, DS asked me what I think about his summer plans. He has applied to a summer internship to work with a professor at the local state University for 8 weeks. It is a great program and he gets $1000 to bring with him to the lab for the prof to spend. If he gets this award he will do it, without a question. However, if he doesn’t win the “award” several of the professors he contacted for the program would be willing to have him come in and work in the lab anyways and get great research experience. He is interested in marine bio/bio with an eye on going to graduate school or med school. So, he could spend his summer working 40 hours a week indoors in a lab getting great research experience. Or…</p>
<p>He has also been offered by the head of a local private school to work all summer for money as a sailing instructor at their camp. My DS loves to sail and would have a GREAT time spending his summer on the water and working towards becoming a “Captain”. He would also be making some money. </p>
<p>DS is a smart boy, but not HPY smart like many of the kids here on CC. He has a 95.6%W/93.4UW GPA and will break the 2000 mark on his SATs, but how much above 2000 we don’t know yet. He also has great ECs already (Ocean Bowl champs, Model UN gavel winner and working on the campaign of a Congressman last year). So, to get into Cornell or Brown, of course he should do the research. But, I don’t think he’s going to get into Brown or Cornell with or without the research job. So, next step down in colleges is U of Miami or Binghampton or who knows. For these schools, he probably doesn’t need to show research and he could have a great summer doing what he loves. </p>
<p>geogirl - we are working with a private counselor. He told D2 to do something which is 1) competitive (winning a place at a highly regarded summer program), 2) do something which aligns with her personal interest. She likes photography and writing, so if she doesn’t get into one of those summer programs, she is going to a summer school for photography or writing.</p>
<p>I would tell your son to do sailing. It would be a great summer for him and it wouldn’t look bad on his application. A lot of adcoms would be able to relate to a young man teaching sailing over a summer (wishing they could do it). I would have my kid spend the summer in the sun and have a great memory of it.</p>
<p>geogirl - I don’t hesitate to tell my kids when I don’t know the right way to go. I would probably say that there isn’t a wrong answer here - he’s going to have to think of every pro and con he can and then just pick one. I would make sure he gives it some thought - maybe even make a list of pros and cons. It will be good practice for other tough choices he’ll have to make down the road!</p>
<p>I will say that i think research experience like you’re describing looks good to lots of colleges, not just Ivy’s. Another consideration is that it will be something on his resume when he’s applying to TA positions, research positions while he’s in college, and future summer paid research positions. </p>
<p>And that’s coming from someone whose son teaches sailing full time all summer and has for years! He loves it, he needs the money, and he gets a nice tan! I did tell him this year that if he wanted to do something academic over the summer we would make it happen financially, but he’s pretty happy with his summers. He’s also a kid that is pretty burned out by the end of the school year, so I think that time out in the fresh air is really really good for him.</p>
<p>DS started looking for his date to jr prom the weekend after the winter formal. He was already model for the prom fashion show at school. Since he doesn’t have a regular girlfriend, there was a lot of juggling around for a few days. He finally asked his date a few weeks ago, so he appears to be relaxed and ready. Now it is about keeping down the expense.</p>
<p>This is why I love CC; one post and already some great advice! </p>
<p>Thanks Oldfort for sharing your private counselor’s advice. I think it is pretty good! </p>
<p>Pinot: That is pretty much exactly what I told him: I don’t really know the answer, there doesn’t seem to be a “right” answer, he seems to have the stats to get into the schools he will enjoy and it really is up to him. </p>
<p>I think I will stress to him that if he gets into the competitive summer program, he should take it and otherwise, he should do what he wants (sailing!).</p>
<p>oldfort - we cross posted, my post wasn’t answering yours! I didn’t think your post sounded like you didn’t think he should be the one making the choice at all!</p>
<p>My son is similar academically Geogirl. He currently has 3.8 uw/4.3 w GPA. He dosen’t want to do anything this summer and I am not happy about it. I know that he needs to have something significant on his college applications for how he spent his summer and we are meeting with a private guidance counselor next week who will tell him the same. I have gotten millions of brochures about interesting academic and not academic/fun summer stuff but he has no interest. He is who he is and he gets pretty burned out by June and needs the summer to decompress and likes to be unstructured to do it. There will be colleges for him that won’t care how he spent his summers, of this I am quite sure. We just have to find them!!!</p>
<p>Junior Prom is always a disaster in our school and yet parents will die before allowing the school to eliminate it. In the past it was held in the high school gym, teachers and some kids would work tirelessly on it, and then the kids would show up for about one hour or less then board two buses (vomit and non-vomit) to go nightclubbing. Other kids would stay a little while longer then go bowling and to another party. What a waste!</p>
<p>Last year they tried to change that by renting a place, didn’t work, cost more. This year they decided to have a dinner instead, those kids who didn’t go nightclubbing are upset with just a dinner. The class President tried to get the kids to vote for a boat dance but we do that for 8th graders so they didn’t want that.</p>
<p>What is the point of a Junior Prom? I’m from the city and a child of the '60s we didn’t have proms so I guess I’m just not a fan.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing that, oldfort, it is such sensible advice. It sounds like either of those choices would show responsibility and dedication. And be really fun.</p>
<p>D will be working on the water this summer, and in the theater-- she outlined a plan this morning by which she’d work on the boat 4 days a week and do a show in one theater 2 days a week. Then she’d do a show at the other theater 3 nights and work in the box office 2 more nights. 80 hours a week sounds about right to her --this is not something she inherited from me!</p>
<p>Maybe dances work because we have no nightclubs around here? The kids rent the Sheraton ballroom and a rent-a-cop, make a big deal of the lights and sound, etc., and 350 of them dance like mad. I know lots do drink but not D and friends-- it’s dress up and have a good time. I laughed at the kids who went to my prom back in the day-- it was SO uncool! But I think that makes me enjoy it all the more!</p>
We are going to take the opportunity to visit some colleges.</p>