<p>It will be nice to know we’re all thinking good thoughts for the SAT’s together on Saturday. That might work as well as mints, or Mozart, who knows? Angry Dad I’m glad your daughter is really going for what she wants-- that in itself is one key to success. I’m reading Loren Pope’s other book Beyond the Ivy League. He’s on a soapbox, but still he has so many wonderful points to make-- one of them is about how to really search for a school, looking beyond the hype. </p>
<p>D has a plan for next year that involves no math or science at all. She has a visual/spatial ld that has meant she has to take the lower level math/sci and still barely understands it. She’ll usually manage a B+ given mostly for hard work-- most of the kids in these classes don’t care, pay no attention, etc. </p>
<p>So D is intending to take AP Psych, AP Gov, AP Art History, Shakespeare, Music Theory, Honors Chorus, Independent Voice. I told her it’s between her and her wonderful GC-- I understand her plight, and if he feels comfortable with it as the best way of challenging herself, godspeed.</p>
<p>Last night as I was falling asleep D came in, sat on the end of the bed and asked if I really agreed. I said yes, she pressed on-- really? After a few reallys, I said I had some reservations, but… Aha! She leapt to her feet. “I PASSIONATELY disagree with you!” she began. </p>
<p>As touching in some way as her first steps…</p>
<p>Lots of new information on this board!! I’m looking forward to hearing reports of all the college visits over spring break. We currently live in South America so although we did do some college visits the fall (while in the U.S.), my daughter now has expanded her list of schools she is interested in. </p>
<p>MizzBee - I second the idea of Eckerd. My daughter visited with the rep at a CTCL fair and was very impressed. She now thinks she wants a bigger school, but so far it is her favorite college brochure (a gorgeous large photograph of the school - right on the beach!) </p>
<p>Apollo 6 - I am also wondering about the summer programs. My d only applied to 2 - one is very selective and the other doesn’t seem to be as selective, but she will need either financial aid or a scholarship to attend. Since we are overseas, she needs a residential program that is either free or low cost. Most of those are very selective, of course. Let’s hope for the best! I don’t think my daughter will apply to any additional programs as she doesn’t want to ask for any more teacher recs.</p>
<p>I’m wondering based on the info here if my d should take the ACT. She is a very fast reader and a fast test taker. She did well on the SAT in Jan, but her CR score was significantly lower than her PSAT CR score. So she is planning on retaking the SAT in June.<br>
I guess we’ll wait and see how she does before considering the ACT.</p>
<p>I’ve really enjoyed reading this thread. I don’t have much experience to contribute, but it’s fun to hear about the different interests and strengths of all of your kids.</p>
<p>LOL Gwen! My husband is going to be making the kids eggs & bacon & toast on Saturday morning, plus OJ and coffee. Oh yeah, then Mozart and mints. That should do it, right? <em>whimper</em></p>
<p>I’m so nervous for them. I’m going out with friends tomorrow night so I don’t sit around the house and stare at my kids. Emily’s actually working a shift at Rita’s from 6:00-10:00, which I think is a good idea because it will keep her mind off the test. As long as she’s tucked in by 11:00, she’s golden…now if she can just fall asleep. I’m less worried about Bryan. He’s a test-taking machine. :D</p>
<p>I just thought that I would add to the ACT versus SAT discussion. After researching both I thought my daughter would do better on the ACT and so she took the ACT last June. While she did well, she was rushed for time on all the sections and afterwards we decided that it would be difficult for her to significantly improve her score on the ACT. So, she took the SAT last December and found the critical reading and writing sections to be easier than those on the ACT and found that at least on those two sections she was not running out of time, except for the essay. Now she did have a problem running out of time on the math sections, but at least the time issue was confined to just the math sections. Her critical reading and writing scores from the December test were excellent, but she will be taking the SAT again this Saturday to try and improve her math score, which was 200 points less than her average score on the other two sections.</p>
<p>Eckerd is definitely on his radar…it even gets a pass for being a hippie school with no Greek life because he gets to be on the beach. He loved the rep at the CTCL fair. I would love to visit the campus, especially next winter. It’s funny, this fall he was completely against Southern schools but between the blizzard and the below-freezing temps for weeks at a time and he is rethinking the South.</p>
<p>LOL JenPam! But sadly, no…that won’t do it at all. I also have a large picture of an ostrich with teeth that we leave out for anyone in the family getting pumped up for something. I’ll be taping that onto the shower stall in the morning. You should google it - you really don’t want to take any chances with those scores. ;)</p>
<p>And I just have to say this morning - my heart is going out to all of those in Japan. The damage from the earthquake & tsunami look devastating. I hope Hawaii escapes severe damage.</p>
<p>Good luck on the upcoming SAT to all test takers. I didn’t hear about it until after the ACT but H lent S his stuffed extra brain cell that his sister sent him as a gag gift for his birthday. S kept it in his backpack and it seems to have worked some magic . Anyone want to borrow it?</p>
<p>I will definitely google that ostrich! It’s nice we’re all in it together. And all together in wishing the best for Japan-- this is beyond belief.</p>
<p>D12 woke up with a start this morning 6:47 remembering that she’s supposed to be at 7:00am orchestra rehearsal. She sobbed once, saying that she’d set two alarms but neither had gone off. I told her “you can still make it if you don’t waste time crying.” She was dressed and grabbed her books in <5min. I handed her some toast as she got in the car. It was 6:58 when I dropped her off at the back alley behind the school. </p>
<p>These kids have too much on their plates. The deadlines are relentless. Big math test and history presentation yesterday. Multiple forms due this week (for registration, CSF, permissions slips for events). Big chem test today. A different schedule / different start time ever day. Too much to juggle!</p>
<p>CMC- my DD also thinks that the time pressure on the ACT would work to her disadvantage. The question she has is whether she needs to take the ACT to qualify for merit money at our state flagship. We’re in one of those ACT states. The web site says the base the large merit scholarships on ACT scores and grades. I’m wondering if SAT scores will work.</p>
<p>I agree! My 2012 S doesn’t participate in many school EC’s, so he’s not overscheduled in that way, but school does seem like such a grind - tests, deadlines, over-sized (in my opinion) punishments for being tardy, etc. We have an 8th grader and are having trouble deciding which school to send him to - huge public with the pace on the treadmill set to high speed, or smaller school where the academics don’t reach as high but kids aren’t constantly hanging onto their schedules by their fingernails. I thought we’d be closer to a decision by now!</p>
<p>Good luck to all the kids testing tomorrow! I think I’ll take S out for ice cream when he gets home.</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter on her summer programs. That’s my daughter’s hesitation, too. She’s already had to ask for recommendations three times this year. If she doesn’t get a scholarship she will have to find a job or internship because I don’t have $ to pay for a summer program. Re. the ACT, I definitely think is worth the time and money to try it. My kids have always scored better on it than the SAT -probably because they are so verbal. The science test is basically a reading/scientific reasoning test about interpreting data. All in all it is like 3 verbal tests and 1 math (plus writing) instead of 1 reading, 1 writing and 1 math like the SAT. My daughter would probably never take the SAT again and just concentrate on the SAT but she unexpectedly hit 800 on the SAT CR the Saturday before the PSAT. She was just taking the SAT to get ready for the PSAT. Unfortunately, she ended up doing better on the SAT than the PSAT so she will only get commended in our state. Still, she thinks she might take the SAT in hopes of doing better in math and writing in order to have a higher “super score”. It is so different than when I was in high school and only took one test two times (which was one more time than most of my classmates). My D could get into my alma mater, I think, but only because she is so much more prepared for college than I ever was.</p>
<p>Good luck to all those with kids taking the SAT tomorrow. </p>
<p>mihcal - that’s amazing that your daughter could get ready so fast! Hope things calm down a bit for her.</p>
<p>Apollo 6 - Congratulations on your D’s 800 CR score. Interestingly, my D scored 80 in CR on the PSAT, but not as well on the SAT. However, she scored unexpectedly well on the SAT math, so with the superscore will take it again to see if she can get a better CR score. Thanks for the additional ACT info. Is there any reason to do any extra prep for the ACT?</p>
<p>Apollo6-
“All in all it is like 3 verbal tests and 1 math (plus writing) instead of 1 reading, 1 writing and 1 math like the SAT.” That is what I thought and that is why I had my daughter take the ACT first. So, we were later surprised to find that she did significantly better on the non-math sections of the SAT. I do not know why this was true for my daughter, maybe it was just the time pressure of the ACT.</p>
<p>Here’s an idea. Schedule the SAT ridiculously early in the morning so that test takers have to completely alter their lives to get a decent night’s sleep beforehand.</p>
<p>HAHAHAHAHA! That’s exactly what I was thinking when I dropped S off this morning. </p>
<p>Good luck to all the kids! This is S’s last SAT - he just wants to bring his CR score up from last time. He didn’t study one little bit for it though, so I guess we’re hoping for the magic to kick in and somehow make his score better this time around? </p>
<p>On another note, my youngest son (8th grade) had opening night last night for his middle school musical theater production. I was choking back tears the whole way though the show! Not just for him, but for every kid up there, putting themselves out there and doing their best. It was a beautiful thing!</p>
. Anyone want to borrow it?</p>