<p>I don’t drink coffee, so I have a very educated wall!</p>
<p>My '12 son was tutored this summer for the SAT he will take in November. I knew the school year would be too crazy and tutoring would never happen. He did agree to it in the summer at my insistence, but has not looked at the SAT prep book since he shut it the first week of August. I said something the other day and he said “Yeah, I was thinking I should do that.” (But please be assured that he hasn’t.) He is another high math/low critical reading guy. We’ll see. We are all in good company. </p>
<p>We are going to tour the University of Richmond and Drexel University(in Philadelphia) over our fall break long weekend in October. He likes Drexel for the co-op program and likes Richmond for their business program. Anybody have any experience with either of those schools?</p>
<p>seiclan and Igloo - same here! My 2012 S will barely tolerate advice on study habits (he’s the one that needs it) and my 8th grader loves the help (and he doesn’t really need it). this leads me to believe the resistance may have to do with feeling defensive. For my younger son, looking at his planner and studying for tests feels like positive attention for him. For my 2012 S, looking at his unused planner and asking when he’s going to start his paper feels like negative attention. I’m trying to figure out how to turn that around - how to make it not trigger defensiveness on his part when I want to help him get more organized.</p>
<p>As far as SAT, he’s going to take it in November and is just taking a couple practice tests first as practice. I’m hoping he does well and doesn’t have to take it again! So far, the writing section is his lowest score. </p>
<p>Biggest news of the year though - S just started his first dating relationship. She seems really nice (he’s a great judge of character), but I just hope he doesn’t spend the next few weeks with his head in the clouds while his grades slip. I think she’s a good student with very strict parents, so who knows - it may bring his grades up! Hmmmm…maybe SHE can get him to study regularly!</p>
<p>I’m interested everyone’s doing these early SATs. GC recommended D not take the first SAT until March. He said kids are developing so mightily at this age that he thinks it makes sense to wait, and that made sense to me for D, (she’s young, won’t be 17 till next summer, and I think a low first SAT grade might be more of a confidence drain than anything else.) </p>
<p>Very interesting pinot noir, re positive and negative attention. I’m always aware of that with D-- she can feel it either way and I have to find just the right times to discuss it! (Often when she’s busiest-- because she’s at her most confident then.)</p>
<p>Gwen - My son is taking the SAT in November because I learned from my older child that it is easy to run out of time to get everything done before applications start senior year. Between AP exams, the SAT, SAT subject tests, and the ACT, it’s just crazy.</p>
<p>My '12 son will take the SAT reasoning exam in March and again in May, if necessary. I think the additional few months will give him time to learn and mature, which will only help. He’ll take subject tests in October, then again in June. My '10 daughter did the same thing with good results.</p>
<p>I guess I should add my son’s sports schedule into the mix as to why things get crazy at certain times of the year. He is playing soccer now and plays baseball in the spring. November is a good time for him. He is not busy with sports and it is not the end of the quarter. January would also be okay for him, but he may be applying to one of our local schools for a scholars program and they want the SAT done by late January, so we’re trying not to wait until the last minute.</p>
<p>PN - That’s an interesting observation about negative attention. It sometimes feels like me doing a body search when I ask about her plans.</p>
<p>My D is also taking the SAT in November. Her GC recommends the same thing about taking the SAT next yea. In their case, it is because of the math. Some have not taken pre-cal and algebra yet. My D is fresher at the beginning of school year. We are taking advantage of that.</p>
<p>BUandBC - My kid is a humanity type. I am not in tune with Engineering schools. I did hear good things about Drexel co-op program. Something about excellent job placement. Hope others who are in the field to chime in.</p>
<p>Gwen, my D is taking the SAT in October because winter will be for the ACT and spring is for AP tests and SAT subject tests. We consider her first ACT and SAT baselines, anyway. To us, they’re “ballpark” exercises to guide us on refining the list of schools and planning summer tours. (Several tours will require time off from work, air fare, and hotels. So I can’t afford to leave much of that planning for spur of the moment.) </p>
<p>Oh, and she also has the athlete factor. Fall is her “off season,” so she might as well use it for an SAT (and drivers ed).</p>
<p>Good morning everyone from a beautiful morning in So Cal!! My DS has gone to calling me a helicopter parent because I dare to ask him anything about his classes this year, study skills, SAT prep, etc… I texted him to see if he knew the right place to meet his SAT tutor because she changed the place and he texted back with : chop chop chop chop. I didn’t get it till he explained it was the sound of a helicopter… LOL!!!</p>
<p>He is taking the SAT in Nov. Same thing here with GC’s saying to wait till Spring. Unfortunately my DS is going to be in Vermont at a school for second semester and I would rather him take it once before he goes. He may take it again in May if his scores aren’t there yet. He will take the SAT II’s in June when he gets home. I’m thinking of having him take the ACT too sometime. He is usually a good test taker… great reader, so he is not in any way test anxious. Also the PSAT is in a few weeks so maybe after all this prep he will end up NM commended. He has great CR and WR scores but M is the problem. I’m hoping all the time he has spent with the tutor will help. She said that M is the easiest to prep for. He is a pretty busy kid, with SAT, AP classes, play practice, work, and he is the Chapter Chief for a scouting organization called OA. His tutor has told him to work hard now and you might be able to be finished with the SAT I. I’m skeptical. He is actually sleeping right now, but he has a full day ahead of him of SAT homework and regular school homework. I hope he hangs in there for another month. Thank God he got his license this summer or I would be exhausted with all this driving.</p>
<p>For parents of boys the best thing we can do might be to convince college adcoms to give boys a pass on the test scores. Most of the boys don’t seriously prepare for the tests and the scores wouldn’t say much about them either. Maybe adcoms know that already.</p>
<p>If you look at the male/female ratio, you can guess that boys are probably getting a pass already. Tough to find a campus not dominated by female members. I am sure everyone would like to see even representation of gender.</p>
<p>Same reasoning for us re: when to take the SAT. S will have 4 AP tests and finals in May - I want the SAT done and out of the way before all that. Also, it’s nice to have them done before senior year starts, so all he has to think about is getting the college list finalized & working on applications (well, and school - ha). So it feels right to me to have him take one this fall and then one in Feb or March if he needs it. We’ll probably squeeze a subject test in sometime in the spring. </p>
<p>I’m so torn between thinking kids are way too over-tested, and at the same time, needing to play the game right along with everyone else.</p>
<p>Well, I hope that by postponing this SAT until January my son will gain some SAT reading skills and some more maturity. He will take the chemistry SAT 2 in May, during AP exams because he can study for it at the same time. He already did the math 2 SAT last June so I think that is all he needs. He can take the June SAT (for a second SAT) since he is basically done with the serious classes after the May aps. He only has two none AP classes. He will only have a few final exams the week before the June 4th SAT so it is doable.</p>
<p>D is going to take the SAT in January. She did an SAT prep course during the summer, but has not opened her book in the month since her last class. She said she wanted to do SAT in January as she would be able to study over Christmas break.</p>
<p>BUandBC82 - We have a friend who’s son graduated from Drexel 1 1/2 years ago. He really liked the school. I think his major was something to do with the music/recording business. He was from SoCal and my friend ended up buying a house there for her son’s final two years which worked out well for her.</p>
<p>Since D did the prep during the summer (and a quick wrap up scheduled for this Saturday), Oct seems like a good time. Her EC’s kick into high gear in another week, with a major commitment next April. She loves her EC’s, so now is the time to get a baseline. March will likely be a retake, with SAT subject tests in May. If she wants to do an ACT, we will have to work it in somewhere. She has major testing in May–4 AP’s and two IB SL tests. She adds another class in the Spring semester, too…so minimizing the time crunch is critical.</p>
<p>Mom of a very independent boy here too. DS doesn’t want to talk about school work, grades or test prep with me. At all. Ever. Ok, maybe sometimes, but he has to bring it up and I have to keep my comments very limited. Trying hard to let him take the lead.</p>
<p>I think our plan is to take the SAT I in March, AP’s (3) and one SAT II (Bio) in May and retest on the SAT I in June or fall of his senior year if he needs to. I think he’ll be pretty prepared for the SAT II bio by the AP exam (and the fact that he took Living Bio as a freshman, so this is his 2nd year for bio). He has already taken the SAT II in World history and I think he only needs to take two SAT II’s for most schools. He might need to take an SAT II in Math depending on which schools he chooses. He can take that in Oct of his senior year if he really needs to. </p>
<p>I think DS will test ok, but not great. His GPA will be in the 3.7 to 3.8 range. He will apply to good schools, but not Ivy or “next down” either. I think his scores will be fine but not stellar. He was very confident on the AP and SAT II for World History. He scored a 4 and a 740 on the tests. The 4 suprised us both, as he really loved the material and thought he did well. So, I’m not going to freak out about the SAT. He’ll get a tutor for a few months and we’ll go with whatever he gets. He will get into a good school for him and he will have a wonderful life. He will get into a good school…my mantra, did I type that out loud?</p>
<p>Thank goodness they offer the SAT every month so we can all fit it into our kids’ individual schedules! </p>
<p>Do most of your kids have finals in AP classes on top of the AP test? I just thought about the fact that my son’s school counts finals as 20% of the semester grade, so they must take a final, right? I’ll have to check into that.</p>
<p>How long does the SAT 1 test take? My D was planning to take it in November. She is asked to play in a school play that has a show at 2 the same day. Can she get there if she takes the test in the morning? Would it be too distracting?</p>
<p>Iglooo, iirc, the SAT starts at 8:00 am. I think S’10 would be home between noon and 1:00pm. But, his brain would be fried. So, I don’t think your D will have a scheduling issue with the play. But she might have a concentration issue. :o</p>
<p>Going through this with my D, I know that the exam starts at 8 and takes about 4 hours. However, they don’t start exactly at 8, and there’s some chaos as they all let out, so you have to figure on 5 hrs, which brings it to around 1 PM. It really depends on the kid…some want to crash, and some want a distraction. Personally, I’d probably vote for the side of not doing the play so she doesn’t have anything else to think about.</p>
<p>cross-posted with DB.</p>
<p>eta: My D didn’t crash, but she did some mindless thing like roam the mall with her friends. Performing in a play sounds like it might be too intense.</p>