<p>I am striking out in getting any information out of my kid about her recent college visit. I thought only boys were supposed to answer questions in words with one or two syllables. I offered to take her one day soon to see a state school two hours away or to see a smaller private university a few hours in the other direction and she was not the least bit interested. Her answer was I can’t go anytime soon since I have way toooooo much work to get done.</p>
<p>this has probably already been mentioned but it might not hurt to start reviewing the common data sets about now. we did some of that last night and will take another look once PSAT, SAT and ACT scores are in.</p>
<p>5Boys… My older D said the same thing. “I won’t go to any schools in California.” Guess what? She is at UCLA and loving it. Never say never…</p>
<p>My younger D is so stressed. She is in a 4x4, and as you know, she got pneumonia. So, she missed her finals for her first quarter, and the last week of school before them. She took incompletes, and is now trying to make up that work, in addition to doing the next quareter’s work. Its exhausting… especially since she is still recovering. I feel so bad for her. The worse classes are APUSH and AP Art History. Luckily, her Journalism teacher just gave her an A minus, and the benefit of the doubt, so she only has 3 classes to make up. She spent the better part of Veteran’s Day weekend doing homework. She will do the same for Thanksgiving Day break. She is trying to get caught up and done before the Winter Break so she can actually have a vacation. I’m so glad she took the SAT in October before she got sick…</p>
<p>chrissyblu - I hope your D feels better soon. What a terrible time to be sick with pneumonia!</p>
<p>Chrissyblu I hope she gets it all behind her in a hurry. Do watch the fatigue…it plagued our D for a long time after pnemonia. She wasn’t happy being sick during the summer, but if she had to be sick that was the time. I hope your D is all caught up and able to enjoy the winter holiday.</p>
<p>Hi, I am new to this forum. My oldest daughter is a junior, and it has been fun to read your posts this morning. I have a few questions for those of you who have some insight into the college prep process (and forgive me if they have been addressed in earlier posts). I have been searching online for answers to the following questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My daughter is considering two honors level science courses next year (physics and A & P --these are not offered at the AP level at her school). She has already taken honors bio, honors chem and is taking AP chem now. My gut tells me to encourage her to select courses that she is excited about rather than fill her schedule with APs (such as Psych and Bio) to boost her GPA. Her plan would lower her class rank because the school weights AP courses higher (she will complete 7 APs in total while the top ranked kids will have 10-11). I guess the question is --whats more important for college applications GPA or a planned course of study? (her grades in honors and AP courses are similar, mostly As).</p></li>
<li><p>She would like to work in a lab this summer and will be applying for some highly competitive internships. There are some tuition-based options in the area too (e.g., Boston University) but I am not sure I want to pay $$ so she can get some research experience… what advice can you give? </p></li>
<li><p>I am amazed by the testing that transpires junior year (SATS, ACT, APs, SAT IIs, national exams/competitions). My daughter told me she will take 10 exams this year (and that assumes taking the SATs and ACTs only once). This is crazy! Boy, did we have it easy. How do you help your children balance test prep with everything else they do? Any words of wisdom for mom?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Welcome Pathways! My oldest is a junior so my advice is not based on actual experience, just my thoughts. If your DD is aiming for Ivy caliber schools, then the highest classes offered at your school are the best bet, as long as she can do well in them. However, if your DD is a strong student, has shown some leadership potential and is aiming for top 50 schools, then I’d say let her take “only honors” in the areas she doesn’t feel as strong or concentrate on classes she will enjoy. My son will have 7 APs too, and most kids at our school have between 6 and 9, depending on who they are. Our school offers one AP in their sophomore year and everything else has to be squeezed in Jr and Sr years. Good luck and welcome!</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick reply geogirl. DD has no clue where she wants to go to school. On the one hand she wants to go to a research university to study chemistry, today anyway. --I think she needs a place where she can be exposed to the various biomedical sciences. On the other hand, she wants a school where she can continue with track (and she has stats for Div III schools, but not DI or DII). And DD wants the school to be in a large city. We haven’t figured out where this magical school is yet! (actually, one friend has suggested Univ. of Toronto and John Hopkins. And nearby Tufts seems like a good fit). </p>
<p>Based on what you said, I think she needs to come up with a list of prospective of schools BEFORE selecting her senior courses in March. </p>
<p>Hope your son is further along in college-selection than DD.</p>
<p>Any thoughts on the value of (tuition based) summer research programs?</p>
<p>I don’t know about Division III track, but perhaps that is a good place to start. Check the schools that are Div III against strong bio or chem programs and see what you find. However, good schools with strong Bio/Chem (my husband is a PhD Biochemist) schools in or near a city are not hard to come by. Off the top of my head:</p>
<p>Boston U
Brandeis
Vandy
Colgate (Div I, though, I think)
Miami U
Rice
U Chicago
Amherst
Penn</p>
<p>As you can see, some of these are top 20, others top 50 and it really depends on what kind of kid your DD is. Is her GPA 3.8 or higher with anticipated SAT scores above 2250? Or is her GPA 3.6ish with antcipated SAT scores around 2000? Those stats will help determine which schools she is more apt to get into and do well at. </p>
<p>As for internships, I’d try for the free ones. Local universities are a good place to start. The AP Chem or AP bio teacher at your DD’s HS should have contacts. Another place to look is local biotech/pharma companies. My DH has had HS students come in for interships, although they mostly support college students. I’m pretty sure most Biotech/pharma companies won’t turn down a free pair of hands though. My son will be trying for an internship at a local university through his AP Bio teacher. Good luck!</p>
<p>Sorry for dominating this thread --I haven’t been able to find parents of juniors who would be interested in this level of analysis/planning. The guidance meeting for parents of juniors is scheduled in early February, so I really appreciate the responses!</p>
<p>About geogirl’s question about GPA, how should I calculate this on a 4 point scale? Her school weights grades; she has a 4.35 out of 4.67. So do I apply a ratio (4.35/4.67 X 4.0) or do I strip the weights off the grade and recalculate (in which case it would be a 3.83)? We should know the conventional method --D has to report it on the summer internship apps. About test scores --we are awaiting her October PSAT results to get a sense of her SAT prep abilities/needs this year. As a sophomore her PSATs were neither concerning nor stella (low-mid 60s on the subsections). </p>
<p>Thanks for the list below…I will pass it on to D. Is there a website that lists/ranks strong bio/chem schools? The search tool here at CC let’s you limit school by majors but this fails to narrow the field as most schools offer biology and chem in some form.</p>
<p>Pathways, there’s a forum for science majors (if you click on Discussion Home, the other forums are displayed)-- but I’d consider starting a thread here on the parents’ forum, where there are a lot of active posters with lots and lots of experience who’d be happy to help think on this subject (or any other!). I do know that Colgate isn’t near any cities, though! </p>
<p>And I’m glad you’re here! I too am getting an early start–D is a theater kid and they really need the extra lead time as they often have to apply and be accepted to a school and THEN audition for the theater dept. And I’m jealous of those 2011 people who’ve been working on this together for a while! </p>
<p>The GPA thing is a total mystery to me-- I try to use our school’s Naviance account as much as possible because it compares apples to apples–shows the weighted GPA’s of kids from our school who’ve applied and gotten into various schools. But other people can help with that too.</p>
<p>Thanks Gwen, not sure what Naviance is but will ask school if we subscribe to it-- sounds neat. Too bad that colleges won’t allow early auditions for serious applicants. Another level of uncertainty/stress for you both! </p>
<p>I will take your suggestion about posting a new thread about urban universities for science majors (but after the psat scores are in and I can word the question appropriately --top schools or strong-but-not-the-top schools).</p>
<p>Yes I expect this thread will light up once PSAT’s are back. Naviance is great if your school is big enough and sends kids to a variety of schools–gives very specific, relevant information D’s school gave the kids passwords at the beginning of this year so they could do their own research–your guidance dept. can help you if they subscribe. (There are various threads about calculating GPA but there are so many variables it seems impossible!)</p>
<p>So, I saw D’s GC today and, because she has a real problem in Math and really can’t go further than pre-calc (she’s on a 504 plan for visual/spatial problems), I asked him how we were going to show rigor in her senior schedule without a math class next year. He asked me what schools she was interested in and then said, matter of fact, that he would call up the adcoms at those schools, explain the situation, and ask what they’d suggest! This is a rural public high school, and most of the kids will go to the state flagship. I cannot believe how lucky we are to have this guy as a GC!!</p>
<p>Gwen, does your school offer statistics? Many kids in our HS who don’t want to go on to Calculus (which is only offered AP level) take AP Statistics senior year as their “math” although statistics is really more about probability than actual math.</p>
<p>Gwen - I love that your guidance counselor is being so proactive! </p>
<p>We don’t have much new going on here. Just getting ready for the holidays! I’m really looking forward to having my older son home for Thanksgiving (he’s a freshman).</p>
<p>Quick question - does anyone know when Nov Sat result will come out?</p>
<p>Oldfort - I was thinking the same things I keep checking college board home page :(</p>
<p>Calc/ AP/ Statistics: I wonder Gwen if you can enroll as a distant learner for Calc or Statistics. Might be an option where she can self pace and then you submit the transcript on your own. I am impressed that your GC is going above and beyond! Starbucks coffee card for the holidays might be a nice idea.</p>
<p>For those taking pre calc in 11th - is it better to take Calc or AP Statistics as a senior? Which would colleges rather see?</p>
<p>^ Either calc or both. I wouldn’t advise a senior to just take AP Stats unless his/her interests were entirely outside of math, science or economics.</p>
<p>IJustDrive - my junior has no interest in math, science or economics so I guess she will be good taking AP Stats next year as she has no interest in AP Calc.</p>