<p>D gets her SAT scores tomorrow too. I can hardly bear to think about it. Not because I want them to be perfect, but because I so much want them to reflect what I know she is capable of in college. She’s a very good student, very diligent and a hard worker, but not the best test taker. :-/</p>
<p>Summer camps. Got the e-mail from Cornell yesterday. Their listings are up at [Home</a> / Cornell Summer College](<a href=“http://www.summercollege.cornell.edu%5DHome”>http://www.summercollege.cornell.edu) BUT man are they expensive! I was looking for more of a 1-2 week no credit intro to sciences to help the kid define what he wants to study. College credit is not at all necessary. Any suggestions? Northeast please.</p>
<p>Good luck to all of you getting scores today!</p>
<p>S3 got his SAT scores. He and S2 stayed up playing video games until the scores went online at 2 AM (west coast time). The highlight was a 710 in the math section. The CR and W scores were in the mid 500’s so he will be taking it again. Definitely nice to have a baseline. So we are not expecting any miracles from the PSAT.</p>
<p>Congrats to TX’s son on the 710 in math on the SAT! That’s great. :-)</p>
<p>I was pleased with D’s first SAT score. She gained 100 points over her adjusted junior year PSAT score and a total of 190 points over her adjusted Sophomore year PSAT score. Cheers for the upward trend! She did really well in CR, pretty well in Writing and her math was stable. That is the area she will need to bring up some more. She got a 10 on her essay. </p>
<p>:-)</p>
<p>S’13 got his SAT scores as well. He did great, but fell just 20 points short of his goal. His CR was outstanding, but his M was a little lower than he wanted (still very high) and his W was well below the other two (but still in the mid 600s). His reaction was “pretty good, but I can do better.”</p>
<p>I think we’ve got a little ying and yang thing here on this one. He did very well and should be proud, but his expectations are very high for himself. He is aware of what it takes to be considered at the very top schools, but this seems less about schools and more about meeting a challenge he has set for himself. He is a strong, confident kid and I don’t think he will be down on himself or overly frustrated, just motivated to do better next time (he is already signed up for January and, fortunately, his school is paying this time).</p>
<p>I think it’s pretty clear that my job as a parent will be to help him gain perspective and manage expectations, and to do the same for myself.</p>
<p>Congrats on the scores!</p>
<p>Someone way upthread posted, I think, a link to the hints for writing the SAT essay. Can someone report that? TIA</p>
<p>And yes - congrats to the kids and hopes to us that we manage our own anxiety (guess that’s why I am here).</p>
<p>Mumto3 - here’s your official invitation to post a question about colleges to look into on the parents of 2012 thread. 
Since we’ve all just survived the application cycle, or are still in the middle of it, we all have colleges bouncing around in our heads! I don’t think the group would mind the diversion from waiting for decisions to arrive in the mail! We’ve got one or two parents of twins too, so you’ll be right at home! You’ll want to include more than stats - something about majors and what they think they want in a school.</p>
<p>Ugh, D’s SAT scores were disappointing. Not just below my hopes, but below my expectations, and below her Junior PSAT scores. Gonna have to revise the spring break college visit list to aim lower.</p>
<p>Glad that I saw them without her being present, so I have a chance to put on an encouraging rather than disappointed face before we talk about the scores and plans for re-taking. Also glad for starting the test taking relatively early, so that there is time for re-taking.</p>
<p>She texted me asking me to check the scores after school, so I texted them to her, and she sent back an unhappy text. Don’t want to talk about it tonight, since this is S’s first day home for winter break.</p>
<p>Sacchi - Sorry to hear that, is she going to try the ACTs? Could it be a fluke or nerves since it was lower then her PSATs. Enjoy the holidays, there is plenty of time left, I guess that’s one of the benefits of starting early.</p>
<p>Sorry, sacchi. Maybe your dd will take after my ds. I think he was disappointed in his PSAT score and is wishing he’d followed the prep plan that I outlined for him. I told him tonight that before the Jan SAT he’ll have to do two timed tests, one of them tomorrow morning before we go out of town for the holidays, and he didn’t flinch. He KNOWS he should have made the NMSF cutoff but just missed it. Of course, part of me (a very small part of me) is kicking myself for not pushing him to prep more, but it’s like talking to a brick wall, and I just wasn’t going to hit my head against it. Oh well.</p>
<p>D13 will take the Jan SAT. S14’s Dec SAT scores match his expectations. He indicated that he would not take SAT again. Is it okay to use sophomore SAT scores to apply for colleges? One day and one exam left before the break!</p>
<p>One more day and one more physics lab and we’re done here, too. DS '13 has decided to take the January SAT but really needs to increase his score from PSAT to be competitive, especially writing. How do you encourage that without nagging? He has been working hard and we are going away on vacation on Saturday and I really don’t want to nag him, but I know he will be disappointed if he doesn’t do well. Do you tell them to go do full practice tests, do you toss vocabulary flash cards their way, do you rip out pages of the blue practice book and give them problems to do here and there…? Once he’s back in school, there is so little time for SAT practice…</p>
<p>MomofNEA, I assigned D2 a collegeboard SAT test a day until she reaches her goal then she can ease back. She has reached her goal after 7 tests which helps her build up her confidence. Here writing is still not great, but her essay is stellar, better than D1, using the online collegeboard SAT to score the essay. Storing D1’s SAT records helps me understand D2’s progress. I think with a few more practice tests under D2’s belt, I will feel more at ease.</p>
<p>Thanks, DrGoogle. I guess I need to be tougher…we’ll see how the break goes. My poor kid really needs a break but your strategy makes sense. We can’t see improvement without practice. I just hate piling more work on!</p>
<p>@pigmom heres a good place to start [Summer</a> Programs | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/summer]Summer”>Summer programs | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>@MomofKC sounds like youre more interested in a camp. If you google different colleges summer programs, youll see that a lot of them offer one week camps in various fields. My S went to the Naval Academy last year for that same reason. In 6 days, he was exposed to all the various types of engineering. It was pretty cool because it turns out he didnt really like the stuff I thought he would and ended up really liking computer science after programming robotics. Its better for them to get a sense of what they want to do now, rather than spending a year or two in school then changing majors!</p>
<p>@sacchi I had the same thoughts as Mom24 . . . possibly a fluke and try the ACT. Ss performance on the PSAT wasnt up to his practice SAT scores, but Ive seen lots of posts where kids did much better on the Oct SAT than the PSAT they took a week or so later, so I dont think all hope is lost. We all have bad days. I wouldnt lower your sights just yet. Remember, she took it early . . . she has another year of learning to increase her score.</p>
<p>@youdontsay I too wondered if I should have pushed my S more to prep for the PSAT, but I see that his errors were all careless errors no prep would have helped. Hes an easy-going kid that doesnt normally buckle under pressure, but I wonder if I put too much emphasis on that one test and he felt the pressure that day. Im thinking I just need to let him do things his way and stay out of it! </p>
<p>@MomofNEA My S took multiple bluebook tests his writing was always his highest score, then he bombed the PSAT writing. Your S might not be as bad in writing as you think! I say let him decompress until after Christmas! My S is also worn down . . . he just needs a few days of brainless activity, then next week, he starts on summer program apps with a clear head. </p>
<p>@PinotNoir does that invitation extend to all of us??? I just planned to stalk those parents with kids with similar stats to my S that are applying to engineering schools!!! LOL Ill be paying extra close attention when scholarship/financial aid decisions start coming out.</p>
<p>Happy Holidays to all the 2013 families! Be Merry for whats left of this year . . . the real fun starts next year!!!</p>
<p>Forget what I said upthread, lol! He’s not taking a practice test this morning. We had it out a bit. Both of us stayed calm, but he didn’t like hearing what I had to say. The bottom line for me was that I’m here to help but that he has to ask for that help, that he has to take the initiative.</p>
<p>Morning all!</p>
<p>Sacchi: congratulations! You managed to do what I couldn’t: keep a poker face. It’s not a good thing to sit with your kid when they open results before your first cup of coffee 
But at least she knew how I really felt…</p>
<p>I’m kind of a dissenter on the test prep. I’ve provided materials for prep but I haven’t nagged. My kids are both good test takers (but not of the perfect score kind) and they both aware of what scores can and can’t do for you. I had the talk with both of them about what their results meant for college admissions. D1 decided to be one and done; D2 has decided to retake. I think it’s important for them to know what it means to their admissions chances when they get their scores back, but honestly it’s just a test. And plenty of grownups I know went to schools below the Top 50 and had lousy test scores & are now productive happy adults. </p>
<p>I am planning on taking some time for an electronic sabbatical over the holidays so in case I don’t get online again, Merry Christmas everyone! We’re all going to be having much different conversations this time next year ;)</p>
<p>I think my kid may be an outlier. He has no idea what a “good” score on the PSAT or SAT is! At his school, kids don’t discuss scores and I don’t think any teachers or counselors have talked to them about it. So, as a result, whatever score he gets we will say “terrific” and move on. He’s also a kid who doesn’t have any idea what an “Ivy” is or what the “top” colleges are. Ignorance is such bliss! (At least it makes for a very relaxed household!)</p>