<p>MD-billy Idol and Bob Marley are fantastic additions! On my playlist now but we need to include UB40 then. Vintage Prince and anyone remember Spandu Ballet? I am guessing you are a south OC girl? I like all the music suggested. I do like a little rap added. I particularly like Lose Yourself by Eminem! I do like Lady Gaga, especially Poker Face although my kids said that I must not understand what it is about. </p>
<p>TGIF is right! Tomorrow D has one SAT-Lit and end of the year club tennis celebration. D2 has LAX picnic-uggg! She isn’t into it and it is going to be 90 degrees!</p>
<p>Wahoo-Nice article. I know a mom that gets frustrated with her daughter (who is brilliant) and kicks her out of the car miles from home sometimes and leaves her there for hours before coming back for her D. I think that is cruel and unsafe! Her daughter is spooked because of it and sometimes sunburned from being left out in the sun for too long. D is 17 but sometimes she has no idea where she has been left. </p>
<p>Longhaul- Seems like our kids like the same environments.</p>
<p>No one here seems to be from SF area? I don’t here anyone talking about Berkeley or Santa Clara? Stanford gets a few nods…with a wish and a prayer (:</p>
<p>Wherenext: You are GOOD!! South OC indeed And for the record, I have never been on the show, but do live down the street from one of them…LOL</p>
<p>And many, many wishes and prayers for Stanford in this house. So stressful having that be #1 on his list. I have given it up to God at this point. He has a plan so I just have to trust in it. When Jr started HS, the only school he cared about getting into was USC…wow, did things change!</p>
<p>Mummy - my dd is definitely NM Commended and on the bubble for NMSF - I believe you find out in early September. She took the PSAT and the SAT one week apart and did better on the SAT - if she would have gotten the equivalent score on her PSAT she would definitely be NM - oh well - such is life - but if she is NMSF, it will add a couple schools onto our list because of scholarships!!!</p>
<p>Ok, now I’m curious all of a sudden about weighted and unweighted gpa.</p>
<p>DD13a got a 4.67 for the year and a cumulative GPA of 4.32. Also, If a kid takes AP Calc AB/BC the same year, does that count for two AP grades? It’s listed as two different classes on the online report card.</p>
<p>DD13b got a 4.17 for the year and a cumulative GPA of 3.91.</p>
<p>That’s all the info the school has on infinite campus. I can’t find anything on the district web site about calculating unweighted GPAs. Some schools ask for both on recruitment materials and I’m guessing that will be something on the Common App as well.</p>
<p>Does anybody know or is it different everywhere? Kinda clueless.</p>
<p>Wherenext: We are from SoCal (OC also). S3 will apply to Berkeley. Generally the top kids at our school get in, so he has a decent chance of getting in. A friend of his is going to Santa Clara in the fall. I don’t really know that much about Santa Clara though. Just that everyone says it is great. I don’t know if he will apply to Stanford, but I don’t think there is a chance in $#%@ he will get in. So I don’t know if it is worth even filling out the application (and paying the fee!). Right now he will probably apply to 5 UC’s (UCLA,Cal,UCSB,UCD & UCSD), Cal Poly SLO, a few lotteries (a couple from the Claremont Consortium, Brown, Yale, etc…) and San Diego State for his safety.</p>
<p>Walker - I think unweighted is just giving a 4 for an A, 3 for a B etc and then averaging - so basically it has to be straight A’s to be a 4.0 and you can’t be higher. My guess is this is the way that most college’s calculate unweighted - which in the long run can be difficult for an honors student if they don’t keep A’s. With my DS15, he has the ongoing question - get a B in an honors class or take the CP class and get an A. His unweighted would be higher if he didn’t take honors - he hasn’t figured out yet how to get an A in honors but I think he learns more even if he gets a B.</p>
<p>mummy - yes, your student can take the SAT in the fall if the score is needed for NMSF. Like ahsmuoh, I had my D take the SAT in the fall before the PSAT and we sent those scores to the National Merit people just in case. If your school is giving the ACT with writing, that should be good enough for most schools. There are only a few that absolutely require the SAT subject tests. Check the college websites your student is interested in.</p>
<p>No tears here about youngest leaving home next year (at least not yet). I cried all through the oldest’s senior year, much fewer tears with #2, may shed a few when we drop youngest off at school fall 2013!</p>
<p>ahsmuoh: I absolutely concur. My DD13b did not want to take APWH last year because she had heard the teacher was a hard grader. I told her tough beans, you are taking it anyway. She took it, the teacher was marvelous, and she ended up with a high B in the class and a 5 on the exam. She learned much about herself and her abilities and not to listen to other random kids about teachers. I believe that the kids that take the more challenging classes and have to actually study in HS will be more prepared for college.</p>
<p>Kind of like mamabear. No tears yet, but this is #3. But my goal this time around is to ENJOY all the “lasts”. I feel like with #1 and #2 I “got through” the lasts, but with so many mixed feelings I don’t think I enjoyed them. Maybe you can remind me of that if I start to freak out!</p>
<p>TX5: Do you know what the UC ELC program is? I just rec’d an email from Jr’s GC at school saying that they are sending his academic records to select UC’s???!!! I really have no idea what this is, was hoping since you are on #3 you did? :)</p>
<p>MDmom: ELC = Eligible in the Local Context. It is for the UC’s. A form is filled out by you (and the school) and sent in and then the UC’s figure out who the individiual school’s top 9% are according to their (the UC’s) calculations. They send those students out a letter and a special number and when they go to fill out the UC application a lot of their information is already there. Basically it means that if you are in the top 9% of your class you entitled to go to a UC (not necessarily the UC of your choice, but a UC). The whole ELC thing changed this year. Previously it was the top 4%. S2 was in the ELC when he went through (gradauted 2010). When it was only the top 4% UCSB, UCI and UC Davis would send letters to all the ELC’s and tell them, if you apply, you are in. Which took a lot of pressure off. Now that it has changed from 4% to 9%, they did not do that. Since in California it is illegal for the public schools to use “race” in admissions, it is their way of making it fair to the kids from all schools throughout California. Lot’s of UC’s give “brownie points” to students who are ELC during the admission process.</p>
<p>tx and MD- I am from South OC. MD, I can guess you are about 10-15 miles inland from me (:</p>
<p>Tx5- My D only a little interested in UCLA, no other UCs. USC is not popular here, the way it is in my hometown, but she likes it. Claremont colleges are out cuz’ my husband is bias against Claremont and Pomona=smog, inland etc… I want D to consider LMU in CA. she thinks Santa Clara is too suburban so I have little hope for LMU. UCB too close to home. Could we get more picky? </p>
<p>terinzak- sounds like a great tour and successful outcome! Sounds like a great fit for your S.</p>
<p>OKAY, I am excited for my S15. He often gets overshadowed by his sisters. He is the middle and only boy. He was picked to play Bass Guitar for the Jazz band next year as a Sophomore. He wanted to play electric guitar but those spots were taken. He jumped at it! I am so happy because he doesn’t have “his” thing. He runs track and but he is not as passionate about it as music. He has never been in band because he plays keyboard. bass and guitar. He is pumped. He is also excited about drama next year. I think my boy is finding his own place. A nice way to start the weekend.</p>
<p>Two more week of school here and 95 degrees right now.</p>
<p>Major storms coming through here today. Seems like as soon as one tornado warning expires another pops up nearby. H managed to grill quickly in between, and we had the first fresh corn of the summer. Signs that summer is coming? One can hope. Two full weeks of school remain, but D and S14 are out early the last week. S17 is cranky because the middle school isn’t. His time will come, said the older wise mature siblings.
Meanwhile S14 has soccer tryouts in the morning. He quit travel soccer several years ago and I’m frankly not sure what level he is playing at right now. Guess this will help us narrow it down. He seems “chill” about it though. D’s BF is apparently not allowed out tonight due to SATs in the morning which delights me so she is prepping a little. I think that’s good but some say it’s not. Whatever, I’m not getting involved as I do not want to incite hysteria over this. It’s the last time for the SAT is all I can say. that is one last I’m glad to see come and go. More testing in the fall but I think having done the prep class has put her under more pressure to perform in her own mind. That hadn’t occurred to me as a potential issue.</p>
<p>Happy Friday evening! MyDD is asleep. she came home from school and just collapsed. I think that is the best thing at this moment. (in fact, I just concked out for 2 1/2 hours!–now I gotta find dinner) She has a dance recital this weekend after SAT II and too many projects still. I’m just going to let her sleep so she feels rested (and doesnt injure herself)–she’s been averaging 3 hours per night of sleep! School ends 2 1/2 weeks (about) and we all can’t wait. She leaves for her program 4 days later…returns mid August…what a crazy summer. She plans to write her essay on her Iphone…I’m thinking I’ll give her mi IPAD…but I’m a little afraid it may get “lost”…in any case, I just cannot wait till summer starts. I’m working a lot, but I’m hoping to breathe and THINK a little better…My older daugther starts her summer job next week and DS is just has a birthday party and 8th grade dance next week…he swears the girl he asked “is JUST A FRIEND MOM”…</p>
<p>89wahoo: Dang it…there is no mall in my town!</p>
<p>Mummy24: DS will be NM Commended, we are waiting till fall to find out if NMSF. He took SAT in March just in case, but you can take in fall too. </p>
<p>No SAT for us tomorrow, DS will be running at state track meet! I’m so excited for him! His track team was ranked dead last in our league preseason by coaches and won it…UNDEFEATED! Also our niece and nephew are running but in a different division, they will be only 20 minutes away from DS’s meet so we will be able to see them in at least one event too!</p>
<p>Mummy: my D1 was a NMSF (then NMF) and D2 will be as well. Your son can take the SATs before winter and have the scores sent to NMSC to “confirm” his PSAT score (From this years info: You must take (or have taken) a national administration of the SAT between October 2009 and December 2011. So for our kiddos it will be between October 2010 & December 2012.) As long as it’s over around 2000, he’ll be fine (it’s doesn’t have to match up exactly; there’s a minimum threshold that works for everyone.)</p>
<p>Walker, they make the kids who meet the NMSF level take the real SAT, in addition to the PSAT, to “confirm” the PSAT score, ie, make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Can you say kaching? College Board needs to make its money. ;)</p>
<p>Oh, and I forgot to mention that our school printed the list of where the seniors are going. Pretty impressive. I am really surprised by how many kids are picking the flagship over some big-name schools that I know they got into. I guess it’s the economy.</p>
And for the record, I have never been on the show, but do live down the street from one of them…LOL</p>