<p>I agree with getting testing done by the end of junior year. I’d aim for taking subject tests when the course is done, taking the SAT in October or November of junior year, and then again between Jan and March of junior year. And stick the ACT in there somewhere too! My kids didn’t do much (any…) studying, so that may need to be rethought if a student wants to study a bunch or gets anxious or burned out from testing. </p>
<p>You’ll be really glad if you get the testing done by the end of junior year. Not only is it nice to have behind you when you are dealing with college search and applications, but it’s nice to know test scores when you’re still figuring out what colleges to apply to.</p>
<p>Adding my son’s experience here. He is a HS Jr and he took the SAT for the first time in Oct of Jr year, then the PSAT and then the SAT again in Dec. I hadn’t given the PSAT any consideration as I was concerned that he would struggle with the SAT. He prepped during the summer with a tutor and then continued taking practice tests (and sections of practice tests) in Sept. The SAT prep obviously helped the PSAT but he did not specifically study for the PSAT other than taking the one practice test provided when he registered and maybe one more that I found on CC.</p>
<p>The Oct test offers QAS where the student can receive his actual responses and the correct answers. You pay an additional $18 when registering (or can order up to six months after the test, I believe). Unfortunately, my son’s QAS did not arrive until the night before the Dec test, so it didn’t help him at all.</p>
<p>The PSAT also provides detailed questions and answers (use key code at bottom of score sheet) so if your child took the PSAT as a sophomore, log on to the CB site and plug in the key code in order to see exactly which questions your child answered incorrectly.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, I think it is most important to look at the student’s schedule throughout the year and see where he will really have the time to prep. Our GCs suggest Jan of Jr year for first SAT, but I think that is an awful time as the test is this Sat and mid-terms are still taking place. But, I would be reluctant to wait until March for first exam, hence, the fall test dates. Have to consider sports, ECs, Jr prom (silly, I know), AP or IB exams, SAT IIs, vacation plans and college trips.</p>
<p>Oct, Jan & May are the test dates that allow QAS, but reports can take up to eight weeks to arrive. Good luck!</p>
<p>D’s midterms are done and they have a day off from school tomorrow, but she has a speech and debate tournament on Saturday and a new piece to practice. And loads of picking up to do in her room…ugh!</p>
<p>Meanwhile the avalanche of college mail has started–we had 7 envelopes and mailers from schools today, ranging from schools I’d never heard of at all (Missouri U of Science and Technology) to ones I’d heard of because older siblings of her friends have gone there (Mt. St. Mary’s, Providence). Apparently she put down engineering as her area of interest (I had no idea!) so we have an envelope from Olin, which sounds interesting–but very competitive, 16.5% acceptance rate! </p>
<p>And, most surprising, a letter from Swarthmore–I knew they were very competitive but didn’t know how competitive, I looked them up and their acceptance rate is 15%! </p>
<p>So why are schools that are so selective sending out mail to sophomores?</p>
<p>^^^ That’s how they become selective. They do a big sales pitch to lots of young prospective students and persuade them to apply. That way the numerator (class size) stays the same, and they increase the denominator (# of applicants). Then their acceptance rate goes down, maybe improving their USNWR rank, and they are considered “more selective.”</p>
<p>Hi all,checking in after a while. It’s been a stressful week for us.the entire family is sick with flu except me.D15 has to miss final exams because of this.The first semester ends only next week for her. The teacher said she could retake the exams within four weeks. She is missing school for almost 10 days.</p>
<pre><code> And with the emails from colleges,she is wondering why she is getting so many until i told her that she must have selected the option by mistake.Her psat score was ok a 195.
</code></pre>
<p>College mail is annoying. My daughter did ehh on the PSAT and is getting mail from all these same schools so I really wouldn’t put much stock into it-I am going to make her go into her account with CB this weekend and see if there is any way to stop the bombardment-it’s junk mail in my opinion and goes right into the recycling bin.</p>
<p>Pepper03 – S put down our email so he obviously doesn’t care. I keep a very few that he may actually be interested in, but for the vast majority, I open the email and find where to “unsubscribe”. From the experience with D13, I know that they will just keep coming for years if you don’t. I don’t know whether that helps with the snail mail.</p>
<p>I think someone over on the hs class of 2011 saved all the college mailing her child received through hs. I can’t recall the details but the amount was astounding. Pepper do you remember anything?</p>
<p>We are trundling along. Swim team finished and travel ball has not got into full swing. Need to suggest something to keep d2 busy. She can easily get addicted to TV. At the moment she is watching Grey’s Anatomy on Hulu from season 1 on. Think she is at the point where George has just been killed off. Last year when she had her nose injury/ surgery she watched the entire Friends series. It is fun for her to watch TV that she was too little to watch “live” . I am a huge Greys fan- but episode after episode…</p>
<p>D completed her 1 st semester exams yesterday afternoon and is off from school today. She took a nap yesterday afternoon upon arriving home from school.</p>
<p>HS Softball pre-season & field hockey training will now take priority. Softball season is 45 days away & D is playing in the Disney collegiate field hockey showcase in February, so she’s busy writing her emails to prospective collegiate field hockey coaches who will be attending the event.</p>
<p>Sorry for the sickness too - hope you stay well tripleamom.</p>
<p>PN and OhMomof2 - thank you for the links!</p>
<p>D’s grades and GPA and rank came out yesterday. I’m not sure what to make of it all. She did really well but her rank is still lower than I would have guessed. I’m trying to pick the brain of a friend who has older kids who have been through this. I don’t want to bug the GC too much - such a fine line to walk when I want to ask how a kid who is doing so well is where she is. </p>
<p>Oh, forgot to add this, but I’m kind of glad to see the brochures coming in. D has not been interested in talking college AT ALL, and this is finally spurring some conversation.</p>
<p>Sally your named tricked me for a second! I don’t recall that from the 2011/2015 thread but I can only imagine…</p>
<p>My kids both like TV series and when they have extra time they indulge that-my daughter likes reality tv shows like Survivor and Amazing Race and the Biggest Loser and others which I won’t name but she got hooked at a sleepover over the summer on this “Pretty Little Liars” series which I think is pretty dreadfully done and ridiculous but she loves it and it is the first “teenage” thing she has really done-not into music at all (although she does loves clothes) so I indulge her and watch it-she caught up on all the back episodes and now it is an event when the new show is on-it’s fun for her and not too sleazy a show although it does have its moments-but she is almost 16 and none of this is new to her although she still insists boys are stupid and gross…:)</p>
<p>Suzy class rank is like that. I have a friend whose daughter is top 2 and the one the year below is 7 and their GPA is almost the same. It is all about what the other kids are doing. My daughter has chosen not to get her rank again until after at least first semester Junior year-she is high but doesn’t know how high (she knows she isn’t first) and she doesn’t want to know any more. I am very glad she decided this as the whole thing is nothing but trouble-in fact our school is attempting to get rid of it and I have already pledged to speak against it-even though it might “hurt” my kids to not have this ranking I think it will help them all in the long run. Your daughter should feel great about how well she is doing but can’t because it isn’t “good enough” compared to someone else-I hate that. Unless you have the same teachers at the same time how valid is it anyway? </p>
<p>I had this talk with her just the other day. I told her if being first is the most important thing to her don’t take the hardest classes and don’t do EC’s-since we go by unweighted that would probably work. If however you want to get the most out of this HS experience both academically and socially you need to accept that you won’t finish first-and that is OK because in the long run you will be so much better off for doing what was best for you long and short term. I admire her for understanding this and accepting it-it shows a lot of maturity on her part. I do not know why the adults can’t grasp this and get rid of these rankings.</p>
<p>Thanks for those links! I’m still not sure what to do about the testing. D’s school does not allow anyone to accelerate in math so the highest level available to all but maybe one or two juniors is precalc. I am not sure that’s enough math to succeed on the SAT by October of junior year. I’m also not sure about the length of the test and my D’s stamina. Food for thought…</p>
<p>Tripleamom, I’m so sorry about the flu. I hope you steer clear and everyone else is on the mend. My D picked up a cold last week and every time she came too close, I’d yelp and race out of her grip. She doesn’t get it but my getting sick is the worst thing that could happen to her!</p>
<p>Your kids are so busy. Even when they aren’t in the midst of their seasons or activities, they stay occupied with other things. Yes, even tv! My kid is driving me batty because she spends way too much time stressing and obsessing over schoolwork, way more than is necessary. I know she wastes time as well but she nitpicks over everything to the point where I feel she needs more outside demands. </p>
<p>To my knowledge, D has not received any college mail at all. Has anyone received anything worthwhile? Any summer opportunities?</p>
<p>3girls–my understanding is that SAT math only tests through Alg 2, if even that. My HS Jr son is in pre-calc this year and he took the SAT in Oct of Jr year. ACT math does include Trig so if your D has not yet taken Trig, then taking the ACT early would be a concern.</p>
<p>As to why she has not received mail…the mail comes as a response to the sophomore year PSAT. If your D’s school does not administer the PSAT in soph year, then that would explain why she has not received mail. (Sorry–cannot recall earlier posts.) If she did take but did not check the box to allow CB to pass along her contact info, then that would also explain why she is not receiving mail. The emails started nearly two weeks ago and the mail started about a week ago. It is all useless, as far as I can tell, other than serving as marketing pieces.</p>
<p>Thanks CTScout. I thought the SAT added some higher level math sometime a few years ago but I may be confusing that with the subject test. It’s a relief that October junior year still makes sense. The GCs tell us pretty emphatically that it’s too early and that the kids should wait until January or March at earliest. I had one daughter scramble to take the SAT I, APs, subject tests, and finals all at roughly the same time (April-June) and it was pretty grueling. I counseled a friend to consider the October test, the test was quite doable, and it made her daughter’s life much, much easier. </p>
<p>I know why she isn’t receiving mail: She didn’t check the box, lol. I’m just curious whether there’s anything worthwhile in that mass.</p>
<p>D’s counselor says math-wise D is right there for the SAT now (she is in her second semester of Alg 2). But the reading/writing scores go up a lot in junior and sometimes senior year.</p>
<p>Our HS sophomores have started to register for junior classes. Already!! S2 will take AP English+APUSH (block class), Pre Calc, H sociology(1st semester), AP psychology (2nd semester), choir, PE and H physics I. I tried to persuade him to take regular physics instead but he insisted to give honors physics a try first. He told me the other night that he accepts where he is now academically. I am glad. He realized that he has had a high and unrealistic expectation of himself that he has to be good at everything. I am hoping that this semester he will have less meltdown and this mom will not receive any call or text of doom at work. :)</p>
<p>Class ranking is coming out next week. I wish our school would not make ranking mandatory for students to see as it used to be when S1 was in HS. I remember S1 told me some of his classmates did not want to get their ranks and they had choices not to.</p>