<p>Maxwell-- will she keep up the instrument outside of school? That can be the more serious commitment.</p>
<p>IJD, yes she does. She will play in a community orchestra (low quality) and a band with a local college (good quality.) We both feel music wise she gets more and contributes more that way. Marching band is a sport. It’s fun and all that. But there are more important things to do.</p>
<p>mihcal,
I often feel that way too. But c’est la vie, I guess.</p>
<p>Maxwell so sorry to hear this. My son had to give up band as a senior due to class scheduling conflicts and it broke my heart as well-and what makes me sad is he eventually stopped playing at all-</p>
<p>At this stage with school choices I too am encouraging my daughter to be realistic in her choices. There is nothing wrong with her having her dream school as long as she realizes unless she has some special quality in addition to being an exceptional student in every was the odds of getting into one of these schools is slim. </p>
<p>It is a fine line to walk between being realistic and encouraging them to follow their dreams-it really is.</p>
<p>Pepper it absolutely is a fine line. My younger daughter has what it takes to apply to top schools ( getting in is another story lol) but the truth is that some of these schools don’t give merit aid and we don’t qualify for financial aid. Maybe she will get merit aid to some other top schools, and maybe she won’t. There are lots of great kids out there. So… When all is said and done she may end up at our top state school because its very affordable and it’s a GREAT school. She can also apply to some other great schools where her chance of getting merit aid is high. These may not be her dream schools and it makes me feel bad because she works hard, but this is life. She visited Cornell and fell in love with the school. As a NYS resident we are charged the discounted rate of $43,000- but that is too much unless we take out some loans which I won’t do. So Pepper yes, there is a fine line between being realistic and following your dreams. LOVE THY SAFETY ( both financial and academic) are words to live by. My daughter will apply to state schools which I can pay for without difficulty, and OOS which give $$. I have to be realistic.</p>
<p>Anybody starting to get emails from guidance about college fairs in the area for sophomores and juniors? We got the first one today.</p>
<p>Maxwell, it sounds like her music choices are better outside of school and how great that she has these! I was just listening to a story about band being used in some schools as an adjunct for sports and forcing musical kids out due to the heavy demands of marching band alongside symphonic band and/or orchestra.</p>
<p>[School</a> Bands Should Not Be Entertainment Adjunct For Sports : NPR](<a href=“School Bands Should Not Be Entertainment Adjunct For Sports : NPR”>School Bands Should Not Be Entertainment Adjunct For Sports : NPR)</p>
<p>Twogirls, my D did crew this past fall. I was appalled at the time commitment: 6 days/week, 3 hours/day. I was VERY happy when she decided not to continue this spring.</p>
<p>As to testing, there’s no one answer. Some kids are natural test takers who can handle the testing earlier, some have already taken the math most necessary for the SAT and will actually have a harder time if they wait too long, some are anxious and need techniques to deal with that along with careful planning in order to avoid overload, some need more time to assimilate material, some are fall athletes and can’t even consider the standardized tests early on…it’s all so variable. I’m planning to have D look at the material over the summer and take some practice tests and then determine whether it’s a good idea to approach testing in the fall or wait until winter. She enjoys test taking and tends to “get” how to handle them so it may be to her advantage to get it all over with. We’ll see.</p>
<p>Pepper and Twogirls, I completely agree. I think it’s fine to aim for top schools as long as you are very realistic with your kids as to the financial and admissions realities. I was surprised the first time around how many excellent schools did provide merit aid–granted not a huge amount but something–so I’m reasonably sure that D will have some good choices when the time comes. My bigger concern is keeping Ivy-obsessed H in check.</p>
<p>@3girls3cats, that’s an interesting link! </p>
<p>Talking about school choices, today seems to be the day when MIT applicants hear about their fate. D. has many CTY friends who applied. Several got early admission to MIT back in November. Today she just told me she saw on facebook several more were admitted and several were rejected. It’s so important to tell our kids not to collapse over rejection by top schools. </p>
<p>
:D</p>
<p>As I read some of the acceptance/rejection threads, I realized, in abut two years, it will be our kids (Class of 2015) turn. While rejections are part of the process, I don’t look forward to having another round of “it’s ok, life goes on” discussion. I had two rounds with boys already. I can only hope D can take it with right perspective.</p>
<p>I’m not looking forward to that. </p>
<p>MIT chose Pi day to be the day of joy and heart broken. </p>
<p>It sounds cruel, but dealing with rejection will be one of the best learning/growing experiences when they look back later.</p>
<p>Been doing my best to keep up with our thread, but Life has been <em>interesting</em> this year & I haven’t posted much. However, I have a favor to ask of our More Experienced Parents. I’ve started a new thread in College Admissions (link below) to glean advice for family friends. Great HS Senior, STEM focused, wants to get off Waitlist at lottery school. This is a good kid & he could use a break. I realize it’s a longshot, but if any of you have advice for a Waitlisted STEM student, and would take a moment to post on my new thread, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1473609-waitlisted-stem-college-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1473609-waitlisted-stem-college-advice.html</a></p>
<p>GoAskDad</p>
<p>My daughter works hard and does very well. She takes honors chem, does well, and understands the material. Although the teacher is good, she is very sarcastic at times and tends to get annoyed at questions. She also " yells" at the kids who do poorly. She teaches well but does not have the personality to match. She( daughter) is currently tutoring her friend in the class who is flipping out. The mom told me that she ( the mom) feels that the honors classes in our high school are taught at an AP level and that in her opinion there are no honors classes- only regular classes, honors classes taught at an AP level, and AP. Last year my daughter took honors bio and took the SAT 11 and did well- so maybe this is true? It’s hard for me to judge because my daughter will take AP next year. She chose not to take AP global this year- the only AP offered sophomore year.</p>
<p>I wanted to add that kids who take honors chem and do well are recommended for AP physics junior year. Some of my daughter’s friends were told not to take AP physics next year because " they are not mature enough." They were recommended for AP chem instead. Does this make sense? Do you need more maturity for AP physics than for AP chem?</p>
<p>GoAskDad, I wish I could help on your thread but I’m definitely not an experienced parent. I’m hoping you get more folks to chime in. It’s nice of you to want to help.</p>
<p>My D is getting crushed this semester in her Pre-AP Calc class. Ds teacher sounds a lot like your Ds Chem teacher, twogirls. She’s a bit rough, and I assume she’s good but a LOT of the kids in this class are struggling. It’s a shame because I think this experience is making my D reconsider taking AP Calc. That may be the right choice. I just don’t want it to be because of this bad experience. We’ll see.</p>
<p>My daughter casually mentioned last night talking to my sister that she thinks AP Lit and Comp may be too much reading for her and she may stick to Honors English-I know she brought it up that way because she was afraid to bring it up alone to me! Hey I didn’t tell her to take it in the first place! I am fine if she doesn’t take it-the reading does sound like it would put her over the edge with everything else that will be going on. She mentioned she might take it senior year-which I think would be even worse as I already know from past experience what senior year was like for her brother-add a fall sport and I think it would be way too much since she also will be taking a college class one night a week as part of her certificate program in finance.</p>
<p>My son had those commitments in band and I would ask often why are these teams required to go to YOUR events to support them? I understood why he needed to give it up senior year…</p>
<p>I think it is really important to know as much about the teacher as you can. Unfortunately it is hard enough to get some of these classes and if so you are stuck with taking the teacher offered with no choice-really it is a shame but so hard to schedule. There are a few teachers I would never want her to have again and I would make no secret about that to administration.</p>
<p>GoAskDad, none of my kiddos are STEM kids so I can’t offer specific advice there. I’ll check out the thread and see what’s been offered and pipe up if there’s anything left to say. I hope this boy has good acceptances at this point that make him happy.</p>
<p>My D has a weird, new to the school, chemistry teacher this year. She recently had a test and said she knew she’d do well because “it was all calculations.” In other words, when it’s math based and the teacher can’t throw them a curve ball with misleading language or expectations of precise wording–incorrect wording mind you–the kids are thrilled. Even if the material is more difficult, they know how to approach it. The teacher did ease up very suddenly just after the winter break and I joked that a powerful parent must have gone into the administration and cleared things up. HA. It’s a shame when the quality of the teacher so affects the quality of the class. I understand that the teacher who is slated to teach AP US History is awful–mean and pejorative. I’m hoping the school makes a change but I’m not hopeful. It was kind of funny how this guy portrayed the differences between APUSH and RUSH–made RUSH sound a whole lot more interesting and worthwhile. </p>
<p>Twogirls, which AP Physics is it? If it’s AP Physics B, I don’t think you need more maturity for that class than you do for AP Chem. It’s offered to sophomores in D’s school if they’ve maintained an A or A- in basic physics (or to those who plead to be admitted). AP Chem isn’t offered as an option until junior year at the earliest and only to those who have scored well in Honors Chem. Still, every school is different and it may be that it’s taught in a particularly rigorous way or in a way that demands a lot of self-discipline and organization in your school.</p>
<p>@twogirls, I think students who can handle honors chem can handle AP physics B. It just needs a little more math(trig) than chem. People who are good at math are normally good at physics and like physics. </p>
<p>When people talk about maturity, that’s in general needed for students who are taking APs, since they’re college courses. but trust your children, many of them do have the required maturity, especially if they are taking reasonable number of APs. (i.e., not all the courses they take are APs.)</p>
<p>It’s the " easier" AP physics. Would that be physics B? Maybe the teacher is making this statement based in the behavior of the kids? My kid sits front and center and pays attention. Some kids talk and when that happens she gets agitated because they talk to her!! She ignores them. Maybe that is what the teacher means? Meanwhile the mom I spoke with yesterday keeps bashing the teacher and now her kid argues with the teacher. I told my daughter that she needs to learn how to deal with different personalities. Again this teacher does a great job teaching, but she could be mean and sarcastic.</p>
<p>My eldest took AP Physics B and C at our county science center. ( where D2 is taking AP Chem next year) She has a great teacher and fantastic group of kids in her class, top STEM kids. Physics B was great, C kicked her butt. She got a 3 on the AP exam- to go nicely with her 5’s she scored on her 12 other AP’s. For a student where most things came easy, this was a great class for her, life experience. I also wonder if the pressure of second semester senior year got to her. </p>
<p>We have the same situation with good abd bad teachers. Both my girls selected classes with a huge consideration on who taught the class. Softball girl is taking AP human Geog this year, because the teacher is amazing. Driving 10 miles to the science center next year- our Chem dept is awful.</p>
<p>Sadie Hawkins dance tonight. The first time we have had a Sadie. D2 is excited. She is a SGA kid so over at the gym setting up. Beautiful spring day here, so it should be lovely for pics tonight. Wish I could share them with you!</p>
<p>GoAskdad- I have heard that if you reach out to the admissions office and declare your intention to attend the school it helps. D1’s room mates sister was wait-listed at UVA and was eventually admitted. Good luck !</p>
<p>GoAskDad - I will PM you. I have two kids in STEM field (S1 doing PhD in engineering at Berkeley and S2 is a freshman bio/premed at UMD). May or may not be helpful but will give you with my thoughts. </p>
<p>Teacher problems… For us, it’s D’s AP Stat teacher. Source of incredible frustration for us. D is trying to work it thru but everyday is painful. </p>
<p>As for AP Physics, personally, I don’t like the idea of kids taking math/science related AP courses without at least one year of lesson for the subject. I know some schools allow that pathways, some parents like it, and some kids do well but, IMHO, the “learning curve” is too steep if it’s a new subject. Just my thought.</p>
<p>Good point FromMD. At D’s school, no one takes Physics or Chem AP without first taking the basic course. I’d forgotten that this wasn’t going to be the case in this instance.</p>