<p>@twogirls- Yes, our school has Naviance, but will do us no good since this year D’s school graduates it’s first class of seniors. It’s a school that expanded to include high school 4 years ago, so no historical data in Naviance for us.</p>
<p>That’s too bad BunHead - I found Naviance to be very helpful and am looking forward to getting it again soon. I have a friend who does not agree- oh well.</p>
<p>Junior year was the most difficult for my D1, because she had to learn to juggle ratcheting demands of ECs around increasingly-serious academics. There just weren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. It was painful to watch at the time, but she perfected her triage skills. And knowing how to prioritize has served her very well in college. </p>
<p>I see the same dynamic developing for D2. It’s interesting to see how she handles the tradeoffs – very different from the choices that D1 made, and the whole way she handles the decision-making is very different. She doesn’t stress as much as D1 did, and she doesn’t worry nearly as much about what other people will think. This has plusses and minuses. For one thing, D2 doesn’t seem to give a whit about what Mom thinks. :p</p>
<p>My current sophomore is tough. Her older sister is easy going, no stress. This one ( 2015) wants a " dry campus" which is fine, but another criteria to add to the list. I finally convinced her that if she chooses her friends wisely she will create her own dry campus regardless of what may or may not be going on around her. Got an email from guidance about sophomore college fairs. I think I will wait til October- there is a big one in the county. I don’t feel the need to go to one now.</p>
<p>@twogirls- I told mine the same regarding a “dry” campus, and quiet dorms as well.</p>
<p>@3girls3cats- Your D rocked the SAT! From personal experience with my D, I would get the therapist.</p>
<p>^^^ How does one go about finding a good therapist?</p>
<p>^^It’s not easy! Seriously, it really IS all about fit with a therapist.</p>
<p>My D is taking the National French Exam on Wednesday. She was a bronze medalist last year and so this year I asked her teacher if there were any materials she should be reviewing - if she is a Gold Medalist she would be eligible for a drawing for a 2-week trip to Paris. Teacher’s response: “No.” Alrighty then. </p>
<p>D filled out an application for her first “real” summer job. Getting so old!</p>
<p>We start with our mental health benefits program. We ask specific questions (for instance, we’re a Christian family and we wanted a Christian counselor). We then get a list of recommendations and start the process of looking. We’ve been mostly fortunate with psychologists, though one was quite loopy. However, the other two we found were wonderful.</p>
<p>Suzi,</p>
<p>What kind of job is your D looking for? What are the work laws for 16 year olds where you are?</p>
<p>My 2015er took his first standardized test on Saturday, the California High School Proficiency Exam. What an ordeal. He was sick the day before, his blood sugars were very high on the day of the test, and he had accommodations, which stretched it out to a 4 hour exam. (He could have up to 5 1/4 hours but didn’t need it)</p>
<p>He didn’t feel good about the math. 
The rest was a piece of cake. If he passes all the sections, he’ll be able to enroll in the local community college system (not necessarily take classes since our colleges are so impacted here).</p>
<p>If he failed the math, he can retake just that section. I hope he was wrong about how he did…</p>
<p>sbj, I honestly don’t know what the work laws are - I assume just that they be paid minimum wage and not work more than 40 hours/week. The place is just an ice cream shop. She’ll be putting more apps in at other places.</p>
<p>I hope your S did better on the math than he thought - that’s often the case I think. Sorry it was such a rough experience for him. :(</p>
<p>Around here, it’s just not worth it for under 16 y.o.s to work during the school year. Summer is a different matter.</p>
<p>Spring break is next week. That means last week and this week are intense – exams and/or papers in every class. Plus D is on the robotics team and they are competing at the end of the week. I just don’t see how she’s going to get all of the work done.</p>
<p>^^^ Good luck to your D on Robotics, IJD!</p>
<p>Busy here too, except it’s Science Fair that’s putting extra pressure on my D’s schedule, and she’s still catching up from CAJCL Latin Convention this past weekend. But she had a BLAST at Convention, and passed her driving test yesterday afternoon, so she started the week in an ebullient mood. :)</p>
<p>Good luck and congrats on all of these accomplishments!! I am grateful for spring break next week but I am not happy for all of the work that it’s sure to bring. Our school has the math HS induction this week- something to look forward to. My daughter had an issue in her global class. It seems as though the scantron machine somehow messed up everyone’s test and marked seven items wrong that were right. This happened to the entire class so now they are trying to fix it…</p>
<p>Has anybody received a postcard from Exploring Educational Excellence inviting parent/student to a joint information session?</p>
<p>No, but when I looked it up, I see that there is an event scheduled in our area. It looks interesting.</p>
<p>Yes it does. There is an event in my area too but the one that I like is at 2:00 in the afternoon.</p>
<p>
I took D1 to this event a couple of years ago, and it was illuminating to compare this particular group of colleges side-by-side. They’re all fairly comparable in selectivity, but very different “personalities.”</p>
<p>Were you able to see the " personalities" without actually seeing the campuses? The only school that we visited is Cornell. I doubt we will end up going. There are two meetings at 7:30 but my daughter won’t leave her books. The third date is at 2:00- no good unless I take the day off and go myself.</p>
<p>Yes, I think the different schools’ personalities did come through in their presentations, </p>
<p>However, I might be saying that in hindsight after doing a lot more research on my own and having subsequently visited the schools. (We visited 4 of the 5 in the couple of years between the presentation and my D1’s application season. She ended up applying to 2 of the 5 schools.)</p>
<p>We visited 4 NY schools during the winter break while visiting my older daughter for siblings weekend. This week during spring break we are visiting 4 more: Boston U, Northeastern, Lehigh, and Muhlenberg ( she already said it’s too small). Some may think it’s crazy to start sophomore year, but we have 18 schools that she has to narrow down and there is no way we can do it all junior year. Anybody have any visits planned? My BIL already voiced his opinions - just smile and nod.</p>