<p>^^ Apollo’s right, and I’ll add another detail. If a student takes the same subject test twice (or more), he has to send in all sittings in order to send in that subject. So if he takes Bio in June, and then Bio and Chem in September, he can send either Bio or Chem (or both), but if he wants to send Bio at all, he has to send both of the scores.</p>
<p>twogirls- don’t get stressed,we are hear to hold your hand or offer a virtual glass of wine!</p>
<p>Don’t mean to sidetrack the informative discussion re: SATIIs, but below is a useful link that I found today on another thread in the Parents Forum (in case anyone missed it). If there’s a more-recent list of this type, I haven’t found it yet:</p>
<p><a href=“Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com”>Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com;
<p>For the moment, I’m plugging these numbers into a spreadsheet of the schools DS <em>may</em> be interested in…mainly just to give DH/me some $$ perspective. Then, this Summer, DS’s homework will be to research his Top 10-15 schools & obtain current $$ and stats from each college website, along with other info. Since DS is thus far wanting to stay within the Midwest, it seems easier to create a preliminary list. If the college does not award merit aid, it’s not going on the list.</p>
<p>Sally- a glass of wine sounds great!!
Pinot- thanks for the info!
GoAskDad- we are getting a list of schools together that offer merit aid, along with our state schools. Just like you, if there is no merit aid offered it is not on the list! Great article!!</p>
<p>GoAskDad - thanks for the link. Very informative. I noticed our flagship school (UMD College Park) where S1 and S2 received good merit scholarship is not listed. There may be some other schools that may offer merit $ not listed.</p>
<p>@ FromMD, agreed & you’ve made a good point. We should all verify most current merit info on school web sites via Common Data Set. At this stage, I was just too lazy/busy to do that for all but a few schools…ha, ha…and DS should really be the one doing the in-depth research this Summer (when he has more time). However, I didn’t want to wait that long. I’ve read that a few schools have dropped merit aid recently in lieu of offering more need-based aid, so that’s a consideration, as well. </p>
<p>Yesterday I ran into some parents we don’t often see these days. They have a son in DS’s class & a high-stats/high-achieving DD who’s a Sr this year. We discussed her college selection process & the parents told me how they’d taken their DD on several college trips to great schools (prob tippy top) where she had the stats to get in. THEN, <em>after</em> apps were submitted and the DD’s heart was set on a few schools, the parents finally clicked on the fact that many of these schools only offered need-based aid. They didn’t qualify for need-based aid, which I would have guessed, but they have kids coming up behind DD + they run a small business which took a hit in the bad economy. Anyway, the DD will be OK. She’s going to a good school w/merit, but the mom told me they wasted a lot of time/money/effort/energy in their DD’s pursuit of schools that do not offer merit. And both parents were impressed that I understood their whole story and could converse (somewhat) intelligently on the topic! I marched right home & told my family that I’m not crazy to lurk here on CC - I’ve learned a lot. The eye-rolls continue among my family members, but I persevere! ;-)</p>
<p>@Goaskdad, Very nice link! </p>
<p>@mihcal - about SAT chemistry, that’s what I figured. D. took a sample SAT US history test. Even though her AP history class is far behind, and she took the SAT sample test 2 weeks ago, she got high above 700. But her chemistry class covered almost everything AP chem should cover, and she is doing well in her class, she got low 600 in SAT sample. Not a good sign. She decided not to take it. As you said, invest time elsewhere seems to be a good option.</p>
<p>I had this ‘merit award’ link saved in my College folder from DD '12. It is helpful, but keep in mind the tuition/fees numbers they’re quoting are for instate, while the merit is accurate. Case in point; receiving the average merit award from UMICH while being from OOS isn’t that rewarding or compelling.</p>
<p>I have actually been calling schools and asking about merit aid specifics if I don’t see it clearly posted. The schools seem happy to talk with me. This is turning into a part time job in addition to my full time job! Right now we have a list of 20 schools, with two being in state options. We have to narrow it down a bit- 20 schools is a bit much!</p>
<p>I can’t get DS’15 to give me 1 school he’d consider. It’s just too far off for him. DD’12 applied to 7. I feel like our S will have less than that.</p>
<p>@ gliterdone, yes - another good point I should have mentioned about tuition listed being in-state. We’re part of the Midwest Exchange so some schools will offer something better than OOS, but not as low as in-state. Always pays to check.</p>
<p>@ two girls, I hear you on the part-time job front. For us, getting a grasp of what’s affordable is Step One, but it can be time-consuming!</p>
<p>It’s very time consuming. Between finding appropriate schools, visiting, narrowing down the list, taking the ACT/SAT etc I may just need that virtual glass of wine. My daughter just commented the other day that things are getting competitive now. Not sure what she meant but I advised her not to get involved. We live in a tough town.</p>
<p>gliterdone – it IS early for all of this. There’s no real point in driving kids crazy until there’s more data. The most important grades are Junior year grades, and most kids don’t have their final test scores yet (and they certainly don’t know about NM status!) All we have now is hope an potential. A year from now, we’ll know what we’re actually dealing with. IMO, it’s just too early to do anything but gather information and encourage really good grades (and other feathers in our kid’s caps).</p>
<p>Hi everyone! I’ve been out of the loop for awhile and I’m trying to catch up here. Things are moving along here. D is still trying to finish up the classes for drivers ed (who knew that would be so time-consuming?), looking for a summer job, gearing up to run for student council for next year (lots of competition apparently - cross your fingers for her please!), and looking toward the end of the year. Just 6 weeks left I think - YIKES!</p>
<p>I finally signed her up this morning for the SATII in US History. (Class is still woefully behind.) I have to figure out all of the stuff about automatically reporting scores to up to 4 schools, whether to do that, cost of not doing it, etc. She took the National French Test a few weeks ago, still waiting to hear about that.</p>
<p>My good news is that she has definitely turned a corner. She is starting to get excited about colleges, and just in general she has been fun to be around. I have missed her so, and it’s great to have her back. ;)</p>
<p>@suzy, I’m also trying to figure out if and how to send scores to colleges. I signed up D. to take SAT II in US history as well. We did it last weekend. I did not ask for automatically reporting scores. Is it free to report to 4 schools? How is that done? Did your D. do a sample US history test? (SAT) Is she taking APUSH? I’ve heard if one can do well in APUSH, s/he doesn’t need much study to do well in subject SAT in US history. I’m hoping it’s true. From the one sample test she did, it seems to be true.</p>
<p>@Maxwell, I’m trying to figure all of that out. My did is taking APUSH, but they are behind, and she hasn’t yet done any self-study, nor taken any practice tests. Here’s what it says in the T&Cs that everyone has to agree to before registering: (I did not request that her scores be sent anywhere) -
**
Each time you test, you can choose those colleges or scholarship programs to which you want to send your scores. The first four are included with your test registration fee. If you are undecided about where to send your scores, you can add or change your score recipients online. Corrections and additions to your score report recipients can be made online until the second Monday after the national test administration date. The four score-sending requests that are included with registration cannot be applied to past or future score-sending requests or registrations.**</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>GoAskDad, my D got the frisbee too–which thrilled me way more than her. Her older brother graduated from there, and he got a kick out of it because two of his friends were quoted on the packaged. ;)</p>
<p>Welcome, bopper!</p>
<p>Our D just got her learner’s permit. It took us 6 months to get our act together: ID stuff, letter from school (which expired in 30 days–we were on our 2nd), notarized parental responsibility affidavit, etc. </p>
<p>Maxwell, so glad the county orchestra went well! That teacher sounds like a nightmare.</p>
<p>GoAskDad, thanks for that link!</p>
<p>I want to thank you all for “listening” during my recent junior-year-schedule freakout. I’m realizing that going through the college admissions process postmenopause is not going to be pretty. 
</p>
<p>D decided to take a science (thank heavens), which will be AP Physics. Her school doesn’t offer IB physics, so she may look into a dual enrollment physics class at the state uni or community college next year. She’s not doing the full IB, since her original reason for not doing it–couldn’t take all her music/theatre classes–is still in place. (Even though the school will offer IB Music next year, it still makes no difference with the other 2 theatre classes). </p>
<p>Question: what are the reasons behind taking the SATIIs? My S took two because some of the schools he applied to required them. Is there any other reason to do it? Thanks!</p>
<p>My daughter is taking the SAT 2’s because some of the colleges require them. We received a letter freshman year suggesting that she take them just in case. It works out nicely because she does not have any AP tests until next year.</p>
<p>@limner - I can think of only two reasons – 1) as you and twogirls pointed out some schools require them. I think many top-tier schools do require (or recommend) 2 or 3 subjects tests. You can easily find out specific school requirements by googling it, search CC, or check out school’s web site; and 2) as an insurance policy in case kids change their mind later. </p>
<p>I think it’s a good idea to review which schools require them, how many, and what subject areas before kids sign up for the tests. Just a thought.</p>