<p>My kids also had plenty of chances to hang around a lot of college campuses through sports. Both kids were swimmers and we frequented many colleges on the East coast. S attended many helmet sports camps where he spent over nights in the dorms at some of our finest colleges. When it came time to do the traditional college tours we went on the West coast where a few schools required interviews.</p>
<p>Thanks 4CookieMonster - that was very informative.</p>
<p>Twogirls, we’re talking about different shades of scholarly. My D would never be planning the next fundraiser! In a world where leadership is everything, my D is, if not a follower exactly, an observer. She’s not enthusiastic about any club or activity and is barely involved in anything, she’s not an athlete and she’s not a performer. She is reticent and very thoughtful, a natural test taker and an accomplished writer. These are not, by themselves, qualities that are particularly attractive to the colleges that would likely suit her best (and I’m not talking Ivy League or equivalent here) no matter what her grades and scores…but the paradox is that high grades and high scores may be her only shot at admission anywhere.</p>
<p>Thanks for the report, 4CookieMonster! </p>
<p>My H has taken our D–as he did her older brother–to look at schools each summer since 9th grade. He views these visits as “motivational” as opposed to “informational.” The visits give a younger kid an idea of what’s out there, and–as 4CookieMonster said–what it takes in terms of grades and test scores to get into certain schools. Somehow, the message is received from a tour guide way more clearly than from a parent. ;)</p>
<p>3girls, your D sounds a lot like my S, who was definitely not an athlete or much of a “joiner.” One of his very few activities was the Cardboard Club, which his co-founded. It was a club for people to play board games after school. And, yes, he put that on his applications. :eek:</p>
<p>He, too, is a good writer, and I think there are adcomms that are very good at sussing out talented students who don’t fit the typical mold. And most schools don’t want an entire freshman class of extroverted “leaders.” They want a variety. </p>
<p>Our S has really had a dream college and grad school experience. It has given me hope that some schools can really see the kid behind the application.</p>
<p>Thanks 4cookiemonster, that was very helpful. I think I signed D up to attend one of these things but with a different mix of schools and for the life of me, I can’t find the confirmation or dates!</p>
<p>Thanks Cookiemonster! Laclos you make me laugh- the GPS sent you on the sidewalk!! I am with you- my daughter will go where she gets the most bang for her buck. 3girls yes my daughter does well in school and holds some nice leadership positions, but she often gets down on herself because she is not an accomplished dancer or musician- many of her friends are. She also hates tv and is not a huge fan of the movies. Her free time is generally organized around her ECs ie student council, fundraising events, running etc.</p>
<p>Thinking about the desire for a “rah rah school”. My D13 is heading to Ole Miss with a merit scholarship paying more than the cost of attendance. Their honors college, Chinese flagship and international studies programs are really exceptional. I’m surprised more CC13s aren’t taking advantage of the opportunities there. My D has even won a trip to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil through the honors college. Give Ole Miss a closer look!</p>
<p>D2 is finished her sophomore year! Just waiting on the last few grades to be entered- but she keeps up her perfect all A’s record! ( I really should be on the bragging thread)</p>
<p>SAT scores came in this morning and she is happy with them. Great place to start, she scored in the mid fifty range for our state flagship. Nice confidence booster for her.</p>
<p>She is so happy to be out. Been a good year for her. Kinda second guessing myself on signing her up for the SAT subject test on World History next weekend. I can’t see her being very motivated to study next week. She flies to Europe the same afternoon. I may just have to kiss the testing fee goodbye.</p>
<p>We still have another four weeks left- ugh. Congrats to your daughter! My daughter is signed up for the chem and lit SAT 2 on June 8, but she just told me she is skipping lit and only doing chem. That’s fine with me. She has her bio score from last year that she will use so after chem she may be done…unless she goes for engineering and needs the math. Good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>Congratulations, Sally22! That must feel very good to know she’s right in there.</p>
<p>twogirls, remind me (it’s a long thread), is your D taking honors chem or AP chem? What’s the difference between regular and honors? I didn’t think about SAT II tests since my son only did regular chem, but he did really well in it, so maybe I should have.</p>
<p>He’s taking the SAT a few days after June 1st ('cause he’s got accommodations). I think we’re shooting for 2000; we’ll see if he gets there!</p>
<p>He had his ear surgery and goes back tomorrow for a recheck on his hearing. He feels it didn’t help but we’ll see. </p>
<p>The big news is he agreed to have his eye surgery! We got the ball rolling on insurance and the doctor but it will probably be a few months before the actual surgery. Now that he’s agreed, I have to admit I’m a little nervous but I won’t let him know that. It’s a 15 minute procedure for each eye-basically snipping a muscle and tightening it so the eyes converge. We hope this will be one more piece of the puzzle in helping him be more successful academically.</p>
<p>SBj good luck with your son. It’s stressful but it looks like things are heading in the right direction. My daughter takes honors chem- sophomores can’t take AP. Although it’s an honors class it was run much harder than typical honors but not quite AP ( according to the dept chair they decided to raise the difficulty level). My daughter has done very well all year and feels she can take the test. The class already uses the SAT book. Last year my daughter took honors bio and took the bio SAT and did well on it. She can actually use the score. My daughter is also signed up for the lit test but at this point she says she may skip it. She feels that she is capable of getting a great chem score and will then have two great scores- bio and chem. if she takes the lit test I asked her to take a few practice tests and she feels it’s too much right now given all of her work. Right now she is taking 11th grade honors English and has done very well, but the lit test has a reputation of being harder than the other tests and she does not want to risk it by going in there cold and perhaps not doing as well than if she studied and did practice tests. I told her that she does not have to send in the score if its not what she wants, but she is such a perfectionist that this logic does not work for her. She will have 2 subject tests under her belt and says she will take a few more next year " because they are so much fun." The sad part is that she is not being sarcastic. Please forgive me if I don’t make sense- it’s early. I called college board and they said if she is signed up for 2 tests and decides to skip one then she just leaves after the first test. I lose my money but now I have learned not to sign up for 2. If you sign up for one you are allowed to take more while you are there and they will bill you.</p>
<p>@sbjdorlo - good luck with your son’s surgery. Hope it goes well and he makes quick recovery. Good luck with SAT too. I am sure he will do fine. </p>
<p>D has 3 more weeks of school, 1 SAT II, and a couple of finals to go. At this point, she is completely checked-out mentally and physically and struggling to get to the finish line… I think AP exams took a lot out of her. I am sure she is not unique in that sense thou.</p>
<p>My daughter has APs next year and I already know that she will be studying like crazy for them. Yesterday the guidance counselor stopped her and told her to stop by to discuss a conflict with an elective. I think it’s a business law class and this morning she told me that she does not want to take it so I am not overly concerned with this conflict. I have the SAT tutor coming in June just to devise a plan. I think we will do all testing in the fall. During the winter she will have mid terms and at the end she will have AP tests. I am trying to create the least stressful situation for her LOL. She is already stressing about a " yearbook field trip" in Sept which will require her to miss half a day of school. The kids are already talking about their rank within the grade and my daughter was thinking about asking guidance. She changed her mind, which is fine with me. I already know where she is approximately and do not need an exact number right now. I really just need this year to end!!!</p>
<p>My daughter just got the AP bio book for next year to start doing summer homework. Our school is so woefully under-funded that the homework packet she got doesn’t seem to match the version of the book so she’s already foisted the book onto me to paw through and try to find what sections in the packet corresponded to what sections in the book. (The packet said the first assignment came from section 1-4, but using the index and keywords, I found that the answers were in section 1-7. And this is a big packet so this should make the work that much more fun.) Hopefully, in the Fall they will give them all the proper materials.</p>
<p>So I’ve got my summer PSAT schedule figured out. What I’m concerned with is that I made sure she finished all the materials by the time school starts in August, but the test isn’t until October, so I need to have her keep doing a small amount of work during August and September without overwhelming her. I found this site, majortests.com, that has short little 20 question quizzes that correspond with the SAT sections and I’m wondering if it would be helpful - if it’s analogous in difficulty and types of questions and if doing online testing as opposed to sitting at a desk with a pencil and paper will throw off the test taking practice. Has anyone ever used that site? </p>
<p>The other concern is that we’ll use up the 10 BB practice tests for the PSAT and have nothing new to study for the SAT. I’m wondering if it would be good to have her turn around and do the SAT in Nov without knowing how she did on the PSAT. Even without working on the essay, she could take it and then hope to superscore the writing section at another sitting?</p>
<p>There is just too much info to think about. I’m astounded though at how many parents I have talked to who have kids the same age as mine, or even already in college, who have no clue about the resources out there.</p>
<p>It is too much info to think about. Right now I know she will take the October 26 ACT. She will take the SAT either Nov. 2 or Dec. 7th- I need to see how her practice tests and tutoring go. If we need a round 2 we will do it in Dec/Jan but then I hope to be finished. MAYBE I will sign her up for the Sept. 21 ACT IF her tutoring and practice tests go really really well. We shall see. Laclos I would stick with the paper and pencil practice tests. It’s more realistic. This is just my opinion.</p>
<p>Hmm. Now I’m rethinking my overkill schedule… Maybe I’ll just have her do a practice test or two in October and let the chips fall where they may. I just don’t understand why she doesn’t mind doing her summer AP biology before she’s even finished out this school year but is so resistant to doing SAT work. I mean, I would expect her to put them both off.</p>
<p>That is weird Laclos LOL- can she study over the summer for the PSAT? I bought the Baron’s PSAT book - I think it has 4 tests. I also bought an SAT book with 10 tests and three ACT books with about 12 tests. My goal is to do two tests every weekend. She promised me that she would do it and I think when the tutor comes in June to " consult" this will motivate her.</p>
<p>I’m not targeting the PSAT*. We’re doing all SAT study. I have a schedule - it includes doing the blue book, all sections in June. We’ll do Math and CR to start with, plus vocab every single day. When she exhausts the blue book, I have a book called the SAT Reading Bible that I’m hoping will give her practice with those and a book called Dr. Chungs with 20 math tests. We’ll never get through all the math tests, but it’s focussed. </p>
<p>I think I might have to bribe her… “I’ll get you a mani-pedi the first time you get above 600 on all sections.” I am a fan of bribery.</p>
<p>ETA: I should have said “I’m not studying PSAT materials” because I am targeting the PSAT test, but my approach is to look past it to the SAT and hope that the study encompasses the PSAT exam. Maybe it wouldn’t be stupid to get PSAT tests for October. Good thinking.</p>
<p>I am letting her do 3 PSAT practice tests- then we will focus on SAT and ACT. This will happen beginning June 29th. She needs to finish the school year first.</p>