<p>3girls our tutor told me with my older one that most kids do their best at the end of junior year or the beginning of senior for the exact reasons that you mentioned. If my daughter needs another round of testing she will do it around February. She won’t do it in the spring because of AP tests, and doing it in the fall will stress us both out too much. It’s funny what you said about the company that discouraged classes because they are geared towards kids needing more instruction. Our tutor said the same thing- that the classes are tailored towards kids who need more instruction. Should we believe this or are we thinking that they are trying to sell us on their private tutoring services LOL. I have no clue!!</p>
<p>I’m having my DD take a practice test on Sunday to see where she sits and how much work we have to do. I’m thinking of taking it too both as solidarity and also so she can point and laugh at me when I suck at the math section, which I will. I’m very curious what our starting out point is going to be. </p>
<p>As a personal anecdote - when I was in grad school, I took the GRE and did just okay on it. I really wanted to do much better so I studied an awful lot. I managed to pull both my writing and math scores up more than 100 points from the low 600 to the mid 700s. I say this because it made me believe that it’s very possible to improve dramatically with effort. They say these are aptitude tests and I agree that they are not necessarily testing difficult material, but any gaps you can fill in in vocabulary or math skills is helpful.</p>
<p>4CookieMonster - I’m so sorry about the student killed in an accident in your community. How is your daughter? Our community lost a 15 year old 3 years ago in a scooter accident. It’s just so sad. </p>
<p>As far as SAT prep - you guys are making my head spin! But my head spins easily. 
</p>
<p>I think when to take the test the first time varies from kid to kid as someone said upthread. There’s no way December would be best for my S due to finals and a huge Christmas production taking place the, along with end-of-the-semester burnout. He’ll do the October test (or maybe November because it looks like the Oct test conflicts with our fall campout) and then sometime in the spring. That’ll leave May open for AP tests and finals.</p>
<p>Just got back from D’s orthodontist. I thought it was going be an easy, “everything looks great” appt, which, as far as her retainer, etc, it was, but they said she needs to go get her wisdom teeth removed this summer. Not excited about that.</p>
<p>Shoboe my daughter is getting hers removed this coming Monday. They told me that the whole process, including the consultation where he will talk to me, will take no more than an hour. I told her that I may have to leave her there if it runs late because I need to get my younger one to her Spanish final. They said it was no problem. All of this plus a full time job!! I am taking some time off for this.</p>
<p>@PinotNoir. Thanks for asking. The counselors and principal have been great. They told students last night that they could wait to take their exams. I tried to convince DD to wait until Friday but she wanted everything to be over.</p>
<p>DD finished her exams today but she didn’t make it through without crying. Someone started crying during the first exam and then it spread throughout the class. She cried in her second exam also. some students in classes were so upset that the teachers cancelled their exams. </p>
<p>Teacher were trying to console the kids but they broke down also. DD seems to be doing better for the moment. The class of 2015 decided today that they are going to finish his Eagle Scout project and dedicate a garden to him.</p>
<p>DD will have to get her wisdom teeth out this summer also. We will schedule the surgery after Driver’s Ed is completed.</p>
<p>Wow, I guess it will be busy at the oral surgeons’ offices this summer! I sure hope it will go smoothly for all of our kiddos!</p>
<p>4cookie, It must be so difficult for everyone, the suddenness and feeling that it just isn’t fair, and it’s just such a huge loss. The Eagle scout idea is a good one…I think sometimes people just need to feel like there is SOMETHING they can do about it, so finding something to do or dedicate to him can really help with that. I hope the school can figure out a good way to deal with those exams. I would think they’d consider just cancelling them if they aren’t a state requirement.</p>
<p>We will also be working on driving some this summer (no driver’s ed available). D started trying to drive a few months ago, but didn’t like it and would be just fine with avoiding it for the time being, so we are trying to go at her pace.</p>
<p>4CookieMonster I am starting to get teary eyed reading your post- it’s so awful. We had two consecutive years in our high school ( 2010,2011) that were marked by tragedy. The graduation ceremonies were sad as these students were recognized at graduation. I wish all of you the strength to deal with this.</p>
<p>Tomorrow is the Global Regents. Friday is Trig. Monday is the Spanish final, and Tuesday is health and the Chem Regents. Then she is done!! Of course she has a dentist appt, my other one is getting her wisdom teeth pulled, they are doing some community service hours, there is a freshman mentoring program that my daughter is doing, plus drivers Ed. My daughter is doing drivers Ed every day from 5:30 until 7 for 6 weeks. I also got her 5 private lessons to get her started- I won’t do it and I am scared that my husband will yell LOL.</p>
<p>4CookieMonster I will be thinking about you…</p>
<p>4CookieMonster, my heart goes out to your D and the entire community. The loss of a young person is especially hard. This class sounds like a caring group and I love that they are finishing his Eagle Scout project for him and dedicating a garden to him. I hope this will bring comfort to his family.</p>
<p>@4CookieMonster, the family who loss their son and your D are in my thoughts. </p>
<p>For vocabulary, D is using the Direct Hits books often discussed in the Sat/Act forum. I also have old SAT prep books back to the mid 90’s that D made flashcards of all the vocabulary and placed into baseball card holders by themes. She began working through books such as: </p>
<p>[Direct</a> Hits Core Vocabulary of the SAT 5th Edition (2013) (Volume 1): Direct Hits, Ted Griffith: 9781936551132: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/1936551136/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371080400&sr=1-1&keywords=direct+hits]Direct”>http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/1936551136/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371080400&sr=1-1&keywords=direct+hits)</p>
<p>[Direct</a> Hits Toughest Vocabulary of the SAT 5th Edition (Volume 2): Direct Hits, Ted Griffith: 9781936551149: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Toughest-Vocabulary-Edition-Volume/dp/1936551144/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y]Direct”>http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Toughest-Vocabulary-Edition-Volume/dp/1936551144/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y)</p>
<p>[30</a> Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary: Wilfred Funk, Norman Lewis: 9780671743499: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/30-Days-More-Powerful-Vocabulary/dp/067174349X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371080226&sr=8-1&keywords=increase+vocabulary+30+days]30”>http://www.amazon.com/30-Days-More-Powerful-Vocabulary/dp/067174349X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371080226&sr=8-1&keywords=increase+vocabulary+30+days)</p>
<p>[Word</a> Power Made Easy: Norman Lewis: 9780671741907: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Word-Power-Made-Norman-Lewis/dp/067174190X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371080226&sr=8-2&keywords=increase+vocabulary+30+days]Word”>http://www.amazon.com/Word-Power-Made-Norman-Lewis/dp/067174190X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371080226&sr=8-2&keywords=increase+vocabulary+30+days)</p>
<p>[Six</a> Weeks to Words of Power: Wilfred Funk: 9780671732837: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Weeks-Words-Power-Wilfred-Funk/dp/0671732838/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371080356&sr=1-3]Six”>http://www.amazon.com/Weeks-Words-Power-Wilfred-Funk/dp/0671732838/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371080356&sr=1-3)</p>
<p>We own the 1st and 3rd editions of the Direct Hits series. The other books Bunheadgirl started the summer before 9th grade, and completed one during the summer and another over a whole school year. She also loves books on etymology that discuss word origins–makes the medicine go down just a bit easier. </p>
<p>I’ll rummage through the bookshelves to give you all some more titles. I could not locate Vocabulary Energizers on Amazon, but D used those too, as well as my son. </p>
<p>Most all of the books listed above group words by theme or synonym families. </p>
<p>I try to find study materials to make studying more enjoyable even if not used for conventional ACT/SAT prep. </p>
<p>AND, I still require D to read 30 minutes a day outside of assigned school literature. I get complaints, but accept D reading Austen, the Bronte sisters, Stoker, or her favorite genre, Gothic literature, over and over again–grin. Might as well read if one is on public transportation 2 hours a day.</p>
<p>BunHeadMom, I would love you to teach my D. She enjoys words and language too and would very much enjoy that sort of study.</p>
<p>Re: 30 minutes of reading/day: do you find that it’s not so easy to regulate? My girls are like me in that once they start reading it’s very hard to turn it off and switch to a different task. The time on public transportation is good reading time but my D, who spends a lot less than that on travel, tends to use it to prepare for her school day.</p>
<p>4CookieMonster, I’m so sorry to hear about your DD and her classmate, sending good thoughts their way.</p>
<p>Ah, we got home last night from our “11 colleges in 10 days” tour of the Northeast. It’s good to be home, and I think D2 has a better idea of what she wants now.</p>
<p>The obvious missing school was Yale, but since that’s where D1 attends, I thought it better to send D2 during the school year. I know that big sis has a futon in her common room. I bought it.</p>
<p>To answer some of the earlier questions, we did all of the info sessions and tours, and at some schools we had a more personalized look because we knew faculty or students who had stayed over the summer. The exception was CMU, where we just did the tour for timing reasons. No one wants to interview a rising Junior, so we didn’t deal with that. D2 took good notes, and has a better memory than me, so the schools didn’t blur together too much, and she has categorized schools into 4 categories ranging from LUV to NO WAY. It was odd that she liked Williams much better than Amherst, but that had to do with what she perceived as a sense of place and sense of community. Others perceptions might be different.</p>
<p>@ijustdrive, you must be exhausted. Can you give us more details about the different Univ. that you visited on your trip when you have time? I would love to hear about your adventure. 11 in 10 days…</p>
<p>D has been open to discussing possible college & career options lately. This is a big turn around since she has typically had trouble making decisions - especially about what she wants to do. We are taking her sister to freshmen orientation in August and will have some time to explore a few schools on the way there and back. Right now she’s looking into Costume Design, so we’re going to try to visit U. of Cinci, CMU, Shenandoah and UNCSA. It will depend on what route we take to NY for D’13’s school.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, she is plugging away at SAT prep through Kaplan. (We were able to get a free trial through H’s work.) Since we homes cool and typically work through the summer, she’ll be able to get a lot farther along in her math and I’m hoping that will boost her score as well.</p>
<p>A brief breakdown of who we visited:</p>
<p>Williams (liked)
Amherst (didn’t like as much, less of a sense of place or enthusiasm)
Brown (loved)
MIT (disliked intensely)
Harvard (couldn’t get a real sense of – we did the info session only, no tour offered so she got the mediocre “Mom” tour)
Olin (extremely intrigued and liked the students/ideas but she’s not sure she wants to commit to solely engineering. I was concerned about the size.)
Wellesley (liked in spite of pouring rain and a mediocre tour guide)
Princeton (really liked)
Haverford (liked)
Swarthmore (loved – perhaps the favorite)
Carnegie Mellon (liked but has questions about flexibility to cross boundaries between sciences, engineering and computer science – we did only the tour, not the info session because of timing)</p>
<p>In spite of the joking about “buzz word bingo”, she seems pretty keen on a liberal arts education with a major in either science, computer science or engineering, and she doesn’t want to really have to commit to anything at this point (which is fair – she has time).</p>
<p>There’s really a lot to love about Olin. The students are driven in a good way, creative, enthusiastic and really involved with each other at all levels. With a school of fewer than 400 students, that’s both a plus and a minus. That’s the one she has to really, really think about. It’s a very, very different kind of education, and that’s the point of it.</p>
<p>FWIW, the new buzzword from everyone this year that wasn’t there 3 years ago when I did this with D1 is advising. Word has gotten out that parents are very concerned about the quantity and quality of advising for undergraduates.</p>
<p>Oh, another amusing tidbit: Princeton increases financial aid for students in their Junior and Senior years so that they can join eating clubs. It’s clearly the right thing for them to do, but it’s amusing that 1) it’s an issue and 2) we were told about it on the tour.</p>
<p>@cookiemonster. I can’t imagine how difficult that would be, but tremendous memorialization–finishing the Eagle Scout project. My wife had a HS classmate who died in a car accident and to this day she’ll mention it when we’re on that stretch of road. </p>
<p>@ijustdrive Your screen name synced up with your tour. Very interested in D’s impression of Williams over Amherst. My wife, an Eph, would be ecstatic if our son attended Williams. She would like him to apply ED, and be done with it. But she’s trying to downplay it, and sometimes succeeds at that. In many ways, he’d be an ideal student–STEM type also into the humanities, a bit jockish, and a credible musician. One of the great thing about Williams is their Oxford-style tutorials. “Mark Hopkins on one side of the log and you on the other.”</p>
<p>I wonder as he concentrates on the type of education he wants, rather than on the fact that Williams “is the middle of nowhere,” his thinking might change. His older brother insisted on an urban setting, and is now a senior out in the country. </p>
<p>Re the vocab thing and reading. My son and I are planning to read together and discuss a tome on European History. It will also dovetail with the European history AP. I hope it works out. Anyone else try to do a kind of family reading club?</p>
<p>Is reading a dinosaur? Is 30 minutes too much? From the New Yorker: [url=<a href="http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/Actually-I-m-sitting-here-reading-a-book-just-to-see-if-I-can-still-do-i-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8935546_.htm]“Actually”>http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/Actually-I-m-sitting-here-reading-a-book-just-to-see-if-I-can-still-do-i-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8935546_.htm]"Actually</a>, I’m sitting here reading a book?just to see if I can still do i - New Yorker Cartoon Poster Print by William Haefeli at the Cond</p>
<p>IJustDrive, I love your user name. I felt like that until recently. Now it’s IJustHandOverTheKeys. </p>
<p>It seemed like D14 was jumping the gun last summer when she wanted to go on college tours. Now I’m very happy we did a bunch last summer and a handful more during the school year. </p>
<p>I’ve only brought D15 on two tours. She’s less of a planner, hasn’t been asking, and is generally less interested. My current tactic is to bring her to events that happen to be on a college campus. During last weekend’s event she said that she thought she could be happy at that school. </p>
<p>Your D and my D15 have similar requirements. I’ve been poking around for schools that encourage (or simply allow) entering as an undecided engineering/cs/science major. Things may change over the next year, but for now my D is no where near ready to determine a particular specialty. So many of the engineering and cs programs require the kids to apply to the specific major, with little or no chance of changing majors later.</p>
<p>@latichever, Great idea to dovetail summer reading to the European AP test! </p>
<p>A couple of Bunheadgirls and moms get together every Sunday at one of the homes for a book of the month club. The girls pick a theme and we mothers gloss over menus–lol. We usually begin the planning the end of June and begin the club the week after July 4th. </p>
<p>I think I’ll steal your idea and peruse AP reading lists to see what I can get together that also will keep the girls interested–looks like no Austen or LOR to pick a part this summer. </p>
<p>And to the 30 minutes of reading, I think it is not a lot of time, but more than enough to get through a book per month. During the summer months, we like to head to one of our 10, 000 lakes, spread out a blanket and nosh on brunch while reading. We all own Kindles or Nooks, so do a lot of reading via those devises, but also like the feel of a real book in our hands, too. You can find my eldest heading to work with a paperback in hand. I guess my kids and I are an exception and not the norm, as reading is a huge part of our daily lives. We even collect 1st editions of our favorite titles via Ebay, 2nd hand stores, thrift shops, and estate sales.</p>