<p>Suzy I feel for you as it is very anxiety producing. Yesterday the drivers ed instructor told me to let her drive home ( the class is given at one of our high schools, but not hers). I drove to her hs and let her drive home. It was a nerve wracking experience but it worked out fine. He also told me to let her drive on a certain area of the highway where there are very few cars- ugh. She is really driving all over and I have to let go of my anxiety, but at the same time she has only been driving for 3 weeks!</p>
<p>Today is my daughter’s 16th birthday! Of course, she’s away working at a Heifer International farm and won’t be home until Monday, so we’ll have to celebrate then. </p>
<p>In our state, she has to be 16.5 to get her license, so we’re still in the practice stage. She does a pretty decent job, though I’m nervous as can be.</p>
<p>D has been driving for quite a while, as she got her permit in spring of 2012 and license this past April when she turned 16. We were nervous at first as well, but you get used to it and they get better. For now she gets to take the car alone for short trips, and cannot drive at night. But when school starts she will be driving herself a lot, due to all her and her siblings’ conflicting activities.</p>
<p>I was reading this waiting for my h to text if d had passed her road test! The text just came in and she passed with a 100! Now, the worry really starts!</p>
<p>That is funny about the password. I once needed to figure out one of my kid’s passwords, and knowing he’s a tad lazy, guessed the password we use for netflix and the like, and that was it. </p>
<p>Older sibs can be lifesavers too. My class of 2015 son posted his AP Scores on Facebook and his big sister saw it and told him that’s “social suicide.” She has taken on the role of being his guide to what’s cool in school and other aspects of teenage life. </p>
<p>My cool daughter insisted on a license, and got it a year ago at 17. But her 21 year old brother doesn’t have a license and isn’t obsessed with it. Their just 16 brother mentioned he could get a permit, but that’s it so far. Maybe it’s that they grew up in a walkable city thst also has good public transit. I grew up in NYC and didn’t get a license until I was 23 and moving out of town. Typical. </p>
<p>My boys are part of a trend. Driving is graying, there are significantly more older drivers and fewer young drivers than 30 years ago. Could be they prefer to sit on a train or bus on their phone or tablet. </p>
<p>“The End of Car Culture”</p>
<p><a href=“The End of Car Culture - The New York Times”>The End of Car Culture - The New York Times;
<p>^ ugh LOL!! In NY you can get your permit at 16 and take your road test at 16 1/2 provided that you have 50 hours (?) of documented night time driving. The 50 hours is based on parents signing a form stating that their kid has completed the hours. There are many parents who sign the form even though their child has done fewer- crazy. My daughter has quite a few months before she can take her road test. I am happy! Sally… Congrats to your daughter!</p>
<p>Vistajay, that’s a great story! How funny that the younger brother knew the answer to the stumper question immediately. I don’t think siblings would be as helpful in this house.</p>
<p>Quotia, happy birthday to your D! </p>
<p>Sally and Suzy, wow, congrats on the new drivers in your families. It should make your lives easier even if it is scary. (I’m still a nervous nellie about my girls driving and the older two have had their licenses for years. When they were new drivers, I used to insist that they call me whenever they left a place and whenever they arrived at the next stop. But then I worry about my eldest who bicycles in major traffic to and from work. Obviously, I’m not a good barometer of what’s reasonable.) </p>
<p>Latichever, my youngest is not pressing to get her permit so maybe she will be part of that non-car culture as well. It’s interesting that the author of that article didn’t mention the rising cost of gasoline along with the periodic spikes that always see an accompanying drop in driving. She mentions bike-sharing programs–these seem to be exploding around cities. DC is so much more bike friendly than it was back in the dark ages when I lived there. Boston also seems to have extended its bike lanes and bike sharing. I am amazed at the thought of biking in NY though!</p>
<p>My D left for 3 weeks of camp without logging to check her AP scores. I guess we’ll check when she is back… or not.</p>
<p>I came to this thread expecting the class of 2015 not the class of 2015’s parents. I wish my parents were interested in the classes I took -__-</p>
<p>There may be one for your classmates Akachi but not in the parent’s forum which is where you are.</p>
<p>Is anyone’s child preparing for ACT/PSAT this summer? I am looking for some encouragement. My son is stuck on 30 for the last 5 weeks and he needs a 34. Wondering if he should postpone Sept testing to Feb…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t postpone taking it-plan on having him sit both dates. why does he need a specific score ?</p>
<p>My daughter is taking the December 7 SAT and the Dec 14 ACT. Right now she is studying SAT vocabulary every night and I quiz her. The SAT tutor gave her some practice work to do which has been completed. She was doing practice tests each night ie one night science, one night math SAT etc but she stopped- she was doing this work at 9:00 at night along with her summer reading and vocabulary and it got to be too much. She is focusing on SAT vocabulary for now and that’s it. We ditched daily practice tests for now.
She starts tutoring in September. At that point she will most likely spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday ( not all day) dedicated to SAT/ACT. The tutor discouraged her from taking the September test- he does not think juniors should be taking it in September. He feels seniors should take it in September. I don’t know if he is right or wrong- it’s just his opinion. Some of my daughter’s friends are doing Sept/ Oct testing. SAT vocabulary is very very difficult even for top students, so that is what she is focusing on.
Here is my advice, for whatever it’s worth: if your son is determined to take the Sept test then he should get the red Real ACT book. This is the only book with real ACT tests. Have him take one subtest a night without being timed. After each subtest he should go through all of his answers. He needs to know why his right answers were right, and why the wrong answers were wrong. After he does this then he can start timing himself one section at a time. Then he can work up to timing the entire test. There are also ACT tests on line that he can take. It’s all about practice and learning the concepts. Is your son getting a 30 on each subtest? If he takes the Sept test and does not get the score that he wants he can always take it again, or he can just wait for a later test. My daughter will be doing both tests in Dec, followed by the Jan SAT and Feb ACT if necessary. There is also a March SAT that she can take, but after March she will be done…moving on to AP/finals prep. Many seniors do their testing in Sept/Oct of senior year in the hopes of raising their score a bit. The tutor tells me all the time that kids usually do their best senior year simply because they are older and have had more exposure.</p>
<p>A tip on ACT prep: they reuse questions from time to time. I gave my son some old Zaps course prep materials a couple years ago and he was shocked to discover one of the same science passages on the test he took that fall. Needless to say, he scored a 36 on that section and a 34 overall. Now he’s afraid to take it again because he’s not sure he’d do better.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any great ideas on finding a math tutor or a prep company with individualized math tutoring？ S15 has started to prep for the PSAT. Even after a year speaking Chinese his English is great. A year with no math = not so good.</p>
<p>Appollo6, I’d ask other parents or the GC at S’s school. They should be able to provide some referrals for you.</p>
<p>My D is doing some tutoring this summer (with a gentleman who was referred by another parent) but it’s sporadic and honestly I did it because it’s the only way D would crack a book. For her, I think she mostly needs some brushing up on the math as it’s been awhile since she took Algebra II. </p>
<p>She will take the SAT either 2 weeks before or two weeks after the PSAT Anybody have thoughts on whether she should take it before or after, assuming she’s ready?</p>
<p>The ACT may be trickier. I think that might be the better test for her, but the December test date is right in the middle of finals for her, so it’s not a great time. The October date is the week after the PSAT, so that’s not great either. There is a September date, but not sure if that’s too early. </p>
<p>AND, I don’t think any of her prep has included strategies for writing. Ugh.</p>
<p>I have had good results with Craigslist. (And with contractors, too.) Of course you have to be careful. Ask for references, etc. Tutoring always happens at a public location such as a library or Starbucks. But we have found some exceptional tutors. It’s possible I’m working with an atypical pool of tutors since I’m located near a major university. But if you live near any kind of college or university that could be a resource.</p>
<p>Realchk – both my Ds school and SAT prep tutor agree with what twogirls said, that scores 2nd semester junior year and first semester senior year are higher for almost all kids. I would love to have this test over with but I’m following their advice and waiting. Is there a specific reason why the ACT needs to be taken early?</p>
<p>realchk – A 30 is good score, good enough for MIT (see below). So why do you say your son “needs” a 34? </p>
<p>Apollo6 – there is absolutely NO reason to retake a 34 overall. There is not a single college in the entire country where a 34 would disqualify a candidate from admission.</p>
<p>Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what admissions officer MITChris has to say about [qualifications</a> for MIT](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10581800-post1.html]qualifications”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10581800-post1.html):
</p>
<p>He probably won’t take the ACT again unless they say his score is too old (2011 for a 2015 high school graduate) but unfortunately scholarships seem to be tied to the PSAT/SAT more than the ACT so he can’t avoid some test prep.</p>
<p>Thanks for the idea of looking for tutors near the local U. Tutors associated with his former high school are not oriented to strong students, we discovered. One of the many reasons that DS is not returning to our local public is that they just don’t have other students like him.</p>