<p>SomeOldGuy, yes I agree with you except that this sort of happened last year too with a different teacher. Both summers they had assignments and both times they were graded very harshly, but with not enough time to even it out by the end of the quarter. (And I really don’t understand the logic of including grades for summer work when it is not a reflection on what they’ve learned in the course because they haven’t even started the course.) This year it’s worse because he’s also grading the first few weeks of work harshly too. By the time the kids start to pull up their grades, the quarter runs out and that’s 40% of their semester grade. </p>
<p>I know it’s nitpicky and I’ll let me D deal with it. It’s just hard to watch.</p>
<p>Ist day of school today for the DD, though she’s been on campus for the past 3 weeks as pres-season for field hockey began 8/15. I believe she received all of her requested classes as I heard no mumbling from with DD or WW (wonderful wife).</p>
<p>DD began ACT prep right around July 4th and won’t be ready for the 1st go at ACT until October. While where we live is traditionally SAT country, when evaluated she did better with the ACT so that’s what she’ll take. She does wow about the ACT time management as she struggles to complete setions in the alotted time - I continue to tell her the more she practices the faster she’ll get. She has another full practice test scheduled for the off day from school tomorrow due to the Holiday (not one for our family), so we’ll see how she fares.</p>
<p>I think a lot has to do with the new teacher evaluation process. The younger kids get benchmark tests so that they can show improvement throughout the year but the older kids just have their quarter grades. I think many teachers grade harshly in the beginning to show “progress” and “improvement” so that their evaluations are satisfactory to administration. Not all teachers…but some.</p>
<p>I like hearing all the differences about SAT and ACT. My D took the PLAN and the PSAT as a sophomore and the results were quite different. Her PLAN scores and percentiles were in line with her GPA. Her PSAT score and her summer SAT practice tests just don’t measure up to her academic performance. Her CR scores are terrible (for lack of a better term ;)) but yet her reading comp scores on the PLAN were just fine. We have come to the realization that NMSF isn’t going to happen so she will concentrate on the ACT after the fall sports season. From the descriptions here she is definitely more of an ACT kid.</p>
<p>I think D’s AP Gov teacher is doing a weed-out of sorts right now. A lot of kids typically drop this class and go down to regular Gov in the first couple of weeks. Toqueville right off the bat and a lot…</p>
<p>Softball girl was asked to Homecoming today by a kid in the neighborhood. We were just talking about Homecoming dates last night at dinner with some of her team mates and their moms. I was surprised when she said that she would never turn a guy down that asked her. I am not sure I was that nice at her age! Homecoming is early for us this year, Sept 28th.</p>
<p>Sally22, homecoming is the 21st here! I think that’s sweet that your D wouldn’t turn a guy down that asked her. Good for her.</p>
<p>D is told a certain someone will be asking her, but no invite yet. He better get on the stick because the opportunities to shop for a dress will be few and far between for us.</p>
<p>Hello fellow parents of 2015-ers!! I’ve been on CC for a few years now, but new to the “Parents of” forum. Father of two Class of 2015 kids (D2 and S) as well as D1 (HS Class of 2011) who’s starting her junior year at UMinn. We’re from Michigan (Go Blue!!..just a fan BTW, not a grad) but I’ve learned to love the Gophers as well…as long as they’re not playing my Wolverines. :)</p>
<p>Class just started this week for D2 and S, and I see a few others posting about the upcoming PSAT next month. D2 is very excited about the OOS opportunities that NM status can give her (D1 is an NMF '11) and has been working hard to prep for the PSAT/SAT. S is a strong student as well, but is on the autism spectrum with some Asperger’s issues so we’re leaning towards starting him part-time at cc to ease him into the whole “college experience”.</p>
<p>Looking forward to getting to know all of you and learning about your kids. CC has been a blessing and a HUGE source of info when we went through the college process with D1 and it will be great to share the ups and downs this time around as well. Take care and God Bless!!</p>
<p>@wolverine, Will Ann Arbor be a school on one of your kids college list? It is for my S15. It seems all the schools my kids ever went to had the color blue so this may continue to be a trend for us.</p>
<p>muf123…Personally, I would love it if any of my kids attend UMich, but I don’t think it’s in the cards financially for us. Like many others, we’re in the middle-class doughnut hole where we don’t qualify for need-based FA, so merit scholarships are our method for covering the costs. We’ve managed to save enough to contribute towards the kids’ college costs, but not enough to pay what I suspect we’d be gapped at UMich. When D1 graduated in '11, her stats were really strong (3.99UW, 4.2W, 36 ACT, 2400 SAT) and UMich offered her a one-time $1500 scholarship. A little disappointing that they wouldn’t make more of an effort to keep strong IS kids, but her scholarship package from UMinn more than made up for it. :)</p>
<p>Of the IS schools we’ve looked at so far, Oakland U has the best guaranteed merit money for the stats they’ve got at this point. Once we get the safety schools nailed down, if they want to apply to UM or MSU or wherever and see what they might be offered I’d certainly be in favor of it. I’d just be surprised if either one would fall into the affordable category for us.</p>
<p>What state is home for you? Is UKentucky one of the “blue” schools your S15 is interested in? D2 is very interested in visiting there, especially if things go well with the PSAT and NM is a possibility.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoy your last fling for the summer OHMom. We’ve got friends from Columbus who are vacationing this week up in Sleeping Bear Dunes, Glen Arbor, and heading to Mackinac Island today. They’re loving it…and the weather has been really nice for them. Hope the weather holds for your trip as well.</p>
<p>@Wolverine, we are from NY. D13 is at NYU and I just found out their color is purple. If S15 would go to UMich things could get tricky around here. Our neighbors son is a Buckeye.
BTW your D11 stats are impressive. I, too, would think the big IS schools would want to hang on to the smart kids.</p>
<p>muf123…That might be kinda fun actually. Nothing like a “friendly” rivalry to spice up the neighborhood. :)</p>
<p>NYU…WOW!! Your D13 must be loving the whole NY scene. We grew up in small towns, so that would be pretty intimidating to my wife and I but kids seem to take things like that in stride pretty easily. Visiting NYC occasionally is enough for old folks like me. :)</p>
<p>UMich seems to offer a fair number of merit scholarships to OOS students (I remember a number of kids in previous years posting about $10K per year schollies). If they stay on your son’s radar, a little sweetener like that never hurts.</p>
<p>Thanks for your kind words re: our D1. It definitely worked out for the best though. She visited UMinn with Mrs Wolverine and D2 initially as an excuse for a shopping trip to the Mall of America, but 10 minutes into her tour she told them that UMinn was where she was supposed to be. I truly believe things happen for a reason, and she absolutely loves it there. </p>
<p>Hoping all the '15ers will find the same great fit for their schools. It’s a stressful process, but having been through it once already is a great help.</p>