Parents of the HS Class of 2015

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
5741

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<p>OMG the school we visited today does this too! Also if you lose your key card, you can text a secret code and it will open your door for like 10 seconds. Technology today I tell ya…</p>

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<p>I almost spit out my dinner on that one :slight_smile: **I’m coming to ya Elizabeth!! **</p>

<p>We had a great visit today, to Miami (OH - favorite bumper sticker seen today: “Miami Ohio was a university when Florida belonged to Spain.”). It may be a financial safety if she qualifies for their highest scholarship and is an academic safety. Though D insists she doesn’t want anything to do with staying in Ohio, she admitted she really liked it. Beautiful campus (on a beautiful day), town was lively and had lots of good places to eat (not that they are needed on a campus with like 14 restaurant options). The aquatic center has a lazy river for pete’s sake.</p>

<p>All that aside, it is a place where she’d fit right in and have many good opportunities, I think. So a successful college visit and a nice day with the kid too - 5 hours in the car and she talked to me about “stuff” most of the time :)</p>

5742

<p>I’m with you twogirls. I keep telling myself the PSAT is not big deal, so “who cares”, but I guess I care a little. lol I did convince D to at least look at the questions she missed on last year’s (soph) PSAT. She says she did and she could now do a couple of the math problems that she missed, but a couple of them were too “annoying” so she’s not going to worry about them. Oookay.<br>
She is signed up to take the SAT in Nov. If she doesn’t study for that, I may suggest she reschedule for later. We missed the sign up for the upcoming ACT, so she’ll have to sign up for the next one…which I think is in December. She’s hoping to just focus on the ACT, and I really want her to study for that one.
I want her to go visit a couple schools in Atlanta (Agnes Scott and Emory) but it will probably mean taking a day off from school to get to really see them both and she isn’t excited about taking a day because of the make-up work. I haven’t decided if I will insist or not. I want to get these visits in while the schools are in session so she can see the campuses as they are when students are there. Even though we have a year or so until decisions have to be made about where to apply, I am realizing that there may not be that many opportunities to see colleges while they are in session!</p>

5743

<p>What a great visit! The lazy river and great restaurants sounds tempting. I’ve heard very good things about academics there,too. Sounds like a nice option! (Plus I love car trips when kids talk to you ;)</p>

5744

<p>I’ll write one of those visit reports here on CC I think. We had a great tour guide too.</p>

<p>Car trips are the BEST for bonding. I don’t know what it is about sitting in a car for a couple of hours but I’ll take it.</p>

5745

<p>LOL it seems that a lot of schools have this high tech laundry service. My daughter’s school has it- they do not text her ( or maybe they do who knows) but they let her know on line how many minutes are left and when it’s done. She wears her entire life around her neck - if she loses that ID she is in trouble. I like the fact that they do not pay for laundry. </p>

<p>I am going to drag my kid out of the house to next weeks college fair even though it will be hot and crowded and very unpleasant. I want her to spend 15 minutes showing her face to a few schools and then we can make a quick escape. I am not sure that they will remember her when she applies, but it’s worth a shot. </p>

<p>Tomorrow is the PSAT- yippee ( not ). I am curious to see her facial expression when I pick her up. Right now she is at a teammates house working on a poster for the senior game on Monday- it’s the last game of the season thank goodness ( I am tired). I need her in bed at a reasonable hour.</p>

5746

<p>PSAT tomorrow here, too. I just sharpened a bunch of #2 pencils…</p>

5747

<p>Good luck to the PSAT-ers tomorrow!</p>

5748

<p>Best wishes for a good testing day for you all.</p>

<p>S took it at a different HS Weds. and they didn’t ask to see his ID! He knows a few of the kids there(all the soccer players at minimum) but none of the adults. I guess it’s more low key than SAT/ACT, but with the big $ scholarships for NMF, I think someone could be motivated to cheat and pay a high testing ringer. Probably the ones who would be motivated to do that don’t know anything about those scholarships. Around here most people don’t know what the PSAT even is.</p>

5749

<p>Hi everyone,
Thank you again for the advice you gave me a few weeks ago regarding my daughter’s prep for the PSAT. DD reviewed her previous tests, did a little vocab study (I think) and then relaxed the night before. I think she did fine on the test, fingers crossed! Good luck to everyone taking it tomorrow!</p>

<p>Looking through the posts on this forum, it seems so many of you have such a good understanding of which dates your children should be taking the SAT, ACT, etc. Is there a resource you could point me to so I can help my DD determine a good testing schedule for her? I know she needs to take 1-2 SAT subject tests, the SAT, maybe the ACT, all of which is impacted by several APs she’ll have to take. I imagine she will want to take the SAT at least twice, so there is that to consider too.</p>

<p>Again, thank you for your time and help.</p>

5750

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<p>The student needs a qualifying SAT score to get to the finalist stage so the PSAT alone isn’t enough in the end. That may be why security isn’t that tight.</p>

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<p>[U.S&lt;/a&gt;. Registration](<a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”>SAT Dates and Deadlines – SAT Suite | College Board) has all the dates and what tests are offered when. If you are asking for advice on when to take what, my D could use some too :)</p>

5751

<p>Was very pleased with the visit today to Cornell College. My D finally showed some enthusiasm for a school which was great. </p>

<p>What she loved:
One class at a time
Whole campus is a historical site
Dorms- very old buildings- have more charachter than those built today. The standard double room we saw was bigger than most, the hallways were wider- the buildings were less dark inside than the ones we saw at Lacrosse yesterday.
She was very interested in how much the students get to leave camous to study. They leave frequently for the day, and fairly often for longer. Some classes do the whole 3.5 week block elsewhere, like the Bahamas, Chicago, New Mexico.
Lots of students study Latin. She figures she would have something in common with students who choose Latin in college, since it is much less common.</p>

<p>From the parent perspective-
Campus safety- the kids don’t even lock their bikes.
Extensive network with which to secure interships…
Higher quality food than I have ever seen on a campus.
Small classes. Never more than 25, most less than 15
Ability to double major fairly easily</p>

<p>I thought there would be distinctly Christian/methodist feel to the place but there was not, at all. They are no longer affilated with any church though they do have a chaplain for student support. Students are welome at the local houses of worship but there are no regular chapel services on campus, though they do have some for special events for all faiths. </p>

<p>The financial aid presentation was very vague as I would have liked more information on Merit aid but they had no specifics. Seveal students said they got ‘amazing’ financial aid packages but who knows what that means.</p>

<p>My D says Cornell is the top choice right now but we have many more to see and she knows Merit would need to be very generous to make it a reasonable choise for us. Still very fun to see her excited about a school.</p>

5752

<p>mom2twotallgirls – your D will need to have her testing done in time for submitting to colleges, which means by fall or winter of Senior year at the very latest. If she plans to apply anywhere early (EA, or ED, or rolling admission) she will need to have her testing done by early/mid fall. For regular admission, most schools are OK with December or January testing dates. (But check with each individual school ascertain their particular requirements.)</p>

<p>The best time to have your D take SAT subject exams is at the end of the course on that subject, so you probably want her to take those in May or June of her Junior year. A few of the SAT subject tests (mostly foreign language) are only offered on some test dates, so if your D plans to take one of those you’ll need to check the College Board [url=&lt;a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”&gt;What were SAT Subject Tests? - College Board Blog]schedule[/url</a>]. </p>

<p>Your D can take the regular SAT any of the [url=&lt;a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”&gt;SAT Dates and Deadlines – SAT Suite | College Board]dates[/url</a>] it is offered. Ditto for the ACT [url=&lt;a href=“ACT Registration | ACT Testing Dates | The ACT Test”&gt;ACT Registration | ACT Testing Dates | The ACT Test]dates[/url</a>].</p>

<p>Note that a kid can take up to three SAT subject exams in a single sitting. However one cannot combine a subject SAT and a regular SAT – those must be taken on separate test dates.</p>

<p>It’s probably a good idea to take the SAT and/or ACT tests at some point during Junior year, so you get a “read” on how she does and can use that to assess what colleges are “likely” or “match” or “reach”. Also, that way there is still time to re-take during fall of Senior year if she wants to improve her scores.</p>

<p>Some folks think it’s best to take the general tests in spring, when the kid has been primed by practicing their academic skills over the whole school year. Other people, especially those with heavy spring ECs like to get the testing out of the way in fall or winter of Junior year.</p>

<p>Some folks prefer a more aggressive testing schedule, taking the tests earlier in Junior year and then re-taking in the spring. And then there are a few crazies who take them over and over and over and over and over. :D</p>

5753

<p>[U.S&lt;/a&gt;. Registration](<a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”>SAT Dates and Deadlines – SAT Suite | College Board)</p>

<p>[Registration</a> | Test Dates in the U.S., U.S. Territories, and Canada | ACT Student](<a href=“ACT Registration | ACT Testing Dates | The ACT Test”>ACT Registration | ACT Testing Dates | The ACT Test)</p>

<p>Those are the official links for ACT and SAT for tests from now until June. Next year’s dates will be similar. You can find online lists of test dates through the next couple of years if you need exact dates, just google. No tests during the summer. SAT is also offered early October(already past so they don’t show it anymore.) ACT and SAT never offered on same date. </p>

<p>You don’t have to take ACT and SAT both, just the one student is best at as determined by practice tests. Though if it seems about the same he can take both and hope that one will turn out extra well. Or if both are good, can send both to show you do well on a variety of tests and it isn’t just one fluke score. Remembering that you pay every time you send a score…And then if you manage a good enough PSAT, need to take SAT to get NMF, even if ACT is what you think you’ll want to send to coleges.</p>

<p>You need to click on Subject test links to check availability as not all tests offered on every date. You can take up to 3 Subject tests at a sitting, but that is a lot for some kids. 2 may be enough. Can only take SAT OR subject test on any given date, not both. You need to check schools you apply to re subject tests. Some schools or some depts within schools may require one test be math(common) or one of the sciences(less common, but more so for high level engineering.)</p>

<p>It is possible that one of the tests will be given at your school. Our district just started giving ACT to all juniors spring of junior year during a school day. Since this may be a new thing if your school does that, there might not be much awareness of it and need to check with school.</p>

<p>You need to check schools applying to for last test date they accept, usually somewhere on admissions site under ‘deadlines.’ If you do EA or ED the deadlines are earlier. For RD, December test is safe. Some schools accept late Jan./early Feb. tests.</p>

<p>When your child takes it depends on his schedule, as well as his tolerance for repeated testing. My S has an AP heavy schedule this year, and as of now is not planning to do a spring sport. I think he’ll have time to study after APs done in mid-May and will take the early June tests. That is what my D did end of junior year and it worked well for her. But we had no early feedback on scores to help with college list. She wanted to study for tests like mad and only take them once, which I agreed was a good plan. Hope S can do the same, though studying for these kinds of tests is not something he enjoys. My D actually seemed to like it, funny.</p>

<p>Oh, and also, if you think you want to take SAT twice but it depends on results of 1st try, you my not be able to easily schedule tests back-to-back, depending on which dates you want. By the time you get scores back(several weeks) it may be too late to register for the next one, or you have to pay late registration fee. Or you could just register in case and never mind the money if no need to take it.</p>

5754

<p>I do not want my daughter taking SAT/ACT for the first time in the spring because she will be busy with finals and AP tests. It would put her over the edge. For us it is better to take them December-January-February and then be done ( hopefully). She took one subject test in 9th grade and one in 10th grade- she might take a third in June but we are not sure yet. My daughter does a fall sport - many wait until the season is over before dealing with these tests, but for us it’s working out ok. I want her to be done this year because I want her apps to be in by the end of September. Waiting until the spring works if you are willing to re-take in the fall if necessary. </p>

<p>I hope I am making sense. I am trying to figure out what she needs tomorrow: pencils, calculator, ID. Anything else?</p>

5755

<p>So glad you mentioned the pencils again…I forgot about getting things ready for the morning!..Just ran to the store to get pencils…even though D laughed at me about it. She found 3 pencils around the house, but I wanted to her have pencils that officially said number 2 and were brand new and sharp. LOL “Mom, this is not a problem you need to fix.” sigh, yeah, I know, but I want to fix it anyway. </p>

<p>So, D now has a boy of interest. She’s been out a couple times with him with the group of friends, and tonight he came over to spend some time with her at the house. It’s a bit unnerving to see her sitting snuggled up with a boy in our house. The new normal? I don’t hate it, but I’m not sure I like it. </p>

<p>Good luck to everyone taking the PSAT tomorrow! Here’s hoping all our kiddo’s come out feeling good about how they did!</p>

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<p>twogirls, I think pencils, eraser, calculator, ID, sweater or jacket, water bottle, maybe a snack, maybe money for a snack/drink machine if there is one…if there is even a break…just in case. </p>

<p>I am thinking the same thing with the timing of the tests. I want her to get at least one of each test in during the 1st half of this year, ideally only taking it the once (of course, that’s what everyone would like), but allowing time to retake it in the spring and be done before the start of the senior year. I think it would be nice for her to be able to focus on starting applications the summer before senior year, and not have to think about studying for SAT/ACTs.</p>

5757

<p>Thank you mihcal1, celesteroberts, twogirls, and shoboemom for the links to the dates for the SAT/ACT…and all the strategy around when to take them. Exactly what I was looking for, and a good place to start this conversation with D. I think a try at the SAT/ACT in the Dec/Jan/Feb timeframe would be wise, for the reasons you’ve given - helping to select schools to visit that summer, time to retake either in the Spring of Junior year or Fall of Senior year as needed, etc. celesteroberts, I don’t know if my D would want to take it after the APs or not (she’ll have 5)- will have to ask. I’ll have to ask D when she thinks she should take the Math II subject test; she took it in May when she finished pre-cal and ultimately didn’t think her score was good enough and wants to try again. That’s possible, right? Would the schools she applies to see the first test results? Or just that she’d taken it once before?</p>

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<p>Momoftwo I think most schools allow you to pick and choose what tests to send so it would be perfectly ok to re-take the math and send the higher score. There are some schools that make you send all scores ( I suspect that some of the top top schools do this). </p>

<p>My kid had a melt down last night at around 10:30, but I can’t blame her. She was up at 6 for school, had her game after school followed by the tutor followed by going to a teammate’s house to make posters for the senior game on Monday. She was home by 10. Then today is the PSAT until about 11. Thankfully she can come home after the test and spend the entire day and night working. The melt down revolved around Sunday: she has a brunch for a friend and they are leaving at 9:00 am and not getting home until 3:00. Then she has two events in the late afternoon that she planned for an organization that she belongs to- so it would be an entire day out of the house. The SAT tutor gave her more work than usual and she has three tests next week, one being physics on Monday. So… The brunch was a last minute thing and she regretfully called the girl and said she can’t make it. She felt terrible, but being out of the house Friday night, Saturday until 11 and basically all day Sunday from 9-5 is just not do-able for her this year. After she made her decision she felt better and the melt down disappeared, but then of course my husband had a melt down as a reaction to her melt down. Lots of fun in my house last night LOL!!</p>

5759

<p>Good luck to all of the PSAT testers this morning! Pencils sharpened here, ID ready, sweater packed, need to make sure she has her calculator. So glad this is much shorter than the SAT was!</p>

<p>Glad to hear of good visit reports. OHMomof2, I totally get what you mean about the car rides and the kids finally talking - it’s so nice when that happens.</p>

5760

<p>Good luck to all the PSAT takers this morning.</p>

<p>mittentigger, Thanks for the report on Cornell College. It is on D’s list for the one class at a time. She’ll like the fact that students leave campus for their classes. I think we’ll check it out in the spring.</p>