<p>My daughter is wearing her Harvard sweatshirt so that some of the intelligence gets in her head! She flipped out a little this morning because there is a kid in her math class who keeps telling her that he always gets 800 on the math. I keep telling her to ignore- she needs to do her best and then forget about it. I don’t understand why kids feel the need to announce their scores and test grades all the time. Mine keeps all info to herself, as instructed to. </p>
<p>We are leaving in 25 minutes- good luck to everyone!!</p>
<p>Mitten, It IS great to see them enthusiastic about a college, especially one that that might be a safety! </p>
<p>Are your kids engaging in the college search? I think mine just not quite ready for it, but is willing to go along with my search for her college. I mentioned the trip to go see the Atlanta colleges and she was ‘meh’ about it, saying she just doesn’t know anything about the colleges so not that excited about visiting (kind of the point lol)…but also not that interested in looking up their website, etc. to find out about the school. When I TELL her about it, she likes what she hears though. I know one of her friends has a school the friend is all excited about, clear across the country. I’ve talked to D about my thoughts/preference that she stay within a days drive of home, and I think she is mostly on that same page, for now anyway. She has talked in the past about some NE schools, so we will see if those remain on the short list later.</p>
<p>shoeboe- my D is being reluctantly dragged along the college selection journey. She is highly annoyed that she is supposed to make these big decisions now. She is not at all certain what her major should be, left to her own devices she would be a Classics major but she knows/has heard that if she does, her career likely won’t have anything to do with her major so feels the need to be more practical and will likely do a classics minor.</p>
<p>We have been to 5 schools now. One was a low cost but fairly well respected publkic directional which is OOS for us but have reciprocity would make it cheaper than any of our in state options and she said she could possibly see herself here. So for now it is our safety. The other was Cornell which is a slight reach for admissions ( her EC’s are not great) and the financial part is a big ???</p>
<p>One point they made frequently about the block schedule is that missing one day of class is like missing a while week on a traditional schedule. Our tour guide was sick last week and missed a class, but her professor called her and invited her to her house for coffee and a quick summary of what she missed in class. Won’t see THAT at your state directional school! They did a panel Q and A with a couple current students who said they spend 2 to 4 hours each night reading/preparing for the next days classes. So they gio to class from 9 to 11, then 1 to 3. And have a few hours each evening of work. So no time to procrastinate. But no juggling time management issues with multiple classes. Lots of student groups to join, so these kids said they really don’t get to bed before midnight during the week. class does not start till 9 though so not so bad.</p>
<p>My D was thinking big city/mid to large size student body…but loved this school. They also have a place in Chicago where students can stay during internships, and the theater classes frequently will go there for a week, stay in the school owned facility, see a different play every night, have class during the day. A VERY different college experience. My hudband is now skeptical so if this school actually makes it into the top three next fall he will need to make the drive down for himself with D for another look. Five hour drive for us.</p>
<p>Cornell College is an interesting option and has a good reputation. It’s not nearly as over the top as one of the schools to which my D13 applied: Long Island U Global College - 3 1/2 years of study abroad with a cohort of fewer than 30 students wrapping up in Brooklyn NY with a thesis. Thank goodness her pragmatic self won out because although it is a very interesting program for kids interested in international studies and humanitarian issues and experiential learning, you can’t develop a deep understanding of any particular world language and they didn’t offer much merit aid so it would have been an expensive choice for us. (So if dad balks at Cornell College, show him LIU Global ;)</p>
<p>Wow LIU sounds amazing. I bet the students love it…</p>
<p>One more interesting thing about Cornell is that they are FAFSA only. So for those of you with a ton of home equity, or are divorced and a NCP with a lot of income, seems like you would have a lot more ‘need’ on paper at Cornell. Maybe this is what the kids were talking about when they said FA was amazing</p>
<p>My D is also a bit reluctant to fully engage in the college search. She has thumbed a bit through the fiske guide but not a lot. We are starting to plan spring break though and she is going to start looking at schools in earnest to see where she would like to visit.</p>
<p>LOL suzy, I got the opposite feedback. D says the reading parts were easy but the first section of the math was harder than she expected. She says she probably overthought several of the questions in the 1st math section, making them harder than they needed to be, and took too long, so she didn’t get to finish that section…left 6 math questions blank. So, I guess we won’t be anxiously waiting to see what the cut off is for NMF. She did complete everything else and says she feels confident that what she completed,
she got correct. We’ll see in about 6 weeks! I do wish they’d have results before the upcoming SAT test though. Oh well.
I asked her if she could make note of what types of math problems slowed her down so she can practice them, and she said they will get their tests back. Do they get them when the results come? I can’t remember how that was handled last year.</p>
<p>They did not allow them to use mechanical pencils.
She came out and said “Now you can’t tell me to study for this anymore!” lol Um, Silly girl…now the real test is coming up. I didn’t mention it right then. She can have her moment. lol</p>
<p>mitten, I am not sure how I would feel about that block scheduling. I do like that some schools do things so differently, rather than just following the pack. With the block scheduling and just one class, so much of how you felt about your experience would depend on that one class, but then, if you don’t like it, it won’t last long and you can move on to something else. </p>
<p>I really liked at a couple schools we visited, the extra January semester, that just lasts a month. Some of them used it for study abroad, or just to take something that you might not otherwise take, or to take something you are required to take, but don’t want to spend a whole semester on.</p>
<p>OK, those of you who are on top of this and can keep it all straight…now that our kids have that PSAT done, what are the differences between the PSAT and the SAT? I know the SAT is longer, and it has a writing component (essay) . Is the essay part required? What else is different?</p>
<p>The SAT is much longer and has an essay. There is also an experimental section but you will not know which one is experimental. Some report that the math on the SAT is harder than on the PSAT, but who knows. </p>
<p>My daughter got out at 11 and she was in a pretty good mood, considering. She thought the math and writing were easy and she did not have to skip any. She thought the CR section was the hardest of the three sections- she skipped 3. Some of the vocabulary was tricky.</p>
<p>shoboemom, I think you’ve got it. The SAT is longer and has the essay; it’s part of the exam . The ACT has writing as optional but many colleges require the ACT with writing.</p>
<p>That all said, what these colleges use the essay portion seem to vary. Some use the essay in determining admission; some use it to validate the application essay and others ignore it totally. It’s on the CDS for each college/university.</p>
<p>For some schools, if you take the ACT, you don’t have to submit any SATII exam scores. For top schools I believe (D’s not applying to this level so I may be mistaken) you still need the SAT II subject tests.</p>
<p>Things were a lot simpler (and easier) in the late 70’s. Take the SAT and two achievement tests, submit, done.</p>
<p>D2’s take on the PSAT this morning…“I know I missed a few but I think it went pretty well”. Typical non-committal response, but she usually doesn’t want to talk anything specific. I’m proud of the way she handled prepping for all her standardized tests. She pushed herself (probably harder than we would’ve liked) but she’s already put herself in a great position. For her sake I hope her PSAT score puts her in the mix for NM possibilities, but there’s nothing to do now but wait. I told her to just relax and enjoy everything a little now. Have a cold beer…er, I mean…a smoothie!!</p>
<p>I’m constantly amazed how gracefully (usually ) these kids are able to deal with all the pressures and influences on them these days. Life was so much simpler back in the dark ages when I was in school.</p>
<p>She just said that the math was " easier" than the CR and " easier" than what she has been studying at home- not to be confused with " the math was easy" LOL. We are just glad that it’s over and I instructed her to never think about it again.</p>
<p>shoboemom - I think SAT math covers another level of HS math - up to Algebra II level. Content wise, that’s probably the biggest difference other than length/essay portion.</p>
<p>D went to lunch with her sophomore & junior team mates after the PSAT. On the bus now to the away field hockey game. Dad leaves in a few minutes for the 2:30 tip off or whatever they call the beginning of the FH match.</p>
<p>mittentigger, I’ve been reading about Cornell C and am really intrigued by the block schedule. I mentioned it to D and she was aware of it - they may be emailing her? I think the only other school that has a block plan is Colorado College. Thanks for the FA info also.</p>
I mentioned the trip to go see the Atlanta colleges and she was ‘meh’ about it, saying she just doesn’t know anything about the colleges so not that excited about visiting (kind of the point lol)…but also not that interested in looking up their website, etc. to find out about the school. When I TELL her about it, she likes what she hears though. I know one of her friends has a school the friend is all excited about, clear across the country. I’ve talked to D about my thoughts/preference that she stay within a days drive of home, and I think she is mostly on that same page, for now anyway. She has talked in the past about some NE schools, so we will see if those remain on the short list later.</p>
) these kids are able to deal with all the pressures and influences on them these days. Life was so much simpler back in the dark ages when I was in school.</p>