Parents of the HS Class of 2015

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
921

<p>I don’t really know much about the test, but I would definitely think that taking AP Bio would prepare a student better for the subject test than regular 9th grade bio. </p>

<p>The posts on this thread say the SAT subject Bio is easier than the AP test: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-subject-tests-preparation/1139106-how-similar-ap-bio-sat-ii-bio.html?highlight=ap+bio[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-subject-tests-preparation/1139106-how-similar-ap-bio-sat-ii-bio.html?highlight=ap+bio&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

922

<p>PinotNoir, that short thread gave me exact info that I need. Thank you! </p>

<p>My D. is taking AP chem next year. Everybody tells her it’s extremely difficult. She’s a bit scared but feel excited too. If she does well there, she might be ready for SATII chem then!</p>

923

<p>Summer…</p>

<p>3 weeks at Summer@Brown
Ongoing volleyball conditioning, camp, open gyms etc until August 1 when practice starts officially
If she wants, maybe a lacrosse camp</p>

<p>Lots of hanging out, swimming and time with friends and family both here and out of town.</p>

924

<p>At our HS, kids typically take H.Chem sophomore year and APChem either junior or senior year. I was advised by parents of kids a year or two ahead of my D2012 that the our HS’s H.Chem at was more closely aligned with the SATII-Chem than their APChem. So my D2012 took SATII-Chem as a sophomore. </p>

<p>She also took MathII and WorldHistory SATIIs at the same sitting, having just finished classes in H.pre-Calc and H.WorldHistory. (At that time, our HS was in the process of getting their H.World syllabus accredited by the College Board. It’s still the same course, taught by the same teacher, but it’s now called APWorld and earns the extra grade point). </p>

<p>Two things you can do to decide whether a particular course will prepare your kid for an SATII subject exam:
(1) Ask parents of older academically-successful kids at your HS what they recommend.
(2) In mid-spring (before the deadline to signup for spring tests), take your kid to a library or bookstore and have them flip through a prep book to see if the material looks like what they are covering in class. If anything looks unfamiliar, then it’s a good idea to self-study. </p>

<p>(My D2012’s H.World class totally glossed over African and Asian history. So she self-studied those parts. She used the College Board SAT Subject Test prep book, and also re-read the appropriate sections in her sister’s 7th grade history textbook. Yes, that was perfectly sufficient. The SATII-World test is a mile wide and an inch deep! :stuck_out_tongue: )</p>

<p>We knew, from prior research, that all the colleges that D2012 was targeting would require MathII plus one other SATII subject. Some wanted MathII and one additional science. Some wanted one in either math-or-science and one in humanities. So MathII, Chem, and WorldHistory spanned the set. (Actually, there was one exception – at one point D2012 considered Northwestern’s Integrated Sciences Program, and that would’ve required MathII + Chem + Physics. Luckily, she decided she she’d rather apply to McCormick Engineering over ISP, and McCormick didn’t require the SATII-Physics.)</p>

<p>It was <em>really</em> nice for her to be done with SATIIs in sophomore year, so that she was able to focus entirely on the PSAT for fall of junior year and then SAT for June of junior year. Even better, she was able to be one-and-done with the SAT. But we knew (from previous standardized testing, including the state-mandated CSTs) that D2012 was a super-strong test-taker and wasn’t likely to need multiple iterations. D2015 may need to space things out more…</p>

925

<p>@Suzy Prepping for the PSAT and the SAT at the same time is actually a fantastic thing to do (and I strongly encourage my students to do so). The only difference in content is that the PSAT does not include an essay. Otherwise, the types of questions and the skills tested are exactly the same. While it’s a lot of testing in a couple of weeks, it’s a really effective use of prep time. You can do most of the work over the summer, and with luck, the SAT score will be good enough to not have to take it again!</p>

<p>You’re also correct that the math goes up to Algebra II, but the vast majority of the math questions will be Algebra 1 and Geometry. There’s even some lower level math than that, which can be a challenge because kids have forgotten some of the basics by the time they take the test. That’s why prep is important, though. Let me know if you need any more help!</p>

926

<p>woohoo D. just got AP gov out of her way! She told me she felt good and confident. :slight_smile: nice thing to hear. They won’t get their score until July?!</p>

927

<p>swans, thank you for your input! I assume you are a teacher. Nice that you are here a a resource!</p>

928

<p>Yay D. is “done with U.S. government” as well! Oh no, don’t take it the wrong way. lol</p>

<p>About PSAT - is it really the same thing with SAT except it’s shorter and no essay? D. took SAT in 8th grade with CTY. Her school will have the sophomores take PSAT in the fall. Then junior year I guess it’ll be for real.</p>

929

<p>@ Suzy</p>

<p>You are most welcome! I’m actually an SAT/ACT tutor. But I LOVE reading CC. It keeps me on top of the types of issues/questions parents and kids are concerned about. I also want to make sure parents and students are making decisions based on accurate information. You’re juggling so much other college admissions info it’s easy to lose track of everything. Please do let me know if you (or anyone) have questions. I’m happy to help if I’m able!</p>

930

<p>Maxwellequations: The PSAT seemed like a pretty good indicator of the SAT for my older son. He did just a little prep for the SAT junior year, just a weekly 8 week class, to sharpen his skills, and then I hired a private tutor for a few lessons on grammar–his one weak spot. He ended up doing a little better on the SAT than the PSAT. He took the SAT once and got a score that he was happy with (2030), so that was the end of that. He also took the ACT with writing–no special prep, as we figured prepping for the SAT would cover it. The tests were quite different from each other in his opinion.</p>

931

<p>@ maxwellequations</p>

<p>Just now saw your question. Sorry for not responding earlier! Yes, the only differences between the PSAT and SAT are the PSAT is shorter overall and has no essay. Many students feel the PSAT is harder, but I suspect that’s largely because the curve is much tougher on the PSAT since there’s fewer questions. The last thing to keep in mind is that the scores are slightly different…you’ll add a zero to the end of the PSAT score to get the equivalent SAT score.</p>

<p>One more bit of information, that probably doesn’t apply to all the informed CC parents, but which I certainly hear often elsewhere. I hear the term PSAT thrown around in common usage all the time to refer to any mock SAT test (given by a school, test prep company, etc.). The rule of thumb is that the real deal is administered only once a year in October. Anything else is just a practice SAT.</p>

<p>@ momsings</p>

<p>Yes, the SAT and ACT are VERY different tests. Preparing for one doesn’t help much for preparing for the other, which your son discovered on his own! The content, pacing and format/question types don’t have a lot in common.</p>

932

<p>Swans004–I think he was surprised by the difficulty of the ACT, even though he scored pretty well (32). When I picked him up afterwards, I saw several kids in tears. :(</p>

933

<p>Posters, thanks for tips on SAT II Bio! I’ll have DS15 look at a prep book to see if any questions look familiar. I might as well email the teacher to get her thoughts on testing, though my guess is that she’ll tell DS to take AP Bio before taking SAT II Bio. Don’t think DS will take another Bio class in HS (he’s in H Bio now), but don’t really want to tell his teacher that before the end of the year ;-)</p>

<p>Also, a post above leads me to believe that we’ve missed the SAT II Bio registration date, anyway. I’ll check on that.</p>

<p>On the topic of AP Bio, the Parents of HS Class 2013 thread is talking about changes to AP Bio for next year. Sounds like some think changes will be good, others don’t. I am obsessed with that thread - those parents have it all together! For Newbies here, I suggest you read that thread, starting at Post 1 by Rob D, and you will learn so much. I’m <em>caught up</em> with them now, but I started reading their thread (from Day One) during the recent holiday season. It was so fascinating that I could barely stop reading & it took me a while to <em>catch up</em> with them. DH started to worry about my sanity, so I backed off a bit, but reading the story of those parents & their kids is both educational and interesting. Check it out.</p>

934

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<p>It may be possible to do [Standby</a> Registration](<a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”>Help Center: Students – SAT Suite | College Board) on test day. You have to show up early, bring a registration form, and pay an extra fee. Instructions [url=<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-subject/test-day/standby]here[/url”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board]here[/url</a>].</p>

935

<p>I thought standby had been eliminated due to cheating problems, or is that next year or just the SAT I?</p>

936

<p>You can also go by what the student has self-studied. My son had a bunch of college books and enjoyed the molecular content the most, and so he took that. You don’t have to go by what the school focuses on.</p>

<p>I am certain the a key reason my son got all perfect scores on SAT, ACT, and three SAT II tests (Bio M, Math 2, Physics) is that he learned to love reading about math, science and other topics when I homeschooled him till twelve and just never stopped doing that as I provided more and more college books. He then did not have to study for these tests. I simply wouldn’t rely on the schools alone.</p>

937

<p>That and I took both TVs out if the house. So he’d stay up and read all night instead of watching TV all night. It was a b&%ch to get him up, but not as bad as when he was watching TV. Nothing like finding your child sound asleep on an open book. Pass the books then down to a younger kid when he goes to college. Get them free from college departments or cheap when the get replaced at the bookstore and are used.</p>

938

<p>And, I didn’t get him a computer till he was sixteen. No, it didn’t hinder him at all socially or academically.</p>

939

<p>And he claims I am much nicer than other parents, so it didn’t hinder our relationship either. I brought the TVs back for a short while before it all went digital and his grades dropped noticeably. After it went digital and we had no reception, his grades went back up. He then said he wished things had gone digital sooner so he hadn’t let his grades slip. It was only a brief period and they were still A’s, but he barely made it into the top 3% that year. Just saying. Most patents would not remove the TVs, equating that with punishment or feeling deprived. But kids will entertain themselves with books when there is no electronic entertainment. They will start going through books faster than you ever imagined they could. At seven my son read 800 pp a day of stuff like Tolkien. I was a poor homeschooling single mom and we had a huge book collection from many sources including free sources. So its cheaper than paying for courses to prep.</p>

940

<p>@Journier, I think it’s wonderful that your kid reads. I’m sure it’s rare for a 15 year old without much online time these days. but good for you!! I wish I could do that. </p>

<p>I found many of my D.'s friends don’t read anymore, even some great kids who used to read a lot. The habit of reading disappears with excessive online activities. I feel so lucky that D. is still a crazy reader, even though she does spend some time online. When she gets a good book, she forgets her online “friends”. Recently it’s been Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes, inspired by the BBC TV show. :)</p>