<p>SunnyDay-You might consider paying to move the test date back to May or June.</p>
<p>My son was originally scheduled to take SAT in December but he got sick, hadn’t studied, and I knew it would not work out well, so I paid whatever the fee was to move it back to January. That gave him time to get healthy and to study over his long Christmas break. (He’s taking community college classes and had 6 weeks off) The extra time and math prep did pay off. He didn’t prep CR or W at all. He’s naturally good at W and I guess he’s decent at CR, too.</p>
<p>OHMom,</p>
<p>I know it would have been ideal if my son had reached 1500 combined CR&M, since I think that’s a good cutoff for many scholarships. He’s at 1480 but I am just not going to have him take it again. He did it twice and both CR scores were the same (730). </p>
<p>Because we qualify for a lot of need-based aid, I am going to maybe encourage my son to go the route of looking at those types of schools that offer good need-based aid, local schools, and schools where merit doesn’t require 1500 combined…and definitely looking at just doing community college for this kid.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I truly appreciate them!</p>
<p>Hoosier-I thought about the test optional schools too. Some of the universities listed in Fiske
Guide are on S’s list but then I found out via the school websites that they are not test optional. For example, UT-Austin is not a test optional school as it is listed in Fiske Guide. I will look into the link you provided. Thanks!</p>
<p>Leaving town in a little while to visit our college son. Happy Valentines Day!</p>
<p>I just finished registering D for the April ACT w/Wriitng…like Yogi says," it’s deja vu all over again." She begins ACT prep au deaux on Sunday; she was supposed to begin last night but that pesky foot of snow that fell put a monkey wrench into the game plan.</p>
<p>@sally305 – My D1 attends college 400 miles from home, so obviously yes. </p>
<p>w.r.t distant colleges, my primary considerations are:
(1) how difficult is it to get there? Harvard is about the same distance as Cornell from the west coast, but it’s far easier to get from the West Coast to Cambridge MA than to Ithaca NY. I have a strong preference for places with direct flights, and bonus points if I can get there on Southwest.
(2) do we have any family or close friends who can help in loco parentis were to become necessary? My mother and brother are in the same metropolitan area as D1. </p>
<p>That said, D2 will almost certainly be applying to Cornell, and probably some other difficult-to-get-there colleges, because they have programs that she likes that aren’t available elsewhere. If she gets admitted, she will have to weigh whether being far from home and the travel hassles are worth it, compared to options that are simpler logistically. e.g., She wouldn’t be able to come home as often…</p>
<p>sunny I wish I had some helpful advice but I am getting a lot out of this discussion as I too don’t know what to advise. I am sorry prep hasn’t helped. My daughter has done no prep so I am thinking that will help but reading your story maybe it won’t. The only thing I know about her that she has said repeatedly over the years was she is not good at MC questions-and I know the SAT is loaded with them so maybe she can’t solve the standardized test puzzle. I don’t know what to tell her anymore. So I haven’t said one word about the tests since we talked the morning they came out. I am extremely proud of myself!</p>
<p>I am sorry to hear about the unsatisfactory test scores. My older D did considerably better on the ACT than the SAT so perhaps trying it is worth a shot. Her ACT was about 250 points higher when you compared the scores. </p>
<p>How is everybody handling college visits? Are your kids going to see every school before applying or will they wait until the acceptances come back before visiting? There are 2 on my kids list that we won’t be able to visit until after any possible offers come back, but these 2 schools do not look at demonstrated interest. </p>
<p>My D loved Lehigh and as far as stats it is not a reach school, yet we never get mailings from them despite visiting the school once and signing up for their mailing list twice. It seems odd considering all of the mailings that seem to be coming from other schools. Maybe it’s because we visited sophomore year? Should that matter? We are going back in April. </p>
<p>Getting ready for our trip. Going to Costco today to make sure my reading glasses are adjusted and tight so they don’t break. That happened during our marathon trip with D12 which made reading CC very hard. Can’t let that happen again! [-X </p>
<p>@mihcal, that’s what I thought you might say. I was just wondering since you asked mom24boys if it would be “worth it” to endure potential travel hassles to have her child far away. Obviously a lot of us have made the decision that it is; others are more reluctant.</p>
<p>I do agree about direct flights making a difference. The only time I flew my son back to school from our small airport rather than driving to Chicago for a non-stop flight, of course he got stuck at O’Hare for several hours. Another factor we looked at the first time around is the ease of getting to the college from the local airport. Some friends of mine have a child at Bard, which was one of my son’s top choices as well, and it can take him all day to get home even though “it’s just an hour and a half from NYC.” The remoteness of a lot of college campuses can add extra challenges for sure.</p>
<p>That’s how I feel about UPitt. It sounds close because it’s in Pennsylvania, but Pittsburgh is a 7 hour drive and from what I hear flying to Pittsburgh is a bit stressful. Nevertheless my friend’s son ( same HS) went and managed. I suspect we may have some travel hassles with D15 that we do not have with D12 as several schools on her list are kind of far. I guess that will be a topic of conversation in our house once she narrows down her final choices. </p>
<p>On another note- when my D finalized her senior year schedule the other day her GC looked at her and laughed. Then he said, " I guess you are not looking to have much fun senior year." Of course he was half joking but at the same time what he does not understand is that for my kid, that is considered fun… :-S </p>
<p>SunnyDayfun, the test-optional list is tricky. I think all the UTs got on the list because of the state’s automatic admissions policty. It’s unclear to me if the student meets the auto admission threshold for UT-Austin, does that child still need to hand in the SAT/ACT? </p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter didn’t do particularly well in either the ACT/SAT (the scores were okay, but not as well as she wanted) on either her first in June 2013 or second in October 2013 tries (her scores remained unchanged). So,she’s taking a break and will just take the ACT. She seemed to prefer the straightforward, test-what-you-know format in June 2014. I’m hoping (but not necessarily hopeful) that one year maturing and schooling will result in a slight increase in her scores.</p>
<p>twogirls, D and I were talking about stress. I said all kids suffer under stress (we were talking about her friend who was getting sick and was obviously stressed) but some kids thrive under pressure. To them, pressure is a motivator and part of the fun. I suspect that’s your daughter.</p>
<p>My D thrives from taking these classes and she truly enjoys learning. Although AP physics is a ton of work she recently stated that the class is fun and she loves it. The issue is that these classes also come with stress because there is a lot of work involved. As long as she can manage the stress she is ok- it’s a fine line but so far it’s moving along much better than in previous years- perhaps due to maturity and some therapy. Thank goodness she seems happy otherwise I would march in and change her schedule. </p>
<p>They are having ongoing presentations at D’s school about course selection for senior year. They have one set for parents right after break. IMO, they are giving very mixed messages, on one hand telling the kids to build in down time and not overload and on the other telling them that they must be able to present a competitive profile to be admitted to the colleges they want. I’m struck, once again, by how narrowly the parents and administration view the range of possible colleges. It’s not even about prestige, they’ve barely moved beyond Stanford, the UCs, and the Claremonts. There’s some grudging recognition of Wash U, U Michigan, and the big name east coast schools (Ivies, Duke, Georgetown, you get the drift). LACs? Not a whisper. No wonder these kids are stressed.</p>
<p>I’m prepared to support D no matter what she ultimately decides for next year but the class I’m most tempted to push her towards is orchestra. </p>
<p>3girls I agree with you in that guidance stresses course rigor but then tells you that you also need to have some down time. They don’t really explain how this can be done. </p>
<p>I would actually take the other approach to distance. With the exception of one local world-class university, I think it better for my kids to go to school at some distance from us, at least 300 miles. I’d prefer straightforward flights, but I really think it’s better for a college-aged kid to be far enough that I can’t hop in a car and be there in a few hours. But I have kids who attended a near residential high school, combined with coming home on the weekend. So perhaps both they and I are more ready for the transition.</p>
<p>One word of caution on test optional schools…</p>
<p>Several schools my D and I visited were test optional UNLESS you were interested in some specific majors/programs. Just be sure to check this out.</p>
<p>I’m with you 3girls3cats. Our GC keeps saying to keep up the rigor in senior year, but leave time for all those fun senior events. OK…how do we do this exactly? D has preliminary schedule choices but SO many electives to choose from. This year she loved Organic Chem and Criminal Justice, but not enough time to take all that interest her. Tough choices ahead!</p>
<p>D’s principal strongly suggested she take AP Calc and AP Physics, but also said she should make sure to have a study hall for those. I suppose that is a balance of sorts.</p>
<p>I am in the camp that a school/or program that is special and a great fit (and affordable!) is worth the distance to get to it. For DS1 I really was trying to micromanage the entire college selection process. For some reason, how ds would get home for Thanksgiving was high on my list of things to worry about! One school - Denison - really played up the charter bus to the airport - when we toured. My son thought it sounded a bit like the field trips in pre school where every kid had to hang onto a rope. Well he didn’t end up going there and the school he did attend canceled the charter bus for lack of interest the week of Thanksgiving…and we all survived! Son learned how to get to the airport without a bus -he found rides on the ride board at school and 2x he didn’t come home for Thanksgiving at all because finals were shortly after Thanksgiving and he could use the long weekend to study. He got several colds during his college career and still managed to survive without mom there to rub the vicks on. We learned that college kids, without parents hovering, learn to watch out for themselves and each other. I’m sure if a major illness occurred he would call for help and there is no where in the country that I could not reach in a day in an emergency. </p>
<p>So this time around I am much more laid back - I don’t think there is just one perfect school - I think there are many that will get him to where he wants to be in life. DS2 has a good head on his shoulders - and I think given the opportunity, he will blossom! He knows he has a support system if he needs it but I really think he is chomping at the bit to forge his own way - and isn’t that the goal - to raise the baby birds so they can fly?</p>
<p>@OHMomof2, is your child taking honors physics, or any kind of physics? If so, then AP physics 1 will be easy next year. If she skips AP physics 1, and directly goes to to AP physics 2, then it’ll be challenging. </p>
<p>What is the difference between AP physics 1 and 2? Is that physics B and C? Our school does not offer honors physics- only regular, Physics B and Physics C</p>
<p>CB is splitting Physics B into 2 year-long more in-depth courses called Physics 1 and Physics 2. Physics1 is Newtonian, waves, circuits. Physics 2 is thermodynamics, elec & mag, optics, nuclear physics, etc.</p>
<p>S wanted to skip 1 and take 2(the fun stuff) next year, but the AP teacher convinced him that he really ought to take physics 1 first ,as he hasn’t had much physics since middle school.</p>
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