<p>@suzy, I “like” your last line about the school counselor and I know exactly how that feels. :p</p>
<p>suzy perhaps a college visit, or a good look at Naviance or average accepted GPAs for the more selective colleges she may want to apply to is in order.</p>
<p>…or it may be that she will be happy at one of the many, many great colleges that don’t have sub 20% acceptance rates.</p>
<p>It stinks, doesn’t it Maxwell?! </p>
<p>ohiobassmom, thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, the school doesn’t use Naviance but the website look at some of the more selective colleges is a great suggestion.</p>
<p>I would be completely happy for her to go to a college like you described. As long as she’d be happy with that, and we can afford it, I’d be fine. I guess on top of all of this, I worry about her work ethic in general. First world problem for sure.</p>
<p>suzy100 – You say your D is already getting good grades, so why should she work harder to get the highest scores in the class? My D2 is like that too, she knows what she needs to do to secure her A, and isn’t inclined to put in any more effort than that. At least, not on her schoolwork. She’s got other things she would rather do, even if they don’t always make much sense to me (e.g., gossiping with friends on FB, or pencil-sketching a.k.a doodling). </p>
<p>On the other hand, a couple of years ago she collected a bunch of her sketches and submitted them to an obscure national competition, and walked away with 3rd place in the junior division. After that, I decided that she knows what she’s doing and that (as long as the grades stay up!) she doesn’t need me to nag her. Even if sometimes I have to bite my tongue really really hard. 
</p>
<p>Hi all!! I’ve been following along, enjoying reading about your kids. Things are great with S here. He is adjusting to his new schedule really well, and is working hard and playing the bass like crazy. On Thursday and Friday, the vocal jazz choir he plays in is going on a retreat. He misses one day of school as Friday is a no school day for us. He is having a wonderful time and even with 8 hours of sleep per night is tired, tired. I am grateful he knows his limits and doesn’t push himself to run with no sleep.</p>
<p>The only test he is taking this year is the PLAN test (prep for the ACT).</p>
<p>mihcal1: You’re right, you’re right, I know you’re right. I swear I have been completely hands-off with school thus far. I’m just second-guessing that maybe and wondering if I should be making sure she knows what she’s doing (sounds like your D does!) but don’t know how to do that WITHOUT nagging, because that doesn’t work and frankly I don’t want to anyway. I do know that this is an area where I need to tread very lightly, if at all. Maybe I just need to have a cocktail and relaaaaaax. :)</p>
<p>momsings, glad things are going well with your S!</p>
<p>suzy100 – what works best with my Ds is to wait until there’s a nice relaxed no-stuff-hanging-over-their-head time, serve up some comfort food (like a nice batch of maple french toast for Sunday breakfast), and then talk about setting priorities. Though having a cocktail and relaxing sounds like a good idea too. :D</p>
<p>momsings – my D2 will take the PLAN in the fall, and hopefully a couple of SAT subject exams in the spring. She’s taking pre-calculus now, so should be primed for Math2 in June. If her chem or world history classes align with test syllabus (we’ll check by having her do practice tests in the College Board book) then she might take those, too.</p>
<p>suzy my son wasn’t lazy but he wasn’t going to overdo his work! He probably could have been Val instead of Sal but the Val worked much harder than he did-he did what he needed to do and learned the material but he used his time that he could have been studying to get even better grades and perhaps passing her doing other things-things like writing and reading and so on.</p>
<p>If he was lazy I would have had an issue but if he was taking some time to just lead a well balanced life and getting some fun and relaxation in which I thought he was I was fine with it.</p>
<p>D got selected for the the city’s Teen Advisory committe as a voting member.It’s a two year post and they over see all the teen projects in the city ,volunteer on special occassion in the city bring in new projects.So its an excellent opportunity for her.I am not sure if she wants to take up any posiotns in it this year.</p>
<pre><code> As far as school work,the teachers seem to give more work this year when compared with last year(for the same grade level).Thats what D heard in the school.It’s like never ending and i feel sorry for her.I though D was taking too much time doing the work and i had a chat with a fellow mom and heard the same from her.
Her school lets sophmore's take psat only if they have room left after junior registration.I am not sure if she will be taking the test.
</code></pre>
<p>Hi all - I mostly lurk but have a s15 (daughter is a senior so one kid at a time!). I will put my 2 cents in for SAT subject tests. My d13 took US History and Math II at the end of junior year because she had just taken AP’s. She did not prep at all and did OK (low 700’s) Her regular SAT scores are all in the high 700’s! So make sure your kids understand that only the top kids take (and even know about) the SAT subject tests and most do not score in the high 700’s like the regular SAT. Now if they did extra prep they might but if it is just one more test at the end of the year - goodluck with motivating them to study more!</p>
<p>AND…most schools, even the top schools, will take the ACT with writing instead of SAT subject tests. D13 did great on the ACT and we will not be sending the SAT subject tests. You may want to look at the common data set for potential schools to see what they require (for example - Duke and Vanderbilt will both take the ACT with writing in lieu of the subject tests).</p>
<p>DS will be taking the PSAT in Oct for practice. He also took it last year for practice. I bought him a book of practice tests but I don’t think he’s too excited about it. His older sis spent 3 hours a day studying for her ACT for weeks before the test–and didn’t raise her score even one point. This quelled any inspiration he might have had. </p>
<p>He WAS pretty excited to have been inducted into NHS this week. And today he joined AISES, American Indian Science and Engineering Society.</p>
<p>I thought they don’t get induced to NHS until junior year?</p>
<p>Our state pays for all sophomores to take the PSAT. I’m positive DS will do not prep but I’m not pushing it either. We’re just using it as a baseline to see what makes sense for prep for junior PSAT. He will also take a couple ACT practice tests (once per semester) offered at the school and administered by a local tutoring company for a nominal fee, and maybe a practice SAT next spring. With band activities dominating fall weekends his only testing opportunities for the “real” thing will be winter and spring of junior year.</p>
<p>NHS induction isn’t until Junior year here.</p>
<p>My D is supposed to do an (unofficial) Mock PSAT offered by her school, too. </p>
<p>Turns out there’s a city-wide drama festival the same day as the PLAN, so she won’t be able to take that on the regular schedule with all the other sophomores. She talked to the counselor who’s organizing all the testing, and there’s supposed to be a make-up day.</p>
<p>I guess I should follow-up with an email to the counselor to verify.</p>
<p>In our HS they give the PLAN and the PSAT on the same day, which is kind of weird because I would think a lot of students would like to take both, since a lot of students take both the SAT and the ACT these days. </p>
<p>S decided at the last minute to try out for the talent show last night. It’s next Thursday, so I think he should hear soon whether or not he made it. It’s fun to have a kid in performing arts because there are so many fun things to go watch. Way more fun for a mom than wrestling (which S’12 did). I told H last night, it’s so nice to go see S do his hobby and not have anyone trying to rip his arm off. Way more relaxing. :)</p>
<p>@PN, it’s great that your S likes to perform. My friend’s son likes to sing. It took him a while to acknowledge it’s cool for a boy to like singing. Then he was in all kinds of school plays - including Javert in Les Mis! Now he’s in college. He said he benefited a great deal from singing and school plays.</p>
<p>Talking about NHS, what are the criteria?</p>
<p>In our high school, NHS induction isn’t done until senior year. Not sure why so late.</p>
<p>D is taking PSAT in October, and the the PLAN in either November or December. No prep this year for either. She has taken the PSAT before, but it will be interesting to see how she does on the PLAN.</p>
<p>D is not in choir or orchestra this year. She’ll pick up choir again next year, but I do miss going to those events. </p>
<p>Congrats to your S, Ezilyamused!</p>
<p>Thanks for the input on my D. I’m not going to do anything about it - at least for now. We are in the midst of homecoming drama (:rolleyes:) and that’s enough for now!</p>
<p>haha homecoming drama. 
Last year D. went with a boy who was several years her senior. She knew him in band and in one of the math classes. (She doubled math, so one of her math she was with mostly juniors.) They didn’t know each other well. it was so embarrassing! This year she is going with a few of her girlfriends. We all feel much better about that. 
</p>
<p>@suzy, it’s strange that your school doesn’t do NHS until senior.
BTW, I also don’t know what the criteria are for NHS, would appreciate some information.</p>
<p>*Talking about NHS, what are the criteria? *</p>
<p>Appears fairly complicated at D’s school. Must have 3.5 GPA (not sure if that is weighted or unweighted) plus write 300-500 word essay plus fill our a form about service and activities. Then faculty reads and if they know student, rates them. Then goes to faculty committee of 5 (appointed by principal) who vote.</p>