Parents of the HS Class of 2017 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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I’m having such a hard time keeping up! 400+ posts. I’m very sure that this forum is much more active than the Class of 2014 and the Class of 2015 forums were back in the day. SO be warned; this is long! And probably out of date.

DD’14 and DS’15 are both home from college and it’s so good, though DS’15 hasn’t been home all that much. He volunteered at a camp last weekend and now is off to a HS friend’s lake cabin for a few days. DD’14 is still is the sleep/binge video/eat/sleep stage of things but last night she went to community chorus with me. It was so much fun and hugely helpful for our alto section which has been having troubles. She was an All-State/All-Eastern Chorus member in high school, and it’s a little humbling that she can sight read better than most of my section can sing even after 12 weeks of practice :stuck_out_tongue: .

On still being in school: yes, DS’17 has his last exam June 22 or 23. Last Friday we just got his 5 week report for the fourth quarter, the usual mix of As and Bs and a C. Darn you, Principles of Engineering.

On number of courses and school times: we run from 7:45 - 2:30, with 9 periods. Most kids take 7 classes, I think, which allows a lunch period and a study hall. PE is required every other day throughout high school, and band, jazz band, chorus, and select chorus all are taken during the 9 periods. They are all every other day classes though so they alternate in the same time slot. Lunch is one full period but is served from periods 4 - 7 so there are several options. DS’15 took all the music classes which meant his “lunch” period was during Spanish every day, but the teachers were OK with him eating in the back of the class :slight_smile: .

Compromises: Mainly at this point D2 instead of D1. And since FA is paramount, I need to remind DS that if everything else falls through, two years at the local CC (with only XC for running) will be our safety. So I’ll be twisting his arm to go walk around the place so at least he’ll know what we’re taking about. This is giving DS a lot of motivation to finish strong.

On NMSF: I don’t think DD did much studying outside of school, but the school did encourage kids to try the PSAT in 10th grade before the “real deal” in 11th. She is very very good at standardized tests though (we call it her superpower).

@eandesmom Belated condolences on the broken arm. What a bummer! I’m glad they’re coming up with solutions though.

@MotherOfDragons: “She wants to visit Drexel (because their mascot is a dragon…” DS is reluctant about SUNY Albany because their mascot is a great dane, LOL. But if he really wants to run at a D1 school, he can’t afford to eliminate one of the four D1 schools we have a chance at affording. What a goof.

@Mom2aphysicsgeek If she’s not techy, I would think Math 1 would suffice. DS’15 took Math 1 and got a 780, then took Math 2 with some nervousness bc he wasn’t confident on the level of math prep at his school. He was right to be nervous :stuck_out_tongue: and we didn’t send those scores in. But he got into Cornell Engineering with just the Math 1, so I’d think the Math 1 would be fine for your DS.

Fun stuff for us: DS has dropped 2 sec in the 800m in the last two weeks, just in time for the State Qualifiers on Thursday. He has to win tomorrow though to go to states and there are three other guys with similar PRs in our section, so it will be tight :-S

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@Ynotgo yikes that’s hot! Hope your son has fun and stays out of the heat.
Good luck on your endoscopy. Doesn’t sound like fun…

@eandesmom I hope your sons writing skills improve to fourth grade soon :))

Busy week for my D. Cheer tryouts every day from 6-8, SAT Saturday and her Latin final that she’s praying she will do well to keep her A which can go either way since it’s an 89.65. They say the final accounts for 20% of her grade but that’s just ridiculous. Last year they said that and everyone did so poorly they cancelled the scores. Fingers crossed.

Schools out next Wednesday. Looking forward to summer. My D16 has been done for a couple of weeks and her graduation was this past weekend. All so surreal. We have been spending lots of quality time just the two of us which I cherish. Dinner and ice cream last night, going to Disney Friday. I don’t want this time to end. August is going to be tough to say goodbye. And then next year all of us will do it together. Sigh

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my guess is kids are guessing # of in-corrects based on the practice tests. I also, don’t remember seeing that information on official score report.

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@What???!! Alas, 'tis true, your username breaks the CC notification system - but welcome! This is definitely my favorite thread on CC - all the advice, support, and commiseration with none of the craziness. :slight_smile:

@mdcmom Your S’s school day set up is exactly the same as my D’s - 7:45-2:30 with 9 periods and most kids taking 7 classes with lunch & study hall, required PE every other day. My D’s last day of regular classes is 6/13, but the official end of the marking period is 6/24 (and so is senior graduation.) Fortunately my D’s Regents are 6/14 and 6/15 so she gets them over with right away and then she’s done - woohoo!

@eandesmom LOL at your S’s evolving writing skills. I hope they’ll give him extra time on the test with the scribe, that’s got to be a lot harder!

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@mcdmom how sandlots to have the kids home! D sounds like a very talented vocalist. I feel your pain on the grades although in our case it’s Spanish 3. Somehow S’s AP physics teacher wiped out most of the items in the online grade book and S now has an A. I had wondered if it was for the kids who took the AP test but S thinks she did it for all. Which was great if you participated in the 2 labs she is counting, not so much if you didn’t!

We have good friends that went the CC to D1 sports route and it worked out quite well for them. D2 sounds like a great compromise to avoid that step if the $$ comes along! Sounds like he is having a great finish to the season.

Too funny on the mascot, one of S’s biggest hang ups with a school is the mascot, he is not at all keen on the idea of being a cowboy!

@greeny8 4th grade would be nice, I am worried how this is going to effect everything but I know they are trying hard to work with him and he’s got a great attitude so that helps!

@thermom they did say he would get extra time as well thank goodness!

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Does any of your high school use Parchment Exchange for requesting transcript?
We have always just emailed the registrar for transcript even though our school uses Parchment. I just went on Parchment website and see that they have additional information such as college matching. Has anyone used this site?
I recently signed up for US News College Compass but think I probably didn’t need to. Although it’s only $49, it looks like not a lot of new information (admittedly I haven’t spent a lot of time exploring). I wonder if I could have gotten the same information from parchment.

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@Ynotgo Welcome to Vegas. As a native, I can tell you that you do get used to it. I would much rather have the 110 dry heat than the 90 degrees, 90% humidity elsewhere. Not that this is much consolation, but today is supposed to be the first day we reach triple digits this year. This is the latest I can remember it being before we hit that milestone.

D17 is taking Math II, Latin, and Lit subject tests on Saturday. She chose the ones she felt she had the best chance of scoring well on. She took USH last year.

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I also spend time in Vegas for work. I agree dry heat is less oppressive than the humid south (where I have also spent time); however, 110 is hot in any location. Luckily your S will be inside and the evenings are lovely at the pool or walking around gawking!

Welcome @What???!! (I wanted to see if I could make your name notify, but alas, it didn’t work :(( )

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So sorry all… I can’t figure out how to change my user name and take off !?

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@“what???!!”

I wanted to try, too. It worked! Just use quotation marks around the entire name (starting after the @ symbol.)

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I’m glad neither of my kids need to take SAT subject tests right now. Too much going on. Good luck to all of your kids!!

My son is being swamped by mailings from prospective colleges as of the last 2 weeks. I’ve noticed a significant increase in rate and amount. Mostly from schools he has zero interest in. but I do like to look at what they send. I’ve never really looked into many colleges out there. There really does seem to be a place for everyone’s kid.

3 weeks left of school. Need the kids to hold it together academically while juggling lax playoffs, club soccer touneys, soccer ref stuff,SAT, ACT, finals week, doctor and dentist appointments etc. Busy!

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So sick of CollegeBoard
https://twitter.com/CollegeBoard/status/737720304949178369

http://spr.ly/6019BS8W3

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What I want to know is why Oct is the earliest fall test date? I hadn’t been paying attention bc dd only needs one more subject test. But oh, my, for kids who need multiple more testing dates, CB has made things super difficult between late score reporting and cutting out a testing date.

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@payn4ward – is that new news above? I thought the May scores would have been posted last Thursday, but son told me he knew they were to be released in June. So I must have missed that ‘memo’.

I completely agree that it is ridiculous to delay reporting of the subject test scores as those exams have not changed. While the historical 19 day timing was tight, the late May release of May scores allowed one to sit for the same exam again in June, if so inclined. That option has now been eliminated.

I will end my rant b/c that may not have been the purpose of your post!

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We are requesting t-shirts from any colleges that offer free ones. Just got one from Indiana State. Couple more on the way. We get them in sizes for me. I get almost all of my t-shirts for free. Most from charity events/walks.

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Our 2017 kids are just screwed change and timing-wise for testing. I read somewhere and heard from our college counselor that in 2017, CB will begin an August SAT test. The lack of test dates over the summer for both ACT and SAT doesn’t make sense to me. That is the easiest time for them to study and test w/less obligations than during the school year.

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My daughter got an email today from the University of Kansas reminding her that their application opens 1 July, and that it’s an easy one to fill out. She’ll be traveling back home that day and the next, but on the third or the fourth she can send it in, and since she meets the automatic admission criteria there she can effectively have one in her back pocket already at that point.

TL;DR: Brace yourselves. Application season is coming.

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@mtrosemom People think we are crazy, but my (rising senior) son will be taking the ACT for the first time this September 10 (first day of school is Sep 9). He will be using the summer to study and prep. He’ll take it again in October if he feels he needs to. This option was the closest thing we could find to taking it over the summer. He focused 100% on schoolwork last fall and this spring and it has paid off.

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Fwiw, I thought I had seen an Aug test date scheduled for 2017. So, I went back and looked. Know what, those fall test dates for 2016 are classified as “anticipated.” https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/dates-deadlines Is that normal?

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QOTD: Language Proficiency. The Common App asks how many languages the student is proficient in. What do you consider to be ‘proficient’, and will your child put more than 1 (hopefully they are proficient in English)?

My D has been taking some amount of Mandarin since 1st grade. Next year she will be doing an independent study to prepare for the AP Mandarin test, since we don’t have an AP class at her HS. I would feel totally fine dropping her down in Beijing, confident she could get around (writing/reading & speaking). Yet, I still don’t know that I’d consider her to be ‘proficient’. I’d say she’s ‘close’.

Interested in your opinions, especially those of you who have the ‘language’ kids… Is there another way in the CA to express her aptitude in other languages?