I saw this app the other day “daily practice for new SAT”. That might appeal to some kids who don’t want to hit the books.
It lets you score some Collegeboard practice tests by scanning the answer (bubble in) sheets.
Then it gives you tips on what you need to improve on I think.
Haven’t tried it yet but thought maybe S could do this until next SAT.
I didn’t use prep books with my older two and I regret it now. Getting to those “magic numbers” can make a huge difference in merit awards. Here are the books I ordered:
SAT Grammar by Erica Meltzer (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1511944137)
SAT Reading by Erica Meltzer (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1515182061)
PWN the SAT Math Guide by Mike McClenathan (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1523963573)
I think the advantage of the books is that they have good strategies for recognizing types of questions and being able to get through them more quickly. The math guide is specifically for high achieving math kids which I like so S will hopefully not get bored. My D17 did use Khan Academy which is very helpful. But it’s a pretty different format.
Can you guys offer any opinions as I try to advise my D’18 on course selection for her senior year?
Her HS offers all the APs, as well as DE through the local CC and Ga Tech distance math (linear algebra and multivariable). She has 6 class periods available in the day. The only courses she needs to fulfill graduation requirements are English and Econ.
She wants to take Advanced Culinary, which is a 2-period class block. Her school has a great program and she is really enjoying the Intro class she’s taking this year.
For English, her options are AP Lit or CC college English. It seems like many colleges will not give credit for both AP Lang and AP Lit, so we’re trying to figure out what makes sense. She’d prefer to not take AP Lit, but the counselors are warning them that the community college class is seen as the easy way out by colleges.
The only math left for her is the GA Tech distance learning program, which is taught by video-conferencing in the class taught on campus. She took AP Calc BC in 10th, with a very difficult teacher. Got a C first semester and a B the second, and scored a 4 on the exam. She’s in AP Stat this year, with an A. I’m nervous about the distance learning model, especially for higher level math. She says she’s looked at the stuff the kids are working on, and she thinks she can handle it.
Economics can be AP Micro and Macro, or she could take one or the other in a semester or over the summer at the CC.
She feels she needs to take AP Bio. She had regular biology in middle school (an accelerated class that let them take it in 8th, but only shows up on her transcript as a regular class, as opposed to honors), honors chem, AP Physics 1, and is taking AP Physics C this year. The AP Bio teacher told her (somewhat nastily) that she wouldn’t be able to handle AP Bio, since she took regular, and so I think my daughter feels the need to prove her wrong. Other options are AP EnvSci or honors anatomy, but I got an eyeroll when I mentioned them.
She’s in H Chinese 4 this year, and the assumption has been to take AP Chinese next year. She has always gotten As in Chinese, but she doesn’t really enjoy it. The average exam score is a 3, and we wonder if it makes sense to tough it out, even though she may not score high enough to get the college credit. She would like to take another language, but it would be a level 1, unweighted class.
Other classes that intrigue her are AP Comp Sci Principles and an unweighted, single semester International Relations class, taught by a great teacher who she had for AP World. She’s taken AP Comp Sci A and did well, with a 5 on the exam, but feels she missed all the fundamentals and computer understanding.
Wow - that’s a lot of info that’s been churning around in my brain. Any insight / recommendations? Is there something I’m missing? She could take a CC class over the summer or at night, but I’m thinking that easing up just a little would be better. Her classmates are competitive, but she seems to be handling it. But she also has a job that she enjoys and application season in the fall.
Thanks!
@KimV2015 – AP-CSP is very easy course. D18 is taking it right now and has a high A with little apparent effort (I’ve only seen her work on it at home a few times). At her HS, AP-CSP is for sophomores and AP-CSA is for juniors on the Computer Science pathway. It’s a very light introduction to computers, networking, etc. I’d say “skip it” but your D did express interest in learning more of the basics of computers. It would be an easy A for her.
D18 took AP-Bio as a sophomore and got an A. It was more work than her other classes but it sounds like your D could handle it fairly easily. However, the “nasty” response from the teacher would give me pause. D18 is having a terrible time in AP-Chem this year because of the teacher. She has a low A but complains about it all the time.
@KimV2015, does your D know what she wants to study in college?
@KimV2015 - any idea what types of colleges she is aiming for?
Thanks for the feednack everyone! Not sure of her major right now. She likes physics, but is worried she’ll hit a point where it gets beyond her abilities. Maybe business, after her experiences in retail. Dreams of owning a restaurant someday. She has also mentioned computer science as a possibility.
We are just beginning to narrow down a target college list. I think we pushed too early, which made her resist, but she’s started to research lately. Probably not top tier. I think the C took a bite out of her confidence. She likes medium-large schools in urban areas (non religious). Really liked Tulane / New Orleans when we visited in October, but I told her she needs to get decent merit aid for us to make that work.
@droppedit - the AP Bio teacher makes me nervous too - she’s known to hold grudges.
@KimV2015 – are you in the Atlanta metro? We’re up in Forsyth county. Both UGA and GaTech are great schools for GA people and your D sounds very advanced, so she should get in with no problem. Of course, our D18 wants to go OOS, so we’re dealing with that.
I wouldn’t let the C for one semester in AP-Calc BC in tenth grade affect her confidence! My D is in AP-CalcAB in 11th grade and says that many of the junior BC kids are finding BC difficult.
@droppedit Yep, we’re north of the city too!
I have this impression of Ga Tech being cutthroat competitive with early weed-out classes, but I’m not sure how I’ve come to that conclusion. Anybody have a better perspective than I do? I know they’ve rejected some high stats kids recently. Also, even from a parent’s view, it’s a little TOO close to home. UGA has always been on our radar. We have not been to Athens yet to check it out. Both great schools though, and they really seem to be gaining respect and recognition.
She, too, wants to go OOS. We have friends in other states whose kids are applying to UGA and Ga Tech. If only we could trade in-state status…
Sending good, clear-headed vibes to all of the kids taking the ACT tomorrow!
D is back from the ACT. She said it went OK and that she was able to finish all of the sections. She said science was a bit tricky, and she may have been running out of steam. (It was the last section.) Over on the thread for the Feb ACT test, I saw a kid describe it this way: “It was O.K, but jesus that last passage on the science section was the work of the demon down under. May the person who designed that portion find solace for their unholy heart.” That made my D laugh.
Our S is lying on the couch taking his first practice SAT. One of the cats will probably join him soon.
@suzy100 My daughter also felt science was harder than she was expecting.
Someone on that thread mentioned a curve in the last ACT test. Do they really curve the ACT?
Add my son to the list of kids who thought the science portion of today’s ACT was tougher than anticipated. Good luck to all who took it!
@bearcatfan yes each test form gets curved
I think curved is bad wording. Each form has its own scale. It’s not a curve because the scale is already predetermined so how people perform on the test has nothing to do with how strong the scale is. They somehow set the scale before the test so the test is standardized. But yeah harder test=more lenient scale.
Well, picked my D from ACT, she felt it was overall easier than the last time she took it (June), and didn’t find any of the sections to be tougher than she expected or really too tough at all. Honestly, we were both unsure what to take away from that assessment and are a bit nervous about what it means for the outcome. Either she nailed it, or she crashed so hard she didn’t see it coming 
Best of luck to us all as we wait for scores!!
As far as the curve @bearcatfan they do curve the tests, but not in the way we traditionally think of curves. That is the tests aren’t curved relative to the performance of the test takers or who is taking the test on a given day, but the tests are curved based on the difficulty level of the questions on the test and the curves are set before the scoring happens. If you take any practice tests you will see this in action, sometimes missing 1 or 2 questions still gets you a 36 on a section sometimes missing that many gets you a 35.
My D’s good friend took the ACT this morning. This is a guy who studies astrophysics on his own “for fun,” and he thinks he tanked the science section today. Must have been a rough one.
Son didn’t have enough time to finish reading and science. Oh well. He did say that he feels more comfortable with SAT. He has never had timing issues with it.