@homerdog I bet your son really matures senior year. My senior son17 didn’t really mature until this year, and he turns 18 this summer. He is young for his grade.
Son19 is also one of the younger kids in his grade, but has hung out with son17 and some older kids on sports teams so he is a bit more mature. Son19 also knows what he wants to study, has made a preliminary college list, has been talking to college coaches, wants to go to a college engineering summer camp, etc. Son17 was never really that way, but he ended up coming around this past Fall and is acting quite mature now for the most part.
I think you’ll just have to play it by ear. I would just progress along like he was going to enroll in a college Fall 2019, and if that doesn’t work out, then the Spring of Senior year you can fall back to plan B- gap year.
Our spring break college road trip was a huge success. We went to JMU, UVA. and William and Mary. She plans to apply to all three now but to our complete surprise (total frustration of her UVA sister) her favorite was William and Mary. She really liked the smaller school and the undergraduate research focus. It made us glad we had done this trip so early because it helps us focus a little better going forward.
@mom23travelers Exciting to be taking college road trips already! S19 still not particularly interested. I made him choose a few schools and sign up on their email lists. He’s getting some email and snail mail now. We got a letter in the mail from Wash U inviting him to a reception at a hotel in a town nearby this Sunday. I think we will go to check it out. I hear they are big on showing interest and we know some kids who have recently graduated from there who had amazing experiences. It will be full freight, though, I’m sure. Doesn’t hurt to hear what they have to say. My husband is interested in going as well even though he knows Wash U will cost us. Not sure what that says about his willingness to pay that much for school. A few months ago he seemed very interested in all of my research on merit scholarships and now he’s excited about hearing about Wash U. S19 knows Wash U is expensive so will keep that in mind. We’ve been very clear that there is no perfect school and we will need to be comparing final costs when that time comes. No falling in love allowed!!
I finally just called S19’s guidance counselor to ask about SAT IIs. He thinks S19 should just focus on his grades this spring. Thinks it’s honestly too early to know if he will have colleges on his list that consider them. We already know he won’t have any that require them. GC also said, for schools that just consider them, he suggests only sending 780s and 800s. If you don’t get those scores, don’t send. He thinks it’s a boost if you have those scores but schools may hold it against you with lower ones. He also mentioned that he’s never had a student use an SAT II from freshman or sophomore year. Thinks kids are more prepared after junior year. Especially for the science SAT IIs, he felt strongly that kids at our school really need to be in that AP version in order to be sure they’ve covered everything. Students who have taken them after an honors science class have historically not done well.
All of this info is, obviously, specific to our high school. We’ve got one happy S19 now who isn’t taking SAT IIs this June.
@mom23travelers – we probably passed each other on the highway! D19 has taken schools off her list thanks to the earlyish college tours. She had a clear favorite before we toured, but now she has added a state LAC to the top group list. Now that we better know her school size preferences, it is helping to target our list. It also helps our summer theatre workshop planning as we have a better idea on what she’ll specifically need to showcase for portfolios. D19 will be celebrating her 16th birthday in August (she’s a younger Class of 2019 member) so we also need to plan around her birthday plus summer vacation plans.
Had the junior schedule sit-down today - D will be taking two AP classes - English language and APUSH.
She had wanted to take AP Enviro Sci. but a co-requisite is pre-calc, and she’s just not on that track; she’ll be in honors geometry next year.
She’d probably be able to take it in senior year, and we can investigate then, but this year she’ll end up taking straight Env. Sci., because she really is interested - so not sure what the point of AP-ing it as a senior would be, other than a naked push to boost the GPA.
So two APs and an honors class, plus, of course, the dread Chinese, env. sci., a Shakespeare elective and woodworking, which is essentially part of her theater focus.
We had a talk with D and the academic dean about the Chinese situation – that they’re still in the Chinese 2 book with less than two months left in the Chinese 3 class. It concerns us because we simply don’t know whether D will be able to take the AP Chinese class by senior year at this rate.
D said she was completely frustrated and that the teacher doesn’t seem to be able to control the class. She was upfront about sometimes being boisterous in class, but noted that she wasn’t the only one, and insisted that she still tried hard and was simply not getting taught. While at Disney over spring break, we sat with two Chinese women who are teachers at a language school here and they chatted with D and while they were pleased at her efforts, they concluded she should be further along after five years of near-daily instruction. I mentioned to the dean today that I did a double-take during the meet-the-teachers night during the first weeks of school, when I saw the rules of her classroom posted and one of them was that nobody was allowed to line up to leave class before the bell rang. It seemed like a rule for a kindergarten class.
Sigh. We just left it at that. There’s nothing more we can really do; I assume we aren’t the only people speaking up at this point.
Oh, and @OrangeFish - any guidance you can give the other theater parents about tech portfolios and the tips you’re getting? I have been saving everything I can, but it’s not much yet, as D isn’t in a leadership position.
@Gatormama I like that your D gets to take seven classes! Is this the case for everyone else? We only get six plus gym. After S19 takes math, science, English, history, French, and gym, he only has one spot left and it’s always art for him since he’s planning on taking AP Portfolio senior year and needs a bunch of prerequisites. So many classes he has no space for- cool literature classes, history classes that teach about lesser known places in the world, rhetoric classes and creative writing classes…there’s probably a list of 20 classes he’s interested in that he can’t fit in his schedule. It’s a bummer!
Oh, um, lemme think. The Shakespeare and AP English class are each only a semester. So that’s one, in terms of scheduling. Then math, two, science, three, Chinese, four, history, five, woodworking, six, and gym is #7. So same amount as you. Yes, I agree - great-sounding classes here too! Civics; philosophography (which is advanced photography focused on creating a portfolio of the student’s view of him/herself); a comedy & satire English course; filmmaking - so much fun!
@Gatormama AP English is just a semester? Is it AP Lang or Lit? Both of those are yearlong courses for us. We also have a mandatory consumer economics course for graduation. There are a few different courses you can use for that requirement but S19 will take AP Macro for that class senior year and that’s just a semester. He will have exactly one semester senior year to pick something fun!
My daughters’ school has a handful of one-semester AP courses, but they’re double-length periods, so it’s the same seat time and content as a regular year-long course.
My son takes 7 classes. He is only required to take one year of PE and one year of keyboarding which most take as a freshman . That leaves more room for electives in upper grades.
S has full year english (in Jr and Sr year so he chooses from a list), history (also chooses from a list), biology, calc II, spanish, civics (1 semester), and one elective. I think he’s taking comp sci 3 for his elective.
I want him to do SAT II Math 2 in June; he’s in Calc I now. But May is packed so it might slip to August. The science ones…no idea how he’ll manage those since his school doesn’t cover all material on the tests. Meh.
Ours have 7 classes available but the 7th is before school and only for certain elective music classes or PE.
S19 will have 7. With required PE, and health it does limit elective options if a kid wants to do music. He will drop language for next year which frees up a spot. His line up is 5 AP’s (Language, Physics 1, Calc AB, Computer Science and US history) plus 2 music classes. We’ve experience with several of them already and I do think it will be managable for him based on how he’s done this year. Everything is year long.
Hopefully he will get 1 year PE waived or senior year will have a lot of it!
Yes, AP lang and lit are one-semester courses for us; we are switching to new scheduling next year that seems to be something like block scheduling in which the classes are longer and don’t come round every day. To be honest, I ignored the flurry of emails about the change, because they came when we were deep in the weeds about switching schools, and I didn’t think we’d even be there next year. I should probably catch up.
We are required to have PE every year, but b/c of lax and her outdoor education EC, D gets a free period for most of the year, which she is FINALLY using for tutoring help. She got a 90 on a chem quiz the other week and I was pathetically grateful.
@Gatormama – what we have learned about theatre portfolios based on the dozen+ schools we have met with:
Each school has different requirements for admission. Some schools have portfolio review. Some schools have no portfolio requirement at all. Some schools do not consider portfolios until after the first year of college. Therefore, it makes sense to group schools based on this portfolio requirement. (In our big spreadsheet, we're treating it along the lines of SAT subject exams.)
For the subset of schools with portfolio requirements for admission: some schools view the portfolio as a means to structure a conversational interview. So it is less "proving your stuff" than a way for the student to tell his/her story. We have found it makes sense to talk with the theater tech (design/production) faculty to ask how the portfolio is used as part of the admissions process.
For the subset of the subset of schools using the portfolio to "prove your stuff": often this is for scholarship opportunities (beyond simply the admissions process). For this a student wants to either show several examples of their work in the same theater tech area **OR** a wider breadth of work in multiple tech areas. So, if a student wants to focus on costuming, it may be better for this student to show costuming from several shows, over several eras, with multiple companies, etc. Likewise, if a student wants to work in multiple tech areas (such as costuming and lighting), then it may be better to showcase a wider variety in the portfolio. (Again -- a conversation with the theater tech faculty is helpful as each program is different.)
Emphasizing the first point again -- each school handles the portfolio differently. One tech design concentration faculty adviser had pretty strong opinions on what he wanted his students to do when working with him. His concern focused on employability after graduation, so he urged his students to focus on one area of tech for one show, and then plan to focus on another area (could even be performance, if the student expressed interest) for another show. So his ideal portfolio is different than what would be ideal at another school.
In the minority of schools we have met with this far, a strong portfolio can help in admissions if a student is "borderline" stats-wise. Several schools mentioned the theatre department can put in a good word with admissions for a strong theatre tech candidate. (Since D19 doesn't have the strongest of GPAs, we paid special attention to these opportunities.) These schools recommended submitting applications early (September of senior year) and then scheduling the interview/portfolio review for early November. (This means SAT/ACT testing needs to be done in Junior year/summer before Senior year.)
As for D19 – she will be enrolled in a four week summer program in theatre arts, and she plans to do her project work in areas where she has “holes” in her portfolio. She also plans to talk with her theatre teacher so she can find the right opportunities in Junior year to better round out her portfolio this fall. She will be taking AP Studio Art 2D next year, so she may be able to use some of her portfolio work for that class in her theatre portfolio.
Hugely helpful; thanks!
In the summer program area, would you mind sharing where she’s going? We don’t have time for anything this summer, but I’m casting about for ideas for next summer already!
@Gatormama – she’s going to the daytime summer program offered by our local school district. She is also volunteering with a nearby community theatre program. The community theatre program should be good because there are several people involved with some of the Washington DC theatre companies (Shakespeare Theatre and Arena Stage).
We are trying to save $ this year. We did look at some of the residential summer programs, but they are somewhat pricey and D didn’t think it was worth it.
Our high school 9 periods.
Required PE every year and NY doesn’t give waivers for sports or anything like that.
That leaves 8 periods. Theoretically, one should be lunch and another study hall but most of the advanced track kids have either a study hall or a lunch and not both. At least most days (PE is 2-3 days a week depending on semester and the opposite days may be a study hall of a lab).
Anyway, my d19 had 7 classes plus PE in her plans for next year. I think it seems likely that she will get them because I think the counselors would already have had a meeting with her if there were conflicts or overfull classes (that happened last year).
PE
AP Lang
APUSH
AP Calc BC
AP Chem
Honors Physics
Principles of Engineering (DE PLTW)
Spanish 4 (DE)
the summer will be busy with health classes in July, drivers ed, PSAT/SAT studying, any required summer AP work, hopefully a PT job and a week long vacation in August.
We have 6 classes plus lunch/study hall. S is taking AP AB Calc, AP physics, AP comp sci,. APUSH, 2 single semester lit classes (did not sign up for college English in time), and a self directed period where he will be teaching himself programming languages. He could have signed up internships, but his driving is iffy. i was hesitant about APUSH but this year he took on level World and was completely unchallenged and bored. WE dont offer Honors World or US history at our school.
S19 just drives me crazy in that he is the dumbest smart kid I know. No common sense, and always forgets to turn in assignments, or that he has a test. Just 5% more effort would give him a 4.0. Meanwhile D17 , has a LD, and she has always had to work hard. She has a college Environment science final today and I she has been studying for days. I sometimes worry about her going to GW next year , but at least she has a good work ethic.
D19 has taken schools off her list thanks to the earlyish college tours. She had a clear favorite before we toured, but now she has added a state LAC to the top group list. Now that we better know her school size preferences, it is helping to target our list. It also helps our summer theatre workshop planning as we have a better idea on what she’ll specifically need to showcase for portfolios. D19 will be celebrating her 16th birthday in August (she’s a younger Class of 2019 member) so we also need to plan around her birthday plus summer vacation plans.