May 3? I had better make a reminder for myself to check the scores, otherwise I will completely forget by that time. I have the gut feeling that ACT is more kiddo’s test than SAT. The concordance I found suggests that 32 ACT roughly corresponds to 1450? He wasn’t quite getting that on practice SATs because of Demon Math.
@ninakatarina S19 prefers ACT and has his desired score but has a threshold he wants to hit for SAT. He stopped prepping Sunday and happily threw out anything related to ACT/SAT. I guess he is done!
Whoo hoo! Looks like S19 will only have to do the Common App! Penn State and Ship have joined!
http://www.commonapp.org/whats-appening/news/common-application-welcomes-new-members-2018-2019
@ninakatarina S19 said that the SAT was “eh, same as the August one”. He didn’t review for this test so he hasn’t looked at SAT questions in seven months. Can’t wait to see if his score looks any different. The only reason we would use this test is if he needs a test with the essay since he didn’t write it the first time. The only schools on his radar that need the essay also superscore and I called them to find out if they would still take the highest section scores even if they are on the first test without the essay and they said yes. I know that’s not always the case. CA schools won’t consider any sections on a test where the student didn’t write the essay.
Whatever the score, he is definitely done now with the SAT1. SAT2 History in May and Math 2 in August…
My kid hasn’t prepped to do SAT2 at all. I have the nagging feeling he should take a couple because a couple of the schools say it’s Recommended, and they’re the more selected ones so Recommended = Required. That may be something we end up adding to the August schedule.
Kiddo was in a silly mood morning. Apparently there was something about beans and fungus and the internet on the SAT yesterday, which means a lot of jokes about passing gas. I love those moments when this person who looks like an adult suddenly flashes back to their 9 year old self.
Sat subject tests, ugh.
Last year d didn’t want to discuss them when I would bring it up. Too stressful and this year was going to be early enough.
Last week she does a practice math 2 and says she should have taken it last year when the material was more fresh. Le sigh.
She is definitely taking chem in June, probably math 2 as well then.
I take my son to school every day because it is on the way to my school. We have done this every morning since he was in kindergarten. Going to miss these mornings! This 20 mins gives us time to connect if we need to and this morning we ended up discussing IB HL Math. Interested in this groups thoughts…
He is full IB Diploma and decided to do HL Math. He has held his own this year and has managed to get A’s every marking period. He has developed a great relationship with his teacher and spends a lot of time with her after school or during their panther hour (Mid-day study hall time). However, his teacher is going out on maternity leave in a month and won’t be back until December and I have no idea who is going to teach HL 2. My son has said multiple times that he doesn’t care who teaches it he still wants to take the course. I am really concerned about this class, I have heard it is hell.
I mentioned to my son this morning that majoring in Neuroscience he doesn’t really need to take HL Math. He was so confused and said but I thought I needed the most rigorous courses to get in to college. His teacher told us at the beginning of the year that 1) it isn’t denoted on the transcript whether he took HL or SL and 2) that only people who were doing a math major or economics or physics really needed HL math. So I told my son he should talk to his teacher and ask for her opinion. What do you all think? Does a Neuroscience major with an emphasis on research really need HL Math? In order to test out of classes in college I believe he would need at least a 5 on the HL exam. My son was told that a 4 is almost impossible.
I don’t want him to back off the rigor but then again I don’t want him to stress and spend hours on a course he doesn’t really need. He knows he has to take higher level math in college and he’s fine with that and SL Math is still a rigorous course…
Son19 is set to take 2 SAT2 tests coming up. I don’t think he’ll have any time for prep, so it is what it is at this point.
He has a few schools on his list where they say recommended, so maybe if he does Ok on them we’ll submit them.
If he stinks it up on them and he really wants to apply to a school that demands them, he can always take them in the Fall I guess.
I’m not sure why schools even really care about SAT2 ? They can see the kids report cards, AP tests if you submit them, SAT/ACT scores etc. I get it, it’s just another way to make sure the kid knows their stuff, but at what point is enough enough?
I think son19 Is set on taking the SAT again for a 3rd and final time late this summer. He saiid he could still do better on English and he thinks he could get his math score up a teeny bit. We’ll have to see how it plays out. If he wants to play a sport in college and the coaches tell him his scores/trnascript are " good enough" then maybe he won’t take it.
But we’ll sign him up just in case, and then he can always cancel out of it.
Lot’s of stuff up I the air at this point.
@Kona2012 I forget who else here has kids in IB programs. Maybe @EastGrad ? I feel like there was someone else who mentioned it recently.
They don’t have it here so I don’t know much about it.
You probably already thought of this, @Kona2012 , but in case other people reading haven’t, if your kid’s favorite teacher is going out on maternity next fall, better get that letter of recommendation requested before the summer! My kid has one favorite teacher currently out on maternity and another about to go. I’ve been pushing for him to approach a teacher who isn’t his favorite but in whose class I think he has really shone. Then again, he knows their interactions better than I do, so maybe I should back off and let him take the lead.
As long as he actually asks for those recs before school lets out. Days of spring are ticking away.
I think schools care about the SAT 2 because the regular SAT doesn’t test those things, and high schools vary so widely in quality of education and what level of understanding is considered worthy of an A.
@ninakatarina yes that is on his to do list. He is going to ask two teachers this week for recs - the teacher who is going out on maternity leave and another teacher that I heard rumors is leaving at the end of this school year. He had great relationships with both of them. His counselor is out right now for surgery and won’t be back for another two weeks so I’m trying to get this done with very limited information as to the procedures. This is one of the main reasons we hired a college consultant!
@Kona2012 - My son is doing the IB diploma program. At our school it is really hard to switch out of classes once they have it planned in their schedule. However, if you son is able to switch and it doesn’t affect the diploma requirements, it might be worth considering and talking to his current teacher about her opinion. As long as his class this year is covering a Calculus curriculum, I would think he would be fine in terms of college admissions. My son doesn’t know what his major will be, but the most likely choice will be some form of Economics and depending on the school, it could have more of a math focus. This year, he his just taking Standard Level math (which also includes an AP Calc curriculum) and next year he’ll take AP stats. However, since your son said he wants to continue with HL, I would probably put the most weight on his wishes.
@Kona2012, my S13 told me that HL Math was the only class he found challenging in high school. I realize that sounds super braggy, but I don’t mean it to be. I just wanted to give you a sense of the difficulty. He is not a super math head; there were other extremely strong mathematicians (state champion winners) who did not find it challenging. S13 is strong but not spectacular at math. He did have a good teacher, but because two or three kids found it easy, he used Khan Academy a lot to clarify concepts rather than asking questions. This technique was very successful for him: he received As all year and mastered the material. I am glad he overcame this insecurity in college and was able to ask clarifying questions even when others understood the topic better than he did because he is attending medical school this fall. I don’t remember his score, but it was at least a 5 (out of 7 for people who are less familiar with IB).
D19 is taking a couple SAT 2s in June. Some schools she was (and maybe still is) looking at required them, and since she won’t be taking the AP in her desired major (school doesn’t offer it), there is probably some marginal benefit in being able to show a score for that subject area that won’t show up in her AP scores. Of course, that depends how good her SAT 2 score is…
At the moment, she’s tentatively planning on taking SAT 1 for the second time in August, but probably without the essay this time around…
Ugh. The kid’s rehearsal is going until 7 tonight and the play is still 6 weeks away. Tell me again why I thought that this would be a great EC?
@ninakatarina It’s all good! Maybe it will help his time management skills? Lots of kids have ECs that require a lot of hours. Feed him a quick dinner while he starts his homework! 
I hear you, @ninakatarina! Especially when maybe efficiency is not a primary concern in the drama department . It helps when I think of the friends my kids have in theater–genuine, welcoming, creative and great students.
As far as the SAT II discussion, I’m kind of lost on this. D19 likes science and does very well, but is not taking AP science until next year. She’s in physics right now and enjoying it, but I’m reading that you have to have AP physics to do well on the SAT II for physics. Does it make sense to take any science SAT II if you haven’t had an AP level class? Would honors science be enough?
I don’t see why she should take SAT II in history if she’s taking AP exams for that. Maybe English or Math I? I think she’ll take her foreign language one because she excels there. Most of her potential schools say “Considered” for SAT II and the others are test optional, but I pretty sure that means “submit it if you do well”.
Wow! Good to see the thread’s progression of more than 100 pages since I opened CC the last time!
@3SailAway , AP Physics is not really necessary for the SATII for Science classes. Our school counselor insists on it as many kids don’t take AP classes till their senior year.
D had a moment a couple of days back and said that she was not sure what she wants to study in college or choose the career right now. She was just questioning everything with “what if I don’t like —”.
D19 is looking for Engineering, most probably computer engineering. Her SAT, ACT, and GPA are in the top 25-50% for most colleges. She has decent ECs- nothing like a Nobel prize or cancer cure.
We visited very few colleges. She did not like half of them for different reasons. She did not like Villanova, Bryn Mawr doesn’t have her major, did not like Troy though liked RPI, etc.
She was happy with RIT, WPI, RPI but was skeptical about the surrounding. @RightCoaster , or anyone else, do you happen to know about these towns? In Troy, we saw many girls walking up the hill to the RPI campus alone. But I also noticed 3-4 different groups of middle aged men lurking around for hours while we drove around before and after the visit. They did not look like students. D19 did not like the city of Troy at all but loved RPI. Worcester was not very impressive either.
She liked Northeastern, have always loved Boston. I am not sure if she will get any merit aid though. We simply can’t pay 70k per year for her UG. She has grad school plans. We are looking for in urban/suburban colleges which will give her scholarship to bring the price tag around 40k per year. I have my work cut out for sure!
@collegeandi My understanding is that the physics subject test covers a broad range of topics such that AP physics 1 isn’t enough anyway and that an honors physics class that covers more topics might possibly do. If you have the big subject test book, perhaps it’s worth a look. My understanding is that the chem and bio subject tests tend to be better following the AP, as whether the honors courses are enough will depend on the school.
If Catholic colleges are ok, maybe peek at Santa Clara for CS or CSE. Suburban location in SV. My sense is that merit there varies widely (and students seem surprised at how much or how little they were given), from none to half tuition to their presidential - the NPC includes a merit estimate though I’m not sure how accurate that merit estimate is. (RPI’s NPC also includes a merit estimate, if you haven’t already seen it)
@collegeandi Worcester has some areas that are not so hot and economically depressed, but also some good areas as well. WPI not far from Shrewsbury Street which houses lots of good eateries that college kids frequent. DCU center for concerts, sporting and cultural events and the Worcester art museum also nearby to WPI. And the train now runs from Worcester to Boston. It’s certainly not the best city, but much better than people make it out to be.