To the Ohio poster - how did you like Elon compared to what seems to be a lot of good options in Ohio - OSU, Kenyon, Denison, Wooster, etcā¦perhaps weather/climate an interest, or just want to get away from home a littleā¦just curious as we considering Elon as well as some OH schoolsā¦thx!
S20 just took June SAT and then the ACT. He did prep with an online tutor one hour a week and the tutor said he is better with SAT ( I think in terms of projected scores) but S20 likes ACT better ( how the test is structured, fast paced and straight forward questions, etc). I think they mostly did SAT prep with some ACT in the mix. We will see how he did in several weeks and we can decide if he needs to repeat and which one.
Edit: S20 doesnāt need to prep much for Math. He just need to improve the Reading and Writing. It doesnāt seem the prep is too much different for both tests. Grammar is Grammar right? He did not prep for essay.
Welcome @hgtvaddict. My DSs are very similar with the music and math/science. Have you been looking at dual degree programs or double majoring. We have done some research and most take 5 years to complete. DSā16 is not quite sure what route to take yet. Said heād be fine with being a PhD science researcher by day and community orchestra player by night. Sorta like Batman/Superman alter ego but way less dangerous
My daughter was 50 points higher in Math taking the PSAT 8/9 last year but was 30 points higher in reading and writing in the PSAT this time. Her writing increase sixty points but dropped 20 points in math. She admitted not studying but also said she had forgotten a lot of the math because she was taking BC last year. Some of the stuff o
Welcome @mountainmomof3! We are also chasing merit and doing tons of research. S20 is doing SAT Prep this summer and will be taking SAT either August or October - depending on how ready he is.
Thanks, @msmaria - after much back and forth we saw he has a xc meet the day before the August test and will not be home till very late. I am tweaking the test prep schedule based on what seemed to help S19 ā hopefully my tweaking helps! We will see! He has a state mandated SAT in April but would prefer to just be done by December if possible. Spring semester usually finds the kids pretty tired and worn out.
@SoccaMomma and others thanks for the welcome! I love the alter-ego music/science idea! Ideally, my D would like to major in Jazz Studies, but she was told by her piano teacher long ago ādonāt major in music!ā and D has been reluctant to major in music ever since. She changes her mind on school/career choices almost dailyā¦one day she wants to be a doctor; another, an astronaut; and another, a musician in New York. We havenāt looked into any dual degree programs in science and music. Do you have any recommendations?
@hgtvaddict
My DS wants to pursue music and I am pulling his legs, lol. The schools with strong music programs as well as academics that we will be looking into are: Yale, northwestern, Bowdoin, and possibly Rice, JHU, Columbia, and Oberlin (separate admission process and double major might require longer than 4 years? We havenāt really dig deep into these yet). We were told Bates, Vassar, st Olaf all have strong music programs too.
@hgtvaddict Have your D look at Furman. Fabulous music program including marching band but also great math/science with excellent results for kids getting into grad schools. Has a specific track for music/pre-med. Generous with merit.
@hgtvaddict I totally get the changes at my house too. And thatās why CC is so valuable. You realize youāre not alone in navigating this terrain called college-bound. So about music/science options. Truly most of what Iāve learned about this topic has been from CC fantabulous posters so Iāll start there. This essay āDouble Degree Dilemmaā is a must read in my opinion. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1948726-double-degree-dilemma-essay-written-by-david-lane-p1.html
There are also plenty of music major threads on the site as well. Hereāre some choices for working on both majors/degrees/interests. JHU/Peabody, Rochester/Eastman, Miami Frost, Rice, Harvard/NEC, Tufts/NEC, UMich, Bard, Lawrence, BostonU, Columbia/Julliard, and Oberlin. Iām probably leaving out a number of them but itās a good start. Also may want to look at MajoringinMusic.com
Let me know how it goes.
Is this year ever going to end??? DS20 teachers have given more homework over the last 2 weeks than they have in the entire year. Finals are all done but huge, more points than the entire semester, projects have been given in the last few weeks ( AP classes) and are due next weekā¦dreaded group projects in some. Its like they found the must do check list and are scrambling to check their boxes off at the last minute.
Wonāt even go into the AP teacher who hasnāt marked anything since MARCHā¦grr if I didnt do part of my job for 3+ months I wouldnāt have oneā¦just sayingā¦
Ready to move towards oldest Junior year and twins 8th grade yearā¦this year has been LONG!
Good luck to all who have kids taking tests over the summer and are traveling to college visits!
I remember the days there was no portals. Also remember the days when it was up to the kid to track everything. Although at our school you donāt even have report cards sent home so you do need the portal for that.
I remember the days when kids didnāt group text each other for pictures of books they forgot or assignments they forgot to write down!
Tracking I dont care aboutā¦teachers blatantly not doing their jobsā¦aka not having any graded assignments marked for 3+ months is unacceptable as a professional being paidā¦
DSās Calc BC class was self study multiVar since the AP test and the final is supposed to be materials covered by the self study.
@hgtvaddict I was in marching/pep band at an SEC school! It was a lot of fun but a huge time commitment. I still get a little weepy when the band takes the field!
@VickiSoCal my oldest has a very similar list to yours -
Willamette (visited, applied, accepted, enrolled).
Lewis and Clark (visited, applied, accepted)
U of Portland (visited, didnāt apply)
UCB (no official visit but sheās been on campus, applied, not accepted)
UCD (visited, applied, waitlisted)
UCSC (no visit, applied, accepted)
UCSD (visited, applied, accepted)
Occidental (visited, applied, accepted)
Cal Lutheran (visited, applied, accepted)
Pomona (visited, applied, denied)
Cal Poly SLO (visited, applied, waitlisted)
USC (visited, didnāt apply)
UCI (visited, didnāt apply)
CalTech (visited, didnāt apply)
Middle kid so far has been dragged on a couple of the above tours when she was too young to care, and had the official tour at UCB. Unlike oldest, is okay with leaving the west coast for college and weāll be touring Brown, Tufts, and Bowdoin in a couple of weeks when weāre on the east coast for a vacation.
@washugrad I was a little sad she did not go to Willamette. Funny that she was waitlisted at UCSD but in at Davis, the opposite of yours.
@VickiSoCal we were kind of baffled that she got in at UCSD at waitlisted at Davis, but a lot of people got waitlisted/denied at Davis that year (2015) that thought theyād get in. So yours is at St Andrews? How is that working out? Does she come home often?