Hi again everyone! Now that I got 2018 deposited into her dorm at the college of her choice. My focus is now on 2020.
@lilmom It is normal to not know what to study. Just go visit colleges and look at the college as a whole. Visit small and large. Private and Public.
@lilmom I would do some tours of closeby schools to see rural, urban, suburban settings and various sizes of student populations. This may at least narrow down what the student prefers from that perspective. Do the full tour to get the wheels turning and the major can be narrowed down later.
Good luck to all test takers tomorrow!
@whataboutcollege thank you! Kid is so nervous and not feeling well now either. And of course because of that I canât sleep LOL so Iâm sitting here reading college confidential ha ha!
And she is off to the SAT! Feels really weird for her to take herself, but I am not sure why. We have downplayed this test date since she has lots more opportunities if it does not go as well as hoped. Feels more like a PSAT preview and evaluation of her summer prep for that test, I guess.
DD20 has shared with me recently how much others at school seem to be whispering about her choices regarding testing, classes, ECs, etc. She says she chooses to be honest when directly asked rather than keep things to herself since they will whisper regardless. I hope that strategy works out okay.
cheeringsection - sorry i havent stayed atop of what your daughter is doing, but iâm curious. why are the kids whispering? whatâs her school day like, and what choices is she making regarding testing?
my s20 just had his first cross country timed trial. he was slightly disappointed. but knows thereâs room for improvement. he was varsity his fresh/soph years; now will have to really fight and go through pain to keep the last V spot!
LOL @cakeisgreat S20 was hanging out all day with friends yesterday, I was the one who felt nervous - and therefore couldnât sleep last night!
Checking back in to this thread (catching up from a couple of months). My DD is off taking the Chem SAT test this morning. It was hit or miss until last night whether she was going to go or bail⊠she was away at camp for the last month of summer break with no ability to study there (Concordia language villages⊠you arenât allowed to have reading materials that arenât in the target language) and she has only had âregularâ chem, not AP. Sheâs been taking all the tests in Barron and getting 650-700 on those but finally pulled out a 740 on the last practice test last night so sheâs going for it today :-). Got an 800 in math in June so hopefully this will do it for the subject tests. Sheâs doing a SAT prep course starting next week and then taking the regular SAT in October and PSAT right after. This kid is a great tester and not so great at keeping up the GPA, although she dropped down from the AS/AP track in English to CP (regular) this fall which should help.
School started a week and a half ago and so far so good⊠nice teachers, the APUSH teacher seems to be an easy grader (good for GPA, hope he preps the class for the exam enough). Our school considers 3 AP classes a rigorous schedule and thatâs what weâve got (APUSH, AP Calc AB (I had a thread on here about trying to get into BC or take it online. End result is that there were no spaces and we decided not to do it online but instead to do AP Comp Sci online this year so that will actually be a 4th AP but wonât count in the GPA ), and then also AP Physics 1). Also taking Biotech 1, 2 choirs (1 is after school), and Spanish 3. Choir is going to sing in Carnegie Hall this spring so we are all excited about that and Iâm going to see if we can not fly back to CA with the group at the end and instead go visit a few more colleges while we are out in that area (start of our spring break so the timing works out).
@bgbg4us DD20 has not really done anything unusual. Just decided to do 3 APs instead of 4. I think the whispering is the general sizing up of âthe competitionâ in the class rank race. Having been through this once already, I know that exact class rank is less important than the overall package one presents to a school. Others do not understand that yet and are stressing more than necessary IMHO. I just keep telling my DD20 to take the high road and not worry about others. Taking the SAT today is âearlyâ so that creates unnecessary interest from others as well.
I am glad that S20âs school doesnât rank nor weight. DS certainly doesnât know who are âthe competitorsâ. He has a general ideas of who are good students. I never heard him talking about grades/tests with his friends ( at least in front of me). I am sure none of his friends (including the closest ones) have any idea that he has taken the tests already.
School here starts after labor day. DS has not completed all his summer home work yet and still playing into late nights on video games. He did finish his EMT class and will be taking the state certification exam next week.
^^ ah, got it. i hope it went well. the whole ranking game and competition is crazy. I have older kids too, and I keep encouraging S20 to do his best & take hard classes as well as those that interest him and to not worry about other kids!
I think part of our challenge @whataboutcollege is that several of DD20âs academic peers are first or only children so there is a difference in knowledge base about college admissions at this point. She watched her brother go through junior year and has made some choices accordingly. It will all come out as it should but DD prefers to not be the center of so much speculation.
Waiting at the carpooline for SAT takers here. Surprised that they are not out yet. DS went early this morning to see whether he could opt out of the essay section since the school that he signed the SAT essay for, Duke, dropped the requirement (we toured the school in May and it was still clearly stated by the AO that the essay was required. Lol), and they made no fuss at all just asked him to go to a different classroom from the one he was assigned to.
DS came out finally and told me that they were asked to do a math âsection Vâ, which is like elementary school math, I wonder whether that was for kids who chose to âopt out of essayâ?!
DSâ impression of the test: math is too easy, thinking it will have brutal curve like the one in June, he actually didnât feel too comfortable about the âgrammarâ part! Oh well, we shall see.
@makemesmart DS had the same reaction - Math was easier and reading was harder than he expected. He was also surprised by the extra section.
Hopefully itâll be a one and done for the SAT and the ACT in 2 weeks. If not, he plans re-takes same time next year. At that time his list will be finalized and heâll determine if he needs to add essay. At least thatâs the plan.
Anyone taking Physics C or have experience with others taking it? Would love to hear experiences and whether itâs worthwhile. DS just expressed interest in taking it. Most science majors seem to require all three (Bio, Chem, and Physics) even at introductory levels.
Here in California, itâs 11:49 so the SAT takers are not done yet. Itâs strange to see those of you who must be on the east coast already having heard about it from your kids! I will have to see what my daughter and her friend who are taking it today thought of it when I pick them up in about an hour!
@Cheeringsection One of my good friends DD is at another HS. I am always amazed at how much information she has about her âcompetitorsâ. It feels like her high stats group know each otherâs grades and other academic accomplishments in great details. It certainly generated a lot of anxieties for my friend. I am good staying away from those pressure. But, sometimes, I also wish I know a little bit more about where DS stands.
@SoccaMomma DS is taking Physics C this year. It is required as his next sequence in Science. D17 took Physics C senior year. She only took the M test (not the E , she thought she was not as solid on E) which she regrets now. She is taking Physics 2 (E) this upcoming semester and it is said the class is one of the really hard ones in COE. 
DD20 also had to take an extra math section today but she said it was much harder than the math on the rest of the test. I think they may be trying to find the middle.
So I have been looking at the test prep section about test prep books and could not find consensus. Anyone has good test prep books recommendations for SAT math II and Ap calculus AB?
We used Dr. Chungâs SAT math and found the problems there were good but the real tests seemed to be a lot easier than the book.
DSâ school does not do ranking either, however top 10 GPAs were invited to year-end award ceremony, that is known at least. It is an IB school so IBD kids this year will have more shared experience together. IB kids study together and are very supportive. DS is looking for colleges that fit into this mode as well.
@SoccaMomma S17 took Physics C and AP for both E & E/M. He didnât find it difficult but he also took BC Calc the year before (not concurrent like many kids). Heâs a very strong STEM kid and currently a math major. His Physics AP (one would have been sufficient) & Chem AP met the prerequisites to take a climate science class freshman year.
S20 (different school) took honors Physics in 9th and might take DE Physics in 12th. His school downplays AP exams unless you are considering top European universities. They all take college classes in 11th and 12th.