Parents of the HS Class of 2026

Yep. The price of our 1550 square foot house in southern CA is going to be a wee bit off from the same house in, say, rural Nebraska.

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We had our last IEP meeting today as C26 will transition back to a 504 next year. They always bring in one of the teachers (we never know who in advance), and today it was the physics teacher. Well…she positively gushed about C26. It’s the same kind of feedback we had from the chem teacher last year - it seems they do really well in lab groups, often taking the lead in an unobtrusive/constructive way, engages well in class etc etc. What a change in this kid since freshman year, when the feedback was more that they would try hide at the back of the class and keep quiet if at all possible. C26 has asked this teacher for a LOR (but won’t know until end April if she’ll do it) and it was all I could do to stop myself yelling out ā€œyou HAVE to write a rec letter saying all this!!ā€ I’m kind of thinking ..if she’s saying this stuff surely she’ll agree to write one?? :folded_hands: If they do put C26 in AP physics 2 next year this will be the same teacher again.

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At dentist :tooth: with D26. Dentist said she needs wisdom teeth out. 2 of them are starting to come in and there’s not enough room in her mouth for them. They wanted to do it on 4/26.

No way. Not until the school year is over. So that will be 6/12. Fun! Smoothies and milk shakes for a week for that kid afterward.

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S26 got his first ACT test score back and it’s a 33! So happy and relieved. He got a 34 in math, 35 in science, 35 in reading and a 28 in English. He seems rather motivated to try again to focus on English, but if he decides he’s done, it’s a solid score that places him in competitive range for both BU and U Washington, his favorite schools at the moment.

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Mine got his out last year and his recovery was super quick, like 2 days. The teeth were also starting to come in and that makes it a lot easier to extract them. S26 didn’t even require stitches. Fingers crossed for a similar outcome for your D26!!

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So ACT scores were not was D26 had hoped for. Composite went up only 1 point, even though her science went up 3 points and reading went up 2 points. She is super frustrated. She has decided on her won to take them again :sob: She wants to take them without science since that is her worst subject. We are supporting whatever decision she makes but I really wish she would just be done. Also, she decided to cancel her June SAT since there seems no point now that she is solely focused on ACT. Her March SAT scores were not good so makes much more sense to focus her energy on the ACT, but man, I thought she would just accept and move on.

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Science is my D26’s was her outlier section. She actually scored WORSE this time than she did in February. Thank goodness for super scoring.

We decided back in February that this would be her last attempt regardless of score. While her single sitting score was the same as February, her score distribution was enough to raise her composite super score one point, which was her target.

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Dentist said that 2 of them are starting to poke through, so hopefully the recovery for half of them will be easier. :slight_smile:

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We are scrapping plans for D26 to take the SAT on 6/7 due to her weekend job & the need the following weekend to take off of work as well for wisdom teeth surgery recovery. Kid is going to try doing some free ACT test prep over the summer and take the ACT in July or August. Will skip retaking the SAT.

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D26 is planning to go to a college fair Friday night. It’s only an hour?!!! There are about 50 or so schools, but only 8 that are currently on her list of schools being considered to maybe be on the final list….

Has anyone gone to these fairs with their kids? Should she go in without parents? Should she be dressed up? Any tips on what to expect or how to get the most out of it?

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You could go in with her. She does not have to be dressed up (and by dressed up, I mean in something like an outfit you’d wear to a job interview).

If the college fair has an online registration ahead of time, have her fill that out. It might email her a QR code to use. And then when you go up to each table, the rep will scan your QR code, which then automatically downloads all of her info for the rep to look at right there…what major(s) she’s interested in, what high school she goes to, stuff like that.

If she has a question about the school, the college fair is a good time to ask that. Attending is also a good way to demonstrate interest, in case it’s a college that tracks that stuff. We also ended up learning about some colleges which we didn’t know anything about before.

The colleges often have free swag, like pens or stickers. Lots of brochures and glossy marketing pamphlets. My kids both were petrified to ask anything at first, so at the first 1 or 2 tables, I asked a question and then my kid got the hang of it.

The college rep will be directing what they say to your kid, though, not to you, since your student is the one who will be applying.

In my opinion, a college fair isn’t like going to a college interview. It’s not the place, nor is there time, to present or discuss your app profile (GPA, test scores, etc.) and the fair isn’t where you’d be asking something like ā€œWill I get in with this GPA & test score combo?ā€ or ā€œI have ___extracurricular. Will that help me get in?ā€

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It was a mixed bag for us. Some fairs we went with our D, others she went alone. It depended really on where it was being held. FWIW, there were lots of parents at the ones we attended.

D wore business casual - slacks and a decent top.

Encourage your D to have some questions prepared for the reps.

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Is there an August ACT? I did not see one listed…

Can’t she super score? I feel like most colleges do that now…

S26 and I went to one last year. It was sponsored by one of the local high schools (not the school s26 attends). The program started in an auditorium with a presentation about factors to consider when selecting schools, followed by introductory remarks from some of the representatives. The audience was then dismissed to peruse the school booths. Some of the representatives were meeting one on one with students who had signed up in advance. Others answered general questions from students and/or parents and handed out fliers and swag.

Students wore school-appropriate attire. Many students attended on their own or in friend groups. Ask your daughter whether she’d prefer your company or that of a friend. An hour is not enough time to visit 50 tables. Suggest that she prioritize the schools of known interest and then if time allows, she can visit other booths.

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Same- it went up three points but it is still way lower than English and Reading. Math isn’t great either but science is the worst.

Yes- her superscore was only 1 point higher than her first attempt. Despite the individual scores going up significantly. It stinks.

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Funny - D26 got almost the exact reverse. 36 English, 35 Reading, 35 Science, 28 Math. She was getting 28 on Math in her practices as well, so I think that’s likely to be the ceiling absent extensive tutoring that isn’t going to happen. She’s happy to be done and ready to commence steering clear of math for the rest of her life. :slight_smile:

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D26’s composite super score only went up 1 point despite a 1 point gain in English and a 4 point gain in Reading. If she censored out the Science, her super score across English, Math and Reading would go up an additional point, but she’s done testing.

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Maybe your kid can help my kid in English and mine can help yours in math :joy:

I think mine will try once to raise English but not be too fussed about it. He’s definitely a stem + fine arts person and that’s pretty clear in his transcripts too

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