Grrrr. How frustrating. D26 is in standardized testing hell as well. We went back and forth with trying to decide between the digital vs paper version, but the digital version wasn’t offered in our area in April or June. She may shoot for one last attempt with the shorter test in September, but I suspect she’s gonna want to be done.
Ugh. So frustrating! If it’s any consolation, my son’s ACT prep tutor says that the paper version is almost always better than digital because the ability to scratch out options on the page or write on the booklet is quite helpful for a lot of kids. I don’t know if that’s true for all, but it resonated a bit with me.
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So annoying. Wonder if it is teething problems as they roll the new version out? But good luck to her. It’s hard to make these things low-stress really I guess - most people will just stress about a test by their nature.
C26 writes SAT next week (school day). Hoping it’ll be one and done but we have a backup in May in case they’re not happy with the score. The practice scores have been a bit variable so not really sure what to expect.
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That’s frustrating! I hope she does well regardless.
I’m glad to be done with testing. He has to take the April school day test, but has a score he’s happy with already. And he’s my last kid, so it’s a nice feeling being past all the stress of testing.
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Well… maybe. D19 is thinking about law school so we may have some LSAT stress, though she’s not at home so it’s not the same I guess. And for other kids, MCAT etc.
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Good luck! If we had any of those tests I would be shocked!
Course options got released for senior year. D26 is happy with the options. She’s going to sign up for:
- Applications in Math - requires student to have taken AP Calc AB.
- Middle Eastern Culture & History - requires you to have taken AP US Gov & Politics, AP USH, AP European History. The other Humanities capstone course option are “Major Authors” or AP Research.
- Human Health & Disease - requires you to have taken AP Bio. The other science capstone option is Modern Physics
- Spanish Literature & Culture
- plus the College Counseling class that they have all the 12th graders take
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This is our issue- we promised her she could do it once more in April and be done and never have to think about it again and she is holding us to that, lol.
This sounds like such a fun and interesting course load!
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She wants to be done now. But, the schools she’s shooting for have a higher mean composite score than she currently has. She would very much like to be done now, though knows that it’s probably not the most prudent choice.
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I find the paper/digital and SAT/ACT testing differences to be so interesting. I have two strong testers, but my D22 – who got a 36 on the (paper) ACT couldn’t break 1430 on the (paper) SAT. She said it was because you had to keep flipping back to the passage and then turning the page to answer the questions, which wasted a lot of time – but on the ACT they were on facing pages, so no flipping.
But my D26 found the (digital) SAT pretty easy for two reasons – one, the ability to use the Desmos calculator for math is so helpful because you can graph everything and get answers that would otherwise take forever. She spent a good chunk of time learning all the nuances of how to use it.
And then, the shortened passages in the reading section worked great for her brain – she tends to get bogged down with the longer ones. But she got a score she was really happy with first time out (she did take all 6 or 8 digital practice tests first) – that she’s not even bothering with the ACT.
She scored pretty well on the (paper) pre-ACT, so I wish she’d take the real test just to see the difference with digital – but that’s easy for me to say, LOL. No one’s got time for that!
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We are also in the (hopefully) final stage of standardized testing with a March SAT. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a terrible date! My D is in a performance based school club that has shows the Friday night before the SAT, and Saturday afternoon and evening performances after the SAT. So the test will be squeezed in there. Obviously we didn’t know when we scheduled the test. I offered to take the financial penalty and reschedule for May (there is no April test date) – but D26 just wants to be done. However, the bad timing makes me think it won’t go well 
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You guys have much more interesting classes than we do! My D26 is taking:
- AP Calc BC
- AP Lit
- AP Bio
- Semester standard Gov and semester standard Econ
- Two semesters of Bible (required)
- Symphonic Band
- STEM Seminar (weighted capstone class where she researches and addresses a problem. Kind of like AP Research but you build or design something.)
She’s still waffling on STEM Seminar, but there aren’t a lot of other options. She could take AP Latin instead, but she doesn’t want to. She could take AP Computer Science A maybe. Or she could take AP Gov, and then do a Latin seminar in the semester she saves. But she does have a solid idea for the STEM class – I just worry about her staying on top of it all year. We hear that if you procrastinate or get behind in this class, it’s all over.
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My daughter just finalized next year selection
AP computer science
Personal finance (school requirement)
Honors French 3
AP physics 2
AP literature
AP calc
Plus she we need to complete a capstone project throughout the year. I don’t even know how that’s graded or anything about it just that she’ll have to have some sort of project.
She was also signed up for AP psych and AP Econ, but that would leave her with zero study halls. She’s choosing to focus on these 6 classes and enjoy the two study halls and not have to be a slave to homework at home instead. Plus, if she’s truly bored, she can always add an elective that looks fun. Seniors very rarely get denied classes even if they’re full. The joys of a semi small school!
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My D chooses her classes next week.
- Honors advanced orchestra - definitely staying in this. She would take 6 periods of it, if that was a thing.
- AP US Gov (half year) / AP Econ (half year) - these are required.
- AP Calc BC - definitely taking this.
- AP English Lit - probably. The other english electives don’t look great.
- AP Physics C - this would be the best choice for a science elective given her interests, but she’s concerned about the teacher. S23 loved this teacher, but D26 keeps hearing from other students that he is “mean.”
- One more slot left… and she says she doesn’t want to take AP Latin (the next Latin in the sequence) even though that’s the most logical choice. Maybe AP music theory. Big question mark here.
My D is notorious in our family for taking forever to make a decision, and then immediately second- and third-guessing herself AFTER she makes a decision. I expect that she’ll be agonizing a lot about these choices in the coming week!
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Ooof. I have theatre kids, so I get it – that does sound rough. 
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I so wish our school offered AP Gov and AP Econ in semesters, but they only offer full-year classes. Everyone complains about it. So my D26 has to take a standard semester of each because she doesn’t have space to take two full years.
Our kids sound so similar! My D22 was the only student in AP Latin her senior year, and she loved it (but she’s a double major in linguistics and classic, so…lol). D26 also really loves Latin, but she would also be the only student if she took AP Latin next year, and she’s not interested in a straight translation class.
Mine was also briefly considering AP Music Theory (her band instructor teaches it, and he’s her favorite human of all time) – but I think she’d rather foster the newfound STEM interests.
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Senior course selection is meh of my D26. She’s taking:
- AP Calc BC
- AP Psych
- AP Macroeconomics
- Organic Chemistry
- Honors Physics
- Spanish 6
- AP Lit
She has 5 APs this year, so hoping next year will be manageable and senioritis doesn’t get the best of her.
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I get tired just looking at these schedules, lol. It’s nothing like my high school experience! And ooh I know Organic Chemistry is a crazy weed-out class in college, but I didn’t know it was offered in high school.
May all our kids make it through in one piece, LOL.
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Yeah, she knows Organic chem is a weed out class in college so she wanted some exposure in HS before jumping in.
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