Miscellaneous Life Ramblings

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
6597

In the spirit of the “Miscellaneous Ramblings” title of this thread…while I’m logged in, I would be remiss if I didn’t share an old movie that I just recently discovered which I am telling everyone within earshot about.

It’s called “I Know Where I’m Going”. Released in 1945, the film tells the story of a woman on her way to get married to a wealthy industrialist on an island off the coast of Scotland. Weather delays the final leg of her journey, and she spends a few days in the company of villagers on the Isle of Mull. Hijinks ensue. Bonus points for the appearance of a young Petula Clark in a small role.

Do yourself a favor and DON’T Google the plot. Just stream it from whatever platform you prefer. You’re welcome.

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6598

Thanks for getting your thread back on track, @SevenDad. Good to see you. :blush:

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6599

what’s the silver award? what did I miss!!
TIA

6600

The Silver Award is the highest award a Girl Scout in middle school (Cadette level) can earn. A girl basically looks to her community and thinks about problems that are present and then needs to do a Take Action-style project that addresses the root of a problem, not just something that is a typical community service project that only looks at one aspect (a trash clean up at a local park is a community service project, but addressing the root cause of a community’s littering issue could include working with the town to install new trash cans at the park, doing an educational program on the impact of littering on local wildlife and streams, and organizing clean ups with local organizations that will continue beyond one day). The project typically needs to cover at least 50 hours of work per girl and can be done either individually or in a group of no more than 3-4 (that would need to be a total of 150-200 hours) and be “sustainable”, meaning the impact goes beyond a one-time service project.

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6601

So, our son called us on Tuesday to say he was boarding a plane for Boston to do more work at Lincoln Labs in Lexington and wondered if we’d be able to come down to have dinner with him sometime this week. Of course we were thrilled to be able to see him and met up for dinner last night. Halfway through the lively meal, he casually tells us that he’ll be leaving mid-September for at least six months in Qatar and that he plans to propose to his GF (of almost three years) before he leaves. :astonished: :astonished: :astonished: :astonished:

ChoatieKid is getting married.

My mental tumblers didn’t know where to fall, but the tears did. I can barely process this, but we’re so happy for him. We asked if he’s sure she’ll say “yes,” and he assured us they’ve already talked about it. The proposal is a formality that he is planning for a special get-away weekend before he leaves, and he hopes we’ll come down to stay with them for a few days before he boards that plane.

He said the wedding will be small and sometime late next year after he makes captain and they can arrange for the West Point chapel. Picturing him in uniform at that altar takes my breath away.

Sharing this news with my CC family because you knew him when… What a long way we’ve come.

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6602

Congratulations! So exciting!

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6603

@ChoatieMom , what wonderful and exciting news! Congratulations!

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6604

Wow @ChoatieMom! such exciting news!!! Thank you for sharing! Congratulations to all.

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6605

Just looking for casual conversation! What’s everyone’s favorite type of food? I absolutely love Vietnamese, particularly phó. So yummy!

6606

We like Vietnamese, too, and most Asian cuisine but Thai especially.

Right now, our favorite food had better be salmon because my brother just sent us 30 lbs of it from his Alaskan fishing expedition. We’re at the cabin in Maine for the summer where the fridge is not that big. I can’t get anything else in the freezer, so guess what we’re having for dinner tonight…and tomorrow…and tomorrow…?

When we’re done eating, sharing, and giving away the salmon, I think we’ll look forward to making some great pizza.

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6607

Love Thai as well! My favorite is probably Yum Som-O, but I can also down a lot of Kao Soi when given the opportunity. :joy:

6608

There’s nothing wrong with salmon pizza…

6609

Debate is prohibited but you are entirely, completely, 200% wrong😀

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6610

Let’s not get crazy.

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6611

Staying true to the title of this thread …

In other sections of this site there is constant discussion about AP classes (how many, what score, etc.). I think many of the boarding schools discussed here (as well as other high profile private schools) have abandoned or at least deemphasized APs (at least in name). I understand their rationale for doing so.

My question is whether students at boarding schools tend to still take some of the actual AP exams and, if so, is there extra studying involved? Or do they basically not sit for APs?

I am curious as to what the experience has been for recent boarding school students. My hope is that colleges know fairly well the course catalogs at these schools, so there is no huge disadvantage to not having the AP classes by name?

Finally, in the longer term, do you think APs will lose traction at more schools across the country? Or is this just a (somewhat pretentious) boarding school phenomenon?

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6612

DD just graduated from BS. Upper level classes were not taught toward the AP exams. No classes labeled as “AP” at her school.

DD is headed to a college that accepts AP credit, so she chose to take AP tests her senior year (in subjects she thought she’d be able to pass). She ended up sitting for 6 tests. She didn’t study, just took them cold.

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6613

Very helpful and makes sense. Thanks!

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I took three AP exams this past year, which is around average for students in my grade. The highest I know of is five.

One of the exams, Calculus, required no extra studying, as taking the exam was mandatory and the class prepared for it.

The second exam, Chem, required some minor extra studying outside of class, but it was still pretty easy. The main thing that was difficult for me was adapting to the format of MCQ questions. I would estimate that ~20 of the 60 students taking the equivalent class were at the exam.

The third exam was English Lang, which you don’t really need a class for to study as long as you’re good at English. To quote a senior I know when inquiring about the test, “I didn’t study and left halfway through for a [sport] game, and I still got a 4.” ~60 people took it (230 juniors)

I know that, for instance, knowledge based classes that can go in wildly different directions like US History and Biology require lot of extra studying, so many people don’t take them (that’s why I didn’t do APUSH). Those who take them do quite well, though; I was just too busy to put that on my plate.

I also was speaking to two seniors (both Ivy-bound) about APs; both of them took three APs during their entire high school career, so I imagine that it’s not entirely uncommon to take very few.

Certainly not here.

Probably not; standardization seems to generally be the name of the game. It’s also a fairly easy way for less resourced schools to offer high level courses to their students, so why not?

I’ve always found it funny that Exeter, Andover, and Lawrenceville, the three schools that participated in the study that originally spawned APs, were some of the first three to drop them.

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6615

Plenty of discussions about APs on other threads, for example:

Boarding Schools with APs

AP Exams and Boarding Schools

What we really want to know is what you’re having for dinner tonight. :wink:

(This thread has become a catch-all for any topic someone wants to discuss without starting their own thread. If you go back to the beginning and read for a while, you’ll see that @SevenDad started it as a place to talk about anything BUT the serious side of BS. I especially enjoyed the period when we were discussing our gorgeous feathered hair and platform shoes in HS. @SevenDad prefers to discuss music. This thread proves how hard it is to herd cats.)

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6616

Haggis! I’m embracing the Scottish spirit :slight_smile:

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