<p>From my own experience, I believe you can almost never start too early to begin thinking about this college application process and start chatting up the parents of successful kids who've gone before you. And don't be ashamed to do so or feel like an idiot. Most of these parents, especially if there kids are all launched to college, are happy to share what they've learned.</p>
<p>I more or less fell into the thought process when my S was in 7th grade (he's now a HS Jr.). I have a friend who've helpful on many levels as she's a member of the school board and had twins who graduated co-Val, have graduated from Emory and are now in grad school in Stanford.</p>
<p>It was my friend who got me started thinking about a sport my S could reasonably do in HS. Her sons were great swimmers. My S is having a blast on the water polo team and does swim team "on the side." Her sons attended the JHU-CTY summer program. My S did the same (with his neighbor and best friend) for three summers, and is now taking the CTY on line class in Linear Algebra.</p>
<p>She tells me about HS policies on grading and transcripts that are not well known that help me to decide when to launch an inquiry and when to stand down. She has suggested I find an adult with good editing skills, one who knows S and someone he trusts, to help with the college essays to ease that pressure off the parents. We've now enlisted my sister in law, the attorney, to be Chief Editor. She's in Chicago and can do editing from the depths of cold.</p>
<p>My friend doesn't know this yet, but next year, once S has decided where he's going to college, my friend is going to get a nice gift from the family, for all the good advice she's given of freely. (I also worked as her campaign treasurer but that was a piece of cake for her re-election campaign.)</p>
<p>Moral of the story: Find one of these diamonds to help you, especially with the local stuff. Then, check out relevant threads on CC.</p>
It's laughable to think what my son's "self study" strategy would have been....open book...get a snack...go back to book...text your friend...back to book....hey, I've been here an hour [counting snack and texts]...time for a study break...play video game....lose track of time....you get it.
Hey, this looks a lot like geek_son's study plan for the PSAT, SAT, and ACT. And it worked pretty well for him too!</p>
<p>Seriously, aside from one subject test that wasn't covered by his HS curriculum and required some self-study over the span of a month, the best prep for him was taking the actual test. He did a few tests from the blue and red books so he'd know what to expect; then he rolled out of bed on Saturday and took the tests. His second time on the SAT I, he raised his total score by over 150 points and had the numbers he needed for his first-choice college. In contrast, a friend of his spent months with an expensive private tutor in one of those "guaranteed" programs and raised her score by a whopping 20 points total. Very demoralizing. Sometimes less is more.</p>
<p>The "guarantees" are amusing....the ones I've read guarantee that if you don't get the score you want, you can just keep going to the class over and over and over and over....</p>
<p>
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GPA strategy. I'm looking at that now with ds2, a rising freshman. Gosh, I hate to tell him to take an easy class just to raise his GPA.
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<p>Of course, parents of Texas 8th graders don't know WHAT to say since as far as I know, the state hasn't yet decided how to calcuate the GPA. I know that they've already had "8th grade parent night" in our district. I wonder what they told those poor folks about weighting of classes, etc. Glad my youngest is only in 7th grade.</p>
<p>My freshman son will be taking AP World History and Precalculus honors next year as a sophomore. So, should he take the SAT 2s in world history and math 2 next year June or not???</p>
<p>My recollection was that the World History SAT2 was not given every test date. You might want to check it out.</p>
<p>You definitely need to get a prep book to do World History! Who knows what your high school didn't cover that will be on the test.</p>
<p>My D's strategy with the SAT2s was to not take TOO many, but to chose which ones you thought you could do well in considering the coverage of material in class and her commitment to self study. She only took a carefully chosen 3.</p>
<p>youdon'tsay, I don't know the type of school your rising freshman plans to attend but I think he may not have any choice freshman year. Usually, where I live, the junior and senior years are when HS students have choices. In some cases some seniors don't have any choice.
Ellemenope, I agree with your D. SAT2 should be chosen based on the student strength. To me three SAT2 should be the limit.
Seiclan, let him take them, if he thinks he is ready after a few practice tests.</p>
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youdon'tsay, I don't know the type of school your rising freshman plans to attend but I think he may not have any choice freshman year. Usually, where I live, the junior and senior years are when HS students have choices.
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<p>Sure, they all take a form of Geography, but do they take regular, pre-AP, AP or G/T? I believe that's the issue.</p>
<p>I live in Metro DC. People are <em>insane.</em> Crazy competitive. Crippled with worry that their child won't do well, hungry for information about your child so they can compare notes. They totally forget their manners and try to pry personal information out of you. If you say you are applying to a selective school, they often blurt out, "Oh, NO ONE gets in there." Nice. Thanks for the vote of confidence.</p>
<p>We decided from the beginning that we wouldn't tell anyone where D was applying. Accepted, yes. Applying, no. If you tell people where you are applying and you don't get in, an awkward and embarrassing conversation will take place in April. If they don't know where you applied, you can just tell people where you were accepted and the rejections sting a bit less.</p>
<p>When my own friends ask where D is applying (and scores of them have asked), I smile and say "I have been sworn to secrecy." This works beautifully.</p>
<p>We have shared the good news about the two schools that have accepted her with anyone who would listen. :)</p>
<p>We did a lot of things right. Still, I was very surprised by the emotional impact
of EA deferral on son's perception of the school. It's like a girl telling you she
wants to wait for a better offer for the prom! It's like he never even applied there,
right to the bottom of the list in his mind.</p>
<p>Meanwhile he is falling in love with schools that gave him an early affirmative answer.</p>
<p>I sort of thought you would wait until April and then compare all offers, but it
seems to be a more emotional process than that.</p>
<p>Echo the "know your kid" thing. I knew essays over the summer was a lost cause so didn't bother setting us up for frustration. We visited only a few schools--waiting to hear results before the visit the remainder. Remember that you need to survive as a family unit. We laugh that my DH's contribution has been to limit his involvement in this tricky area--one intense parent has been enough! </p>
<p>Get a big calendar and write down all the application due dates/testing dates. Keep this in your college corner--not in front of the family all the time. Find out from the Guidance Department next fall how they want the recommendations/transcript packets presented to them for sending on to colleges.</p>
<p>Don't talk obsessively about college with your kid--model to them that there is much more to life than this one decision, that there are many fine paths, etc.</p>
<p>Mom in Virginia, we also had the calendar thing going, especially toward the end of the application process. My son and I would look at the deadlines, and then, we would figure out when to send what. It helped greatly.</p>
<p>cindysphinx, I know all about that competition thing, because I used to live in DC area. If anything, it taught my son that he needed to be a little more competitive to succeed. We now live in rural VA, and he has not been shy about telling people where he applied -- only one or two kids at his school even applied to any of the schools on his list. He says that he does not care what people think of his list -- for him, whoever has the best offer is his No. 1 school.</p>
<p>As for testing, I think my son did the right thing. The "New SAT" came out his freshman year, so he asked to take it. He just wanted to see what was on it. He did extremely well, and this will sound a little crazy, he used it as a way to set his schedule the next three years. He took it again the end of his sophomore year. His scores went up, but not where he wanted them to be. So midway through his junior year, he took them a third time. He liked the scores and stopped. He also took SAT II in May of his sophomore and junior years. This way, he had no testing his senior year and could concentrate on other things.</p>
<p>Waiting too long to have heart-to-heart with S about money. </p>
<p>Leaving 529 too stock heavy.</p>
<p>Losing perspective - failing to remember all the incredibly successful people I know who went to colleges and universities that do not appear regularly on CC.</p>
<p>Mistake number 1: DS2 taking 3 SAT II exams on the same day. First test 800, second 730 third 580. Trust me, kids get burned out by the third test. No excuse because the same thing happened to DS1.</p>
<p>Mistake number 2: Not realizing how many top schools have non-binding early action (ie University of Chicago).</p>
<p>no real complaints about the first time through ... thoughts ....</p>
<p>1) I agree with the idea of figuring out what is best for this individual applicant ... what's right for each kid is different. For us, the first trip through this will probably be the easiet because of who my daughter is.</p>
<p>2) We hosed our 529 accounts by not switching to more conservative investments as my daughter approached college</p>
<p>3) On the visits my daughter did if I could change one thing I would hope she was more interested in attending classes and overnights in the dorms.</p>
<p>4) I do NOT think it was a problem at all that we aborted a couple tours and campus visits ... forcing time at schools seems like a losing proposition. (Easy for me to say as we did not fly to our trips (except one) and alternative schools were close by when we punted a planned tour)</p>
<p>My daughter absolutely fell in love with her #1, both the campus and the fact that it had her EXACT major (very, very few schools on the east coast have Event Management). Although she applied to 9 other schools, this one was her love. She is an OOS student seeking to attend a college in a very competitive State, a B+ student, and her test scores weren't that great. Her chances were slim.</p>
<p>I sat her down and explained that if she REALLY wanted to go there she should apply for Summer. </p>
<p>If you are concerned about getting accepted you may want to consider applying for summer admission. Standards for summer admission are often not as stringent as it is for the fall. </p>
<p>She applied for Summer B EARLY (end of Sept/beg of October) and was deferred for test scores (no surprise) She sent updated test score, where she went up in 1 subject, and was accepted. She's thrilled, even though it means leaving her HS friends 2 days after graduation in June.</p>
<p>So, if you think your child is "borderline" and really REALLY wants to go to that school, apply for Summer session.</p>