<p>I don't know what's all the angst with SAT II and SAT I tests. My daughter got near 800 for 2 tests and above 700 for 2 more tests. Her SAT I was in the top 1% but for college admissions, it's her GPA is what matters.</p>
<p>I am being asked by private messages for a link to tokenadult's list.
I am not going to link to his list, since it comes from a different forum and I do not really want to do it in his name, but here is a link to a cc forum where tokenadult has posted recently:</p>
<p>Well, from what I am seeing there are critics of this approach as well as the curious ones (PMs). I am really not advocating for it, but nor am I here to challenge it - I simply do not have enough experience. I have read it in one of the books that seems to make total sense about how to approach competitive college admission, and was puzzled by it, as it states things contrary to my previous knowledge.But I would appreciate an honest response, even if it is by a PM, from people who do or did study the same material as their child in order to facilitate their learning. And mind you that we are not talking here exclusively about a high school senior, but a mere 9th grader as well ;)</p>
<p>I have never studied with my children . And have two very different ones - one that would probably bulk at an idea like that and one that would probably embrace it (wild guess, but there you go). The way I can see it working - the material has to be interesting to me and I should have a good starting knowledge about the subject (this is exactly why I am looking forward to that AP Euro textbook :) ). I do not imagine following the textbook closely, rather finding out what the kis is learning currently, doing own reading on the site and then having engaging discussions during dinner where we can compare and contrast our views. I love history! I would NEVER be learning chemistry with my kid!
Do you see what I am trying to say?</p>
<p>I cannot imagine studying with kids, why? However, when my D was looking for help with her homework in her HS years, we alsways provided it. In most cases, we would not know material, but her textbooks provided it. She relied on the fact that we would know everything besides Spanish. However, those help calls were very very few in all 4 years.</p>
<p>I do know one parent who studied with their kid, at least during the student's high school freshman year. The kid's friends (including my D) thought this was ridiculous. Me, I was looking forward to the following year, since the parent in question is a humanities type and I was wondering how they would cope with calc and physics. No idea if the parent kept up with the plan.</p>
<p>D1 asks me to ask her questions about (current variety of) history, as if I'm some sort of Alex Trebek. What she really wants is for me to pepper her with random terms from some of her study sheets. Once in awhile I'll actually know something, because I've just read a Smithsonian article on Mehmet II sacking Constantinople in the 15th century, which I can then drag out of the pile to show that people really do care about this material. Usually I am a font of ignorance. In technical subjects, it drives me mad that I am an underutilized resource. I have found that hanging around doing something else rather than hovering at the study table means I am more likely to be asked for help when someone is stuck.</p>
<p>If your kids have pretty poor "study skills" and you had pretty good ones when in school, it can be helpful to "study" with them on occasion. For example, there are lot of little memorization tricks that they might not know yet. You can help them make connections that they might not have thought of.</p>
<p>Once in a great while I will read something on S2's IB reading list, but that's more to fill in the gaps in my education than to help him. I have worked with both kids, however, on writing skills, proofreading and organization -- but I pulled way back from that process once they had their feet on the ground in HS.</p>
<p>We all like to discuss/argue history, current events, econ, law, etc. around our house, so the background knowledge S2 carries around comes via osmosis and genetics. ;)</p>
<p>My kids have always been in the G/T English track so when I'm at a loss of what to read, I'll look at their lists.</p>
<p>My D has way better study habits than either I or my H ever had, so this has never been an issue for us. I wasn't trying to be judgmental earlier - I just can't imagine studying with her these days. That's not to say I won't proofread a paper for typos or help her understand something if she asks. She just rarely asks for assistance.</p>
<p>CountingDown - I can easily see myself reading a book from D's reading list - if I could get access to the book (ususally not possible, because if she's reading it for school, the book is most likely with her). BTW, I would love to be at your dinner table where all this stimulating conversation is occurring - unfortunately, our dinnertime conversations usually involve updating on plans for the night and the next day, before D either disappears to her room to do her homework, has to return to school for another EC, or goes out with her friends.</p>
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BTW, I would love to be at your dinner table where all this stimulating conversation is occurring - unfortunately, our dinnertime conversations usually involve updating on plans for the night and the next day, before D either disappears to her room to do her homework, has to return to school for another EC, or goes out with her friends.
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<p>But then you all go see a movie like *Frost Nixon *and the 70s come back to you and it gives you days of dinner table info to bestow on the younger generation.</p>
<p>We try to enforce some newspaper reading for my S, so we all have something new to discuss at the dinner table. To do otherwise would mean we'd devolve too often into discussing his school work/upcoming tests (not great for the dinner table) and he's no fan of repartee on his EC, friends, what's the latest with his generation, etc. When he IS up for talking about this stuff, it's rather fun and I've told him so.</p>
<p>Biggest mistake was ignoring the ACT for the SAT exclusively. Son asked (almost begged) to take the last ACT and he aced it with higher values than the equivalent on SAT. Would have started him earlier on an ACT track</p>
<p>If I had to do it all over again, I would have pushed harder for my daughter to take an SAT prep class before her PSAT. She missed National Merit by a couple of points. She got a 2150 on her SAT and got deferred from an Ivy League school. She decided to enroll in the SAT prep class over winter break and take the test again this past January. She scored a 2320. Fortunately, the colleges she is applying to will accept that score. She also has a 4.3 GPA and great extracurriculars, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.</p>
<p>I'm glad this thread got resurrected. I'm learning a lot.</p>
<p>hurricane - did your D improve across the board? Would you recommend any particular prep course?</p>
<p>I have posted the following question in the SAT forum but there were no responses. </p>
<p>The book I have been reading recently What High Schools Don't Tell You suggests taking SAT every year through HS instead of craming up for 2-3 sittings in junior/senior year.</p>
<p>How does this play in consideration of the new score choice policy implemented recently?</p>
<p>I can see the benefits - less stress and more foom for improvement since you see your score distribution over the long period of time.
On the other hand I can't imagine prepping for SAT every year starting in 9th.</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>pros: exactly what you posted</p>
<p>cons: if the student hasn't finished math that's on the test it's a waste of time
bad standardized test takers may get discouraged, rather than inspired
""On the other hand I can't imagine prepping for SAT every year starting in 9th."</p>
<p>kelowna: my favorite book! peopel have a fit about it and say it turns kids into psychotic robots but i think it is a great source used with your own knowledge of your child and your own common sense to discover ways to enrich and support your child's education (esp in the east where it is so competitive)</p>
<p>^^yep, you do have to read this book and be a little selective. But overall it was a huge eye opener ;)</p>
<p>One of the BEST threads I have found since first discovering CC one year ago. My own two cents: I’m really glad we went to our first college fair by NACAC in d’s freshman year. We are returning in a few weeks for another in Cleveland. D is now a junior and we have culled a list of the many possible schools into a list of the manageable!</p>
<p>Second, d has a really strong APUSH teacher and is planning to take the SAT II in that subject 6 days before the AP exam. Some of the teacher’s previous students found this to be very beneficial. </p>
<p>I’m still very worried about financial aid (I’m a single dad!) and FAFSA, but we will spend some of our summer getting really acquainted with reading and learning as much as we can.</p>
<p>Third, d just took her ACT for the first time yesterday and will not take the SAT if she gets a stellar ACT score. The reason: she will not quite qualify for NMSQT commended status according to PSAT parameters. I have seen too many posters on other forums here with really high ACTs and not-so-great SATs. If you apply to schools that require SAT IIs, those schools might see your student’s SAT I’s whether you want them to see them or not!</p>
<p>Finally, we are going to strive to do our essay writing this summer and begin work on the Common App in July. It just makes sense to be well-prepared and ahead of schedule!</p>
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<p>I’m all for keeping on top of things but this is one thing your daughter needs to do for herself. A nice piece of advice heard at an info session…write an essay that only you (the student) could write. It’s got to be her own perspective and voice. </p>
<p>I had good intentions that my daughter would write her essays over the summer. She wrote it four days before her ED app was due. Yes, it was a source of tension but it got done and was very good. Some people just work better under pressure.</p>
<p>Good point electron! Indeed, I have no intention of doing anything with d’s essay–except to proofread the grammar and spelling at the end of the process. She is a better writer than I and it is important for AdComs to understand who she is, not her dad!</p>