<p>Nice testing plan, jackief. It really looks doable.</p>
<p>I have an SATII question. D is taking 4th year French and wants to take the SATII in that. She is not a native speaker, and I worry about the skewing of the curve by native speakers. Should she focus on history instead? It is not her best subject, but she is taking AP World this year and that should dovetail nicely with an SAT II in June.</p>
<p>We're heading to a college fair tonight. It's the only one that comes to our district. So there's the potential for 2000 kids from 8 high schools to spend 2 hours foraging for info from nearly 150 colleges. </p>
<p>We went last year and were overwhelmed. Mob scene. Malfunctioning A/C. Absolutely no chance to have a conversation with a rep. The best we can hope for is to grab a brochure and read it at home. </p>
<p>This year, however, we're wiser. We know not to pass a school by just because we've never heard of it. We'll bring a canvas tote to hold literature. We won't need jackets. And we're gonna copy a PP's idea of bringing pre-printed labels. </p>
<p>As for Son's testing plan, it's like this:
PSAT
Dec 6 - SAT II, Am History
April - ACT
May - SAT, and APs in Statistics and World History
June - SAT II for Stats and/or World</p>
<p>I thought about a winter SAT, but nah. The focus this winter will be on paring down the college list.</p>
<p>Queens' mom .... umm?? If your D is taking AP history, wouldn't she take the AP test NOT the SAT2 test in history? She might get credit for it and I believe it looks as good if not better than any SATII score. Then she can take french SAT. </p>
<p>I can't help with the question on the SATII french ... my D took the french AP test. All I can say is that she did better on the AP test than the 'native'..(Canadian) french speaker. It was french lit tho' not french speaking.</p>
<p>Queen's Mom, could she not take both French and World Hist? I will leave it to others to say how well the World AP and SAT IIs overlap, I have heard that USH has a big overlap.<br>
Has she taken other SAT IIs and do any colleges on her current list require/recommend them? Even if not, a lang SAT II may help with placing out in college. I don't think the French tests would be as skewed as the Spanish ones.</p>
<p>There is a book from the Collegeboard with one full practice test for each subject. That could be a good starting point and then more focused prep books if she decides to go that way.</p>
<p>As I understand it colleges are perfectly happy to see a student take AP and SAT-II in the same subject. D did AP WH and SAT-II WH last year. She is doing AP Lang, AB Calc and APUSH this year, and will most likely do the corresponding SAT-IIs. She is also toying with the idea of doing SAT-II Spanish. But really, nobody needs more than 3 SAT-IIs and most colleges only look at the 2 highest scores.</p>
<p>Yes, the SAT-II and APWH had quite a bit of overlap; D found them pretty tough.</p>
<p>Oh, she will definitely take the World AP test in May. I was just thinking that the SAT II in June would cover pretty much the same material and she would get twice the bang for the same amount of study. She needs two SAT IIs for one of her colleges and the others do not seem to require any. She will definitely take Math II, but she is not sure about what the other one should be. Of course her college list is constantly changing, and I guess it won't be finalized until the applications go out next year, so it pays to be prepared.</p>
<p>I'm not positive, but it's my understanding that World History SAT has more European history than the AP. S2 will be doing PSAT. Maybe SAT in March, ACT (if it seems like a good idea) in April, SAT2 in May or June (US History and Math 2 for sure, probably Bio or Lit for the 3rd). May he's got APs in Bio and US History. He might retake SAT1 in May or June. He's also got NYS Regents tests in English and US History in June.</p>
<p>one fyi- two colleges we have looked at said they will take two (Connecticut College) or three (Middlebury ) SAT IIs in place of SAT or ACT . That might work out better for some. There are probably others but these are two we have encountered.</p>
<p>QM- if she wants do skip French, she could always take it after acceptance if her final school choice gives language placement based on SAT II scores. Some have done this end of Sr year instead of waiting to arrive on college and take their placement test after a summer of forgetfulness.</p>
<p>Chiming in as a "2010" parent.</p>
<p>'Vicarious parent- DS has much similiarity to your D with regards to the AP WH /SAT II WH and the AP classes this year, except instead of APUSH he is taking AP BIO. </p>
<p>As a sophomore, he scored pretty well on AP, did decent on SAT II (perhaps not a decebt cc standard score though).</p>
<p>Queens Mom- I suggest getting a prep book for the SAT II equivalent of the AP class , as the school curriculum doesn't always cover the SAT II info. We too thought of using that one stone to kill 2 birds, but didn't really work out that way. Again, if we didn't know about CC, we would have thought he did FABULOUS! so thats our lessons learned.</p>
<p>Dougbetsy- S actually printed 1 label to take to a collegefair, should he be printing multiples, or does he take the same label to each booth he attends.?</p>
<p>learninginprog - Welcome. I brought labels to the college fair - multiples, so D could put them on the postcards the reps ask the kids to fill out for each college. D then refused to use the labels! She only visited a few tables, so it wasn't a big deal.</p>
<p>D will be taking 4 APs in May - Physics, American History, English Lang, and Statistics, so she'll be pretty busy - that's why I'd like her to take the SAT in either January or March. SAT IIs in June. Not sure about the ACT. She'll probably take it - just not sure when. It depends on what happens this coming spring with her research projects. Not sure of any details yet, but I know she'll be doing something. Plus, there's her spring sport to consider. And college visits! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed just thinking about it!</p>
<p>BTW, QM, I've heard the scores on the language exams (mainly Spanish, but also French) tend to be low compared to other SAT IIs. Something to consider.</p>
<p>Oh, and learninginprog is right - the material on the SAT II and the AP exams do not necessarily match. You can ask your D's teachers - they may know - but if not, try to find out some other way.</p>
<p>S2 is taking 5 APs this year -- Macro, Micro, AB Calc, Eng Lang/Comp and Spanish and two IBs in Spanish and Economics. Will take SAT in February, ACT (if needed) in April, and if necessary, SAT again in June. We are hoping to avoid June testing, as he will be fried by the end of AP/IBs.</p>
<p>S1 took AP WH and SAT-II; he said the SAT-II was harder -- more obscure details. S2 said there is major overlap on APUSH and SAT-II.</p>
<p>There is not a SAT-II exam is Statistics -- sorry!</p>
<p>Thanks LIMOMOF2, I'll suggest to S to print additional labels.</p>
<p>Well, last night's college fair was a ho-hum. It was roughly...
1/4 colleges we already know about
1/4 math/science/eng/tech colleges that Son has no interest in
1/4 vocational schools
1/4 mismatch on fit</p>
<p>One interesting thing, the Guidance Dept offered to tell kids their class ranks if they planned to attend the fair. Son learned that he is
3.6 uw or 66/312 (top 21%)
4.0 w or 52/312 (top 17%)
So that's helpful data as we continue with the search this year. (Good thing I joined the B+ thread a long time ago. :D)</p>
<p>Oh, and at the end of the fair, Son took all of us by surprise by saying, "Mom, where's the Army ROTC table?" Upon finding it on the map, he made a beeline. I have mixed feelings.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info on the World SAT II, CountingDown. Obscure fact memorization is not D's strong point. I will have to look into other possible tests. I really do not like the low scores on the language exams (unless you happen to be a native speaker). I was considering the Chemistry test but she did not take AP Chem yet. Will the regular college prep be enough? Does anyone have any experience?</p>
<p>QM - last year, D's chem teacher told her that the curriculum for her honors chem class covered the material on the SAT II better than the AP Chem class did - but I guess it could be different in your D's school. You might want to ask the teacher or dept. chairperson. D scored well on the test without the AP, and she didn't study much (just whatever they did in class). She fell asleep on the review book a few times, if that counts.</p>
<p>Hi CountingDown :). I realize there's no SAT II in Statistics. D will be taking the Math II, US History and possibly physics SAT IIs. She'll be taking the APs for Statistics, Physics, US History and Engl. Lang. Sorry if I mixed it up earlier.</p>
<p>DougBetsy - I think the Army ROTC thing would have scared me - but good for him, if that's what he wants.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2, why is your D planning to take so many SAT IIs? As far as I know, the most any college asks for is 3. You have her taking 3 this year and say she already took Chem (a 4th). Or is she just planning to send her best scores. You have to forgive me, but a lot of what kids do on this board seems overkill to me. I saw posts of "I got 2300 on my SAT and I am retaking it" I would be ecstatic if D managed a 2100. There would be no retakes for us!</p>
<p>S2 took the SAT II in World History last June, thinking that after 2 years of honors WH he'd be ready. He's an excellent student, and typically excels on standardized testing, but didn't really "study" for the test and he said that it was really really tough. His score was low enough that it's basically a throw-away. He'll take SAT in Math (II) and Physics in June, and if Georgetown is still on the list, then he'll have to come up with one more in the Fall.</p>
<p>Queen's Mom - I know a few of the school's D is thinking of applying to require three SAT IIs. She's actually taken 2 of them already (chem and bio), so it's going to seem even worse to you (more overkill). Her scores were good (both in the mid-700s), but she thought she could have done better on both of them. She knows she has to take math as it's required by so many schools, and she thinks she'll do well on the American History exam. Whether she takes the physics SAT II will depend on how well she does in the AP class this year. If she thinks she can do better on the physics SAT II than she did on the other science exams, then she may take it - but that's her decision. Basically, she's hoping the American History score will be better than her Bio score. </p>
<p>Hope I answered your question and didn't confuse you even more.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2, I wouldn't say worse. It's not a question of good or bad. I just wonder if it helps at all in the application process. My D is only planning to apply to 2 extremely selective schools, so I guess, she is not that worried about possible 700s (in fact, we'd be very happy with that).</p>
<p>Well, DS is deep into the academic year, with varsity water polo in full swing and mock trial ramping up. Somewhere in the middle of all of this we schedule some driving practices.</p>
<p>The people who scheduled the upcoming water polo tournament apparently forgot the academic side of the house, scheduling it for Oct 17 and OCTOBER 18 (PSAT test day.) So we are scrambling to see if the sophomore/junior team members have enough time to be transported to the afternoon game on Saturday.</p>
<p>I am SO glad for the resilience of youth. Two Friday's ago, my S started his day by having to leave the AP physics classroom so the teacher could calm a student (on medication) who was starting to go ballistic. In the evening, on the way back from a snack at Subway in a nice neighborhood, S and a friends were robbed by six other teenage toughs. They smartly relinquished cash, iPod and cell phone without anything physical. Of course, there was some emotional fall out. The next week my son got angry at me for advising the principal of the HS. I let him vent, then advised I just jumped started a process the police would have done anyway. Well, our police are just top notch. Within 5 days, two of the six were arrested, three determined just "bystanders" (from a prosecutorial standpoint), leaving one at large. And none from our local HS, hooray!</p>
<p>So, bad real world experience but one that has taught him many things outside of the classroom.</p>