<p>Mathmom - I wasn't even sure if there were two levels of Regents diplomas, though I thought there might be. Thanks for clearing that up for me.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the responses... interesting system... wish we had something like it...</p>
<p>Just wanted to wish you all a Happy Halloween! Hope your kids are all going to be out celebrating, and not worrying too much about homework/test pret tonight.</p>
<p>Oh yes, tonight is a night for celebration for kids and parents. S is going to an all night birthday party for one of the guys on the water polo team. We're heading the opposite direction to a friend's party, complete with the ever popular scary readings next to a crackling fire (yes, even in the LA area ... fall may have finally arrived with some sprinkles of rain this morning and daytime temps in the low 70s in our area.)</p>
<p>Hope you all had a nice weekend. FindaPlace, how was your friend's party - it sounded very enticing - especially the crackling fire.</p>
<p>Nothing new to report, just wanted to bring this thread back to page 1 where it belongs!</p>
<p>D has off for the next 2 days. I am hoping she'll do some SAT prep. She is still planning to take it in Dec.</p>
<p>Hi Queen's Mom - my D still hasn't decided whether she'll take the Dec. tests - so glad I gave her that deadline last week.........lol. She promised she'd take a practice SAT and ACT on Tuesday, so I'll know by then and be able to register her that day.</p>
<p>road trip tomorrow! </p>
<p>No school, so D and I are visiting a couple schools, after I vote of course. I'll leave you all in suspense and post a report when we return.</p>
<p>Still no decision on the Dec ACT, I'm hoping she can bring the book along in the car to look it over.</p>
<p>This was the very first Halloween that my son did not wear a costume. He was a representative for his Theater Club in the homecoming court instead. He looked so handsome and grown up! A bittersweet day to be sure. </p>
<p>Any recommendations on SAT and ACT prep books? My son insists he doesn't need them and maybe he's right but my arguement is that it cannot hurt. I know, I'm so darn unreasonable!</p>
<p>What are your thoughts re taking the ACT completely with no prep. I mean, D did not even look at the test format and now is making noises that she might want to take it in Dec.</p>
<p>The way it's going, my girls might just do that....I paid for Dec. already but they are always doing something else, studying for this exam or that...they did a few things online but I have a feeling they aren't going to be well prepared. But, it will give them an idea of what it is like and if they don't do well, hopefully motivate them to try harder next time.</p>
<p>S1 did and got a 33. Maybe with a little prep it could have been higher, but he did not retake it.</p>
<p>Well, Queen's Mom, we're sort of in the same boat. My D will be taking a practice ACT tomorrow and she'll decide then whether she'll take it in December.</p>
<p>pugmadkate - I bought D the ACT prep book with the real ACTs in it - she hasn't opened it yet, so I can't vouch for it, but since it has copies of old tests, it seemed to make the most sense.</p>
<p>For SAT, everyone recommends Collegeboard's Official SAT Study Guide (the blue one). D hasn't opened that one yet either. Tomorrow will be a first for both, and then we'll decide whether she'll take either one.</p>
<p>Enjoy your little trip tomorrow, jackief. Looking forward to hearing your reports.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick replies. I guess I will let her take it if she wants. Right now, I am just pushing the SATs.</p>
<p>I had a 'spirited argument' with D yesterday about her SAT plans. I was recommending that she just focus on one exam but she wants to take 3, without necessarily doing much test prep. In the end she prevailed. I have registered her for 3 subject tests.</p>
<p>Queen's Mom: For what its worth, D took a mock ACT last year and hated the test. She much prefers the SAT format.</p>
<p>Yuk! Problem with the quarter grades as they are posted online. D shot off an email to her teacher. Hopefully it will be fixed this week before the report cards go out. Generally I wouldn't make a stink, but it's a two point difference that makes the difference between an A and a B so I will be VERY mad if there's a problem. I really wish the teachers would input their own grades. The whole thing comes down to a data entry mistake. :(</p>
<p>quick note-
Didn't get D to look at the ACT book in the car yesterday :-( but she was doing her English reading which had to be done anyway. I will ask her to take 15-20 mins to at least look through the book today and then decide. From conversations, and being in the college mode, I think she is more amenable to it than she was previously. We also have the book put out by the test makers. </p>
<p>road trip, what a long day but she is glad we did it, and so am I! We visited Bates and Bowdoin in ME. She really liked Bates, neutral on Bowdoin. With our school's results, I think I can call Bates a match for her. I'll post more later. In my observations, she is seeming more comfortable with the visits, she asked some questions on the tour and went up to the desk to check in instead of being pushed. Now that she has seen a second college she really liked, I think we have broken the closed minded one track mind, and she said she would like to visit Middlebury again. We have more visits planned for next weekend!</p>
<p>jackief: That's great. I am glad your D liked another school. My D is still in the "it's either Barnard or I don't care" phase. We are sending her down to Atlanta in January to see Emory (and Georgia Tech while she is there). Maybe she'll get excited there.</p>
<p>Signed D up for the Dec. SAT yesterday, and will do the same for the ACT today. She did one practice ACT, and she seemed satisfied with her score, though she didn't tell me what it was. I feel like I'm forcing her to do this, but I think if she does well, she'll be happy to have them out of the way.</p>
<p>Jackief - yay for your D liking another school! We haven't made plans to visit any other schools in the near future. I'm hoping to do a few in Feb. and a few in April over the breaks - but Feb. isn't an ideal time to look at schools in the northeast, so we'll see what the weather's like before making those plans definite. I'd also like her to talk to her GC and get her input - maybe some good suggestions for match and safety schools. D had no problem choosing the reaches........lol.</p>
<p>Queen's Mom - Georgia Tech? Seems about as different from Barnard as you can get......lol. I'm sure your D will like Emory though. And January in Atlanta sounds a bit more appealing than NY in January.</p>
<p>Actually some of the Northeast campuses look quite magical in the snow, but you have to time it right or you'll get slush. ;)</p>
<p>No, GT is nothing like Barnard, lol, but D is very science oriented so GT and RPI are definitely still on her list. She's just not particularly excited about them. I think mainly it's because they are not in NYC. She is not excited about Emory either because according to her every Jewish girl in the DC metro area applies there and she won't stand out. She will definitely stand out at GT. Do the boys there even know what a girl looks like? ;)</p>