<p>Soliciting Opinions...</p>
<p>As posted above, Son needs to take the US History SAT II this fall...before last year's knowledges seeps into his black hole. ;)</p>
<p>We have a scheduling dilemma. Which would you pick...</p>
<p>October 4 - miss a XC meet </p>
<p>November 1 - stay in on Halloween the night before (might not be so bad if all test takers have to stay in, too)</p>
<p>December 6 - no schedule conflicts, but it's 6 months after he finished the course</p>
<p>I know, not the biggest decision he'll ever face. But, not an easy choice, either.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>Our school offered APUSH this year for the first time and required all honors students to take the class and the test (which the schol paid for). S had a great class (11 students in an urban public high school) and got a 4, not great but decent. He will not be doing any other AP classes but will, hopefully, be in a full IB program. Like DougBetsy, I am a little upset that no one mentioned the SAT II. The hs sends a fair number of students to top universities and colleges, so they must be aware of the test requirements. I guess since this was the first time that sophs took an AP no one thought to make us aware of SAT II.</p>
<p>DougBetsy, I'd probably miss the XC meet, but none of my kids are high-level athletes, so I may be completely off base.</p>
<p>I'm really making myself crazy about the SAT IIs. (But I haven't yet said anything to my daughter!) It appears that she'll have to do math, although it's far and away not her best subject, then she'll do English and a History. Ultimately decided against Italian because she doesn't thing she will be ready without having the AP class.</p>
<p>DougBetsy, I would take it at the time that he might have the sufficient time to review the material. That could be Dec if he could look back over the stuff over Thanksgiving. As for the meet, it could depend on how critical it is for the team and what the coach has to say. For Nov, he should be prepared enough before 10/31 that as long as he gets a good nights sleep he should be ok. </p>
<p>Might he do two tests on the same day? Does he plan to do a language listening test? If so, those are offered in Nov so he could do a twofer.</p>
<p>Mathmom: Thanks for the Sparknotes link! I'm going to show that to D later on.</p>
<p>Zoosermom: How is your D in Science? Would the Bio or Chem test work out better for her? Would the Latin test work out? So far, I think that my D is planning on just two SAT II's (Eng. and US History) but I suppose Spanish could work, since she's taking AP Spanish this year.</p>
<p>DougBetsy: How important is the XC meet? Also how are your S's high school marking periods scheduled? Would prepping for the SAT II run into any studying necessary for quarterly or semester finals? It's kind of a tough call but, depending on how well he can retain the information, I would think that it would be beneficial for him to have that Thanksgiving break to review the material, like jackief suggested.</p>
<p>lots of quests, that was my biggest surprise when I got on here. We send many kids to top private schools, and no one said a thing. You or your child or a hired gun really have to take charge of educating yourself because the counselors usually are overwhelmed. And wtih teacher turnover, maybe you get a new one who has no idea whether his/her curriculum dovetails with the SAT IIs.</p>
<p>You know what? I think I'll encourage him to do the December test. XC ends Nov 10. He'll have about 3 weeks without sports to prepare. (Can't count Thankgiving week b/c we'll be away for a family reunion vacation.) </p>
<p>PSAT is mid-October so he'll use the weeks prior to focus on that instead of USH and won't miss a meet. </p>
<p>Thanks for the input.</p>
<p>ETA: This will be his first SAT II. He'll do French and World and maybe Math 1 in the spring. So, for now, no twofer.</p>
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Zoosermom: How is your D in Science? Would the Bio or Chem test work out better for her? Would the Latin test work out? So far, I think that my D is planning on just two SAT II's (Eng. and US History) but I suppose Spanish could work, since she's taking AP Spanish this year.
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<p>She's great in bio which would be a natural choice, but Stonybrook wants math. She's definitely going to do English and History because those are her best subjects. Latin's out because she'd have to self-study everything above Latin I and she feels that she has too much on her plate already to give that a really good shot. I guess Bryn Mawr will either have to live without a language score from ZS or just not admit her.</p>
<p>Youdon'tsay, that's a great point. Nothing was said in my kid's school about these exams, either, because it's an inner-city school and graduation is the goal for most. I've learned so much from you guys and I'm very grateful.</p>
<p>DougBetsy - my D will likely have a conflict with the PSAT and a XC meet - and in that case, the PSAT is the priority. I just think it's more important. I haven't looked into other potential conflicts - though I know they most likely exist. </p>
<p>zoosermom - stop making yourself crazy over these tests - your D will be fine. :) Oh, and my D will most likely apply to Stony Brook as well.</p>
<p>How will your kids "study" for the PSAT in the weeks leading up to it? I guess I figured it's not the kind of thing you can really study for. Will they just do practice tests?</p>
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DougBetsy - my D will likely have a conflict with the PSAT and a XC meet - and in that case, the PSAT is the priority.
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<p>Oh, absolutely. PSAT is a one-shot deal. There's no choice there. I wish we knew whether Son's test will be on Wed or Sat.</p>
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How will your kids "study" for the PSAT in the weeks leading up to it? I guess I figured it's not the kind of thing you can really study for. Will they just do practice tests?
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<p>Yeah, practice tests. Emphasis on math review. That was his only score in the 50's last year.</p>
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How will your kids "study" for the PSAT in the weeks leading up to it? I guess I figured it's not the kind of thing you can really study for. Will they just do practice tests?
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<p>So far, D's mainly reviewing the material and doing practice tests through the College Board guide. I'm guessing that as we get closer to the date, she'll concentrate on the practice tests, especially math. Given her coursework and EC's at that point, she'll probably only have time to really focus on the PSAT on the weekends.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2 and zoosermom: Are your D's also considering Binghamton? or just Stony Brook? I had been thinking about bringing D to visit Binghamton since they're reputed to have a strong English department and I want D to look at another state school besides U. Pittsburgh.(She's interested in William & Mary, as I mentioned upthread, but being an OOS female, W&M is definitely a reach for her.)</p>
<p>She's looking at Binghamton, too. They actually have the exact major she wants, but ZS is adamant about staying within a couple of hours of home (the boyfriend and most especially the dog), so that's limiting her choices markedly). Thus far, she's looking at Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Seton Hall, Hunter, Catholic, Stony Brook, Binghamton, Drew, Syracuse and American.</p>
<p>And I don't think Catholic, Syracuse or American have a chance if she gets in closer to home.</p>
<p>zoosermom - I went to American - very different back then I think, but it was a great experience for me. Loved DC, and loved that it was in the city, but not - a quick trip by bus or Metro downtown, but with plenty to do nearby. Surprised your D isn't considering Gtown as well. My D would love to, but like W&M, no real engineering program. Catholic isn't in the nicest part of DC - but it has a lovely Cathedral which we visited last year when we were in town (maybe the year before). You know, with your D's stats, I think pretty much all of those schools she's considering are probably safeties or matches (maybe Barnard and Bryn Mawr are high matches). You are so lucky. My D is only considering ivies at the moment - and it's killing me because I can't seem to reason with her. How did you raise such a sensible young lady?</p>
<p>momonthehill - my D hasn't decided which SUNYs she'll be applying to, mainly because she hasn't decided much of anything yet. I said she'll be applying to Stony Brook mainly because I'll probably force her to........lol. If she decides to do engineering, she probably will also apply to Binghamton and Buffalo. If she decides not to do engineering, then she'll most likely apply to Geneseo because it's smaller and more in line with what she would like in a college.</p>
<p>momonthehill - you're right about W&M being a reach for OOS girls. Someone told me girls from LI have a 7% chance of being admitted - so a pretty crazy statistic. Also, I thought U of Pittsburgh was a private school (that offers excellent FA).</p>
<p>DougBetsy - For some reason, our school always seems to have the PSAT on a Saturday - didn't even realize Wednesday was an option.</p>
<p>As far as practicing goes - I wish I knew the answer to that. I thought I took care of things by signing D up for the SAT prep course - but awful as it is, it's been a complete waste of time and money. Can't get D to practice on her own - not sure why. She's usually pretty conscientious about these types of things.</p>
<p>My oldest daughter is currently a rising sophomore at American and, in between AU's strength in her major(International Studies) and the cultural advantages of DC, she's very happy there. LIMOM, I've heard that much has changed at AU over the years. Right now, they're in the midst of construction of a new building to house their School of International Service. </p>
<p>Pitt was originally private, but it's been a "state-related" public university since the mid-sixties. It's also in-state for us, so I'm glad that my D is willing to check it out, since she hasn't shown much interest in Penn State.</p>
<p>Yes, W&M seems extremely competitive for OOS females. I've been (gently) telling D not to get her heart set on it.</p>
<p>momomthehill, I've heard terrific things about Pitt, which is also in-state for us. It apparently has the feel of a private, and the kids we know who go there are very happy. I'm not keen on the culture of Penn State (what I know of it) which seems heavily weighted to the frat/binge-drinking side of things. The Honors college is supposed to be very good, however.</p>
<p>I'm hoping S will like Pitt, since it's rolling admissions, and that he'll apply and perhaps have an acceptance under his belt early on. I can dream. :)</p>
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You are so lucky. My D is only considering ivies at the moment - and it's killing me because I can't seem to reason with her. How did you raise such a sensible young lady?
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<p>She's not sensible, she's the most risk averse person I've ever met. I respect her desire to have good safeties, but who would it hurt to reach? Not like she's paying the application fee. This is a bone of contention for us because I'd like her to dream big. Of course she shouldn't expect to get into Harvard, but I think she's limiting herself. Sigh. Anyhow, she picked Catholic because they do have a nice Classics program. If you should ever have any suggestions, they'd be gratefully received.</p>
<p>momonthehill - what a coincidence - I was an SIS student as well. Back when I started, AU was in the process of changing from a party to school to a more serious place, so there was a real mix of serious students and kids who just wanted to have fun - but lots of money was coming in (that's when they built the gym, the parking garage, some new dorms, and added all those little shops on campus (not sure if they're still there - the conveniences store, hair salon, dry cleaners, etc).</p>
<p>Not sure why I thought Pitt was private - maybe because I'm from out of state, and I never took a good look at it (though I've heard they're pretty generous). </p>
<p>zoosermom - it sounds like our Ds should be talking to each other and influencing each other in opposite ways - your D can talk my D into lowering her expectations a bit, and my D can talk yours into raising hers....lol. I'm sorry, but I'm not too familiar with any of the Classics programs, so I probably won't be very helpful in that way. </p>
<p>What I will say is that although DC is not that close, it's really not that far away either. The ride for you would be pretty easy because of where you live. For breaks, she could just take Amtrak to Penn and I'm sure she knows what to do from there. Short plane rides as well, if she prefers flying. I would much rather have D go to school in DC than a school in upstate NY. The weather is easier to deal with and it's just easier than dealing with buses or getting from rural campuses to cities in order to catch a train.</p>