<p>Madbean,
They had some great stuff, way beyond what we could afford. There are some very well off alumnus that attended the auction and bid everything up. There were trips to Ireland, London, Carribean, graduation package (front row seats, etc that went for 7K, etc), jewlery, sports stuff, etc. We did get some Patriot tickets for next season, golf at an exclusive club, tickets to the opera, restaurant GC, etc. We also donated some money to the history dept (S loves history). I would have loved to have won the package where the Choir comes to your house to put on a concert, DH was not happy with that bid, but I did not win. And no S is not in the choir, I just wanted it, you know sometimes you just have to have it.</p>
<p>It was a fun time, great meal and I got to meet some wonderful folks. </p>
<p>S has been making the rounds of sweet sixteen birthday parties lately. Tonight is a party for a girl who may have watched too much MTV. There's a party bus, a VIP section, a dj from a local radio station and a hypnotist! S is excited because he's a VIP, but that meant buying him new clothes, because the birthday girl told them what they have to wear! Turned out I only needed to buy him a shirt & tie, which wasn't too bad compared to all the party dresses I've bought for his older sister. Neither of my kids wanted a sweet sixteen and I was happy to oblige.</p>
<p>We are lucky here, no sweet sixteen parties, only cotillions (sp?) and they aren't until 18th birthday. Double lucky in that my D does not want one. Her older brother has been makeing the rounds of them and I shudder at the cost</p>
<p>Anyone else planning college trips this Spring Break? My D and I are headed to Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula. A nice start to the craziness that is the admission process. My S is just waiting on three more decision letters before he can make his choice, so at least she has seen what it entails</p>
<p>No sweet sixteen parties here either. Chintzy - I notice you list New England as home, just wondering what part of New England. We are in the Boston area and as far as I can tell the parties are not happening here. S goes to an all boy HS so maybe we are just out of the loop, but I don't think so.</p>
<p>We are taking 3 weeks to travel to Chicago/midwest area in June and hope to visit a few campuses then. May or may not sign up for the official tours. </p>
<p>Kumitedad - good luck to your S, sounds like he already has some choices?</p>
<p>Oog. That's just rude! ALL guests are, or should be, VIPs; one should never differentiate among invited guests! Miss Manners needs to crash that party!! :D</p>
<p>(I can well understand your S's excitement at being a VIP, though, and don't blame him a bit for his excitement!)</p>
<p>kumite, S's spring break will be spent fulfilling the service hours he needs to get a HS diploma, which can be granted after one year of college provided the service hours have been done and he's taken all the HSAs (standardized tests required to graduate). He'll be doing work at a local soup kitchen we've all volunteered for in the past. That, and helping me paint the upstairs hall! (Haven't told him this part yet; oh, how very happy he will be ..... not!)</p>
<p>:: passes around a couple of boxes of Girl Scout cookies ::</p>
<p>mamom, we're in CT. It's definitely the girls who have the parties, not the boys. This most recent affair didn't live up to the hype--no party bus, the wrong radio d.j. and a hypnotist "who only hypnotized, like, 2 people". The food was good and plentiful, which is always a plus for S.</p>
<p>S is going on a school field trip to UConn next month. He's been there several times before, has no interest in attending (and frankly it might be a reach based on his PSAT scores). Anything to get out of school for a day.</p>
<p>I've been off this thread for a long time, had to jump in to say my S only goes to parties where he takes his Xbox. No sweet 16's, doesn't even talk to girls! He's been 16 since August, I am trying to convince him to go for his driver's permit.</p>
<p>Good morning to all you 2015er parents. Boy, I've been looking through some of the results threads from the Ivies and it is a pretty sobering experience. So many terrific kids with rejections. It really brings home what a single digit acceptance rate means. FA is a driving force with the final college decision for our family, so I can foresee that we will end up searching high and low for just the right college list for my youngest. "Love your safety" is getting more and more important each year, it seems.</p>
<p>The chintzys are one of several families w/ 09's and 11's. There are definitely things I learned from D's process that will help w/ S--like starting testing early. In other ways, this will be like starting over. There is little or no overlap in their interests and he's not as concerned about academics. There's also a lot less drama with him, thank goodness! While I'm not ready to shift my focus just yet, he's already dreading his sister's absence and his parents' undivided attention.</p>
<p>Chintzy - Are you talking about the SAT subject tests? S will take the chemistry and probably American History in June. He is also taking the SAT in May, just for the heck of it. He tested well on the psat last Oct and did fairly well on the SAT in 8th grade. </p>
<p>2blue- I have already assigned myself the task of finding a safety that S will love and we can afford. S can find those pie in the sky schools.</p>
<p>S is not the SAT in 8th grade kind of kid, so I'm talking about subject tests, SAT's and ACT. He's already informed us that if a school requires subject tests he doesn't want to go there; we'll have to look at the requirements at some of the school for which he's expressed early interest. There are more schools that don't require them than do, you just don't hear about those as much on CC. </p>
<p>Where we live, the ACT is offered much less frequently than the SAT. He's the type of kid who should take both, and it will require some planning to make that happen. Also, some schools that require SAT subject tests will accept the ACT with writing instead.</p>
<p>My two kids have totally different academic interests also, so we will be going back to the drawing board in many respects. At least we're now ahead of the game when it comes to knowledge about the process. </p>
<p>LOL at your son dreading his parents' undivided attention, chintzy. It's been nice to have more one-on-one time with my youngest (most days ;)). My son is thinking about taking the Chem SAT also, mamom. It's kind of hard to know what to do in terms of the subject tests. He has the same teacher for chem now that he will have for physics next year. The teacher doesn't follow the SAT content at all, so son will have a lot of self-study if he goes that route.</p>
<p>S is taking the Chem and Math II SAT 2s in May, and the Latin SAT 2 in June. I suggested he sign up for the AP Chem test, too, though he's not taking AP Chem. Gotta make him humble somehow. :D</p>
<p>He'll also be taking the AP tests for comp sci (AB) and government, but he's taking those courses, so he'll probably be okay on those.</p>
<p>OK, from what I have read, we should have our kid take the test right after they take the course. I planned on having S will take Amer History and Chemistry in June. He will probably do great on the history, he s a big history buff and does extremely well in the subject. He has an aptitue for math and science but a real a** for honors chem this year. The guy encourages the kids to take the SAT subject test, but gives out mostly c's for grades. (I have an undergrad in chemistry and I thought this guy would be no problem...I gave up in Dec). I assume that even though S will not do well (C+) in chemistry he should take the test......correct?? From what I can tell, he gets it. I think this teacher is just a jerk, it is an honors class and the teacher loves the rep his class has...extremely hard. I will buy the study guide and we will do some practice tests. </p>
<p>Question is, should I or shouldn't I sign him up for the chemistry SAT?</p>
<p>How about having your S take a practice test to see how he does (I'm betting he'll be fine), and then make a decision? </p>
<p>If kids routinely do well on the SAT 2 but get low grades in the class, I'd definitely want my kid to take the subject test. That would be a good way to counteract the C in the class, I think.</p>
<p>For the practice tests, he will likely not have had all the material yet, so don't be discouraged if he struggles on some parts of the test this weekend. If he does solidly on what HAS been covered in school, that's great. </p>
<p>S was certainly grumpy this morning; I don't know if I've ever known anyone who wakes up so crabbily!! Sheesh!!!</p>