<p>perazziman - my S is in AP Chem and while he has not felt the need to seek any help online he has found getting together in a study group (particularly before tests) very helpful. Does your S know which kids in his class are getting it? That would be who I would suggest seeking out for study group sessions.</p>
<p>perazziman: My son will likely take AP Chem next year. When my other two went through it wasnât offered. So I donât have experience with AP Chem, but when they have struggled with other AP classes they have found some of the prep books at the bookstore (Cliff, AP Chem for Dummies, Barrons, etcâŠ) helpful. They kind of explain the concepts in a different way which might be easier for him to understand. I canât remember which class it was, but for one of my older kids they were really struggling and we got 2 different prep books and if the answer wasnât in one, it was in the other. I am also a fan of note cards/flash cards. In APUSH the teacher has them make their own, but I bought them for AP World and AP Bio. You can put just the chapter you are working on a ring and it isnât so overwhelming. My hope is that on the bus to or from a sporting event, or during a break in play practice he is studying them. Likely that is not the case, but that is my hope.</p>
<p>A question about SATâsâŠ
D13 is taking them in March. We get 4 free scores which I donât want to waste. Is it too early to send to schools? Should we send to all the schools she plans to apply?</p>
<p>Not sure what to do!!!</p>
<p>Not at all, VCB. Theyâll start a file and wait for the rest of the application to show up. :)</p>
<p>And College Board will ultimately send all the scores from all attempts at the test, so it is not a gamble to send? Because now that you mention it, VBC, it is not a bad idea to send if itâs free now. Does the College Board send all the scores from all attempts? If DS takes the SAT again later and does better, do you just re-send and do the colleges then have the same data theyâd have if you only sent the second time? Can you wait until you see the scores to send?</p>
<p>Iâm a student in the class of 2013 (donât tell me to get out of the pool yet! Iâm going, Iâm going!), VBCMom, and Iâd recommend trying to send scores to schools youâll definitely apply to (a safety close to home, perhaps) and being careful about sending scores; remember, you canât take them back once theyâre sent!</p>
<p>Momof NEA - my son did what hkobb7 suggested. He used the free scores, but sent them to his âlikelyâ schools.</p>
<p>Another question about sending scores, DS is taking SATs for 1st time at the end of the month, he has not done as much to prepare. He scored a 230 on the PSAT, so I just wanted him to work on the timed essay (but I have not been winning that battle.) </p>
<p>Should he use one of the free reports to send to NMSC or should we wait in case he doesnât break 2000 and has to take the test again?</p>
<p>I think NMSC would be a great way to use one of those free score reports. If he scored a 230 on the psat I think heâs not going to have a problem breaking 2,000 on the SAT.</p>
<p>I went to a PSAT interpretation night, and the woman doing the presentation said that once you choose to send scores to the four schools all scores will continue to go to them until you opt out.</p>
<p>I get the strategy to send to safeties. For some reason, we thought weâd send ds2âs scores to his reaches as a way to show early interest. Weâre visiting two of the schools next month, and theyâll have the scores before we get there. Actually, they may not, assuming thereâs a small delay in getting them to the schools.</p>
<p>I logged on to dsâs account just now, and it appears his Math II scores didnât go to any schools. Interesting. I wonder why we didnât send those ⊠will they go now with the Jan. SAT scores?</p>
<p>MomofNEA, my D has been registered to take the March SAT for some time. We used the four free score reports for colleges she is likely to apply to. We researched the SAT use practices of these colleges through Collegeboard to make sure that only her highest scores would be considered from any test sitting, so it is risk free. We also follow an admissions blog of her current first choice school and that school reports that only the highest scores show up on the electronic file. Lower ones are automatically omitted by their system.</p>
<p>YDS, when my D registered for the March SAT and ordered the four free score reports, they automatically sent her SAT II scores as well. They are listed on the score report order invoice. I think you can prevent them from being sent with score choice though.</p>
<p>@ tx5athome</p>
<p>I bought him Cliffs AP Chemistry in the beginning of first semester. I will probably look for a second book. Thanks for the suggestion. </p>
<p>So far, he has had no trouble with APUSH, AP Computer Science II and Physics. He is okay in AP English and AP Biology too. He had some trouble with Pre calculus last semester, but seems to have worked it out over the holidays on Khanâs website. He is back in A territory.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, he has not been able to overcome his Chemistry demons. He is so frustrated with it, that he is talking about dropping his plans for studying engineering and going after a major in liberal arts and humanities in college. That may not be such a bad thing, either. </p>
<p>@dadotwoboys</p>
<p>I will mention it to him. Although, he has never been in a study group, it is something he should definately explore. thanks.</p>
<p>perazzi, my ds1 would NEVER do study groups in HS. He looked at us like we were nuts. Imagine my surprise last term when he said he couldnât talk because he was in his polisci study group! I thought dh and I would cry tears of joy!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with humanities of course (I think somebody will likely pop up to say that techncally science, including chenmistry, is part of the liberal arts)</p>
<p>How far is he into Chem? Is this AP Class actually his first chemistry class or has he taken some before? Not sure about you, but I remember chemistry seeming different to me than the other sciences and it took a while to click. Although similar in some ways, the skills I used were not the exactly the same as the skills I used for Math or Physics or even biology courses. At least at the level I took. YMMV, thatâs just how it seemed to me.</p>
<p>I donât recall a whole lot of Chemsitry, as such, in my EE program, after taking the required first year. Maybe a little when we learned about semiconductors and doping and such. The amount of Chem in other disciplines varies, Iâm no expert. Of course a lot of Chem in ChE.</p>
<p>I am looking for advice on choosing DDâs math course for next year. As I have stated before, she has a hard time in math. She has ADD, slower processing speed, poor recall, does not work with abtract concepts as well as concrete. There are not many options for 4th year math in our HS. It is not required senior year, so I am not sure that many students take a course. She will be taking 4 years, as she is definitely college bound. She took Alg. I in 9th, finished with low B(mostly due to late/missing work). Sophomore year she took Geometry and really struggled, never really grasped it, finished with a C+ I think. This year she is in alg. II and doing quite well, finished the first semester with a B+, seems to be understanding it. She has had the same teacher for Geometry and Alg. II.</p>
<p>The courses that DD would be technically able to take are AP Stats, HN Pre-Calc, or Algebra III. I had never even heard of Alg. III. The course description states that it combines the concepts of Alg. I, II, and Geometry. I donât really know that she needs to take Pre-Calc since she will likely never take Calculus. She is looking at small LACs that have more open gen ed requirements so that she wonât need to take much math, and is planning on being an English major. That leaves AP Stats. Does anyone have any experience with this class? I have no idea how it might work for her. </p>
<p>DD is will hopefully be at a 3.6 at the end of this semester, and scored a 27 on her first ACT test(22 in math). She is looking at a few higher reach schools, and needs to take a math course that reflects this, also needs to be able to get through it. I will be talking to her math teacher to see what she suggests, but I went against her Alg. I teacherâs recommendation that she go into Informal Geometry instread of Geometry for sophomore year because it is not counted for math credit, and she would then need to take Geometry this year and would end with Alg. II next year. Most of the schools she is looking at require one course beyond Alg. II.</p>
<p>Any opinions or advice? She is weakest in this area by far, but has a pretty solid transcript otherwise.</p>
<p>Midwestmom: My S2 took pre-calc this year (which is a standard course at his HS). It is what we used to call Trigonometry combined with Elementary Analysis and Analytical Geometry. He is never planning to take Calculus either. He did fine in the first semester, but so far this semester is proving tougher. If I had it to do over, I would have recommended AP Stats instead. Seems a little more useful for liberal arts majors.</p>
<p>^bovertine</p>
<p>Great point. </p>
<p>I think he is also beginning to factor in that he has some good reading and writing skills (top half percentile rank) as measured by the PSAT, that he may want to develop vs. top 5 percent in math. He is also starting to see how, well crafted words can have an impact. For example, we took him to the theatre, to see A Christmas Carol over the holidays; and Toxic Avenger last week and he thorougly enjoyed them. It probably also does not hurt that the history teacher just likes him a lot and sees potential in him that the other teachers do not.</p>
<p>He is now thinking of minoring in mathematics or physics, majoring in history</p>
<p>Midwestmom: our daughters are similar in their dislike of math and love of English. D13 had no desire to go the pre-calc/calc route (and would not have done well), so after the normal geometry, algebra 2, we went with Trig and then a dual credit (comm college) Stats 1 class last semester. She was hoping to take Stats 2 this semester, but realized that 2 other dual credit classes and an Honors class was enough (they only take 4 classes in our block system), and decided to save it until next year.</p>
<p>She would just as soon complete all math/science classes in high school (taking the dual credit classes) so when she gets to college, she can focus on the things she lovesâŠEnglish and writing.</p>
<p>I would check to see if thereâs anyway you can do one of those. The class wasnât easy, but it wasnât difficult either. At least it was âlogicalâ (somewhat) to herâŠand would most likely be to your D13 too.</p>
<p>Repeatb and megpmom~ Thanks for the replies. After doing some research this afternoon I think AP Statistics would be the wiser choice. It is frustrating that Stats is AP and Pre-Calc is honors, so either she has to do an advanced class or a class that is not college prep. I am going to email her Alg II teacher to get her recommendation, it will be interesting to see what she has to say.</p>
<p>Hi All! Just dropping by 
D2 is officially registered for her senior year. </p>
<p>Her graduating class has to have 4 years of math; sheâs in pre-calc this year and as youâve all been talking about that was one of the harder choices to make. I took Calc in HS and in College and Iâve never used it again; she was shying away from Calc, didnât want to take finite and discrete math, so decided to go with AP Stat. </p>
<p>midwestmom: precalc here is either regular or honors level and it is considered college prep either way. You might want to check to see what kind of math class sheâll need to take in college even for general ed requirements because the precalc class might be a better prep for the placement testing. I know for D1, the AP stat credit wasnât considered âmathâ at her college and the credit she got was actually under some kind of computer requirement. </p>
<p>hkobb: donât feel you have to leave us. The 2010 thread had about 4 students that regularly posted with us and it was nice to have a students viewpoint on things.</p>
<p>Wow! What a knowledgeable group and what a great resource! A day ago I did not know:
- That I could register to send SAT scores to potential colleges this early in the game,
- That colleges might just electronically drop lower scores from their file, reducing the risk of sending early scores,
- That there was such a thing as an âadmissions blogâ on college websites!
Thank you!
Alas, my son signed up for the Jan SAT so itâs too late to register to send scores, but now we know for next time. But Iâm off to search for an admission blogâŠ</p>