<p>repeat, can she ask someone from another school?</p>
<p>Don’t you love it when you get a failing progess report via e-mail from a teacher? What? That’s never happened at your house? Lucky! :(</p>
<p>YDS: You & me; we’re the chill sisters, LOL. Well, until our kids do something to make us crazy 
Oh, and sorry about the email…</p>
<p>D said yesterday: oh, I’m taking the SAT’s this weekend! Um, yeah. I just can’t nag at her; she’s had a lot on her plate. So I sent her the link to the Xiggi method, the 10 days to a 12 essay post and reminded her to look over the October SAT Q&A packet, plus her PSAT results so she can see where she can improve on math. </p>
<p>Bernese: thanks for the feedback on your trip. I’m hoping to come back from our March trip with some insights. Did your D cross anything off the list? </p>
<p>repeatb: Your D sounds like she has all the important stuff going on and it will be appreciated deeply by the boys when she’s a little older. Which doesn’t make it any easier now, but at least she’ll have her self esteem intact. D1 certainly didn’t date in HS (went with a friend from church to prom) and it’s not looking like D2 will either. So no words of wisdom except to say as a mom I understand.</p>
<p>Social work programs: have you looked at Rugg’s to see if they have a listing? I don’t have a copy here, but your local library (or guidance office) might.</p>
<p>Rob, what’s the 10 days to a 12 essay post???</p>
<p>RobD, DS is taking the SAT this Saturday as well and he has midterms this week. The only problem is that he has no exams (and therefore no classes whatsoever) Wednesday through Friday. I’m worried that he’ll be well-rested to the point of stupor, able only to recall the rules of the video game he’ll be playing from Tuesday night onward…</p>
<p>RobD, I did not post much on the '10 thread, but I am with you on the chill factor for kid number two. My’10 son is settled in nicely now, so I know dd’13 will find her people. Pomona was great, but that is off the list. She might apply to a small school or two, but in general is focusing on bigger schools. I don’t want to give away our town, but she felt Claremont was too similar to home. I, on the other hand, loved it. I would move there. We spoke to a retired guy and he loves it there. </p>
<p>The UC’s were even more impressive than I imagined. Budget woes were cited in the cover stories of the UCLA student newspaper the day we were there, it is front and center. But I was still really impressed. Berkeley tour guide spent a good ten minutes on the student protests from the sixties, what a rich history. The rivalries, cal vs Stanford and USC vs. UCLA seem to make for fun on each campus, and spur on great discoveries. But my overall conclusion is Wow, look what California has accomplished in a relatively short time, and great educational opportunities have been a huge contributing factor. A very cool place.</p>
<p>repeatb, your D sounds a lot like mine. Has never had a date either. Her friends on her team are planning to find her a date for the Sadie dance (a just-friends date) so she can go with their group. We’ll see if that happens. She went to homecoming one year with a group of girls, but has skipped it other years. I keep telling her college will be different, she will find more people like her, but it doesn’t help much now.</p>
<p>YDS: It’s a post from here on CC; I have it bookmarked at home so I’ll link it here later tonight.</p>
<p>Oh duh. I sent it to D2 in an email which I can access from here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html?highlight=how+to+write+a+12+essay[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html?highlight=how+to+write+a+12+essay</a></p>
<p>Rob, that post is a trip. I hope it works for six days before the test!</p>
<p>S2 found out some surprising information today. He had to request his rank and GPA in order to register for All State choir (that info is not on report cards). He is currently ranked 23 out of 552 and has a weighted GPA of 3.89. I realize that colleges use unweighted GPA, but at least it will be in a decent range.</p>
<p>One of his top picks for college right now is University of Miami, so unless he bombs the SAT in March - he should be in range. And it puts him in good position for merit aid at the rest of his choices (Oklahoma City U, Baldwin-Wallace, Rider U). He also is looking at Boston U and his sister was accepted with similar stats so feel good about that one too. Now all he has to worry about is auditions!</p>
<p>Bernese- Thanks for the CA info. My S is really interested in CA and I am trying to figure out how we are ever going to visit since his vacations are also vacations for the CA schools. Anyone have any suggestions?<br>
Nice to know my S13 isn’t the only of our Ss and Ds taking the SAT this Saturday. He is pretty confident and has decided to stop studying, which I am trying to accept. I read about this funny book The Neurotic Parent’s Guide to College Admissions- I think the author must have been studying me without my knowledge and I will have to read that. Since the essay is the only new thing compared to the PSAT he practiced a bit for that. There are so many competing theories out there about what is a good SAT essay and how they are actually graded! Even though they say it’s 30% of the writing score, looking at the scoring grids on the practice tests, it doesn’t look too bad.</p>
<p>Repeat, sorry that your D is going through this. At my Ds school it is more common for kids to go to dances in large groups than as couples. Last year she attended the Homecoming with a group of guys and girls. This year she opted not to attend since most of her friends did the same. Are there friends from other schools, or a gay bff perhaps that she can attend with? You are so right that she will find her niche in college.</p>
<p>D took a practice ACT last week that will be scored but not recorded so we’ll see how that turns out.</p>
<p>She’s struggling with class selections for senior year. There really isn’t a math option after AP Calc AB and she’s not interested in statistics. I was always adamant that she take math all four years but she has enough math credits as of last year for the advanced diploma so I’m actually ok if she stops math now. Her passions are english and the arts so I think colleges will be happy enough she took math through AB.</p>
<p>She has a few elective spots open though so is thinking of fashioning an independent study in theater or similar. Otherwise she’s likely to take AP Eng 12, Government, Astronomy (she toyed with the idea of AP Physics but that is also not an area where her passions lie and she just remembers her older sister’s workload from taking AP Physics), Theater IV, Literary Magazine, Madrigals and another elective TBD. She really only needs the Eng/Gov/Astronomy for the credits for the advanced diploma and the schools she’s looking at are likely to appreciate her approach to what she finds intriguing over her pushing herself in ways that won’t benefit any of us (read the family that lives with her) :)</p>
<p>megp: That is great news!!</p>
<p>S13 met with his CC yesterday. She told me that his list of schools is “not for the weak heart”, I told her “welcome to my world” :/<br>
After looking at all of the kids who had perfect scores, top GPA’s and 1,000+ of service hours NOT get into several of the schools he is looking at, I think the CC has her work cut out for her.
She tried suggesting a few other schools that were not on his list (Penn, UofVA and BC).
He told her that if he goes to school in Boston it’s Harvard. Period.
Uggg…teenagers
She tried to suggest UCLA. His comment, “no UC’s”.
Our biggest challenge will be that he is 100% set on running in College.
He has had contact with the coach of his #1 and #4 schools. Brown has come out of the blue and been contacting him weekly.
As season starts up, hopefully the recruiting process will pick up. And from there, help narrow the list down.</p>
<p>Wow, MD. If the cc is suggesting Penn and UVA as something closer to a safety, that must be some list!</p>
<p>I took Statistics in college, as a Sociology major. I did not expect to like it but it was required for my major. Turned out to be one of the best classes I ever took. The power of prediction was amazing to me.</p>
<p>I think the teacher is key here, maybe more than in other classes.</p>
<p>I loved statistics in college, which was required for both of my majors (Poli Sci and Econ). If your kid is planning on being a social science/humanties major in college, I think that AP Stats would be a good option (rather than Calculus).</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay: You can say that again! His only “safety” right now is USC. And here in SoCal that is most kids #1.</p>
<p>Looking to forward to hearing about more college visits! I think were only going to do University of Alabama, UA-Huntsville, and Georgia Tech. The rest will wait until aid packages help S determine his top contenders. Oh, well also do Pitt and Carnegie Mellon soon since theyre not too far. </p>
<p>Youdontsay My S is totally opposite . . . I think he was depending on me to help more with his essays (not for TASP.) Im just trying to help him understand how he cant just answer the question his response has to tell them something about him. The rest is up to him. Hes been revising them over and over for the last couple weeks. Times almost up! Good luck to your S!</p>
<p>Repeatb That has to be so hard for you to see her so upset. S doesnt even try to ask girls here they all just go in big groups so they can hang out together. </p>
<p>Megpmom congrats to your S2! My S will be getting transcripts soon for summer program apps he is anxious to see his new rank. I guess lots of kids shift since theres more variation in weighted GPAs with more AP options this year.</p>
<p>I love stats too. Im surprised how much stats S has learned in past algebra classes I dont recall learning about linear regression in high school. Even my second grader is learning about finding medians! </p>
<p>Good luck to all the Saturday SAT takers!</p>
<p>MDMom: Good luck with your son! S2 (HS’10) works in the athletic department at UCLA and part of his job his to give tours to recruits. If your son changes his mind, maybe he will be is tour guide? If USC is his safety, be sure to show them a lot of love, I have heard of kids with great stats getting rejected. Possibly because they didn’t show enough interest. </p>
<p>Good luck to the SAT test takers. S3 is taking the ACT in Feb, and then we will go from there. D1 just took the GRE. She took it on a computer and they immediately give you the results (except for the essay). How great would that be if you knew your SAT score right away!! </p>
<p>S3 is not going to his winter formal (which is this weekend), but is going to a neighboring school’s winter formal next weekend.</p>
<p>Megpmom, congratulations to your S on his terrific rank! My D’s class size is about the same size as your S’s. She finds out her official class rank in a couple of weeks when first semester grades are released. It is quite the sport around her school right now trying to guess who number one is. She found out her GPA last month when it was revealed to her by the teacher that wrote her a recommedation for Governor’s school. He also hinted about her class rank in his rec, so D is anxious to find out:)</p>