<p>D13 took the SATs last Saturday and thought they were easier than she expected - I am not sure if that is good or bad…she doesn’t usually just roll with the punches so I was surprised how relaxed she was.</p>
<p>A thought on languages, I made my D11 take four years of Honors Spanish even though she hated it. Today she called me to thank me. She applied to a mini study abroad summer program for kids completing their Freshman year in the business program at her university. It is a 6 week mini session in Spain - 2 courses, Introduction to International business that will be taught in English and a cultural immersion in Spanish. All the kids that had taken 4 years of Spanish were accepted into the program, half of the kids that took three years were accepted. She never could have foreseen this great opportunity two years ago…so, if in doubt, take the extra year. You never know when it will come in handy beyond the college admissions process.</p>
<p>^ Hubby and I keep joking that we need to get a life because we only have a little over a year before we are empty nesters :). It’s starting to get very real as they resister for senior year classes today.</p>
<p>Thought this wouldn’t happen until AT LEAST the start of S13’s Senior year, but it did.
While talking to friends of ours who currently have 2 at SMU and one a Sr in HS, I did it.
I cried.
We went from talking about where their son was accepted to, to tears just rolling down my face. I didn’t even realize it until my girlfriend stopped me in mid-sentence to see if I was OK. And to be honest, I don’t even remember the exact words that triggered it. They just started flowing…
Yep…I’m going to be a mess next year :(</p>
<p>MDMom - Come cry to us anytime. My S13 is my oldest and has always been independent, so losing him will worry me but not have emotional impact. Now my middle child, he is my buddy and my sanity. H & I have already decided to put pressure on him to stick closer to home. He started to look at NE Boarding schools - We started to bribe him to NOT look at any boarding schools.</p>
<p>Welcome Meadow & Laurendog!</p>
<p>Meadow - My kid attends school in NJ where US History is required for 2 years. He also did AP Govt as an elective course last year. He is planning on NO HISTORY for 12th grade and instead wants AP Psych. From everything I’ve read and all who I’ve spoken with, there really is no preference for history/social studies. Many states have their own requirements which differ greatly (NJ with the 2 yrs American, VA with a year of VA history, most of the deep south with Econ/Govt). I think the College Admin folks just want to see 2-3 years of something with depth without caring what the something is and assuming most was to meet requirements.</p>
<p>MDMom - Life has a funny way of preparing you for he separation just like pregnancy prepares you for motherhood. I too was a mess before my D11 left but by the time she was ready to go, we were ready for her to go. During senior year, the kids begin to “foul the nest.” It is a very difficult process and there are quite a few “lasts”…last ballgame, last banquet, etc. D11 is only 45 minutes away so we do see her monthly. When she comes home, she is fully immersed in family life unlike her senior year in HS. She actually enjoys our company and does solicit our opinions…I am beginning to see D13 pull away…but I know that she “will be back” once she goes through the process.</p>
<p>DH an I are seeing glimpses of our empty nest. On one hand it is sad but on the other hand it is very exciting…we both realize we are going through a transition but we are looking forward to getting to the other side. We need to change the way we think…we can begin to put ourselves first instead of every decision taking into consideration the needs of the family. It is liberating in a sense.</p>
<p>When our oldest went away to college I did really well until it was time to say goodbye–I mean, I"m leaving my baby WHERE :). I sucked it up really well, cried a bit on the way home then made the mistake of going into his room to change the sheets on his bed–BIG mistake. It was so empty. Don’t do that for a few days after they leave.</p>
<p>For my oldest, I found myself crying randomly about 6 months before she left. But then, by the time she left, she had been so difficult (probably anxious about the changes), that I was glad to see her go. My three are close in age, and very active, I didn’t realize how hard it was to always try and be in three different places at once. When S2 left, he was really ready to go and I was so happy for him, that I wasn’t really sad. We enjoy them when they come home, but we also really enjoy just having one kid at home. But I am sure having all of the kids gone will be a whole different story. At Parent’s weekend for S2 they had a class on “Transitioning to the Empty Nest” which was helpful.</p>
<p>MDMom–I was feeling sad while knowing that my S has a dream to go to N.Y. My S said he will bring many grandchildren back to me one day. I was laughing–how does he know his future wife will agree; I was also sad–he didn’t say to bring his mom and dad with him to N.Y.</p>
<p>My S told us Saturday that a student asked to cancel his SAT test right after the Essay was completed. All the kids were laughing and distracted. The student was asked to stay till the end of test. We asked my S how he did on his test, he wasn’t willing to talk about it. We understand how hard he was. He entered the test center at 7:45am and got picked up at 12:45. Spent 5 hours there.</p>
<p>Y’all are making me sad. It’s not too bad. Promise. With ds1, I cried the last month of HS as I prepared the baseball banquet slideshow. Seriously, all day as I edited I just cried and cried. But when it came time to drop him off, not a tear. I mean, really, what’s the alternative – strap them to the roof and take them back home? It’ll be OK. We can do this. (((Hugs))))</p>
<p>Ds2 got EIGHT piece of college mail today. The floodgates are open. I have no idea what’s happening in his e-mail account.</p>
<p>I’m so surprised how many people take AP Euro as sophomores. Most kids here take it as seniors or juniors or not at all. It’s one of the hardest APs at our school. The teacher is tough.</p>
<p>^–that is probably why. Euro is one of the easiest AP classes at our school, right after AP Psych-which is why the kids take it as seniors–sluff class :).</p>
<p>The in-boxes and mail boxes are full of stuff lately times 2 kids. For the most part they get the same things but not always. It’s interesting to see what colleges send things somewhat more selectively than others based on the information the kids put on their PSAT’s.</p>
<p>My son is back to his old ways – many assignments are not getting completed and grades are tanking. Add to it that we were coming up with colleges to visit over Easter break.</p>
<p>What do you do with a kid whose GPA is low and SAT are high?</p>
<p>I worry that he’ll just look lazy.</p>
<p>Yes, he has issues with ADHD (inattentive) and sleep. Yes, he has over-scheduled himself but it is too late in the game to do anything but push through (can’t drop anything). But really, in the end, he just isn’t stepping up. We’ve discussed a GAP year to death, but finances are an issue.</p>
<p>I have no motivation to take him to see colleges at the level of his IQ/SAT when he isn’t getting done the work now and his GPA may take too much of a hit. The flip side, it is the busy work that buries him. Many of the “private” top schools have 4 credit classes vs 3 credits, so 4 courses a semester instead of 5. Less classes = more focus for him. </p>
<p>Any suggestions?
Just need to be talked off the ledge. Also need to stop looking on the grade site - maybe I should just wait til June to check his grades since I can’t help him.</p>
<p>I wonder if he might consider colleges that have a block plan such as Colorado College?
With a quick search I found the following colleges that offer one course at a time:
Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa
Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa
University of Montana-Western, Dillon, Montana
Tusculum College, Greeneville, Tennessee
University of Southern Nevada, Henderson, Nevada
Quest University, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada</p>
<p>Longhaul–does your son WANT to go to college? Have you asked him, does he answer yes because that is what he knows you want to hear? He sounds a lot like our oldest. He really didn’t care much for school. He was tested but no ADD/ADHD or other LD’s, just lazy. We thought that once he started college and could take classes that were of interest to him he would change. He didn’t. There was no way we were paying for a “top private” school for him with that attitude. He went to a state school that was affordable, even got some scholarships for his ACT scores, grades were not great at all. He did bare minimum to get by in college too. Now he is in the workforce and loving his job. It’s an entry level job but he likes the people and actually likes the job which surprises me. He is up for a promotion next month so we will see if he gets that (actually in 2 weeks-it’s basically Feb already, YIKES). </p>
<p>I would step back and evaluate. Just because he is really smart doesn’t mean college is the right thing for him now.</p>
<p>It’s tough being a mom of boys sometimes. My S puts absolutely no effort into anything that doesn’t excite him. He skates through life with a charming personality and an almost perfect memory (learns by rote) but someday I know he’s going to hit a wall. He has never “studied” for any test that I know of. I think he has learned the rudiments of studying in school (Cornell notes, outlines, etc) but who knows if he’ll ever put those skills into practice. It’s kind of frustrating knowing that he has the intelligence to do anything, but no desire to do anything but music performance (which has little liklihood of providing a living). My only consolation is that they do all grow up eventually.</p>
<p>I watched my S11’s GPA pretty carefully because I knew he needed a 3.8 unweighted by the end of his junior year to be in contention for scholarships at the school he wanted to attend. Now I am trying to figure my D13’s GPA. It is pretty complicated because she is attending her third high school. Each one has used a different grading system. What would IB grades of 5, 6 and 7 be on a 4.0 GPA scale? On a weighted scale (4.3 A+ up to 5.0 AP A+)? Would you give a higher score for Higher Level courses than Standard Level courses? What do you think? I assume that when she applies to college the admissions offices will somehow determine her overall GPA. I’d like to have an estimate of what that would be.</p>
<p>Apollo6–I have no idea how to figure that out but it makes you really understand WHY the admissions process for schools is so difficult for the admissions staff!! Does your DD’s school have it figured somewhere taking all of that into consideration?? Our school makes it easy on the parents and just puts it on the report cards :).</p>
<p>Apollo - Colorado College is a top choice for him. He would LOVE the one course at a time. He attended CTY when younger for 3 summers and took to the 1 course super focus. Matches his personality well.</p>
<p>As far as calculating GPA, it is confusing. Some colleges re-calc GPA. I was surprised when I learned Elon re-calcs to a 6.0 scale - 2 pts for AP, 1 pt for Honors.</p>
<p>mncollegemom - Who knows if he wants to go to college. He did decide he does not want to enlist or go ROTC. We’ve talked about a Gap Year. I just think he feels not going to college is not what he wants. But, he has no idea what he wants to go for. One day it is engineering, the next philosophy, the next music. He is good at many things, but he hasn’t found a “passion.” Personally, I think passion is overrated. I just want him to be independent, employable & make enough to enjoy his life.</p>
<p>We told our son to get a degree, ANY degree. It shows employers that they can finish what they start. Along the way they are exposed to many things and hopefully something clicks. If not, they can at least get a job when they graduate, usually. It’s very frustrating though. My brother went to Cornell in Iowa. It was a good fit for him. Mount Vernon is a lovely college town. Might be worth looking into. I love the Colorado College campus though. Cornell’s is somewhat similar so that might be ok.</p>
<p>DS seems to be happy with what he is doing, for now. He is working a lot of hours but still has time for fun stuff. He has been building some computers on the side for coworkers and that feeds his interest in putting stuff together (loved Legos as a kid). I say, get a job, earn some money and let your passion be your hobby if you can’t make money at it.</p>
<p>He can always double major if he can’t pick ONE thing. Our youngest is going add a second major in History because he likes history and he figured out it’s not really a marketable degree on it’s own.</p>
<p>Longhaul, according to my niece who attended HS in North Carolina, AP classes get two points added and honors classes get one point at her high school. It must be a North Carolina thing.</p>
<p>I like this: “independent, employable and make enough to enjoy his life.” I would add with enough social skills that the boss doesn’t want to smack him with a 2 x 4. (This is for my DS’10).</p>
