<p>Has anyone’s younger kids gone to visit their siblings in college yet? We just booked a ticket for S’13 to visit his sister (a freshman at American) over Spring Break. They are both really excited. They skype almost every night and he has already met so many of her new college friends. I noticed that he is Facebook friends with 4-5 of D’s friends. D’s roommate posts on S’s wall constantly. I think they will have a blast in DC over break. I’m a little jealous considering I haven’t been able to visit at all this year!</p>
<p>learninginprog–you are right (post 1320)! Thanks for pointing that out for anyone else who might need to know this. My mistake really underscores the need for applicants to check websites out for themselves, rather than relying on CC for the requirements!</p>
<p>In our case, my senior D submitted two SAT IIs to every college that would consider them, as she did well enough that they would be beneficial to her. I had forgotten that it was a recommendation, not a requirement, for Stanford.</p>
<p>S’13 had a very busy week. He got his braces off on Monday, got his drivers permit on Friday., and took a free practice SAT on Saturday. He is our third and I am not looking forward to teaching him how to drive!</p>
<p>I totally abdicated driving lessons to my husband. I just don’t have the nerves of steel required. However S’13 has been driving with his permit for about 4 months now, and I’m beginning to unclench.</p>
<p>megp: D2 has been on campus at D1s school a few times (move in day, Parents Weekend) but hasn’t actually stayed with her. She was supposed to during PW but they D1 decided it would be lovely to crash at the hotel with us. I’m trying to be chill about D1s school with D2 as I think it might be a good place for her when the time comes but I don’t want to push it. </p>
<p>and I also abdicate on the driving. That’s DH’s job. Really, it’s just better for everyone to NOT have me involved. </p>
<p>BerneseMtn: thank you for reminding me to have D set up a 2nd email address for college stuff. I knew that she should (cause D1 didn’t!) Will remind her of that tonight. </p>
<p>I am hoping that D has a full week of school. She hasn’t had one yet since Christmas due to weather. We’re apparently on watch for a big storm mid week; either a really heavy cold rain or heavy snow. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to see rain as bad as I do right now!</p>
<p>The sophomores are supposed to be visited by the Guidance counselors at the end of the week to get their registration info for junior year. There’s also an IB family meeting the first week of Feb. D is heavily leaning non-IB at this point. Yay for sanity :)</p>
<p>She should also find out about Governor’s School by mid-February. There are a few alternative summer programs she’s interested in, but won’t apply until she hears back from GS.</p>
<p>We are going to have the SAT2’s follow the AP exams. Seems easier, and a better way to ensure success. This year D is taking AP LIT and AP World, so we will look to follow on the AP World, although I have not really done any research on this. Guidance is sorely lacking at my D’s school so I feel the need to manage this on my own. </p>
<p>We did receive the registration the bill/registration this week for the 2 AP’s in May. </p>
<p>Rob- our IB meeting is also sometime in February with the IB application due three days later. IB seems a good fit for my D so we are leaning in that direction as well. </p>
<p>D is away this week on a Ski trip. So jealous except for the extreme cold temperatures, and the fact that I would more than likely break every bone in my body.</p>
<p>D received an e-mail today asking if she wants to take the AMC 10 test in 2 weeks. She has never taken this type of test before, and I hesitate to throw her into it without any prep. I asked the teacher in charge if he had any old tests for her to look at, and he said no, as it is the first time our school has offered it! Thanks to CC, I found a site with old questions. I will leave it up to her if she wants to try it.</p>
<p>Regarding the AMC, I thought I had found a link on CC that took me to a website that had each of the previous tests, with problems & solutions in one document for each year (vs. the solutions being in separate documents). I can not find that thread or link now… does anyone know where it might be?</p>
<p>What is the AMC test? I’m not familiar with it.</p>
<p>DS got his braces off last week too! So happy that he is not eligible for drivers permit till May (and at that time he will be too busy because of his sport). He’ll be away in the summer so drivers ed will be in the fall.</p>
<p>A few (several) pages back you all provided advice on AP classes for DS for next year. Well, I just realized he gets an elective too! Went through the course catalog and see there are some great (challenging) options! Principals of Engineering (honors), IB Economics SL, College Business Law (for credit through a local college), IB Info Tech for a Global Soc SL. (He’s a science/math kid, aiming for engineering, would love to have a combined biz/eng program in college - sights on Lehigh right now)</p>
<p>Anyone have experience with either of those two IB classes? They sound like great classes. Would they put him over the top?</p>
<p>For those of you who missed my previous “research” on DS classes for junior year, he will be taking AP Lang, AP Calc, AP Phys, US History (honors) and College Spanish. He’s off from school today (no mid-term) so I will have him look at the course catalog and see if he picks the same things I think he will be interested in. Doesn’t meet with GC to pick the elective till 2/14.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>For those of you at schools that offer both IB and AP …take a look at IB computer science. My S took the first year of the HL course while a lot of his friends took the AP version. Apparently, the IB course was in Python and has been a much better preparation for Carnegie Mellon Comp Sci. His friend who took AP was not as well prepared, apparently. It could have been the teachers but it is worth thinking about if you have a choice.</p>
<p>There are several interesting discussions here!</p>
<p>Driving: My son is 16 and has had his permit for over a year. However, our car insurance costs $1800 now (insuring 2 cars and 3 drivers; my husband has a company car) but would go up by $1600 to add him as a driver! As he doesn’t have a car to drive yet, it doesn’t make sense to me to pay that much for him to drive alone a couple of times a month.</p>
<p>LINYMOM–class schedule: Your S has some great choices! I’m a mom, not a GC, but if it were my child, I’d encourage him to take Principles of Engineering. Loving or hating that course might help your child decide whether he absolutely needs a college that offers (or specializes in) engineering. My math/science D decided that she is not interested enough in engineering to make sure her college offers it; she will probably major in math, chemistry or physics.</p>
<p>SAT II: I discovered another reason to take the Math 1 or 2 SAT subject test–UNC Chapel Hill recommends it for placement reasons because a student who takes AP Calc (either AB or BC) as a senior won’t necessarily get his scores back in time for summer registration for his freshman year of college. Here is the link for anyone who is interested:
[Placement</a> Information](<a href=“http://www.math.unc.edu/for-undergrads/placement-info.html]Placement”>http://www.math.unc.edu/for-undergrads/placement-info.html)</p>
<p>While not everyone is interested in UNC-CH, I expect that other colleges might also use subject tests for placement.</p>
<p>^ Some colleges allow entering students to use SAT language subject tests to place out of their foreign language requirement. My D1’s LAC is one. D1 is a whiz in foreign languages, with 4 years of Latin, 2 years of Ancient Greek, 2 years of college-level French (at our state flagship), and 3 semesters of college-level Portuguese (ditto)—all before she entered college as a full-time freshman. Ironically, though, because she never took any of the SAT subject tests or other tests that would have qualified her to place out of her college’s foreign language requirement, she has to take a year of a foreign language. No matter, though; she had intended to continue with advanced French anyway, which she’s now doing in contemplation of study abroad in France in her junior year, possibly at Science Po in Paris.</p>
<p>DRIVING!<br>
Uggh, I can’t even go there yet. I am calmer thinking about paying for college than I am thinking about son driving and the insurance costs. He isn’t eligible by age until December. He isn’t really thinking about it either. </p>
<p>Son is the most stressed I’ve ever seen him with semester exams this week. I don’t know why I feel stressed too. </p>
<p>Megpmom – I think it is really great your kids get along so well! We are seeing a shift in our family dynamics - My 2 youngest (4th & 5th grade) are as thick as thieves now, which is great, but it means my 2 boys (10th & 5th graders) have drifted apart, which is sad to me. I know that they are just in very different places emotionally now and will drift back together in time, but still.</p>
<p>bclintonk: thanks for the insight about foreign languages. D1 had a fractured HS language experience (due to an online Latin class she was recruited for but was discontinued for the next year) and she decided to pick up a new language for college, so I have no personal experience with that for D2. She will end up with 5 years of Spanish, so that’s good to know about the AP/SAT II tests. </p>
<p>While I was hoping for a full week of school, it’s looking as if D2 will have a snow day tomorrow. Unfortunately, there’s no way they’ll call it till the morning so I’ll have to remember to put the phone on my nightstand tonight. AND she had NO HOMEWORK last night. First. Time. Ever. this year. She was giddy. Enjoyed watching a mindless movie with her dad. It’s amazing what having that study hall is doing this semester.</p>
<p>Longhaul: We also had a big shift in family dynamics about a year ago. We are foster parents and we had a foster son living with us for 3 yrs, who was the same age as S’13. The two boys were very close. Foster son was reunited with his biological mother at the beginning of the summer - so, for the first time since S’13 could remember, we only had our 2 biological kids at home. They spent a lot of time together over the summer and are closer than they have ever been. And now, we have decided not to foster for a while (lots of reasons) so S’13 is the only child home. It feels so strange - maybe that’s why I now have time to be on CC.</p>
<p>AMC test is American Mathematical Competition. It is a series of tests.</p>
<p>Starting with AMC10 or AMC12. AMC 10 is for 10th graders and under. But a 10th grader and under can chose to take AMC12. If a student is a junior or above, he/she is only allowed to take AMC12. Usually there are about 150,000-200,000 students in the country taking AMC10 and AMC12 combined.</p>
<p>After AMC10 and AMC12, top 2.5% scorers in AMC 10 and top 5% scorers in AMC12 are invited to take the next test AIME/ American invitational mathematical examination. About 15,000-18,000 total students are invited to take AIME.</p>
<p>After AIME, about 500 students (qualifiers) are selected in the US to take USAMO (USA math Olympiad competition, 270 students) and USAJMO (USA math junior Olympiad competition, 230 students). If a student ever qualified for USAMO/ USAJMO before senior year (results from senior year are too late for college application), it would make someone a very strong candidate for top schools HYPSM (assuming no problems with SAT and GPAs and usually those students can easily get more than 2300 in SAT I with no prep).</p>
<p>Ultimately, top 12 students from 270 USAMO qualifiers will prevail as USAMO winners and will be tested again to select final 6 to represent USA in IMO (International math Olympiad).</p>
<p>Digging out from 17 inches of snow!</p>
<p>School canceled and exams have moved to Monday (Friday was scheduled off).
Last week my son turned down the opportunity for Search and Rescue up in the mountains (or PA hills to those of you out West) for this weekend. He was regretting this decision on Monday, but is quite happy with it now. Sleeping on snow is not his favorite activity.</p>
<p>The ONLY part of the college process my son is interested in is for my to identify schools south of the Mason/Dixon line or California. He has had it with this weather. I guess he hasn’t looked at national forecasts and has no idea that some of you down south have snow your share this year too. This year it has snowed more often than I ever remember.</p>
<p>Ugh Longhaul. My SILs are still both in Jersey and they are NOT happy. I’m hearing most snow up there since the winter of 1995-1996 (which I remember well since D2 was a baby and we actually got snowed in, and DH got snowed out of the house for 3 days.) While Nashville is having the snowiest winter since 2002-2003, the reality is that we’ve only gotten around 11 inches total. Which is a big deal when there are no snow plows & roads are twisty and hilly. But still it’s not 17 inches at a time. </p>
<p>Just checked temps for the weekend and it will be 51 here in Nashville this weekend and 67 in Tuscaloosa (home of U of Alabama.) </p>
<p>Oh, by the way they did have a snow day yesterday so still not a full week this year. AND there’s chatter of a Groundhog Day storm. </p>
<p>So. Over. Winter.</p>
<p>It should be about 65 here in Dallas today. But remember it will be 100 by May (until October), so there are trade-offs.</p>
<p>We have a snow day today - well I still have to debate going in to work or not but the kids are happy :)</p>
<p>D’13 already selected her classes for next year - I left it up to her unless she had questions because it is not worth the potential battle if I suggest a class that she ends up hating. This year was the first year she went with her gut and she’s a much happier and better student so I was pleasantly surprised that she selected 3 AP classes next year, all in areas she is interested in - well maybe not AB Calc but there is no non-AP version. She was struggling with which science to choose and all her friends had her swayed that physics was what looks the best on college apps but I told her to pick one that she would enjoy and do well in (and I know it is not physics for this kid) and that she wasn’t going into a science type major so I doubted colleges would place much weight on her being physicsless. </p>
<p>She has her permit but we haven’t driven much yet and now with our snow and ice that will be weeks off. She wasn’t as interested before, and the couple times I took her made me nervous enough to put it off :)</p>