<p>My S finished school last Friday! glad to be done! It has been a very long year! He missed about 20 days of schools which effected his GPA. I was hoping his GPA would go up but it stayed th same - 90 - B at his school. His first attempt at the SAT was 2020! i think is great but He wants to take It again in the Fall. He had too much going on in the beginning of June and decided to postpone taking the ACT. Because he was sick so oftern we held off looking at schools in the Spring. We have looked at Brandeis which he really likes but will be a reach. Hobart William Smith -2nd choice - safety school. University of New England and Wheaton. -he likes them all! All have good Neuriscience program. In July we are going to Drew, UConn, Conn Col, Trinity, Weslesyn (reach) and maybe WPI. In Aug - we are thinking about visiting - Union, Skidmore, St Lawrence maybe RIT and go back to HWS for an interview. At some point, we will visit Northeastern U and maybe BU - I went to BU for graduate school and loved it. If it were me I would go to a large university - I love BU and Boston! but it is not me - my son grew up in a small town in Maine. He is leaning towards a small LAC which is fine. I just want him to check out a couple of large schools to make an informed decision. However, I have to say I loved HWS - such a pretty campus right on a Senna lake in Upstate NY and has a Division One Sailing team. The only draw back is that It does not have a Neuroscience program. he could create his own major or major in Biology and minor in psychology. He could potentially get a scholarship to HWS so we will see. I hope he doesn’t end up liking all the schools we look at!
Now we are waiting for the subject test and AP exam results! Tomorrow he is finally testing for his drivers license ! Most kids get their license at 16 in Maine. S doesn’t really care one way or the other…I want him to have it! I am tired of driving him everywhere! …</p>
<p>Ah AP passing scores… our school ditched AP when few got better than a 2 on any test… and most never took the test.</p>
<p>But hey, we have high GPAs. (We seldom get any into Ivy or equivalent and when they do, they have SAT/ACT scores that match being there. My guy is far from it as are most of the “top” students. There’s a reason I’m hanging out on this thread… I’m aware of our school’s limitations.)</p>
<p>onlyonemom - We have many things in common! We are in a smallish town in Maine, and I went to BU for graduate school. On the other hand, a 90 is an A- at my son’s school and my S is aiming for a life in the theatre…</p>
<p>S finished school last Friday and made the Honor Roll, yay! Now he is packing for a six week Musical Theatre pre-college program at Carnegie Mellon. He has asked two teachers for LORs, and both said they would be very happy to do so. I told him he should plan to write his Common App. essay when he returns in August. Can’t believe Junior year is done, phew!</p>
<p>Our private school has 94 as a A-. I’m hoping when the colleges look at the grading scale it bumps DD up a little. I plugged her actual grades into a straight 4.0 scale (90=A-) for the last three years and her gpa goes from 3.36 to 3.52. This whole process is so confusing. Our school does not offer AP or Honors as all students take the same college prep classes so confused as what the college admins will think of that. On a positive note my DD’s number one choice school called the other night. We’ve had a few students call this spring but the other night it was her admin rep, hopefully that’s a good sign. It took all my will power not to sit in on the conversation but she told me that they just talked in general and when he asked her what she thought of the school she told him she would attend if offered admission. Keeping fingers and toes crossed.</p>
<p>I am LOVING this thread!!! First S was a completely different animal than my 2nd S (class of 2014). First had 3.9 GPA, 31 ACT, 3 SATII’s over 700, and 6 AP classes. He ended up at UofM. Lucky boy! This S is a little all over the board…3.4 GPA (weighted) going into senior year. Mostly college prep level classes, with 5 or 6 honors and 3 AP level classes by graduation. Has a 504 but was denied extra time on ACT and SAT (UGH) So…scores were disappointing…ACT 24, SAT 1730. Still waiting for June results tomorrow.</p>
<p>I think we have a good handle on schools, but we differ on where he’ll thrive. He wants large with all the fixings, and says he’ll be engaged and will do well. I would like him to focus on 5000 and under schools for the “relationship” building that goes on with profs. Also, I guess I have to look into schools that offer good support through Student Services Office…he has auditory processing. I’ll be reading the entire thread tonight…getting good tips already!</p>
<p>Entertainer Mom I thought all of Maine was on the 7 pt scale? I hate it and find it confusing when trying to compare to 4.0 scale. the teacher are inconsistent in grading -especially those “from away” . His English teacher last year couldn’t understand why kids were upset with an 85! At our school it is a b- but she viewed it as a good grade. Our school needs to get in line with everyone else. OK enough venting…</p>
<p>DS weighted average is a 112 - but I have been told By the GC that only prestigious schools look at weighted averages… So where does that leave him…I am pretty sure we are looking at the right schools and hope he gets into a school he would be happy with…he is one of those bright lazy boys and most often does well on finals and Standardized test. He doesn’t care about grades only the learning- I applaud him for caring about the learning but worry about his grades. He ended the year with a c+ (83) in AP English and French 84 in French - higher grades in other subjects offset the lower grades. I think he will do OK in college when the final is 40% or more of the grade- at his school it is 10%…
I gave him this week off…what is he doing ? playing video games…Well I did tell him he could do what ever he wanted:p …</p>
<p>juniormom93 - I’m popping over from the 2013 thread. You caught my attention with the auditory processing. My class of 2016 son has APD, and it has been a real struggle for him at times. He went with us to accepted students day at Rochester Institute of Technology (where his sister will be attending). He was absolutely blown away, and decided he wants to go there. Because the National Technical Institute of the Deaf is located at RIT, there are all sorts of things in place that would help an APD kid. For example, the very large opening assembly had real time closed captioning. The small departmental session had a person taking notes for a student. The notetaker took notes, and it popped up immediately on the student’s laptop. It was very cool. Son even said he would try a hearing aid there, which he has resisted mightily to this point (note: this may or may not help - some APD kids have success with hearing aids, others don’t). As far as I can tell, APD does not qualify for NTID’s subsidized tuition, but I think the supports would be available to anyone showing a need.</p>
<p>So, your son may want to look at RIT. Although they are known for science and engineering, they have quite broad offerings and a top notch art school. They are large (15000 students), but the department my daughter is in feels intimate. No teaching assistants. My daughter’s scores were very similar to your son’s scores.</p>
<p>I like that colleges use the HSs school profile to understand the school, its offerings and what grades mean. </p>
<p>The most helpful things our K1s GC told us was that the AP scores rate was the most helpful thing–it allowed AdComs to know more about rigor.
Many schools make the students who are not AP worthy take AP classes and then the district pays for the kids to take the tests. Crowing about how many take AP classes/tests. They don’t publish how many are getting 5s.
Also there are schools where the kids have high GPAs yet the SATs and AP tests tell another story- so grade inflation is obvious.</p>
<p>OUr K2s GPA is just under this thread’s margin though the first SAT was pretty decent and we hope the second SAT and the ACT (1st attempt) will tease out where K2 can apply. There is some underachievement at play and some grade deflation…Grades cut off at 93 for an A, etc 84 for a B, 75 for a C etc…</p>
<p>I do worry when I see on college CDSs higher GPAs…however coming from a rigorous private I hope will balance it–and that the school profile will tell more of the story. Also for K2 the trend has been upward–not steep upward, yet upward still and also upward in rigor.</p>
<p>Hoping K2 gets some snap apps/preferred apps…</p>
<p>Juniormom93…mine has some LD things in play …is twice exceptional…high IQ yet the LDs bring the effective IQ down (slow processing). Has extended time for testing…has had that option at school for years and years thought (frustating to me and the teachers) won’t use it. Doesn’t like being different.</p>
<p>We sound so much alike Fogfog. It will be an interesting year for sure! We are in the Midwest and DD doesn’t want to go to far from home (shocking!). Where are you looking it you don’t mind me asking?</p>
<p>Hooray! D is officially now a senior. Where did the time go? Just found out the date and place of next year’s graduation. Sent the relatives a “save the date” email yesterday for those considering visiting/celebrating with us. D is oldest grandchild on one side and only grandchild on the other, so it’ll be a special celebration.</p>
<p>I’m sure the next 12 months will go by in a flash. It will be a bittersweet year, knowing our only will be leaving the nest for a far away(?) school. We applaud her willingness to consider colleges on the other side of the country. None of her friends are even remotely thinking about schools beyond the Pacific NW, Calif. and Utah. </p>
<p><em>clink clink</em> Here’s a toast to all of the new seniors and their parents on this thread.</p>
<p>My son is also twice exceptional 99% IQ with slightly lower than average processing speed. Making it difficult to process all the information he can take in. He is also allowed extra time on test and uses it. He views the extra time as leveling the playing field. He feels he is as smart as everyone else but just needs more time to take the test.
Mamaduck - thanks for the info on RIT - my son can not take notes and listen at the same time - teachers are required to give him notes but he has not taken them up on it. In his freshman year a teacher didn’t understand that it was suppose to be confidential and asked another student to take notes for DS - after that DS has refused note option but maybe it could be different in college. I wonder if DS needs to declare disability in his application?</p>
<p>Mother of twice exceptional son here too! Superior in all but processing, which is a lot lower. My son works hard to blend in and hardly uses his accommodations too. He has come a long way, but still struggles with thinking he understands what he is supposed to do and ends up being in error because he did not seek clarification. He also has been elbow deep in video games this week though I did pry him out of his room to mow the lawn…</p>
<p>Sorry to go OT from our Class of 2014 kids, but I have a rising 7th grader who is twice exceptional…at last testing his processing speed was more than 2 SDs below his IQ…ugh! Grades, especially on tests, do NOT represent his intelligence. Can’t listen and take notes, yet resists using notes from other students, kind of a disorganized mess overall…I keep thinking that I can’t imagine how he will ever be able to go to college. I’m sure if he were my firstborn and I had nobody to compare him to, I wouldn’t be as concerned.</p>
<p>So I’m wondering, did you have the same concerns about your twice exceptional kiddos that I’m having about my 2E kid, five years ago? Did your kids “pull it together” in Jr High, or when they got to high school… or are you still struggling with executive functioning, even as they approach Senior year?</p>
<p>My son’s first grade teacher had two “valets” for my son during the winter because he was so slow getting on the winter gear. In March of second grade, his teacher told me he wore his winter boots and snow pants all day, which was his way of adapting and to avoid needing help or extra time. I’m also a Special Ed. Social Worker and case manager in a High School, so I’ve seen many children who have this profile and maturity is a wonderful balm for many. There are still moments when I throw up my hands and say to my son, “I don’t know how you make it!” because of his more spectacular moments of absent mindedness and disorganization. But… he does make it somehow and has found success. I do wish at times he could have an easier time of it academically, but he is smart and talented in other areas and I love him dearly.</p>
<p>juniormom93…my S1 is also at UofM. Completely different ballgame w/ S2</p>
<p>Collegefortwins…my S1 was able to pull it together by the end of middle school and had a high achieving experience in high school. Not so much the case for S2, who has struggled at their highly competitive high school, but was able to turn things around somewhat, finally, during this junior year. I guess there’s no cookie-cutter answer.</p>
<p>I am o glad to hear that there are others out there like my S ! Especially the note taking- the school acts like it is so unusual and that he should learn to take his own notes! He looses points for not Annotating or doing notes at home - he doesn’t learn by taking notes - he listens and reads and does not need to take notes but it doesn’t matter if note taking is assigned at home - he is required to do it- He does not and gets a 0…,</p>
<p>collegefortwins - it does get better- my son was a mess in middle school I pulled him out of public and enrolled him in a small Private school! He loved it! He was there a month and I was told that most likely he had ADD and suggested we have him tested - which we did- public school viewed him as lazy and unorganized. He is now back in public -good school for the most part…</p>
<p>I am so glad to read about all the kids similar to my son. He went to a rigorous private school for grades 6-8, and while he did learn a lot the teachers viewed him as lazy and unorganized. I can say this unequivocally, since I work there. He had an FM system, which the teachers did wear, but they would not help him with note taking at all. Their view was that he had to figure it out. I moved him back to public for 9th grade, and sent an e-mail to all his teachers at the beginning of the year outlining the APD. I have to say they’ve been extraordinary, even giving him chances to redo assignments when they felt he didn’t understand the verbal instructions. On the other hand, he refused to ask for notes. He no longer uses the FM system. He does not have any written accommodations, but the school has indicated that I only have to ask. I am debating doing so, just so it’s documented for colleges. After his visit to RIT, he asked what he needed to do to improve his grades. We came up with a system where he had to go through Blackboard on Mondays, find his assignments, and post them in a google calendar. He then shared that calendar with me. He only missed two homework assignments for all of 4th quarter. His grades skyrocketed (except math, but he just couldn’t grasp one concept there and miserably failed one test). He’s begging for a smartphone, so he can verbally update his calendar at the end of each class, snap pictures of the board, or even record lectures (I think the school would allow this - they allow phones between classes already). Do you guys have any further suggestions for the next three years of high school?</p>
<p>Mama duck - I wish my S was as motivated as yours! The smart phone is a good idea and I am sure the school will allow it- have it added to his 504 plan. Our school gave the kids IPads last year ( instead of upgrading the shared laptops). This has worked well for my S. everything is organized in one place. - you may consider getting him an IPAD. He could have all his apps in one place. My S’s paper work is disorganized but his IPAd is extremly organized. But the school gives the students apps from the school to connect to the school but it could still work for him. Something to think about.</p>
<p>entertainermom… we will be in this together next year… my S is also a theater guy. I’m happy to hear your S is headed to Carnegie Mellon this summer. That is my S’s first choice for college… although my S is straight theater not MT. He is headed to Northwestern’s Cherubs theater program for 5 weeks, then to Edinburgh Scotland to do a play at the Fringe Festival and to London. He won’t get home till the day before school starts… yikes, so much for all those college essays…sigh. He is at a camp working right now, so basically he is gone all summer. Finished Junior year very strong… whew!! Looks like it is going to be quite a ride… glad I have another theater mom on here…</p>