<p>Congrats to Mathmomvt’s son. It’s good to walk out of a test feeling good.</p>
<p>Our day was crazy – H dropped S off at PSAT while I walked to the train. Moving offices in midtown Manhattan (just 10 blocks) but it took all day, and will consume most of tomorrow. I called S to find out how it was. He said it was hard.</p>
<p>H asked him if he asked for his extra time (because he has a learning disability and College Board has it in their system): he said no. Maybe since the test is given at his school, he didn’t want to stand up and announce he needed extra time. Which kills me. Having a learning disability when it comes to standardized tests is like wearing a scarlet letter, especially in front of your peer group. It’s supposed to help, but you know what? It doesn’t.</p>
<p>If they tested for kindness, or caring, or being an all around good guy, he would be a NMF! Even a super-NMF!</p>
<p>ugh, 2015, that’s a pain about him having to ask for his approved accommodation – I’d have thought it would be automatic once it was in CB’s system that his name would be flagged and the school would be told what to do. I’d also think it could be pretty easy for a school to accommodate without making a spectacle. (Send the kids all to pre-assigned classrooms, without advertising how the assignment was done…)</p>
<p>I have no trouble believing your son would “make the grade” for kindness, caring, and being an all around good guy :)</p>
<p>We’ve requested accommodations for the essay sections only on the SAT/ACT (and eventually AP exams) because of my son’s writing disability, but we haven’t heard back yet. We requested use of a computer but I’ve been told that’s nearly impossible to get. I guess we’ll see.</p>
<p>@pdx
The discussions began as soon as they were done with the test on Wednesday. I believe the username was Medicalboy. He was the first to say how easy it was about 10:57 am. I was shocked and amused… these kids eat, breath and sleep CC! Many of the PSAT testers weighed in on the test, how hard/easy it was… even discussed words that were on the test, CR passages, math questions… .they were really giving lots of detailed info. I knew that CC was going to pull it. It was just a matter of time… and after I picked dd14 up after school at 3:30pm and looked at it… it was gone! Due to breaking TOS rules. Others have popped up and are getting yanked as well… I am surprised b/c they havent been such sticklers about this in the past. I know I have seen threads stay put… maybe college board has something to do with it?</p>
<p>Collegeboard has the kids write (in cursive) a statement (that they sign) stating they won’t share any questions from the test until after test results are out in Dec. Since they have signatures, I presume they can go after any who are sharing questions/words, etc, and drop them from NM contention. One would think kids who are so “intelligent” wouldn’t be so “dumb.” CC is doing them a favor by pulling their comments.</p>
<p>Other years we had to tell them not to share, but they never had to sign a statement (that they write) saying they wouldn’t. By sharing this time they are definitely going against their written word - not exactly a good character trait.</p>
<p>Interesting Creekland. I knew that talking about the test on the same day was a no-no. But a poster on the thread the pdx gave us the link to says something about 24 hours is the limit. </p>
<p>I asked dd14 about her ap test back in May, she told me she couldn’t discuss it. LOL She says that she signed that she wouldn’t discuss the test with anyone. I felt a bit miffed, I’m her mother for crying out loud.But hey, she is a honest kid. LOL </p>
<p>On another note, we went to Yale’s Multicultural Open House. Nice event. She is glad that she went and wants to apply there… she just needs to get her scores up!</p>
<p>Classof15 - you should have your ds sign up to take an SAT at a different high school, so he won’t feel “singled out” when using the extra alloted time. Worth a shot.</p>
<p>Anyone else having their student take the ACT Saturday? We have to go to the local private Catholic school since our school doesn’t offer it, but so far, my two older boys have been better on the ACT than the SAT so it’s worth it.</p>
<p>We went to Towson University on Friday. It was nice but crowded. (open house) My dd loved it and will apply. I was not blown away by the campus but it will be fine. Close to home and in-state for us. (yea!) She will be seeing the marching band on the 3rd that may clinch the deal (I have heard they are good). We all have our priorities :-).</p>
<p>^^^ I wrote it on the board in my room. Several students were copying it as if it were a work of art. It might actually be my best work of art as I’m a math/science person and VERY artistically challenged. ;)</p>
<p>They did have to add their own signature and printed name/date.</p>
<p>I can’t say what others did and I’ve no idea how much of a stickler collegeboard will be if the sentence isn’t written “correctly,” etc.</p>
<p>D had Monday off due to teacher in-service so we took a one tank trip to South Bend, IN for the info session and afternoon tour at Notre Dame. She had a quick “drive by” view on our way home from Chicago this past summer and wanted to return for the in-depth visit. The afternoon info group was about 15 students and parents. The Adcon handling was very laid back and personable and made a point to ask all of the sudents a few general questions. The tour guide (we had 3 to choose from) was very knowledgable, very personable and did a great job with both the tour and the questions. It was nice just having 4 students and families in the group. I must say the campus is beautiful (and large). The fall tree colors helpd to give it that traditional college campus feeling. D isn’t sure whether she will apply or not. She loved the campus but seemed hung up on the fact that the dorms are single sex! :eek: She has stayed overnight in her brother’s mixed sex dorms and like the vibe better. Time will tell.</p>
<p>BTW, when the kids checked in with the Admissions Office, they were given several brochures and a college bulletin along with a ND bookbag backpack to hold everything. They also received discount meal tickets for one of the two main dining halls. The bookstore is so big and well stocked it seemed like a small department store. :D</p>
<p>I am new to CC, I have a DD who will graduate in 2014. This thread is amazing, such friendly conversations, so much of valuable information and encouragement. Thank you for sharing your experiences, I will try to share. </p>
<p>I posted about how important SAT/ACT score is for college admission in “Engineering Majors” and how unmotivated she is about preparing for SAT. However, reading through this thread made me realize a lot of kids are not motivated to prepare for SAT. It is not surprising given their homework and other stuff. Just wish she some how got the motivation. </p>
<p>I noticed a few posts about tutoring, is tutoring more common? My DD is totally against tutoring, given her tight schedule I think it really helps to have a few hours of tutoring before she gives her SAT in Dec.</p>
<p>I also got a chuckle reading some of the posts about APUSH, she has a ton of homework but she seems to be ok with it so far though. She is taking AP Bio which is a lot of work too.</p>
<p>Looking forward to spending more time on this thread (I have to admit I have spent last 4hrs reading through this thread some times smiling or laughing along the way)</p>
<p>Welcome, HappyORMom!
I have to confess – I saw your screen name before I had coffee, and I started thinking: ok, you can be happy, OR you can be a mom. Then when NewHavenCTMom posted right under, the whole state abbreviation thing clicked in. Oregon, right? </p>
<p>I am so glad they don’t make us middle aged people take the SAT…I don’t even think I’d get the 400 score for writing my name down.</p>
<p>We’ll just assume you are a happy ORegon mom, lol! I have a son (S2) who went through admissions as an e’school applicant as a hs2011 grad so if you have questions I’ll try to help where I can. My S3 (hs2014) has waffled, and is now leaning away from Comp Sci towards statistics/econ/fianance.</p>
<p>My S2 did very well studying on his own for the SATs and was able to meet his goals that way. We decided to start with an initial test that he self studied for and if it looked like he was in the ballpark continue that way. If it looked like he needed additional help our choice would have been a private tutor to address his specific needs. We felt the time and money would have been better spent. From what I’ve heard about general prep classes in our area I have not been impressed, it’s a global focus, and like you, my kids time is limited. I’d rather spend the time and money focused on areas of specific concern after identified. This is the same route we plan on going with S3. His time management skills are not as good as his older brothers and with more AP classes to juggle I’m not sure how effective his SAT studying is right now. He does generally test well, so we’ll have to wait and see. What works with one, doesn’t always work with another.</p>
<p>AvonDad - I had to chuckle at your :eek: over your DD’s reaction to the dorms, lol! When S2 (as the 2011 parents all know as bluejr) was in the final stages of selecting schools I pointed out all the dorm policies at each school. I instructed him to read them carefully, understand the differences, and make sure he could abide by and live with all of them before he made a decision. (I did the same with honor codes, etc.) They were drastically different. As far as visitation, one had no regulations, only what you worked out with your roommate and a maximum of 3 days (that cracked me up). Another was from noon to midnight (10am was not okay?!). One completely depended on the dorm you were assigned and that was random…from no restrictions co-ed by room, to single sex dorms with very restrictive visiting. He did choose the school based on academics, I fully believe that…but it does have 24hr visitation in all dorms. I got over it very fast (this from the mom that didn’t approve the post prom party that didn’t have parents home). I didn’t even blink when I saw earrings on his nightstand that I know for a fact were not his…no piercings, feather hoops (turns out his gf’s roommate’s, I swear I didn’t ask and the more I heard it was TMI). First year is a harsh reality of letting go…gotta lift those router blades to a higher altitude. But, I digress…</p>
<p>How much do your schools do group (graded) projects? I just looked at my '14 grades (marking period ends next week) and discovered his Advanced Bio grade dropped from an A- to a B. It shocked me as this is my ‘Bio from diaper aged’ kid. When I look at the specifics? It was a group project grade of 46/70. A similar deal happened in his Animal & Plant Science class. A group grade there of 51/70 dropped him a letter grade overall. When I asked him about it he told me he couldn’t control the parts his group members did (powerpoint, etc) and that his part was close to perfect with the grading. I suspect something similar with this Bio project when I ask him later.</p>
<p>I really, really dislike group graded projects and our school wants more and more of them in each class (even math classes have “Team Tests”). It’s common for teachers to pair top students with low students in the groups… and IME, the top kids really suffer.</p>
<p>There’s nothing I can do about it since this kid doesn’t want to homeschool (I homeschooled our other two through high school), so I suppose I’m just venting, but my question remains - how much do other districts do this?</p>
<p>I’ll be super glad to be out of our public school system in 2 years…</p>