<p>Awesome job, New Haven Ct mom! I hope your daughter has a great time!</p>
<p>Everybody else, now’s a good time to start looking for the StarTalk summer language programs if your child is interested in “critical need languages”. Ole Miss’ Summer College for High School students’ app is open too. That could mean completely free college credit for your student. My son loved it last year.</p>
<p>The Ole Miss’ program does not look like it’s free, is it?</p>
<p>edited to add: oops spoke too soon! Full scholarships ($2000) available for ACT 33-36 or SAT (CR+M) 1440-1600</p>
<p>Someone take my kid for the swap! He is very frustrating at the moment – the typical bright but unmotivated teen. He refused to study for the PSAT and got a 214, with an 800 on the math. With a little bit of studying he would have been in NMSF territory! He took the SAT last week and again did not study so we’ll see what those scores look like in a couple of weeks. Sigh. </p>
<p>He will need stellar scores to compensate somewhat for a so-so GPA. Unfortunately he goes to a very competitive and rigorous high school, so average GPAs are sky high and his is not. He is probably a little below the middle of the pack in GPA and slightly above average in PSAT relative to other juniors in his school so it will be tough to stand out. He does play two varsity sports and a club sport, and has leadership positions with an EC, as well as the usual volunteering blah blah blah. </p>
<p>Someone save me from these teenage years.</p>
<p>I have a 13-year old 7th grader and reading these posts from boy moms just makes me shake my head. A glimpse of what’s ahead? Getting him to do his homework, turn in his homework, put in his best effort is a daily struggle resulting in a lot of raised voices. So different from D14 who just goes about her business and gets it done. She’ll be meeting for the first time with her school CC next week. We also have a private counselor we work with–it’s on an hourly basis so we haven’t committed any big bucks. She was very helpful last year directing D14 to a really solid junior schedule and suggested some schools to visit last summer that we would not have considered putting on the list. We’re hoping she can offer some more for our upcoming east coast visit over spring break. D is not interested in small LACs which is making planning a bit more difficult. I don’t want to focus on too many highly selective schools but real matches–both academically and financially. D has no clue as to how far schools are from one another. Cappex has a great tool for trip planning but I’m the one who will have to take on the five hour drive if we decide to go from Boston to Lehigh. I’m hoping her meetings with both CC’s will add some gems to the list that we may have overlooked that won’t require a lot of time in the car. D has been able to articulate what she wants from a college a bit better–although her ideal major would be a combination of Science/Philosophy/Government…(Perhaps we best say “Undecided.”) Thanks for posting the Ole Miss summer program–it sounds fascinating! Hope all have a great Super Bowl weekend and I will go on record…Go Niners!</p>
<p>I think some of the difference you’re seeing, go2mom, is not so much a boy/girl difference as a first-born/second-born difference. Generalizing wildly on both, of course. I have 3 boys, but similar differences between S1 and S2.</p>
<p>2014NovaMom & GO2mom: Sometimes really bright kids don’t see the “point” to doing work they believe to be (and sometimes rightly so) beneath their level. I know of two brilliant young men DD went to grade school with who will graduate with ho hum GPAs because they’re just bored. </p>
<p>And sometimes it’s just hard to stay motivated, period. It’s definitely frustrating on the parent end, too.</p>
<p>I agree on the first born/second born thing … but wait, that was my first born I was willing to trade off! Oh boy, I’m going to have my hands full with the second born! 
I remember noticing lots of second born kids that were handfuls back when I only had one child. </p>
<p>Apollo6 - thanks for passing along the info on Ole Miss’ program. Is it an automatic “free” program for those test scores or is there a catch - have to write a super-duper essay, apply 3 years in advance, or some other criteria that would knock DS out of the running? Definitely worth looking into!</p>
<p>2014NovaMom, I think we have the same kid 
We live in a state with a low NMSF cutoff, so his 213 will probably qualify him for semifinalist. He was almost exactly in the middle of his glass GPA-wise last we saw.</p>
<p>My three totally bucked the birth order norms.</p>
<p>My DS is the first born, so I don’t think birth order explains it for him. I think that everything has come so easily for him until high school that he never really had to develop self-discipline. In contrast, my 8th grade DD has to work harder at certain subjects, and she is very diligent about school work.</p>
<p>He does really well in his more practical courses, like robotics and energy systems, so perhaps that’s just the way he learns (but how does that explain the A in APUSH?). I’m thinking we should be looking at engineering schools that are more project based.</p>
<p>It’s interesting, about birth order. D is a classic first born – perfectionist, a little difficult, exacting, less than 100% social skills, whereas S is the perfect middle child (even though he’s the 2nd and last) – easy going; good emotional intelligence; good at making friends and keeping them. It’s amazing how much they land on this earth with their own personality.</p>
<p>Got S’s 2nd quarter grades via email today. Am I the only mom who closes her eyes and says a prayer before clicking to open that pdf? He held his own, and improved in several tough subjects. I won’t reveal the grades – to me, that’s not the point – but I saw progress, and that is worth a lot in my mind.</p>
<p>Completely agree with 2015 above: “It’s amazing how much they land on this earth with their own personality.”</p>
<p>Generalizations about birth order and gender have not held through in my house!</p>
<p>My oldest son just loves to study birth order and personalities – and he’s an econ/political science major in college. He’s always been very driven. He’s a born leader, self-starter and very disciplined. He’s also a list guy – always has a to-do list going so he can remember all the things that he needs to do. In fact, every night before he goes to bed, he makes that list for the next day. The younger son, well, he tries to separate himself from his brother with his athletic interests. He’s more quiet, a homebody. Not as motivated academically but still takes tough classes. He tries to put on the tough guy act a lot, probably because he is the younger sibling. And oh is he stubborn! I suggested that he should do the to-do list thing. I got told that he did not need that. He could remember everything. Sometimes, it’s good that we’re at the same school. That way, I knew when to pay the dual enrollment fee for AP English.</p>
<p>Class of 2015–forgot to comment last night about closing your eyes before looking at grades…</p>
<p>Our middle and HS both use the same on-line grade reporting system. I need a 12-step program for this system as I look at it far too often. Some teachers report every single grade the same day the grade is earned (or not earned!) while others post a dozen grades the week after the semester closes. Generally, I find the system very useful b/c my first son requires a bit more oversight than the second.</p>
<p>Good morning 2014 Parents, it’s a gorgeous sunny day here in the northwest. And DD was up bright and early for an SAT prep class at school. </p>
<p>She came home yesterday with an pamphlet from the CollegeBoard about AP testing – which I assumed she was given because she’s enrolled in APUSH. This morning I received an email from the Advanced Placement Program “encouraging” me to encourage my child to take AP classes. </p>
<p>Why would they care?</p>
<p>They want your money, of course.</p>
<p>And the more kids that take the classes, the more classes are offered, the more kids feel they need to take the classes -> more money.</p>
<p>Seattle – It never occurred to me there would be a fee to take the AP test. DOH! Clearly, I haven’t read the AP Bulletin DD brought home. </p>
<p>Is College Board a privately held corporation? I understand that colleges like to have yet another set of stats with which to weed out or mine the population for students, but our nation’s obsession with testing is beginning to wear thin.</p>
<p>Agent99 asked “This morning I received an email from the Advanced Placement Program “encouraging” me to encourage my child to take AP classes. Why would they care?”</p>
<p>When you say AP Program, I assume you mean the people at your child’s HS who run the AP program. If that is the case, then I think they want your child to take the exams hoping he will do well in them. Our school’s school profile lists how many students took AP exams, how many scored 4 & 5, etc. I think all of these stats are used for those national HS rankings, so a school that has a high % of students scoring well on APs will end up with a higher ranking than a school that has a lower %.</p>
<p>I may be wrong about this but that is my guess.</p>
<p>But, if the question was why CB cares, I agree with seattle mom’s response.</p>
<p>CT – No, the email is actually from the College Board:</p>
<p>Dear Parent,</p>
<p>Your child has what it takes
to take AP®.</p>
<p>Advanced Placement® classes are tough, but that doesn’t mean your child isn’t up to the task. Based on recent PSAT/NMSQT® scores, your child has demonstrated the potential to succeed in an AP course and exam.</p>
<p>Encourage your child to visit exploreap.org to learn more.</p>
<p>Taking AP’s college-level courses while in high school can not only give your child a taste of what college is like, it will help him or her stand out come college application time by showing admission officers a willingness to take the most advanced courses his or her school has to offer. Not only that, but scoring well on the AP Exam can get your child college credit, placement out of introductory college courses or both, potentially saving thousands of dollars in tuition and fees.</p>
<p>If your child hasn’t considered enrolling in an AP class yet, encourage him or her to talk to a counselor or teacher about AP options. And if your child is already in an AP class, congratulations. It’s a big step toward college success.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Advanced Placement Program®</p>
<p>ETA: DD attends a Catholic college prep school. AFAIK there is not one person in charge of AP classes. Students take AP based on guidance from their counselors and the school doesn’t rank.</p>
<p>Interestingly, I asked D’s chem teacher (regular, not AP chem), if D should take the AP Chem test in May because she has such a great natural affinity for the subject. Her teacher advised her not to because of the cost, $85, and that there will be many topics not covered in her regular chem class that will be covered on the AP test. Today, I was talking with a friend who teaches AP Calc, etc. and she said the AP chem test is really rigorous and she suggested daughter buy a pair of cute shoes instead of paying $85 for a test she’s very unlikely to pass. :-). Better for self esteem! Will take advice and let D relax and enjoy life (she is NOT going into a STEM career, so why push it…)</p>