<p>omg thanks swizzle! it’s darn helpful!!!</p>
<p>Someone asked “the girl” to the prom before my S’14 could execute his cake in a mug idea. I asked him if he has a plan B and he said “not right now”. I suspect he’ll end up asking someone though. He has a lot of female friends. </p>
<p>I’m hoping to get him to do some of the preference questions on collegeboard and college ******* and see what comes up for him as matches, etc. </p>
<p>ACT round 2 is coming up right after trimester finals… March 5th. He has a four day weekend and isn’t feeling great so he’s hanging out at home and has done quite a few practice tests.</p>
<p>@swizzle absolutely hilarious! They have way too much fun in those admissions offices… Can I get a job there? </p>
<p>@2016 No way… I can’t believe they are planning for prom dates already. When is the prom? Did I miss the date up thread?</p>
<p>2016BarnardMom Awww… I’m sorry he didn’t get to the girl fast enough. It seems awfully early to be asking - isn’t the prom in May?</p>
<p>My d has a boyfriend, which seems to be a stable relationship, so I believe there will be no need to sweat it out over a date. However I am so glad kids go without dates. In my day that was a huge deal - and I don’t know why at this age we’re pushing romance and needing dates to fit in.</p>
<p>We went to visit d’s first safety - and she uttered the magic words - I would go here! Phew! She understands now our need for her to have 2 or 3 schools she’ll apply and know she’ll get in and be okay with going. We spoke for a few minutes to the admissions counselor who basically told her she wouldn’t have a problem getting in. It really took the heat of my d to understand she will get in places, she’ll have choices. I know she wants to aim higher and has a few she prefers more, but this is a relief to all of us. Not to mention the school is in the south and it was nice to get out of the cold weather if only for a day. Oh - and I don’t use the word “safety” with her - I just say let’s find a few we know you could get in and be happy there.</p>
<p>Eyemamom: congratulations! That’s huge! It’s all fun and games once she loves her safety. (Don’t you wish?)</p>
<p>BarnardMom: so sorry about the prom date!</p>
<p>Barnardmom–I was sad to read that your son was beaten to the finish line by another boy. I absolutely LOVED his idea. It reminded me of the Hadley pottery line that included a child’s mug that had a waving bear and the words “All Gone” printed on the inside of the mug.</p>
<p>Your son’s eventual date will be one lucky girl!</p>
<p>I am posting here & in the class of 2013 forum instead of in the SAT forum as that is mostly populated by students and I am seeking advice from seasoned parents.</p>
<p>I want to find/purchase SAT II study guides for my HS Jr so that he can determine which tests he should take. He is not a natural test taker but his SAT scores were much higher than we expected, and I attribute that both to tutoring and lots of practice. It appears that the only CB SAT II books available are one that includes one practice test for all 20 subjects, one for Math 1 & 2, and one for US & World History. PR, Barrons & Kaplan offer books on various subjects but reviews are consistently inconsistent for all three.</p>
<p>Posts on this site have led me to the xtreme papers site and to Spark Notes. Xtreme includes practice tests, but they are ten years old. (Not sure age of tests matters much for Subject Tests.) Spark Notes appears to include useful content, but I couldn’t locate practice tests.</p>
<p>Have any of your children used a source you would recommend? Can tutoring be effective if the tutors are also unable to obtain copies of old tests?</p>
<p>My son is considering Physics and Literature in addition to Math 2. He is not in AP classes so cannot rely on AP prep to help for SAT IIs. Any advice is welcome. Thank you all!</p>
<p>CT1417, CB has a practice book just for SAT Subject Test Math 1 and 2. My son used CB, Princeton Review, and Barron’s. CB has the past tests therefore is the most accurate source. However, the book does not have a lot of tests. Barron’s seems to be harder than the real test and sometimes contains mistakes. Princeton Review seems to be more middle of the road. DS also likes their explanations the best. My son studied his PSAT, SAT, and SAT Subject Tests by using practice books and no tutors.</p>
<p>Thanks 4Bears. I purchased the CB Math 1 & 2 book. It includes two sample tests for 1 & 2, but one of each of these tests is the same one that appears in the overall CB book of 20 tests.</p>
<p>Thank you for confirmation on the PR book. A new version of each PR book will be released March 5th and in the meantime, the old one is unavailable (or available, but for $45).</p>
<p>Did your son look at Spark Notes or any other site? Thanks again for the response.</p>
<p>I just now went over and asked DS and he said that he did use Sparks Notes on line and liked it. I guess I didn’t even know that since I did not pay for it :). I only bought the CB book, PR, and Barron. You are right that the CB Math book is just the duplicate of the big CB book. DS really didn’t like Barron and refused to use it and claimed that it has many mistakes. Anyway, my son was able to rely only on practice books to improve his test scores. (for example, pulled his PSAT from 196 to 230)</p>
<p>CT1417: My DD’12 liked the Barrons books the best, but she never took the Math I or II.</p>
<p>Our K1 didn’t make much use of the subject tests book…though I believe it was the CB one. Since K1 had mostly APs by Jr yr–prep for the APs helped prep for the SAT2s.
Perhaps consider the AP prep books…?
idk</p>
<p>I like the Barrons books for review and practice tests and the CB book for one final test prior to the exam.</p>
<p>@CT1417 Sometimes the students are the most knowledgeable about tests/where to find resources… believe it or not. Every piece of testing info I have receieve is from a student member of CC. Directs Hits lists, SAT practice tests… you name it, from a student.</p>
<p>Yep- sometimes the students stalking the parent forum have the most knowledge on the subject. I definitely swear by finding the equivalent course at your school, AP or not. I talked to the AP Physics teacher and the AP Spanish for native speakers teachers, and both of them were kind enough to give me the review sheets and practice tests that they give their own students. I found it way more useful than CB, Barron’s, PR, or even sparknotes- although each can be a valuable tool. I saw results in November: 800 Physics and 760 Spanish with listening (for a non native speaker!)</p>
<p>I am trying to patch together a college trip that will be useful for S’14. I am now operating on the “what do you want for dinner” mode of college selection. For example: “do you want baked ziti for dinner or roasted chicken with mashed potatoes?” Given 2 clear choices, he went for the roasted chicken. And he was happy.</p>
<p>Same with schools. I have now planned our trips to present the college version of baked ziti (less appealing; tougher, kind of a reach) right before the roast chicken school (warm and friendly; familiar; the safety he will love). Because he is only 17. And mom knows best.</p>
<p>@ Classof2015 - interesting approach for college visits!!</p>
<p>Today, was DS first college visit and it was a bust!! 
He originally agreed to visit, but last night he was trying to back out. Since I had RSVPd for the admissions visit I told him he committed to go so he had to follow through! We barely made it on time, and then he just sat there, lifeless!!! Teenagers - you gotta love’em!!</p>
<p>^ Class…I think sometimes it has to be that way…</p>
<p>Last year I took K2 on "what is a college " tour… a rural small LAC, an urban LAC, a large state school and a small honors college of a state school.</p>
<p>From there --this year we are re-visiting both the rural small LAC and urban small LAC as well as several other schools that are matches or have similarities in programs, “feel” (on paper) etc</p>
<p>When I took K1 on tours–some schools looked great on paper yet were not good fits irl…</p>
<p>With K1 I handed over the BIG book which I had “tabbed” with schools in regions/had the major and the EC.
Because K1 was overwhelmed (age 17 at choosing from almost 4000 schools)</p>
<p>With K2 that would have stopped any progress…so the “what is a college tour” helped.</p>
<p>Trying to leave as much open to K2 as possible and also listening to be helpful.</p>
<p>GCs aren’t the only ones who can offer wisdom and insight :)</p>
<p>Right now I think some of the schools are reaches, some matches and–we need some safeties… time and SAT/ACT scores will tell more of the story…</p>
<p>I just handed my DS a binder I made over the weekend to focus our conversations. The first page had his profile (GPA, test scores, ECs, etc) followed by 8 tabs. The first tab had options for possible routes to engineering (straight undergrad degree or math/physics undergrad then grad school) or alternative degrees should be choose not to purse engineering.</p>
<p>The other tabs were divided into schools that piqued his interest, categorized by size and then also by likely/match/reach. Each school’s page had a short summary from Fiske, then two charts. Chart 1 had admission stats taken from Common Data Set and other public sources. Chart 2 had stats taken from naviance and showed data for his school only. This included number of early and regular apps and admits, lowest SAT 1600 and 2400 scores for admits for both early and regular apps, and the same infor for GPA. I thought chart 2 would give him a clearer picture of what kinds of kids from his school are admitted, given the unique profile for his HS.</p>
<p>Of course, I also have the master spreadsheet with tons more data and the bin of hanging folders with all the brochures that have come in the mail!</p>
<p>I’m curious, novamom, what did your DS do with the binder (by the way, I’m impressed!)? I can imagine that my DS would have tossed it in the corner of his room with the rest of the mail, that only gets sorted when I go in there to do it! :)</p>
<p>Classof2015 - I kind of like that new line of thinking - pasta or chicken…MIT or state flagship?? Or maybe … research U vs. LAC?</p>