<p>Creekland, congrats to your son. We had a similar situation with MathCounts, and I ended up calling the newspaper like three times to get them to cover it (they eventually did).</p>
<p>fogfog - Same here as DD said when I reminded her, oh, the SAT is next week? And the prep book just sits on the table waiting for her. It looks like this will be a baseline test sitting and we will organize formal prep class or a tutor over the summer. I canāt argue that she hasnāt been busy, but ā¦</p>
<p>Creekland - congrats to DS for the big Chess win. :)</p>
<p>I am way behind with DD. I need to update and complete the spreadsheets as I havenāt touched them since I did the initial layout months and months ago for last summerās visits. I also need to get DS (2011) FAFSA and CSS date for last year submitted. With a returning student, its not due until end of April. That will change next year with DD. We will be back to filing in January.</p>
<p>We will not be visiting schools this spring. Next year will be accepted student visits in April. Based on our touring and visit plans for this summer (two separate one week road trips) and the trips last summer and last fall, we will spend our last āfreeā spring break on a warm and sunny vacation. And then we come home and DD has the ACT the next weekend! :eek:</p>
<p>Hopefully my guy will get his Chess win on the announcements today. They announce all high scorers in sports eventsā¦</p>
<p>Itās still like pulling teeth to get him to study for the SAT, but like many on here, heāll be taking it this Sat. Weāll see what he gets. It may be a baseline, but I was hoping the PSAT would have been that.</p>
<p>We donāt even get a full week off for spring break - just a couple days right around Easter. With my guy wanting southern schools, visits arenāt happening then. It will either have to be summer or fall - neither are ideal - but such is life.</p>
<p>congrats Creekland, hope your s hears his big win announced today!</p>
<p>S2 took SAT last week, our spring trip in three weeks, S commented heāll be applying to EA/ED colleges in 7 mosā¦itās moving quickly</p>
<p>D1 was home for the weekend, finishing research for her honorās college senior thesis, and applying for jobs, boy does it go fastā¦</p>
<p>lindz - Iām impressed that your s not only knows what ED/EA is, but also know WHEN it is! </p>
<p>Creekland - congrats on the chess win! I always wonder why athletic sports get the recognition and the academic wins donāt. Isnāt it frustrating?!</p>
<p>I need to sign DS up for the April ACT this week - deadline for regular registration is Friday. Then heāll do 2-3 SAT subject tests in May or June. Then heāll be done! His current ACT score is good enough, but hasnāt taken it with writing yet. Just hope it doesnāt drop any when he retakes it!!</p>
<p>Just like beadymom, I also need to sign up DS for the April ACT. Iāve been procrastinating because DS has not touched the ACT study guide at all! Iāve been threatening him that I will not enroll him until he starts to study. I guess I will need to eat my words since the deadline is Friday. The only consolation is that DS has been working hard on his independent science research paper getting ready for the regional science fair. Since this is his first ACT (other than the one he took at 7th grade), I supposed I will just have to not worry too much about it.</p>
<p>Creekland: Has your son considered UMBC for college? They have an incredible chess program that has received all kinds of press coverage in the Baltimore-Washington area. Itās a great school, too. </p>
<p>I understand about the academic wins not enjoying the same recognition as the athletic ones. My son have been on their schoolsā academic teams. When my oldest son led his team to the state title, the assistant principal promised he would have a banner placed in the gym ā along side the other state championship banners. He delivered. But that did not sit well with the athletes. They threatened to pull it down and burn it. After all, itās not a sport, they charged. Well, it is governed under the state athletic league. My son argued that itās not easy to remain focused for 250 questions read to him and his teammates over four hours. Itās hard to think that much! And unlike other team sports, one cannot sub in the middle of a round. </p>
<p>My younger son is the captain of his schoolās academic team, and truthfully, he is a bit embarassed about it (when he should be proud). A lot of kids think the academic team is a joke. Are we in school for the academics?</p>
<p>The big AP bio project kept my son from SAT prepping, but he did find a cross country camp to attend. So there was a small victory.</p>
<p>I suppose one advantage of going to a ānerd schoolā (DSās words, not mine) is that academic kudos abound. The schoolās twitter feed trumpets academic accomplishments just as much as athletic ones, and the school newsletter and announcements emphasize them more. And although the school is not an athletic powerhouse by any means, it does have its share of accomplished athletes, with two or three D1 commits every year. Actually maybe more since crew alone probably has 2 ivy commits every year. </p>
<p>Speaking of sports, DS has his first scrimmage for his spring sport today and I am debating whether to attend. Itās over an hour away and itās going to be cold! But since I have a feeling Wednesdayās scrimmage is going to be snowed out I should probably go. I am a cold weather wimp!</p>
<p>UMBC wouldnāt be remotely far enough south for my guy. Ideally, he wants a school in the Everglades, the Amazon, or on a South Pacific Island. Chess isnāt his top priority. If his older two brothers hadnāt been involved Iām not certain heād have ever joined the team.</p>
<p>Two years ago when the team won states they were promised a banner to go alongside sports banners. I havenāt looked in the gym, but I seriously doubt one is there. Iāll have to check when we have our next pep rally just to be sure.</p>
<p>We (meaning our family) consider Chess an āAcademicā sport keeping the brain exercised. Itās fun watching the kids who choose to participate as the best students academically arenāt always the best at chess (and vice versa), but I still consider it an Academic sport - just different than the usual subjects. Itās its own entity in the brain.</p>
<p>My 4ā11" dā14 has decided to try high jump this year (sheās usually just a sprinter). Okay . . . She says itās easy, just a back flip with a different landing. Once again, Okay . . .</p>
<p>Congrats, Creekland mom! Nice job on the chess board!</p>
<p>DDās mock trial team competed this weekend and is going to State! So excited for her and her hardworking team! The state competition is just two weeks off so it will be a grueling 14 days. </p>
<p>I am embracing my old and inflexible dominant right brain and giving up on a spreadsheet. I think I will just have a notebook with tabs. I also cannot read maps and need turn-by-turn directions spoken succinctly on my GPS. Funny how we all process info.</p>
<p>DD also has the March SAT and April ACT coming up. Ripping off the band-aid. There has been little time to study for the SAT. Looks like there will be a Friday cram session in the house. DD needs to improve her writing section so hopefully should be easier to improve. </p>
<p>Another Mondayā¦seize the day!</p>
<p>Kids really need to receive kudos for their academic accomplishments just like the sports wins. The āacademicā kids and parents have to work so hard to get an equal acknowledgement from school. I donāt like seeing this pressure dampen our kidsā feeling of accomplishment.</p>
<p>I am praying that Snowquester gives us a snow day that S3 can devote to SAT prep. The forecasts are different depending on which one you look at, and change every few hours, but weāre getting snow, all models have us in the 6+ range. Iām not so sure about that as weāre still over 48hrs out, but a day off is not unlikely. Salting the roads is going to do no good here in preparation as most of the area is going to initially start as rain and it will get washed away.</p>
<p>S3 has not done nearly the prep Iād hoped for (sounds like a familiar song). He took it in December so we already have the base. He got in some studying and in early February had an online practice test that was promising. A month later with little prep in between (AP overload and ECs in overdrive) the online test yesterday showed improvement in one area and a drop in two. No surprise. I asked DH to review very carefully what he missed to make sure he knows what to review this week. In the end S3 has to own it. He has goals set for each section (not an overall score), so even hitting it in one would help take pressure off for June. All of his schools of interest are score choice.</p>
<p>Iām having a hard time grasping the conceptāor at least the perceptionāthat your schools are all about sports at the expense of academics, especially at those places that offer AP level everything. Youāve got access to Naviance and to GCs that have individual meetings with students. I mean, my high kidsā high school is the one with itās own cop and regular sweeps by drug-sniffing dogs. The boyās basketball team is state tournament bound this week, and itās a big deal, but when I walk into the building, Iām greeted by pictures of that yearās NMSFs (the few that there are), not a photo of the basketball team. Newsletters are all about whatās going on in the academics. Yes, the gym is full of athletic banners, but so what? Itās the gym. Thatās where the athletic awards belong. </p>
<p>Is your school and itās faculty/administration really all about sports, or is it that the perception of other students is that athletes are more worthy of adulation?</p>
<p>ordinarylives ā Iām thinking that being short isnāt that much of a disadvantage for a high jumper. After all itās about how high off the ground you can get your low point, not your high point. It sounds like your D has some gymnastics experience, which might really help!</p>
<p>Yeahā¦ well, our school doesnāt offer AP except for Euro and even then no student I know of takes the test. Perhaps one or two do, but Iāve been told by the teacher (new guy who took over after a retirement) that he was told student scores were dismal when they did take the test, so he wasnāt sure any of his class would.</p>
<p>Every so often we get a NMSF, but not much special is done for them other than an announcement. Usually theyāve done a ton of work outside of school to supplement what the school offers.</p>
<p>A āreally goodā SAT score here would be anything that reaches 1800. Kids have been known to tell me they āreally smokedā (proud of themselves) a section when they got 580 on it. Top kids try for at least a 600 per section, but donāt really contemplate getting a 700. Iām considered the ābad momā because my guy got a 181 (super good, after all) on the PSAT and I want him to study to improve for the SAT (heās capable).</p>
<p>When my oldest hit middle school in this district we met with the middle school principal to discuss options. We were flatly told, āPublic school isnāt here to teach the above average student. They will do good no matter what you do. Public school is here to teach the average student and then we have to work with the below average student. Around here average students work for ____, go to community college, or join the military.ā I have to admit, our school prepares students fairly well for those goals.</p>
<p>At the start of high school I opted to try homeschooling figuring I couldnāt do worse. Both oldest and middle did great and are doing fine in college. Youngest was homeschooled from 5th to 8th, then wanted to return to public school. (We did always let ours choose.) His peers consider him a genius - as do his teachers. But, the foundation heās getting there is dismal (for a potentially top student). I wish he would do more outside of school as our top students do, but heās happy just being at or near the top where he is.</p>
<p>Iām a bit fearful that heāll have a sharp work/learning curve when he gets to college, but then again, heās not looking at top schools (couldnāt if he wanted to), so he might do ok. Time will tell. He does love being in his niche and will extensively research things in it.</p>
<p>We do have one wall where college acceptances are listed along with scholarship offers. Does that count? We also have one night where they give out academic awards and scholarships. Itās usually only attended by those receiving awards - and half of them opt to skip it.</p>
<p>Any body out there get their kids ACT scores taken on 2/16? My D took them a week late b/c of blizzard in New England. She took them with writing, and we have heard nothing. Wonder if anyone else took them a week late and has already heard? Thanks</p>
<p>Weāre in the same situation and still waiting on scores, ELKyes</p>
<p>Good luck on the ACT tomorrow to all the Michigan juniors. Do any other states have the ACT as part of their state testing?</p>
<p>D14 has been looking at the prep books and practice tests for about a week now. Theyāve done minimal prep in school - I think one practice section in their English classes (of course, thatās Dās strong subjectā¦could use some more math or science hints).</p>
<p>Captain Countdown here -</p>
<p>I forgot to post yesterday that there are just 150 days until the 2013 Common Application is formally opend for student access! 
(Our studentās access!) :eek:</p>