<p>I will help myself with the cocktails. Today was kids’ last day of school. DS14 came home and took a 3 hour nap. He was totally exhausted from the hard week…or I should say… year. Looking back this past year, what a tough Junior year it was! Thank goodness DS did well but I wasn’t sure until today. What a year!</p>
<p>BI - I’ll take something tasty! :)</p>
<p>I also really like glido’s college counselor’s input into the English class. What a great use of time!!</p>
<p>Congrats, minnymom - that’s quite an increase!!</p>
<p>DS is now officially done with testing!! SATII scores could have been a little higher, but they are good enough - especially since we’re not even sure he will apply anywhere that requires them! And ACT writing score could have been a lot higher, but again, not sure he plans to apply where that will make a difference, either. </p>
<p>fogfog - how is your friend doing that had the accident - the 5 year old? Hope he is recovering.</p>
<p>DS leaves for Boys State Sunday. I remember there were others on the list that are also going. I hope he enjoys it - I worry with him being more of a math/science type kid instead of politics/history. </p>
<p>Then … 5 days canoeing with scouts … then … a week at scout camp … when are we going to get college visits in this summer?? 
I’m trying to sneak a visit in between the two scouting events which are a week apart, but one school only does engineering tours on Monday - is 12 hours away - and he doesn’t get home from canoeing until Sunday evening…hmmm, doesn’t look possible!</p>
<p>S14 is taking the ACT again in June and SAT Subject tests in June. He’s using AP class time to study for the ACT with flash cards we bought. Although, I think as long as his bladder holds out this time, he’s going to do great.</p>
<p>Congrats to all those with kids who have finished Junior year and are now Seniors!! DS doesn’t finish for another month! :(</p>
<p>^ Good luck to your S 2016BarnardMom. Mine is taking it again that day too. What – they didn’t allow bathroom breaks? Kind of inhuman.</p>
<p>I figured with the 3 day weekend coming up I’d start worrying about the Common App, and I after I googled common app I found this website: [Common</a> App Essay Help](<a href=“http://www.commonapphelp.org%5DCommon”>http://www.commonapphelp.org) – anyone see it yet? writing tips and stress relief etc. Might be useful</p>
<p>Classof2015 - I’ve seen the new Common App essays for this year, but I’m pretty sure my son will have NO interest until much, much later. He seems to think he’ll “be fine” writing an essay, but I’m not so sure about his creative skills… I heard that last year, one of UChicago’s supplemental essays was “define x”. I CANNOT imagine any of my sons coming up with something for a topic like that! I will check out that link, because we could use all the help we can get! My DS13 used the book, “How to Write a Great College Essay in One Day” and did precisely that. Not sure how great it was, but it was definitely one day, and it did the trick!</p>
<p>We were thrilled with the SAT scores today because we hemmed and hawed about whether or not to take it a third time to bring up the CR score. Decided to do it, planned on studying vocab, but ended up cramming before the test anyway! However, he brought his score up 80 points, much higher than his goal, and way exceeded his superscore goal as well! He now has a 2310 and was grinning from ear to ear when I saw him after school! He’s a hard worker and I feel like he’d missed out on some things that his brother (not a hard worker) got, like acceptance into NHS, so this was a great success for him!! We also got a letter from the school saying he’s received an award and that he needs to be there at the Academic Awards night! </p>
<p>Graduation is not until June 21st, so it still feels a while away. It’s always been this way in NJ, even when I was a kid, so the idea of starting school in August and finishing in May is so foreign to me! And it makes for a might short summer for college bound seniors from NJ. My older son may need to be at college on Aug 12th, giving him only 7 weeks of summer. :(</p>
<p>SAT subject test scores were blah and will not be reported. ACT retake is June 8th. Based on prior results this test is better for DD than the SAT. She is still into tests and subject completion even though AP tests are over. She has 2+ weeks of school left and she is totally burned out. They just won’t stop with the assignments, chapter tests, homework checks, and the list goes on.</p>
<p>Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend. It will be cool but dry and clear so its a good weekend for some yard work, the grill and a lot of adult beverages as we schedule all of the summer college visits. :eek:</p>
<p>DS and I will be visiting a handful of schools on the East Coast in June. A lot of driving involved - I wish we had more time but the guy has a pretty tight summer schedule with sports and a summer school class. We’ll report what we see.</p>
<p>Congrats to all who are transitioning to senior year! Way to go Class of '14!</p>
<p>Morning All</p>
<p>Enjoyed the cocktails and conversation last night. Have my cup of coffee and am trying to catch up on 2 weeks of progress.</p>
<p>Was in and out of town over the last month–most recent trip was for a vol thing I do…trip expenses were between $2500-3000… to volunteer…yup…
One of the hats I wear… is as a licensed referee…</p>
<p>Went to see my mom before I left. Since then hospice moved a bed into my parents house. The slowness of the end and the pain etc is just terrible. She’s been fighting the cancer for years and this end has been protracted and miserable. My dad is very stressed, not sleeping etc . Hard because he knows he could wake up and she’d be gone. </p>
<p>Came home to a spotless house–DH and K2 hired a housekeeper to clean top to bottom, they planted a butterfly garden for me for Mothers Day (I was out of town) and made a favorite dinner for my first night back :)</p>
<p>Got a call from K1 yesterday while at “work” (I also substitute teach in our county and was proctoring math exams all day). Seems K1 has been training and competing with team with a stress fracture. And yesterday heard a pop… yup probably broken. The Us coach sent K1 to trainer…who fwd K1 to MD…K1 will have xrays today.
This injury derails summer…was supposed to be competing at a world-wide competition.</p>
<p>K2’s end of yr grades==are anyone’s guess…and I know that unless K2 puts in major effort for the math exam, it will derail many many things. sigh.
otoh during my trip I worked with someone who turned out to be a private GC. That was a helpful morning. We will be trimming the list–which the GC liked. So I have been on the right track for K2…time will tell.</p>
<p>Lastly re the 5 yr old of my friend, if you google Ben Bowersox and Duke you can see video updates. At this point he has had multiple surgeries…has lost several fingers on the left hand that did not survive despite 3 hrs per finger to reattach them…
Now they have grafted his left hand to his left thigh to grow blood vessels.
Ben is a twin. His dad (my friend) is a great guy. He is a widower, sadly Kathy died 2 yrs ago of melanoma.</p>
<p>Missed you all and the community here.</p>
<p>xoxo</p>
<p>PS SAT in a week, then ACT. hoping to encourage K2 to be motivated :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Back from our NY trip to NYU. </p>
<p>NYU Trip
Up until now NYU was one of son’s top of the list schools but after the trip, I don’t know. </p>
<p>We started the day early and arrived ahead of time for our info session so decided to hang out in the park for a bit. It was a rainy, cloudy day and perhaps that made a gloomy impression on us. Though I know the park does not belong to NYU, it’s location and presence sure reflects a bit poorly on the school. The park seemed unkept, and filled with homeless people. Though this is the same for parks elsewhere, e.g. Boston Gardens, and homeless people are also present (which is fine) but at least that park is well-groomed and maintained. </p>
<p>So after a few snaps of the park, we headed to the info session. The room was packed with about 160 people from all over. First the AO showed us a short clip about NYU, followed by general info and QA session. Pretty generic stuff and nothing you couldn’t learn online or from brochures. </p>
<p>After that, they broke us up into 8 groups each led by student tour guides for a short tour of 4 buildings which pretty much consisted of walking into the lobby of these buildings, quick generic blurb from our guides, and then out again. Nothing inspiring or exciting. </p>
<p>Son was not really impressed and his feedback was that the school was too expensive (tuition and cost of living after graduation) and quality of life was not ideal (pollution, dirt, stress, living space, etc.). However, I think he will still end up applying but who knows what will happen after that.</p>
<p>Other than that, SAT subject II scores also not great so he’ll also be retaking them next week, June 1st, though he won’t have any time to prep since it’s his last week of school this week with projects due, final exam next week and the SAT tests are on Saturday. Ah well!</p>
<p>Well, read through all the posts from about 1+ week ago! I didn’t realize there are so many of us on this thread and lots going on especially now that junior year is wrapping up. </p>
<p>Final push for us who have a few week(s) or day(s) left. We can do it! Especially a big push for those who are teachers!</p>
<p>I decided (a bit OCD and list freak) to read through all the posts and see what I have missed and to recap for those who have been too busy or traveling as well. </p>
<p>Week of 5/18-5/24 RECAP (post #5309 - 5370)</p>
<p>PortlandiaParent - Posted helpful info regarding financial info and link to video on “Inside the Room” admissions at Amherst (post #5310)</p>
<p>2014novamom - DS soccer team lost, and had major leg cramps. Taking standardized test. Math subject test 780. US H 700. Looking at summer visits. Son enjoying late start option to school this week.</p>
<p>momreads - Son disappointed with regional track & field meet. Became NHS treasurer. Wishes to sleep in but can’t (teacher).</p>
<p>4beardolls - 4beardolls’ reading list of college admission books. (post #5337). DS last day of school, came home and took 3 hour nap. DS did well junior year.</p>
<p>glido - DS went to College night 4 LACs. DS has college essay draft ready since college counselor took over AP English class. Revisions due 1st day of class senior yr. Visiting some East Coast schools in June.</p>
<p>go2mom - Originally planning to go California last 2 weeks in August with D</p>
<p>Maryjay60 - reteaching herself acc precalc to help DS with math (teacher).</p>
<p>ordinarylives - D started receiving communications from track coaches. Planning summer college visits. D is officially a senior!</p>
<p>seattle_mom - son’s scores up from last time. Using programming tool as teaching aid (teacher). </p>
<p>Minnymom - DS SAT Math II score increase by 110 points! SAT for June 1st.</p>
<p>Mrspepper - DS teachers cramming in lots of tests, work. Amazing in final choir concert - 2 solos and 3 accompanying parts. SAT II and ACT coming up.</p>
<p>MImama - D is busy with school and no time for ACT prep for June ACT.</p>
<p>blueiguana - S pleased with subject test scores. Last SAT on 6/1.</p>
<p>fogfog - Exams next week, SAT, ACT. Back from trip and dealing with mother’s cancer, father’s stress, wonderful Mother’s day surprise! K1 stress fracture and injury. Concern with K2 math exam. Getting help from a private GC to trim college list. Update on little Ben (post #5369).</p>
<p>beadymom - DS officially done testing. SATII and ACT writing score could have been little higher. DS leaves for Boys State, then 5 days of canoeing with scouts, week at scout camp. Trying to fit in college visits between scouting events.</p>
<p>2016BarnardMom - S14 taking ACT and SAT II Subject in June.</p>
<p>student4ever:) - DS does not finish school for another month.</p>
<p>**Classof2015 **- Testing also in June. Started looking at common app. Posted resource link (post #5365)</p>
<p>my3gr8boyz - thrilled with SAT scores, brought score up 80 points! SAT 2310! Getting an award on Academic Awards night.</p>
<p>AvonHSDad - SAT subject test scores were blah and will not be reported. ACT retake June. DD has 2+ weeks left of school but is burned out.</p>
<p>ognopgod - NYU trip report (post #5370) and son’s SAT II subject test scores disappointment. Retake in June.</p>
<p>Phew! One round of drinks on me tonight!</p>
<p>D’s Lit SAT II score could be better. She’s happy though. She thought that she’s not going to cross 700, but she did.</p>
<p>
That’s amazing! Congratulations to your son @Minnymom. My daughter took it last year and her score wasn’t great, so she’s planning to take it again sometimes this fall. Can you share how did your son study? What prep book did he use? Tutor? Thanks.</p>
<p>What the heck? I just waxed poetical in a long post and it disappeared. Okay, here’s the Sparknote Version:</p>
<p>Welcome home fogfog. You do indeed wear many hats, and I feel inadequate as I attempt to wonkily balance my one. And I’m sorry about K1’s “pop.” Just reading that word made me shudder enough to slosh my tea. I hope hospice gets your mom’s pain under control sooner rather than later. There should be no reason for her to suffer at this point. </p>
<p>I mentioned glido’s post about working on college essays during these last weeks after the AP english test to my D. She said it wouldn’t work because they are working on a big poetry unit, complete with presentations and paper. Gee whiz. </p>
<p>DH mentioned taking a family day trip to the beach over the long weekend, and she just smiled as she said, “have a great time.” Poetry and SATIIs to work on. Ug. </p>
<p>I’m counting days until June 14th. Junior year cannot end soon enough for any of us!</p>
<p>Awesome list, ognopgod … thanks! And way to go 2018dad’s daughter … I love it when a goal is surpassed!</p>
<p>DS just finished his Spanish exam . . . he’s a senior - here we go.</p>
<p>fogfog, so sorry to hear about your mom and stress for your father. Is she getting home care? It can be so hard to see someone you love suffering and knowing there is not much you can do. Hope things are on the mend for K1 soon too. Also, looked up lil Ben and saw pics of his beautiful family. So sad about the mom too. Hope the next bout of surgeries and procedures are going to work for him.</p>
<p>Yay glido! A senior in the house! I bet he’s glad this year is over.</p>
<p>Thanks ognopgod for the summary! I thought I was keeping up with the thread but you pointed out things I’d missed.</p>
<p>I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend.</p>
<p>All these kids who are seniors now. My Ds don’t finish for another 4 weeks, they just got Q4 progress grades this week. They are so ready to be done.</p>
<p>Yes, also loved the summary ognopgod! Thanks! Count my S in for re-take of SATII in June. Did great on the Bio subject test in May, not-so-great on US History with less than a 700…which is no surprise because at the last minute, he decided to take that instead of Lit, and it’s been a year since he had APUSH! New plan is that he is taking Math II in June, although I have yet to see him touch the study guide. Can’t really blame him because they have been swamped with tests and hw. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, signed D up to take the SAT for the first time in June. She was not happy with her ACT score, even after tutoring between tests, so I suggested that rather than re-take the ACT (as she wants to do), she try a different test. Her PSAT was just slightly above her ACT percentile, so perhaps she’ll do better. Nothing to lose! Of course, like her brother, I have yet to see her open a study guide, which does not give me much hope. </p>
<p>I am not at all sure how I’m going to get them to work on college essays or apps this summer on top of summer work for next year’s APs… they seem 100% burned out. My S has always been a procrastinator, but I’m afraid he has begun taking it to a whole new level in the past month or so…</p>
<p>What drinks are being served tonight?? A nice cold beer actually sounds heavenly!</p>
<p>@ognopgod You are too funny! We shall now require a weekly rehash - keeps us up to date!</p>
<p>@fogfog I am keeping your family AND little Ben’s family in my prayers! Hope the stress fracture heals quickly as well. I hope the summer brings you a bit of down time so you can recharge!</p>
<p>MY school year is now complete. Ahhh! The last faculty meeting is in the books and my grades have been finalized and I signed off on them. AND all my students passed! Hooray! Let summer begin for me!</p>
<p>As of a couple of hours ago, I am now the parent of a senior! And it is my baby, too! The English teacher is still punishing him for the whole essay mix-up thing (gave him a GRADE of 0/10 for meeting with him and when my son asked him about that, stating shouldn’t I get SOMETHING, because we did meet, the guy said it was a bonus for kids who follow directions. What, lowering MY son’s grade was a bonus for others? I don’t get it!) The good news is that DS was selected as a “Senior Advisor” which is a rather coveted position of leadership for the incoming freshmen next year. He is very happy about that, so the year ends on a good note! (Enh grades, but happy attitude!)</p>
<p>For those of you who go into June - I go back August 12, and my son goes back (due to that Senior Advisor position) August 3! You will all be gloating in August, I’m sure.</p>