<p>Classof2015 – There will be lots of opportunities for your child! There really is a school for everyone. </p>
<p>I have no idea why DS’11 got sooo much mail. I think maybe being from a small state may have influenced that as schools want geographic diversity. I don’t remember the school he ended up at sending him much if any mail. Actually it wasn’t on our radar until mid-December when someone here on cc suggested it for him! (with an app deadline of Dec. 31 that was a quick application!)</p>
<p>I had forgotten about all the mailing!! Guess I better get my system ready or the stuff with take over the house!</p>
<p>Good point about the separate email. Will have D set that up this afternoon before she leaves for a band trip. We didn’t do that soon enough for D1 so she had email arriving at multiple addresses, including mine!</p>
<p>I wonder if some of the mailings (to those who have already graduated HS) are intended for kids who might want to transfer…on the college’s part, it’s probably a cheap way to stay in front of kids.</p>
<p>The ones my DS is getting seem to be aimed at kids who didn’t get in anywhere in the first round and may be still looking – schools with more open enrollment policies.</p>
<p>New question: My DS’14 is currently in Honors Algebra II with trig. He has over 100% in the class and his teacher has suggested that he move up right now (a month in) to honors precalc. Academically, I think he’d be fine. Math comes very naturally to him, and any holes could be quickly filled as long as the precalc teacher is willing. </p>
<p>The issue is that our school only offers one math class above pre-calc which is AP Calc AB (co-taught with Physics C Mechanics). That would leave him with either no math class senior year (unacceptable for someone wanting to study engineering in college), AP statistics senior year (probably also would look like a “light load” for someone interested in studying engineering) or taking a college math course, which would be great except for being very difficult to arrange in terms of schedule and transportation. (Our family owns only one car and that is likely to remain the case. Also there is virtually no public transit out here in the country.) It’s possible he could take an online course of some kind. </p>
<p>(also I don’t think he’d get credit for Alg 2 so I don’t know if that would be an issue for a “core” course like that to be apparently missing – I assume that his guidance counselor could explain in her college recommendation though and it should not be a problem)</p>
<p>At my son’s school some of the younger strong students take AP stats after alg 2 and before precal. These are usually the kids who took alg 2 as 9th graders. That might be a way to ensure a strong 12th grade math class.</p>
<p>Hi mathmom! I saw your post on the Awesome '11 thread but decided to answer here. I think I would want to ask more questions regarding exactly what is covered in the honors algebra 2 w/ trig curriculum vs. the pre calc before deciding. My S '14 (who is doing BC Calc this year) thinks there may be a lot of foundational instruction MathSon would miss by skipping ahead, and we have learned from experience with both our kids that ‘little’ holes or things not well understood in math can turn into major craters later on. On the other hand, if the teacher thinks moving up would be better for him AND is willing to help him out during free periods or after school with material he needs to fill in, it could be good. I would just want to understand exactly what he might need to master independently and how the school will facilitate that.
Also, how is the rest of his course load? Does he have time to substitute a hard class for an (I’m assuming, based on his grades) easy one? Are there social or scheduling issues about being with a different grade?
Finally, I agree with your concern about AP Stats being too lightweight for a student who wants to show he is serious about math. S took AP Stats last spring (his school teaches it
in one semester after a 1 1/2 year geometry/precalc/trig sequence for the advanced track kid) and thought it was fun and useful, but no heavy lifting. MathSon might want consider taking AP Stats at school in Sr. year supplemented by something else. Again, maybe the teacher can make suggestions (tutorial, online class?) about a long-term plan rather than just letting him run out of classes.</p>
<p>Thanks for your thoughts, Apollo and HighHead. We definitely need to set up a meeting to find out how things would work both with the switch, and with his options for senior year. The rest of his course load this semester is fairly easy, so if he had to work hard for math, he’d be fine. DS14’s Alg 2 teacher usually teacher precalc, so he at least is very familiar with that curriculum and is making a recommendation from a place of knowledge. </p>
<p>A local community college class or online class could both be options for senior year.</p>
<p>Took S2 to a college fair today. Keeping it low key, but trying to move the college topic to a more ‘front brain’ position. On the drive up we discussed questions he could ask, and he wrote them down. I stressed that the admissions folks would want to hear from him, not me. It went ok, though having been through this with S1, I found myself chipping in. His school selection was interesting, and somewhat random. Elon, Va Tech, Coastal Carolina, American, Allegheny. </p>
<p>Just a quick update on my question about my son’s math dilemma – our HS does not offer AP statistics, I was mistaken about that. So senior year would have to be an online or community college class. He’s leaning against at this point mainly for social reasons (it is a socially awkward position being "that freak sophomore who moved into the class in the middle). I’d personally rather see him put his “spare” math energy into AMC contest prep and/or enrichment outside of the regular curriculum rather than racing through the usual curriculum. We’re going to set up a meeting for next week in any case and see what everyone has to say.</p>
<p>mathmomvt: If taught correctly, AP stats is not a lightweight class. My husband taught it a couple of years, and those kids worked their butts off. Two got 5’s on the exam. My oldest son took from a state online program as a junior and got a 5. He did not have a math class as a senior, and it did not hurt his chances at admission. The engineering professors at his college probably wish they could have talked him into their major (had a perfect score on the SAT I and II in math and also a 5 on the BC calculus). </p>
<p>initiatelaunch: That is a random list of colleges, but at least he came away with some interest in some schools. My youngest (the '14) knows what he likes in a school – good food, good football, a chance to run cross country/track and field and pretty girls. Notice that there is no mention of academics (and he’s a good student, too). We went to an NCAA Clearinghouse event a couple of weeks ago at his school. It was quite well done. He does want to meet with his college counselor soon and discuss some options.</p>
<p>Momreads - our sons sound alike. S2 is high honors but not without work and a regular push from my DW. He aspires to play baseball at the collegiate level, and is more than happy to work hard at that. And to call him ‘social’ is akin to calling Pope Benedict Catholic.</p>
<p>The school’s he approached he had some rudimentary knowledge of for a variety of reasons; Va Tech and Coastal Carolina because he knows kids who are baseball recruits, Allegheny because we know kids who attend and receive nice merit scholarships, American - the family visited when S1 was in the midst of his search. Elon, truth be known, was my add. </p>
<p>I’m just trying to get it to register with S2 that his time is soon at hand. So, So very different from S1:rolleyes:</p>
<p>my D is somewhat struggling with physics and honors spanish III. She is doing well in Precalculus and is getting As. However physics seems very hard for her. The textbook is College physics by Serway/Faughn. Any suggestions on how she can improve her grades? How do your kids prepare for physics problems.</p>
<p>S txted me – can you come home early? I need to make Spanish rice for Spanish.
Me: ok – do you have all the ingredients?
S: ya
I get home early – he has the LIST of the ingredients (which includes things I do not have on hand – a large tomato, an onion, a cube of vegetable bullion). I send him out to the store with H. S comes back, a big smile on his face, and in his hands, a box of donuts.
Me: please tell me you got the stuff you need. He did.
He and his friend cut up the tomato and garlic. They do a very good job for first-timers. His friend poses the age-old question for those who don’t cook – when they say “a clove of garlic – do they mean the whole thing?”
I make it for them, telling them: you should really know how to make a few basic meals before you go off to college. The grin at each other, envisioning their future. Without Spanish rice.</p>
<p>Classof2015: Perfect. Especially getting you to do it for them. We have a rule that I do everyone’s laundry during term time but they are on their own during the holidays (this is my feeble attempt to have them learn skills without putting a big time burden on their overly-busy schedules). Every vacation, S takes his dirty clothes to the laundry room and stares vacantly around as though he never knew we had this room in the house, much less what any of the equipment does. So I ‘demonstrate’. And then ‘demonstrate’ again when it’s time for the next load. I’m just hoping some of it rubs off!</p>
<p>Anyone else’s kid having a RUDE awakening with honors/pre-AP Chem? S3 is hating life in that class. Got his first mark lower than a B since the 6th grade. He earned it so there was no fussing about the instructor…fair is fair…but the material is blowing him for a loop. He is much more a physics and bio kid. He is not liking the idea that his GPA will be less than perfect. IMHO a good lesson to learn. We all have gifts and are not perfect in everything. This is a hard one for this young-pup to accept. He’s striving for better, which is good, but he may not achieve an A this year in this class. His brother struggled as well in this class but not this early and did work it out. I have no problem with ‘less then perfect’, that’s his issue…I hate to see him unhappy, that’s the hard part. :(</p>
<p>In other news, S3 has accepted an invitation to go to homecoming to our home school. We were rezoned but he stayed at our original school due to a speciality program. His neighborhood friends all moved which has been hard. A ‘friend’ invited him so I think he’ll have a good time. :)</p>
<p>BI~D1 did not like honors Chem! She did well and managed an A in the class, but she never enjoyed it and had to put more effort into it than she was used to. Unfortunately, she took it as a sign that maybe she wasn’t science geared and decided to take regular physics instead of honors her Junior year. Guess what? She LOVED physics!! Ended up taking AP Mec her senior year and got a 5. D2 ('14) doesn’t have a science this year since APUSH is a 2 semester class, so next year she will have to double up and take chem one semester and physics the next. She is not looking forward to it especially since we are encouraging her to continue with the honors sections.</p>
<p>So D2 took the psat yesterday. All sophomores take it (paid for by the school). She said the english/writing part was easy, but that the math wasn’t. Of course she didn’t have a calculator (!) and isn’t in a math class right now, but said she knows she will need to work on math over the summer. I’m just hoping that her precalc class next year will be during the fall semester so that she is in the math groove :)</p>
<p>Your kids must be on a true block system. Our are modified where they have classes every other day, but one credit is all year, not by semester. The exception is AP Chem is a double block (lab and lecture both get their own class). You earn two credits and each are awarded their own weighted grade. It makes scheduling hard. It also requires honors chem so you end up with three full ‘blocks’ invested into chem. A pain if you don’t like it. Many kids do it to keep up rigor because others are doing it…keep up with Susie and Sam so to speak. :-/ </p>
<p>Depending on how S3 does he may swap back to APBio and fill the other block with a half weighted IT class. He’d take the chance that a higher grade in these two classes would be better then a lower grade in AP Chem with slightly higher rigor. It’s a crap shoot really. Rigor means nothing if you get lower grades and end up sucking too much time from studying for other classes, kwim?</p>
<p>PSATs here as well for all soph’s. Not having alg 2 yet math won’t rock the roof which is fine. He felt good about written and CR. His English teacher is a grammar guru so those scores will go up exponentially. S2’s scores flew after her class where 50% of the class was in the 70’s!</p>