<p>I don’t think they get them (PSAT) until December. </p>
<p>Are any of your DD’14s and DS’14s thinking about summer plans - camps, trips, summer school, etc.? My DS’14’s school just had a parent meeting (neither of us could go) to discuss options for summer community service projects and summer school options.</p>
<p>missypie, our d’s sound similar. mine is also my youngest. the older two are more driven to achieve higher grades. youngest d is more laid back, less driven grade wise. she has a huge interest in attending an art school and not really a traditional college. our biggest concern now is to support her efforts to put together a portfolio and that is going to be a challenge. she is in a small private school now without many art classes. she is asking to attend the big public school that offers art classes. during the remainder of this sophomore year we’ll have to make some decisions for next year: big public, stay where she is, or home school. she also has taken up ballet and that is a big time commitment (rehearsals and practices). it’s definitely interesting having a youngest child different from the older two in so many ways. keeps us young :)</p>
<p>interestingly, she was anxious to take the PSAT and hoped to do well. strengths for her would be the english, reading areas.</p>
<p>glido - summer plans - dd will hope to work on art projects but last year did an intensive dance program also. not sure she can do both this summer. she might have to put the art projects as the priority.</p>
<p>if anyone here has had a student who prepared an art portfolio, i’d be interested to hear how they got their training, i.e., school classes, outside classes, college classes, etc.</p>
<p>dd is self taught primarily. she will read books and do online tutorials. very interested in digital animation more so than a traditional art school program.</p>
<p>S3 is applying for two summer programs, both instate. One is fairly competitive and we aren’t holding our breath (one month residential mostly funded) but are totally supportive. The second he has a decent shot (two weeks residential, we pay :-/ ). The rest of the summer he will find some community service projects. His EC is also active in the summer.</p>
<p>Regarding missing school…we have always judged based on the time, the event, and the child. Our first missed far more school. His goals and needs were different. Our youngest doesn’t really get more slack in that area. We just judge what he wants to do based on the classes he’ll miss that day. As they are every other day, sometimes it’s luck of the draw and what they are doing.</p>
<p>It’s going to be D2’s much-anticipated CIT summer. She lives for camp.</p>
<p>Summer plans?<br>
<p>By the way, if any of you haven’t looked around [Summer</a> Programs - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/]Summer”>Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums) it’s worth a look. If nothing else, you can do a little scouting for opportunities for next summer. Some things are quite expensive; others are low cost or free.</p>
<p>Bump back to page 1.</p>
<p>DD will most likely spend the summer at tennis camp, babysitting for her young niece and nephews, and hopefully taking a 2 to 3 week enrichment or educationally oriented summer program. ST - thanks for the link. I hadn’t even thought of searching for summer programs on this site.</p>
<p>I swear the old addage is true… Great minds think alike… so funny how we CC parents are always thinking ahead… summer programs have been a hot topic in our household as well.</p>
<p>She has lots of interesting programs to choose from…</p>
<p>A program where she can work in a cancer research lab… and get a sizeable stipend… and its free!!! They will even pay for travel expenses… </p>
<p>Another option is to study abroad… but she will have to get a nice scholarship in order to go…</p>
<p>There are roughly 8 programs that she is interested in… but she should probably cut that list down by half… </p>
<p>As long as she gets away for the summer I will be quite happy…</p>
<p>DD will travel to Europe with her HS orchestra for a couple weeks this summer. She is also planning a mission trip with her church group. And maybe a summer job. And attempt to test out of a junior course or two. Not much time to fit in any other programs this year, and that only leaves one more summer before college apps! In some ways, high school does fly by.</p>
<p>Checking back in here to see how you all are doing. AvonHSdad’s numbers are scary. S’14 is our last one, too, so I’m trying to use the next couple of years to reinvent myself before the empty nest as well as help S get ready to launch. Now seems like the calm before the storm, even though academic expectations and schoolextracurriculars have all ramped up. Thanks for the reminder about summer plans; I need to get on that. S did not take the PSAT, but needs to sign up for an SAT II in December since he ‘forgot’ to take it last spring and this is his next chance to get it done. Grr. I’m nt ready to jump on the roller coaster gain.</p>
<p>Condor, A couple of my older kids visited Full Sail University in Florida, near Orlando. It seemed like an interesting place to study animation.</p>
<p>apollo6 - thanks for the tip. i’ll ask her if she’s heard of it. she’s been doing a lot of online research and has visited a traditional art school. i know she’s mentioned Ringling as one she’s interested in and also vsa in nyc.
some good news to share about my 2012 senior. he got his application in today to an EA school (deadline is 11/1). totally relieved to have that one done and also has submitted 8 others using the common app. some of those are ea schools and others are rolling and regular decision. he’ll revisit applications again in a few weeks and apply to some more. he is looking for a good fit for academics and to continue to participate in his sport. he has one acceptance so far and is thrilled with it.
youngest d is child number 3 for me to go through the college search process.</p>
<p>Condor~ D1 (HS’11) is an art major, so we have gone through the portfolio process. We were lucky in that we have an awesome art program in our HS. My recommendation would be to look at the requirements for the various art schools to make sure she has the type of pieces they are looking for (still lifes, color study, series, etc) and also to take it to a National Portfolio Day in your area to get feed back on her work. We did this with D1 and she learned a lot and got to meet professors and ask questions. Each NPD can have different art schools and Universities/colleges represented, so check to see which schools will be visiting and try to attend one that has the schools she is interested in. </p>
<p>For classes or instruction, that is tough. If she can’t get instruction through a high school program, you could possibly look into a community college. Also, some HS art teachers will “tutor” students for side income. I know one of our teachers did this to help a student at an out of district HS prepare his portfolio…he had talent but not access to a good program.</p>
<p>Regarding Ringling, my brother is a graduate. He then went to Guildhall at SMU for his masters. He currently works in the gaming industry (art side, or course 
) and is also teaching art classes at MICA. If you have any questions about Ringling I would be happy to ask him. But I will warn you, even though he does digital art all day, he is a stickler for classical foundations in art as part of any art/digital art program.</p>
<p>A word of caution about Full Sail, last I looked they were not accredited by the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design or the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. My understanding is that they are accredited as a career school, not an art school. Something to consider, but it may not be important to you. I know this topic has come up on the art board.</p>
<p>Feel free to PM.</p>
<p>I am happy to report my D has all A’s and 2 B’s this first 9 weeks. Great improvement since Freshman year - especially in attitude.</p>
<p>Wonderful report MSP! </p>
<p>My DS’14 got an English paper back with a recommendation that he submit the essay to a writing competition. We never would have thought of that. Don’t know if anything will come of it, but we should all look for forums for our kids to demonstrate their talents in the arts, so there will be something to place on those college apps which will be upon us in 24 months.</p>
<p>That’s awesome news mspearl!! Attitude can overcome a whole host of things! So glad your DD seems to have found that higher gear and is going with it.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son gildo! It’s wonderful to have a talent noticed in your student by a teacher. Good luck as he moves forward with the writing competition! :)</p>
<p>S3 submitted a small app for a leadership conference last week and is trudging through the major app he’s working on for the summer program. He did get a good draft of his essay to his English teacher for review so that’s a huge step. We gave a few thoughts where we questioned awkward sentence structure, but we are super hands-off where apps/essays are concerned. Each of our kids have a unique writing style to our own. The minute we start monkeying around with stuff it is no longer theirs…and it shows. Good, bad, or otherwise, they own them.</p>
<p>BamaMomof3 - thank you so very much for your post. Good information and I will pass it along to my daughter. Will let you know what progress is made. It was good for her to visit the traditional art school this summer because for her it made it clearer that she didn’t really want to attend that type of a school. she seems unwilling to consider college programs (art major) but maybe that is because she hasn’t visited one of those at all yet. I think it would be worthwhile to fit in a visit soon to a college or two and visit their art departments. she has mentioned gaming so it’s cool to hear that your brother works in that field. thanks again :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My 12 is also an artist. Wife and I didnt really realize/discover her talent until last year. Im still learning my role as an art parent, especially in the college application process. Here is what I learned about admission-level portfolio preparation.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, find a good private art teacher. You will have to do some research on this. It will not be easy, but a good art teacher makes a HUGE difference. Have her look at great art works online and in the museums. Encourage her to study them carefully, and ask her to describe them. Then ask her to describe her own pieces.</p>
<p>Take her to National Portfolio Day events and talk to as many art schools as she can. There is no easier and cheaper way to get free lessons from professionals and faculty from top art schools. She should have a pretty good idea of where she is and where she needs to be after seeing half-dozen schools, the more the better. If she has a choice of seeing a faculty, an alum, or an admission rep, always choose the faculty, unless she is applying the same year.</p>
<p>If she aspires to attend a top art school, she needs to be able to draw from observation, and draw well. I would recommend that you pick a teacher that emphasize on drawing from the start. Regardless of her eventual concentration, top art schools all like to see good quality drawings in her portfolio. Focus on graphite and colored pencil drawings until she has a handful of drawings that you can proudly display on your walls. After she nails down the techniques, stretch her creativity. Challenge her to come up with creative ideas and expressions. If she is naturally talented, she may reach this point in about a year or less with a good teacher. Creativity without technique is fantasy, but technique without creativity is death.</p>
<p>Best wishes to your daughters art pursuit.</p>
<p>Per my request, son’s guidance counselor gave him a career inventory today. Apparently, the only area where he scored high was artistic. Hmmm… Son was shocked. He does love music and he can be particular and creative with words and typography but he does not draw or do any visual arts. We were hoping it would give him some career/field of study ideas. Not so much.</p>
<p>Graphic design, web site design? Architecture?</p>