<p>momreads - congrats to your son on the full tuition, honors housing. </p>
<p>i still feel like trip assistance is a good thing that can help bring a student in for a visit to a campus that they otherwise might not be inclined to visit because of the time and costs involved, especially when the distance necessitates a fly in visit.</p>
<p>DS1 had at least one school that would have given him an additional scholarship in the amount of his visit expenses up to a certain amount, if he had chosen to attend.</p>
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<p>We did this with two of Dâ11 school choices. Knowing that financially she could only attend if she received the schoolsâ elite scholarships that involved interview weekends (travel expenses were partially paid), we figured that if she was invited that would be her campus visit. Problem: She was a finalist at both schools. The finalist interview weekends were the same weekend! She had to choose a school sight unseen. So as we begin this process with Dâ14, weâll be keeping this in mind :)</p>
<p>Right now Dâ14 isnât interested in looking at colleges. She has been on Dâ11 campus and really likes it and one of their honor programs. She isnât certain about what she wants to study, but she has a strong interest in cultures, studying abroad and possibly ministry. But she also knows cost will be a huge factor. We may try to squeeze a few campus visits into the schedule this summer.</p>
<p>It has begunâŠDD got four emails from colleges yesterday. She was worried because her brother ('12) got hit by the marketing earlier even though her PSAT scores are higher. Sheâs so cute, worrying that she wonât get college marketing materials! Ah, the innocence of youth!</p>
<p>Iâm just curious as to when your sophomore expects to take the SAT or ACT for the first time? Iâm also curious about SAT subject tests. I understand they are subject-driven but my daughter will have finished Honors Pre-Calc at the end of her sophomore year and I donât want to wait too long (math stuff doesnât stick around for long!)</p>
<p>pacnwmomof2 - my dâ11 never did get any college marketing materials that she didnât specifically request. We never did figure it out. She had a very respectable ACT and was in the top 5% of her hs graduating class. She checked the âok to sendâ box on the ACT, too. She did see what other kids in her class were getting and ask why nobody wanted her. </p>
<p>pdxsuzanne - we were thinking maybe next fall in Sept. or Oct. for a first run at the ACT. Weâre in the Midwest, so ACT is the test to take. There wonât be any SAT subtests for us.</p>
<p>âIt has begunâŠDD got four emails from colleges yesterday.â</p>
<p>I know . . . right? We got the PSAT score (not the real one, but the sophomore one), DSâ14 did better than anticipated and all of the sudden he is getting e-mails from quite a range: from Colorado State to Vassar! :). I know it is just computers and marketing, but the kid has a little kiddyup in his step.</p>
<p>pdxsuzanne: DSâ12 took subject tests when he finished the highest level of a class he was going to take. AP Bio in 10th, APUSH and AP Chem in 11th, so he took the subject tests in June after the May AP exams in those years. My understanding is that you donât need an AP level class to take the Subject tests, but it seemed to make the most sense for him to do it that way.</p>
<p>DDâ14 will probably take SATs and ACTs in the winter of her junior year. DS did it in the spring of junior year and it was pretty stressful with AP exams, SATs, ACTs and finals all within about five weeks.</p>
<p>ordinarylives: Maybe ACT doesnât sell names? Iâm not sure because my kids have taken both.</p>
<p>@ pdxsuzanne - S3 will probably have a first go at the SATs next winter. Late spring of Jr year is an absolute bear with AP tests, finals, proms, ECs in competition mode, etc. The subject test for corresponding APs come into play here and are best taken June of the same year the AP test is being taken. IF your student is planning on applying ED/EA anywhere keep in mind there is a Sept ACT but no Sept SAT/Subject test. You only have October to make it in time for EA/ED deadlines. This means if you want to retest you can not do both SATs and Subject tests in the fall. This hits a lot of people by surprise. I remember making a mental note of it when S2 went through this being very thankful he was not applying EA/ED. We would have missed the deadlines as he wanted to retest in both SATs and a subject test (Oct & Nov). His scores were within the 50% range of his most competitive school, but the extra tests gave him over 100pts on the SAT and 60pts on the subject test, so it was worth the time to retest.</p>
<p>Another weigh-in here with the first emailsâŠ</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if these have a net positive or negative effect. There was one from Kenyon about superpowers that was just sillyâŠ</p>
<p>And so it beginsâŠ</p>
<p>Thanks for weighing in everyone. D will take AP English, APUSH and AP Chem next year so it sounds like the subject tests will certainly make sense in June 2013. D has been receiving quite a few emails and at the bottom of each one it says whether or not they came as a result for her PLAN or PSAT score (she took both). Anything mailed has come because it was a formal request.</p>
<p>The plan for my DS is to take SAT II in Chemistry and Math this month, as he is finishing up with precalc and honors chemistry this semester. The Chemistry will be a stretch, as it covers more than his class covered. He is actually looking at a few engineering schools that want a Physics SAT II as well as Chemistry so he will take that one June of junior year when he finishes with AP Physics (C mechanics). </p>
<p>For the regular SAT and ACT, I think he will take one of each early in Junior year (Nov/Dec range) and then retake the one he does better on one more time if needed.</p>
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<p>Just donât make the same mistake we made with DSâ11 and wait for a subject that the student would take their highest level of Senior year. He didnât take a Chemistry subject test after taking honors Chem sophomore year because it didnât cover everything on the test, and he knew heâd be taking AP Chem âlaterâ â but âlaterâ was senior year and thatâs too late, so he ended up reviewing his chemistry and self-studying the additional material and taking the subject test in June of his Junior year, when he wasnât taking chemistry at all, which was non-optimal to say the least. You need to be done with testing by fall of senior year.</p>
<p>mathmomvt: Can you take the subject tests more than one time and turn in your best score? Since D has honors precalc and honors chem this year (AP next year), just wondering if it makes sense to take both at the end of the spring term?</p>
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Yes, as long as the school takes Score Choice. Some schools want every test score youâve ever taken, while some want your highest single sitting (which should not matter for SAT2s). My S2 took the Math2 subject test twice and submitted the highest score along with Chem 2.</p>
<p>I know you didnât ask for opinions, however I will offer that the Chem subject test is notoriously difficult and if your student has two consecutive years of Chem ending in AP Chem in the Jr year I would just wait and take the subject test then. That was what S2 did after honors/AP Chem. S3 will do the same.</p>
<p>As bluiguana says, it depends somewhat on the policies of the schools to which your child is applying. </p>
<p>I also agree with her suggestion that you wait until after AP Chem if AP will be taking Junior year. My advice is really only relevant if the student is taking an AP class senior year for which they want/need to take a subject test. </p>
<p>My S is not feeling ready for the chem subject test, which he is scheduled to write in two weeks, so if he doesnât feel he can get it together in time, I may suggest that he not take it now (to avoid having a low score that he might have to report to some schools), continue studying over the spring semester and take it in May. In a way that seems less ideal since it will have been a while since heâd been in a chemistry class, but if heâs willing to keep up weekly work on it, it may be a better option than taking it now if heâs not ready. Thereâs no chance he can take AP chemistry next year, or Iâd definitely have him wait and do it then.</p>
<p>Do you really have to report every subject test score to some colleges? I ask because my 2013 daughter has taken six years to finish high school because of taking a gap year between 10th and 11th to go on exchange and then deciding to go to a UWC for 12th and 13th and IB diploma. She has three mediocre subject tests from 10th grade (one was chemistry after one year) when she was the age of the average 9th grader. That was spring 2009 and she wonât even apply to college until fall 2012. She did much better on APs that year.</p>
<p>Yes, some colleges require you to submit all tests, and if they require it, when order your SAT results sent to the college, College Board (the SAT folks) will send every single score you took. I think the only exception is test taken before 9th grade. However, schools that want to see all your scores just want to get the big picture, and make sure it didnât take you 13 tries to get a decent SAT score, etc. A mediocre subject test from 10th grade followed by stronger AP tests will be unlikely to âcount againstâ your daughter, especially with her non-standard path through high school. But definitely, three- or four-year-old scores will be considered current scores and will be sent.</p>
<p>Hello, everyone. Iâve lurked for a little bit but finally decided to register now that college emails are pouring in from PSAT scores. My oldest is HS class of 2014 so all of this is new to me. He goes to a science & tech magnet school and is interested in engineering as a career. </p>
<p>After reading through some recent posts it seems that he would be well-advised to take the Math II subject test this spring since he is in pre-calc at the moment, but that he should wait until next spring when he is finishing up AP Chem. Does that sound right?</p>
<p>Looking forward to getting through this journey with all of your help!</p>
<p>Welcome NovaMom. You are correct about the Chem subject test. If your student is taking pre-calc as a soph I donât know that Iâd rush to take the Math2 now. My older son did better after a semester of calc. You may want to consider a December of Jr year test date (plenty of time to get rid of any math-rust from summer) and wonât interfere with other testing. Just a thought. Unlike others, Math2 isnât really coordinated to AP test prep where itâs good to test at the same time. The biggest problem kids I know had with Math2 was actually finishing on time, so keep that in mindâŠyou know your student best.</p>