<p>Son seems fairly happy with his classes after two days of school. The biggest difference between this year and last, he said, was that he knew people in his classes. Last year, he was new to the school. He really likes all his teachers, too, which is good because he has two of them for two different, all-year AP classes. Managed to get all his summer work for APUSH and AP Biology done. Now, if he can stay healthy while running cross country this fall, life will be very good.</p>
<p>Our HS requires a āunified scienceā class taken in 9th grade, biology, and a 3rd science of your choice (could be chemistry, physics, or earth science, anatomy/physiology, or environmental science). Because of odd scheduling, my S wonāt get his biology course in until senior year. Normally it is taken sophomore year if non-AP, or junior year if AP.</p>
<p>Just in case she wasnāt busy enough already, DD had her first job interview today and got the job! Would have been nice if theyād called her earlier in the summer but I guess all the college students are leaving so they now have openings. Luckily thereās only one more APUSH article to read and essay to write and some AP Spanish readings to do. She starts on Sunday and although she doesnāt know her schedule, itās a big weekend job so maybe not too many weeknights (although she only has Wednesdays free!). Sheās at a friends house tonight for a sleepover and theyāre all bringing their AP summer work to do! Sheās not at the public HS with them so her work is different but at least theyāre all serious students and sheās stayed really close with this great group of girls. Iām really hoping enough gets done so we can have one last beach day on Monday before she works Freshmen Orientation on Tuesday. Iām not ready for summer to end!</p>
<p>An update to my above comment about getting cold feet about AP Chem: The scheduling system at our high school canāt always accomodate cold feet in the final weeks before school starts. 
AP Chem has to stay. To lighten the load, a different AP class was dropped for the grade level version.</p>
<p>akmom - congrats on the ddās new job! I keep trying to talk my ds into getting a job, then I think when will he have time? He is in a rock band that has actual paying gigs, so I just tell myself that is his job! (Not sure if that would hurt or help on college apps, but he does it for fun, not college apps!)</p>
<p>college - Sorry about the schedule not being able to be changed. 
Iām sure your child will adjust just fine!</p>
<p>DS has already missed a day of school - on the third day! He started having a fever Sunday, but made him go Monday & Tuesday. Finally took him to doctor Tuesday afternoon and apparently itās just a virus that needs to run its course. Hate that heās going to be behind already!!</p>
<p>Sā14 now AKA Sā15 leaves for his exchange year in China in one week. I am grateful that he finished packing yesterday so I know he is all set. He doesnāt need too many clothes because his host school will provide a uniform but we still ended up having to buy winter boots and a jacket online because he had outgrown last yearās. I am excited for him but it is hard to let him go.</p>
<p>Sorry about scheduling conflicts and challenges. My son was originally scheduled for both AP stats and AP calc AB last year but backed out of calc after the first week of classes. It was a great move for him because it allowed him to study Chinese online and put more time into his extracurriculars which led him to being chosen for his exchange scholarship. Sometimes it all happens for the best. Heāll pick up calculus when he gets back from China. (and I appreciated the fact that he didnāt give me a hard time about sticking a couple SAT math prep books in his luggage ;)</p>
<p>Good luck with what Iām sure will be a teary goodbye, Apollo6. Arenāt you happy you live in a time of Skype, facebook and email? Iām sure your son will have plenty of great stories to share!</p>
<p>re: schedule ā Sā14 got his, and it has AP English on it! (His teacher and GC both said he shouldnāt take it; S wanted to) so either they changed their minds or itās a fluke, but Iām not going to say anything.</p>
<p>Itās quiet with Dā11 gone. I told S about her difficulty staying within a budget (we give her a certain amount each month and she routinely goes through it, buying things she <em>needs</em>). S said: why donāt you do that with me now? Instead of waiting til college.</p>
<p>What a good idea. I give him lunch money and weekend money (to get pizza with friends; see a movie). Why not give it to him up front and tell him he has to make it last? Does anyone do that with their high schoolers? Am I naive to think he wonāt blow through it on Day 1?</p>
<p>I was thinking if he saved any at the end of the month, Iād make him put it in a savings account and Iād match it.</p>
<p>I bet heāll start bringing PB&J from home real fast!</p>
<p>Class - We give DD a monthly allowance. It doesnāt cover lunch money as she mostly brings her lunch to school and I donāt have a problem funding the times she chooses to buy - or the times when thereās nothing in the house for her to bring! However, it does need to cover her activities - movie tickets, shows, gifts, dinners out with friends, etc. It also covers clothes she wants to buy although I purchase the necessities and school clothes and shoes (she has a uniform). Iāve been doing this for about a year or so and sheās pretty good at budgeting what she has. If she wants to go to see a show her friends are in and Iām going also, Iāll pay for her ticket. However, if she wants to see it again, the cost is on her. It seems to work pretty well and makes her think twice before she spends her money!</p>
<p>We stopped giving dā14 an allowance at all this year. She had a summer job where she earned enough to cover her spending for the year (brown bags a lunch every day, so I guess weāre talking about entertainment money only).</p>
<p>Hey all,
I was just wondering what your take might be on doing an independent study of Linear Algebra/Calc III with Physics C instead of a class in the context of college admissions? </p>
<p>Online courses arenāt really cutting it for me due to high costs and so I talked to my principal about it and she gave me the option of doing an independent study for credit.</p>
<p>I have to write a proposal for my study, get that approved through the principal and then do a project/paper examining the subjects/possibly try out some computational modeling and then submit that for evaluation. </p>
<p>Iād really appreciate your thoughts/opinions on this! It sounds pretty good to me, but Iām worried about what colleges will think about it.</p>
<p>Edit: Also, Iām only in junior year, so I have to continue math somehow. I have 4 years, if you look back from grade 7 (Alg1, Geo, Alg2, Calc BC) but only 2 in High School itself.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! All thoughts/opinions are very much welcome :)</p>
<p>akmom ā thanks ā good to know.</p>
<p>ordinarylives ā good for your child, earning their own money. That would be my goal.</p>
<p>ecouter11 ā I think colleges would love the fact that you are seeking out the classes that challenge you especially if theyāre not offered at your school. It shows a real desire to learn. Plus youāre not just signing up for an online class as a way to avoid real class time ā you have to do quite a bit of work to qualify. Definitely impressive.</p>
<p>Hi All -
Itās been a great summer, Sā14 mostly doing summer camp and having a great time. Now heās back at school - finally got his schedule ājust rightā and he likes his teachers. So far so good. I went back on his schoolās Naviance site and am trying to fully come to terms with just how unlikely the āname recognition schoolsā are now-a-days. </p>
<p>So I broke down and paid US News and World Reports for a one year membership. Iāve been itching to do it for 2 years now. So Iāll probably spend my lunch hour exploring that. </p>
<p>Sā14 final Junior year schedule -
Hebrew 3
Honors US History (No AP offered at his school)
AP English
AP Calc AB
AP Physics B
some electives</p>
<p>Question: S is looking at possibly going out of state to other Stateās Flagship Universities. The College books list SAT scores and percentage admitted for over all, but not out of state students. Naviance doesnāt indicate if the students who were admitted to, for example, to U of Michigan-Ann Arbor were in or out of state students (boarding school so not obvious) Any ideas on how to figure out how competitive these schools are for out of state students?</p>
<p>Question #2: My SIL said that University of Pennsylvania has a much higher admit rate for Engineering School than for Arts and Sciences. Fat books donāt mention that either. Any way to get that info? Iām guessing that for some schools the Engineering School is more competitive with higher average SATs while at other school itās less. Iām using the SATs to estimate how the āsocial/emotionalā fit would be for my S. I know thatās a gross estimate, but Iām not sure how else to gauge with physically being on campus - any suggestions?</p>
<p>Question #3: Is there such thing as a āPetersonās Guide to Engineering Schools and Departments for Undergraduates?ā Iāve checked Amazon and Google and no leads. Iād love to pay for a book that gives information specific to the Engineering Department. Is there a thread on CC that discusses this sort of information?</p>
<p>Thanks for listening,
PS</p>
<p>Apollo - Hope the travel to China for your DS goes well! </p>
<p>Re: allowance - My S decided last year that he didnāt like the food at the school and would be taking his lunch every day. I told him Iād continue to give him lunch money if he would make his own lunch from home everyday. Thatās one less thing I have to do in the morning while getting younger brother ready for school - and he has gas and spending money! :)</p>
<p>PS - They got my money about a month ago, too! 
In the book they sent me with my payment, it lists U Mich accepted 64% from in-state. I looked on US News website and did not see that info, so if itās there it is hidden pretty good! Iād be interested in the information specifically related to engineering admittance rates. I know when we visited Wash U, they talked about that in the info session ā¦ but now I canāt remember! Should have written it down! The US News does have a ranking for the Engineering schools, but doesnāt go into detail. U Mich is #6 for Electrical, #4 for Mechanical, #6 for Engineering overall, etc. That can be found under the rankings tab for the individual colleges.</p>
<p>Another good source for info is the Common Data Set - just type that in the colleges search bar. Lots of info in that report.</p>
<p>I hit the jackpot yesterday at our local library. Every year, they have a booksale of old/duplicate/donated books. I came away with US News thick book, Petersonās Four Year Colleges, three books on scholarships, SAT red book study guide, AP World History study guide and several more - all for $4 total!! I now have my own personal library! haha A couple of these were 2011/2012 books, many were older - but still have good info. I believe the library must replace these books every year and discard the older models.</p>
<p>Iām new to posting but have been checking out the site for a while. Between me, my DD, and my hubby, Iām most interested in learning about the college app processā¦ok, maybe youād call it obsessed! But I really am trying to be more laid back about it. I look forward to reading all of the posts on this thread as we all march toward the search for the āperfect fitā school for our DD/DS! </p>
<p>My DD began school last week and is taking: APUSH, AP Chem, Physics, Pre-Calc, AP Eng Lang, AP Spanish, and Theology. She attended a state-run Math/Science Camp this summer and absolutely loved it. Bonded with lots of like-minded kids and finally got very excited about the prospect of going to college. She seems to want to stay here in the sunny West but Iām trying to make sure that she looks around at OOS as there might be better aid available. She also attended a special tour day that CalTech held for Women in STEMā¦and she loved it. How I would ever pay for CalTech is beyond meā¦plus I worry that given her schedule, she may not be able to maintain a GPA that CalTech would be interested in!</p>
<p>Itās been a while since Iāve posted but all these back to school postings have prompted me. DS has been super busy all August, with football starting the first week and club soccer training for the fall season. Not to mention APUSH work and a little SAT studying.</p>
<p>He has his schedule mostly set up for the upcoming year, although for some strange reason he is missing a class for first period, second semester. He has to go in and talk to his counselor to see whatās going on there. His classes this year are (in no particular order):</p>
<p>APUSH
AP Chem
AP Calc
English Honors
Physics Honors
Robotics/Prototyping
CAD/?? (hoping to get Advanced Nature of Materials)</p>
<p>Weāll see how he handles the workload, given his commute, varsity sports, club soccer, and other extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Weāre still savoring out last few days of summer here in the Northwest. DD is pushing through the last few AP assignments (who was it that called them āAdvanced Procrastinationā¦?ā) and putting in some time daily studying for the SAT.</p>
<p>Iāve been following the NMF thread - <a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1379508-official-national-merit-semifinalist-qualifying-score-thread-class-2013-a-21.html[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1379508-official-national-merit-semifinalist-qualifying-score-thread-class-2013-a-21.html</a> - which has been reporting the cut-off scores for the Class of 2013. The good news is that for most states, the qualifying score has dropped by a few points. While that doesnāt mean things will be any easier for our kids, at least they have a new benchmark to aspire to. Itās hard to believe that a year from now, weāll be in the hot seat, sweating those results.</p>
<p>Hi all ā¦</p>
<p>Iāve been a lurker for a while but now that my oldest is a Junior, I thought it might be time to post.</p>
<p>Sheās an IB Diploma candidate and Iāve heard that this year will be the worst of it. Sigh. Sheās highly motivated and your typical first born ā¦ but Iām worried about burn out. (She works, participates in several clubs, co-captain of debate and takes private music lessons.)</p>
<p>Hereās her classes this year ā¦</p>
<p>Advanced Concert Choir (by audition only)
Pre Cal-Trig/IB
World Lit/IB HL
German IV/AP IB SL
Bio II/AP IB HL
APUSH
Econ</p>
<p>2nd semester Econ will be replaced with TOK.</p>
<p>We havenāt done any tours yet ā¦ hopefully weāll get out during Spring Break next year and do a quick tour of several that are geographically close to each other.</p>
<p>I quickly scanned through some posts (need to go back and read more!) but are there any IB parents here?</p>
<p>Can you take a higher math class at the local university? Look into that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>pdx - Thanks for posting the link. It should be a very interesting year. DD had her second test prep class at school this morning before 1st period.</p>