<p>Our HS allows Juniors to attend 3 college sessions for the year (if you are required to miss a class). Seniors can attend an unlimited number.</p>
<p>Any '14s taking the SAT next Saturday? I can’t believe October is on us already!</p>
<p>Quick intro. My S will graduate in 2014. He is a very bright but not always motivated kid. So far this year (we started in early August) he has been better. Crossing my fingers that it continues. He took no honors classes freshman year, one sophomore year, and is now in two. With A’s in both. A couple of B’s in other classes but overall I can’t complain.</p>
<p>He took PSAT last year and was fairly close to our NMF cutoff (we are in a low-score state, yay!) so I am hoping that with a little prep he can make semifinalist. He has some friends who got NMF scholarships which I think was a good motivator. </p>
<p>He is a potential music major so I have posted a bit in that thread. He’s not 100% sure of that. We visited UNT over the summer, and he liked it a lot. He is wanting to visit again in November when they have a preview day. </p>
<p>Reading this thread made me realize I need to look at SAT dates. S is in choir and has a busy fall but spring is less so. Hopefully we can fit it in. Our state is now paying for all juniors to take the ACT so he will do that in March at school. He took it for Duke TIP in middle school and did pretty well then. He’s generally a good test taker so I am not too worried. Just need to look at the calendar and find a good SAT date.</p>
<p>He started his first job in late July and I think having less free time is actually improving his study habits a bit too. He knows he doesn’t have all night every night to goof off. He only works a couple of evenings a week so he’s still got time. His choir practice/perfomance schedule is crazy in October and November, so we’ll see if that’s still the case in a few weeks…</p>
<p>@New Haven Mom, My 3 oldest kids all scored 4 on WHAP. The only thing they have in common as students is good writing ability. They all learned to be able to shape the answers to the questions to include what they knew about the subject even if they didn’t know a great amount of detailed facts. Neither of the boys studied for the exam outside what they learned in class from an okay, but not great WHAP teacher. I doubt my D did much studying, either. If they had, they might have scored a 5. So I think the key is to practice writing the essays. If you do that well, you can make up for not knowing all the facts.</p>
<p>I guess I’m pretty late signing in to this thread, but mentally I focused on getting my oldest (current college junior - Business/International Development) and middle (current college freshman (Brain & Cognitive Science - pre-med) off. Now I’m starting to change focus to youngest (HS Class of '14).</p>
<p>Naturally, none of my kids want the same type of thing for college, so the search starts over. This guy is really only into Bio/Microbio/Botany, and to some extent, other sciences and he’s at an average high school (meaning pretty low by college confidential standards) so we won’t be looking toward any big name schools as he won’t have any AP (school only offers Euro) nor high stats (he won’t study for the PSAT or others as he doesn’t like those subjects). </p>
<p>Plus, to put a twist in it, as of a couple of months ago he told us he want to go into the ministry and study Biblical Studies. We’re Christians, but honestly, this kid lives and breathes flora and fauna (and has since toddlerhood), so it came as a complete shock that he would want to major in anything else. Up until then he wanted Tropical Botany - which was definitely a match.</p>
<p>So, perhaps I’m also late because I’m a little bit reluctant at this point? But the days/months will pass quickly and I need to be onboard. BUT, when I put Christian and Botany in the search engines it doesn’t bring up much… He is taking three science classes this year (a community college Bio, Plant and Animal, and Wildlife and Natural Resources) so part of me hopes he returns to his true love knowing he can always have Bible Studies (and in church “jobs”) on the side. He’d make an awesome park ranger at any non-city park.</p>
<p>I’m looking forward to meeting everyone! (And will probably be a little jealous of those of you with “easy” college decisions comparatively.)</p>
<p>@Creekland - I don’t know which part of the country you are in, but when I think “Christian” and “Biology”, I think of Wheaton College outside of Chicago. Also, Hope College in Holland, Michigan.</p>
<p>I actually don’t think he’ll have the stats for Wheaton or Hope, but also, those two schools tend to lean pre-med with their Bio. He wants a school with Botany specific areas (after the initial Bio class). Thanks for the suggestions though!</p>
<p>Have you considered St. John’s College?
[St</a>. John’s College](<a href=“http://www.sjca.edu%5DSt”>http://www.sjca.edu)
They are an ‘interesting’ choice for bright kids who haven’t yet shown their academic output.
I think a lot of bright boys don’t show their stuff until they get to college level.
Best Wishes,
PS</p>
<p>Hi all …</p>
<p>I’ve <em>heard</em> (and I don’t know how true this is) that good German programs at the university level are hard to come by. </p>
<p>I would say it’s probably true since DD wants to minor in German and asked me yesterday (yay!) if I could find some potentials for her that have strong biology programs (eventually she wants to be a neurologist) as well as a strong German program.</p>
<p>I mean, it would stand to reason that since my DD want to do it - it’s hard to come by … right? lol!</p>
<p>Anyone have ANY suggestions?</p>
<p>1or2Musicians: I thought kids only get one shot at the PSAT, so the first score is the score they use for NMF. Yes?</p>
<p>KaMaMom: Maybe you can find a school that has a great study abroad program.</p>
<p>kids can take the PSAT before Junior year just for practice. Junior year counts for NMF whether they have taken it before or not. Some special circumstances apply for kids not spending the usual 4 years in HS.</p>
<p>Thanks for clearing that up MathMom. </p>
<p>We’re finally into our school routine here at Kaos headquarters 
DD still has a huge work load but so far she’s managing it pretty well. We are enjoying watching her have so much fun in her junior year.</p>
<p>And my 2014 guy is currently at our urgent care clinic (instead of ER) getting his ankle X-rayed. There’s nothing like jumping down stairs at full speed in gym class. Well, I suppose the jump wasn’t the problem, but the landing sure was.</p>
<p>We’re visiting middle son (at U Rochester) this weekend. I wonder if he’ll be on crutches for middle son’s 4th floor room…</p>
<p>The excitement never ends when you’re a parent…</p>
<p>KaMaMom - I would expect many schools strong in science research to also be strong in German, but maybe I’m wrong. What level school are you aiming toward? What area of the country? Large/small/city/rural? We’ve looked at quite a few neuroscience-strong schools (in the eastern half of the US anyway).</p>
<p>Creekland … I’d be interested in hearing about your neuro schools/thoughts. As for what kind of vibe she’s looking at - she has absolutely no idea yet. We’re visiting Vandy next month so I’m hoping that will push her into thinking about what type of school culture would be a fit. She has top notch grades & ECs … this is my oldest so I’m/we’re just getting our feet wet in the college search.</p>
<p>(As for location … we’re midwest, so I’d prefer her to stay anywhere on the east side of the Mississipi. I’d like to be able to do a day’s drive to see her and not kill myself. lol)</p>
<p>kaMaMom:…just a thought…I know Middle hey in Vermont is supposed to be fabulous in all the languages…also I had a friend in medschool from Middlebury so I assume they have lots that go premed as well…perhaps also Amherst if you’re DD is amenable to LACs</p>
<p>vandyeyes … thanks!! I’ll take any and all guidance/advice I can get. Much appreciated.</p>
<p>KaMaMom: I would strongly recommend that you look at Alabama. Excellent biology program – one of the top ones among public schools. The German program is outstanding, too, as Mercedes has a plant in Tuscaloosa County. There is a strong tie between the plant headquarters and the school. And Alabama has excellent scholarship opportunities. My oldest son, who attends Bama, has friends who are bio majors, and they have incredible research projects going.</p>
<p>As for what’s new in our world, S’14 and I went to a college fair this evening. He looked down the list of the 100-plus schools there, and we visited three – Alabama, Kentucky and ECU. He has been to Bama several times and toured ECU over the summer. The UK rep was lovely. She answered lots of questions and encouraged us to visit next summer. She also gave my son a UK magnet to present to his AP Bio teacher, who is a Kentucky native and big basketball fan. Not to be outdone, Alabama gave him a pin and a houndstooth pen. The whole evening took 40 minutes. He wanted to get home and do all his AP work.</p>
<p>Creekland - hope the ankle is okay. Enjoy the weekend visit!</p>
<p>The ankle is just a bad sprain and not fractured. Kiddo has been told to keep weight off of it for at least three days. And of course, being 16, he doesn’t want any help in the bathroom/shower this morning. I gave a suggestion of a sponge bath, but I hear the shower going… Here’s hoping we don’t need another trip for an injured body part from trying to adjust to this.</p>
<p>KaMamom - I gave my guy an “East of the Mississippi” directive too, but he also applied to WUSTL (got waitlisted - I’m thankful as I prefer the 6 hour drive to U Rochester over the 17 hour drive to WUSTL). We threatened to drive him to the river and drop him off… ;)</p>
<p>Vandy is a good school, but had far more Greek than my guy wanted, so we didn’t pursue it. Pitt is another that is VERY good in neuro and ended up being my guy’s second choice. It’s a larger, urban school and has several hospitals right on or near campus making it ideal for pre-meds. Of course there’s U Rochester - urban, but with a defined campus - less focused on sports - less Greek (it is there, just a lot less) - a hospital right on campus - and all three aspects of neuro studies (Neuroscience, Brain and Cognitive Science, and Psychology) - all things that helped my guy choose it over his other options.</p>
<p>If you like smaller there’s Lafayette, and maybe Furman (their neuro program was getting less and less students - not sure why - but it posed a red flag - we ended up turning them down when they wanted us to pay 33K + and other schools were far, far less). If just looking pre-med, these LACs would be fine. If considering research as a possible career, “experts” told us 'tis best to go to a research school. Since my guy is undecided between the two, that also factored in to our final decision.</p>
<p>Case Western and UK do Cognitive Science. Case is very urban - a turn off for my guy so he never applied. We never went to UK.</p>
<p>If you want higher, U Penn is a good option. We eliminated all Ivies and other non-merit aid granting places, so I only know “about” them. They are also urban.</p>
<p>As a note… U Alabama is a nice, large school esp if one wants the large school experience. My guy used it as a safety, but note that they don’t offer neuro. He would have majored in Microbio had he gone there, but he really, really preferred neuro. U Roc ended up less expensive for us anyway - as would have Pitt. It’s a good thing as youngest, without the high stats, is likely to need more $$ to go to school.</p>
<p>One thought from a young lady currently at Vandy’s Med School who we know from another forum (online knowledge only) concerning pre-med… She thinks it’s wise for a pre-med student to attend somewhere where there’s a hospital ON CAMPUS (or short walking distance). She went to a top undergrad without it and is now at Vandy (where they do have it). She’s offering her thoughts as hindsight. Obviously this is not a “need” to get into med school as thousands do it annually without it, but she told us she’s jealous of her classmates who were able to easily do a lot more in a hospital than she was while in undergrad. Yes, she had some hospital experience, but others were able to be involved on a daily or weekly basis vs having to make special trips for short term experiences. I’ll admit that, for us, it helped guide my guy’s final decisions too and right now he has no regrets at all.</p>
<p>There’s probably more places I’m not thinking of right now. All in all, it’s a fun search to be embarking on. I really enjoyed it with middle son. Have fun!</p>
<p>Hmm, the water is off and I haven’t heard any screams. Hopefully all is well with youngest. I wonder if I need to write a note for him to get out of gym class? He doesn’t have it today, but will tomorrow.</p>
<p>I would agree with the thoughts regarding the advantages of an undergrad campus with access to hospitals for any premed…not a must, but certainly makes the logistics easier. I, too, went to Vandy med after undergraduate on a campus with a med school/hospitals (in my case CWRU)</p>
<p>Oops… wrote a book above - will try not to get carried away in the future!</p>