<p>My son still has some ACT/ SAT testing to do this spring. He is also taking 6 APs this year but but will probably only take 3-4 exams for them. The exams are not required by his high school. </p>
<p>As for ECs he is working on earning Eagle Scout (project is complete just needs a few more merit badges) and earning his black belt in Taekwondo. </p>
<p>I thought I posted a list here a while back about my research on what SAT IIâs are required, but itâs not coming up in my search of my own posts or of the forum 
Suffice it to say that I recall many engineering schools do ask for math and a science, and some restrict to Math 2 and either Physics or Chemistry. Oddly, some schools seem not to require the SAT II at all, which is a big change compared to when we took them as âAchievmentâ tests back in the dark agesâŠ</p>
<p>Thanks @fretfulmother I think I will encourage her to take either the Physics or Chemistry subject test " just in case" any thought on which one is more like the AP tests since she will be taking the AP Physics 1 and 2 and AP Chem? Perhaps I could sell it as killing two birds with one stone?</p>
<p>@3scoutsmom - I suspect that the physics is a bit closer, but still not 100% overlap. What Iâm doing for DS16 in a similar situation is getting a practice SAT II test book to go over closer to the end of the year.</p>
<p>My D will be spending her time keeping her grades up (semester finales are only two and a half weeks away), participating in her ECâs and most importantly sheâll be practicing her instrument. She has a big part in the schoolâs production of the Nutcracker, still several more rehearsals and multiple performances. Her non-school ensemble was asked to preform at UT-Austin in April, she has two church performances coming up, a duet and small ensemble and UIL so thereâs tons of new music to learn! She opted out of Regionals this year so she was out of the running for All State. Regionals were a week from the PSAT and she had to prioritize prep or practice, next year she can give it her all.</p>
<p>She is only taking 5 AP classes but will be taking 6 AP exams because the CB divided the Physics into two tests, 1 and 2. She may or may not be taking the ACT in April her GC wants her to because they give the ACT to all 11th graders for free and the scores go toward the schoolâs ranking but I donât want her stressing out about it. I got the school to agree that since she already has a 2300+ SAT that she doesnât have to take the ACT if she doesnât want to.</p>
<p>Her next college step will be getting registered for dual enrollment for next Fall. She needs to register in the Spring for Fall classes. </p>
<p>@Dragonflygarden congrats to your soon to be Eagle Scout! D missed her opportunity to complete her Girl Scout Gold this year, I hope sheâll try to finish it next year even though it will be too late for college apps.</p>
<p>@fretfulmother Thanks, I think Iâll do the same, have you picked out a physics SAT II prep book yet?</p>
<p>Happy thanksgiving everyone. What are you working in the kitchen now on? My family is not big on turkey, so we will have ribs, leg of lamb and shish kabob instead. Working on a stuffing and mashed potatoes now along with desert.</p>
<p>@3scoutsmom - I think I might have gotten the Barrons - itâs somewhere on a shelf at the moment 
- and I also printed out a list of topic differences that I found on CC but now of course I also canât find that (sorry!) - but I will try to search for it again when it gets closer.</p>
<p>@seal16 - Stuffing is in the oven; I made cakes and cranberry sauce (with lime and jalapeno) ahead. Bringing it all to my sisterâs; her BIL is making sweet potatoes; her MIL is making the turkey and she (host sister) is doing drinks and pies. The new untrusted SIL 
was relegated to cornbread, ha ha.</p>
<p>@fretfulmotherâ D and my mom are working on a sausage in a blanket. Love to see this team working together.</p>
<p>@seal16 - that sounds really nice.</p>
<p>@seal16 H finished the hard sauce (to top the pies) D is working on pies pumpkin and apple. I just put the stuffing in the oven. We do the turkey convection so it cooks quickly and you canât stuff it. Green beans and yams with marshmallow are last and cranberry sauce is out of a can;-)</p>
<p>@3scoutsmom - We always do stuffing outside the turkey b/c DH is a vegetarian (and also because usually someone else is making the turkey, not me ). I think itâs fine, particularly if we carnivores put on some gravy. In theory, itâs also safer food-safety-wise. Which reminds me that once I read an article in <em>Consumer Reports</em> about ârisky behaviorâ. Iâm a HS teacher, so I figured they might be talking about you know, risky behavior, like with real risks, like drunk driving. But <em>CR</em> listed the following: licking raw batter beaters, mowing lawn without ear protection, going out in winter without sunscreen, cooking turkey with stuffing inside, cooking other meat without a food thermometer⊠Iâm pretty careful about stuff, but that was ridiculous. :)</p>
<p>I made up our cranberry recipe one year and it came out really well. My mother said, âdonât make too much; it doesnât sound like it will turn out wellâ and LOL it was eaten immediately. Generally, though, Iâm not a person who likes cooking. Baking, ok, but not cooking.</p>
<p>@â3scoutsmom - AP Physics C does not directly translate to the Physics SAT II. There are areas that are not covered in AP that are covered on the SAT test. If I remember correctly, from what my S '13 said, optics is one of those areas. I understand it is more in line with Physics B. S '13 studied the situation quite closely-he self-studied AP Physics C (and many other things for that matter. When you mentioned that your daughter is only taking 5 APs, it made me smile. He had only 2 available at his school. He took AP Calc as a freshman and AP Lit as a sophomore. It made for an interesting journey through HS, for sure). That being said, S took the SAT II in Physics and did well. He was a very good test-taker, like so many kids on this site! We did get him a review book to cover any discrepancies, but it didnât seem to be a big deal. The Chem curriculums should line up, if taught thoroughly at your HS. Good luck!</p>
<p>Congratulations to everyone on the fantastic test scores! I guess we are all just waiting for the PSATs to roll in before the break. We come from one of the highest qualifying score states, and I have yet to have one use a national merit scholarship so we always try to down play things around here. This is the time in the process they seem to have so much on their plates. I always have our kids peruse the Common App recommendation form at the start of HS. Then we say to do their best in their classes and in prepping for their exams (which for us means throwing the appropriate book their way). After that it comes down to being someone that their peers, teachers and community contacts like and respect-and not missing out on high school experiences. Iâve talked to kids at the end of high school that regret spending all of their time getting into the ârightâ college, especially since with that mind-set, it often doesnât seem to go well.</p>
<p>Thanks @critter Physics is so confusing since they changed from Physics B to Physics 1/2. She wonât take Physics C until next year so guess weâll go with Chem for the SATII.</p>
<p>@â3scoutsmom â </p>
<p>My S16 took Chemistry last year (not AP). He took the Chem Subject Test in June. He prepped from the Barronâs Chemistry Subject Test prep book. Of note, there were topics on the test that he learned from the prep book that were NOT covered in his high school course. He said he would have been clueless on these test questions without the stuff he learned from the book. After the test, I took a look at those topics, and my guess is that they may or may not be covered in AP Chemistry (Iâm an ex-college Chemistry major). So I think that, like all Subject tests, using a prep book for this test is critical.
Iâm not too familiar with any other books, but he got an 800, so the Barronâs book worked fine for him.</p>
<p>I think that earlier in the thread someone was asking about prep books for the Math2 Subject test. S14 was not a stellar math student â Bâs, B+'s, and an occasional A-. He took the Math2 Subject test after his junior year even though heâd not yet taken pre-calculus. He also used a Barronâs test prep book, and he got a 780. This experience, combined with his success on the Biology Subject test using a Barronâs prep book, is why we generally donât go any further than that. We have purchased some Princeton Review books, but mainly for the added practice tests, not for the study material.</p>
<p>And no, I donât work for Barronâs. Just a bit of a junkie about this stuff.</p>
<p>@3scoutsmomâ , I believe the most subject tests recommended by any school is 3, though even then I don 't think it is a requirement. With good grades and your daughterâs SAT score, sheâs probably more than fine with 2. My oldest had no subject tests. In the end it may have limited her acceptances, but she ended up at a good place for her.</p>
<p>My D16 has 4 subject tests, but I was using them as validation for her homeschool âMom-assignedâ grades. She wonât take any more at this juncture, but she does have 3 more APs going this year.</p>
<p>As far as what she will do now thatâs testing is done, I think it 's just the usual, studying and her sports/other activities. Sheâs on the Nordic ski team and there is a figure skating show coming up. </p>
<p>We still have our oldest in the hospital which is taking a bit of a toll on everyone. I have slept at home twice in 3 weeks. She is out of critical care as of yesterday and in another facility now.</p>
<p>Oh and I tend to agree with (I think it was Asleepatthewheel) that a prep book is probably enough prep for the subject tests. Probably enough for SAT too, though we went crazy with Prep Scholar this time :-)</p>
<p>I just signed S up for the January SAT. I told him about the scores @3scoutsmomâ and @AKFireflyâ kids got. He still has 20 sections to master but promised me they will be mastered by January. I told him this morning that in the next year he is going to have to take the SAT & ACT 3 times each (depending on scores) and at least two subject tests. </p>
<p>On another note, D11 is getting a C in her one Psychology class, which is her only class this semester. She is spending the day snowboarding. I shouldnât complain, but at the rate she is going I think S will be done with college before she gets her nursing degree. How can one parent have such polar opposite kids lol. </p>
<p>I had a student who took the SAT Math 2 and scored in the low to mid 600âs, she then studied the Barronâs book and scored a 780. </p>
<p>@AKfirefly Glad your daughter is out of critical care, and best wishes for continued improvement. My S14 came home for Thanksgiving with a new sense of how privileged he is. I truly appreciate that we havenât been challenged by health issues. Hang in there!</p>
<p>@AKFireflyâ - I am thinking of your and family - I know it is stressful with a child in the hospital. Praying for a speedy recovery for her.</p>