<p>My D did APCS last year and didn’t find it to difficult. She has her APWH test next week. I think she is prepared. She took her SAT2 math 2 last Saturday and found it more difficult than expected because she didn’t actually open the prep book I got her. She is already planning to retake it. </p>
<p>@arisamp – Was unaware that you’ve already done this once. </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter how smart all our kids are – they’re still kids. And frequently they form their impressions during their college visits on factors that may not be all that relevant. A big one is the student-guide who leads the tour. Many schools do a really good job picking and training their student-guides. They’re animated, vivacious, smart, accomplished, and involved in all sorts of great things on campus. But are they really representative of the experience of the majority of students at that school? Not necessarily. Conversely, some of the guides are too nerdy or too athletic or simply over-the-top in doing their schtick on the tour. There were tours where my son had a hard time getting past a tour guide that made him crazy.</p>
<p>My best friend in professional school had gone to a boarding high school prior to attending Amherst. It clearly was a big part of his who he was, in a very positive sense. I hadn’t thought of how many of the practical aspects of the college application and selection process would be affected by having a child at a boarding school. Should make it interesting, to say the least. You’ll have to keep us all posted.</p>
<p>Had a heart to heart today with S16, his GC, and a few of his teachers. Some comments were “ridiculously talented” “could have an easy A” and so on. Current GPA suggests the opposite. Trying to turn around his final quarter and prepare to show that he’s got it in gear next year. We love this GC, who also helped us with S14. S16 says she doesn’t have that fake smile other counselors have. High praise.</p>
<p>I agree about attending college tours during session when possible. we still do summer tours because so far each child wants to see every single school they apply to which is 10 to 15 of them, and I have 4 kids work and am going to college myself lol so time is a crunch.</p>
<p>what we found helpful in that case is doing a second tour with the colleges she got into and attending every accepted students day that our D14 was mildly interested in. it only ended up being a couple, and in some cases, seeing the kids with school in session definitely changed her opinion. but I realize that many people can’t do that many Tours which is why in the end I do feel seeing tours first hand in session is better faster and cheaper!</p>
<p>@AsleepAtTheWheel - yes, it is going to be very challenging with this kid away at boarding school. He’s not a frequent communicator and I think I am going to be in the dark about a lot of the details! Having been very involved with D, knowing all her apps/schools/updates, this is going to be an interesting ride with S :)</p>
<p>I completely get your comment about the tour guides. For our first visit to CWRU, we had some incredibly nerdy, awkward tour guides. D just couldn’t relate to them and in turn the school. But when she went back for an accepted students’ visit, she had some better guides. Also had the opportunity to spend a night on campus. Changed her mind completely and she has thus far loved her three years there - thinks it was the <em>right</em> fit! As an aside, she worked as a tour guide over the last year and a half and had to drop out this year due to other commitments. But a friend of a friend was visiting Case and she took them around, gave them a personal tour. They were very very impressed - apparently Case is one of the top schools on their S’s list now :)</p>
<p>deleted, posted twice</p>
<p>D just got home from the APLang test. She immediately went in and fell asleep, though she did pause long enough to say “it was okay” in response to my query about how the testing went.</p>
<p>Re: college visits, we’ve officially visited South Florida (maybe as a safety…maybe) and informally, FSU and the University of Florida (maybe and no). D will be visiting Clemson and Furman later this month. She has no idea where she wants to go, really. S has decided maybe he isn’t quite Ivy material and is now looking a couple of other places. Still setting himself pretty ambitious goals though: we’ll see how he that works out. It depends on how he does in the one class he had trouble with last grading period. He’s knocked himself out of the running for val/sal, but at least he’s figured out actually turning in assignments is a grand idea. I think, anyway.</p>
<p>Are any of your kids getting a ton of mail from a particular school? There are a few S is getting stuff from repeatedly. It’s all different stuff, just a lot of it.
D gets very little, because she didn’t tick the “send me spam!” box on her tests. That’s fine, because her brother gets enough for both of them. But she was a little bummed that they liked him better until she realised why the difference.</p>
<p>D gets emails and letters every day from the schools we never heard off, state universities and some Ivy’s. But nothing from schools we are interested in.</p>
<p>D started to get a few things but it has been quiet lately. She took the SAT bio subject test recently so maybe she will start getting another wave of mail. We pretty much know all the places she is going to apply to bcz she has a specific major but it is still fun to receive mail.</p>
<p>@petrichor11 I am curious why you guys said no to u of Florida? We are up north but that is one of the colleges that is on the list unless D changes mind for distance. We haven’t visited yet…was going to apply and if she was accepted then visit.</p>
<p>It’s a huge reach for UF for OOS anymore. D15 favorite so far is USF because of the program she is interest in.<br>
We have begun final studies here. No AP’s until Junior year at our school you need pre/rec classes and teacher recommendations. </p>
<p>Asleepathewheel, CC has been so informative to me that I have taught the counselors at my school some things. They had never heard of HOBY, and my school has never had kids elected to an office or hold a position for a club outside of school. They didn’t tell anyone about the PLAN because,“The district doesn’t pay for kids to take it.” I learned about these things from CC. My school actually has a class for seniors to get them ready for college and when I sub for that class I show the kids CC and they cannot believe all the information on here. I have learned a ton from the people on these boards, I would simply ignore the counselors at your kid’s school.</p>
<p>Being that we are talking about tests, my S is taking the Math SAT2 and SAT WH in June. He just took the AP Calc AB test on Wednesday and said it was easy. I am worried because I have heard him say that before on tests at school and then found out he didn’t do as well as he thought. I hope he is right this time. He takes AP Euro test next Wednesday afternoon. I still wish that colleges would accept AP tests in place of SAT subject tests, especially if a college gives college credit for an AP test yet still requires the SAT subject test in the same subject.</p>
<p>S said he thought CalcAB was pretty easy as well. OTOH, he’s the math guy (as opposed to his mother, who struggled to get through pre-calc). Another parent, whose son is in pre-calc this year, told me she’s watching to see how my son does on the AP, and if he doesn’t do well then she’s putting her kid in dual enrollment calc rather than AP next year. I wasn’t sure what to respond to that-- I guess it was sort of “if he can’t do it, then none of them can.” Eek, no pressure there.</p>
<p>Why no to U of F? Mostly there’s just not a lot to recommend it in either of their eyes-- not so much a huge pile of negatives as no real positives. There are so many other options out there that there needs to be some chemistry, and there just wasn’t.<br>
I will say D was turned off by the size of the school and by the town of Gainesville in general. Size is, for her, probably a valid point. She would probably be better served at an LAC or smaller uni, to be honest. She looked at U of F because she was thinking pharmacy school or possibly agriculture, but is leaning more toward environmental science now.<br>
And S was just never that interested in being a Gator to begin with. He wants out of the South altogether. He’d consider FSU because of the band, and because he has friends there who love it. And for his planned major, they’re not bad.</p>
<p>Hoosier, S really liked USF, and he really only visited because he tagged along with two friends who are Class of '15. The Tampa campus is a bit spread out, but it’s clean and well-maintained, and there is a lot of new dorm space (S gives his approval to the cafeteria he saw on his tour). It definitely seems more laid back than either U of F or FSU. St Pete’s campus is more compact, and has a new dorm/student center that’s really nice. Fewer majors on offer since it’s not the main campus. Would your D be looking at Tampa?</p>
<p>S is planning on taking SAT II chem in June. Let’s see if studies… 
no AP till next year…APUSH it will be…and probably a Math SATII next year as well…?</p>
<p>S initially was recommended for APUSH and APEnglish but signed up for APBio
And I was like what?
He is now taking APUSH no APBIO or APEnglish…because he had a come to an understanding moment with his 8 grade history teacher telling him that honors History would be “very boring”.
Whatever works for him…I’m all for it at this point in the year.</p>
<p>S16 took AP Comp Prog this week. He said it was the “hardest I have ever had to think for 1.5 hours”. I am glad he has two this year so he goes into the 3 APs next year with a realistic expectation of the continuous effort it takes to do well. Things have come too easy for him in the past. </p>
<p>As far as summer campus visits, I have found some schools with strong co-op programs and therefore summer classes that still offer formal tours in the summer. All were in June however. Just do your research and schedule a formal tour before you invest the time and effort. </p>
<p>my oldest D is graduating from college this month. I am planning to take S on one of the Tours they do for families. It may not be a school he will be interested in…but, it is ‘similar’ to ones he has mentioned…just to whet his appetite??</p>