<p>@Mysonsdad, You are more than welcome. I hope it works as well for you S if you try it. Everyone has their own style and like @cakeisgreat said some kids need a face to face and others can just do it on their own from books from the library. It’s very much a YMMV thing. I am happy to share what is working for us.</p>
<p>I have seen tremendous progress in D’s test prep! This may have been a fluke but I was amazed at her score on the first practice test from the CB Blue Book! Granted, she split the timed test between two days and didn’t do the essay, and she has a history of doing better on practice tests than the actual tests, but using NMSC’s formula M+CR+(10 x W-MC sub-score) since she omitted the essay she got a 2400!! She omitted one and missed two problems across three sections of the test so there must be a bit of a curve built in to the score. And yes, this was the first time she has taken this particular practice test. Off course she’ll continue to prep and I don’t think she’ll do nearly as well on a real SAT test but I do think she’ll increase her score enough that PrepScholar doesn’t have to worry about their guarantee. This bodes very well for the PSAT, she’ll likely only need a 219/220 for NM here in TX. </p>
<p>Hope it works as well for your son as it’s working for my D! Keep us posted on how it goes…</p>
<p>We start school on Monday, D16 has five APs, one pre-AP and a music class (non weighted) S18 starts school for the first time ever (coming from homeschoool) taking two AP weighted classes and two pre- AP classes. I know he can handle the classes but still, it so hard to let go… His grades will reflect on how well I taught him… I hope that he makes the transition as well as D16 did…</p>
<p>Long story but had to rush out yesterday to buy a new laptop for D20. The salesperson was surprised that our school suggests an i3 or better processor. He mistook her for a college student based on the computer specs alone. Now I am curious: Do your kids take their own technology to school and what specs are recommended? Also are you assuming that college will require a big step up? This may impact D16s holiday gift. </p>
<p>Our public school assigns each student an iPad in 9th at no charge. There is optional insurance for $25 a year which we always get.Technology changes so fast we plan on waiting until graduation to purchase what ever her college says she needs. Also sometimes college offer good discounts to their students so we’ll be looking into that.</p>
<p>My oldest son’s college was very specific on laptop. He wanted a MacBook but the IT info said no, unless you already have it and we will not “support” it. Husband took son shopping and didn’t look at the required list. I pointed out that his new laptop doesn’t have a cd drive and that is on the list of requirements. We had an external cd drive at home that we are sending with him. </p>
<p>We’re waiting until closer to graduation to invest in nice computers. D has an ancient laptop (and I cannot stress “ancient” enough, it’s running XP) and S uses the household desktop in the family room. It’s not the best arrangement, but it’s enough for their purposes-- though S really lusts after his best friend’s high end gaming computer (yeah, good luck with that, kid).</p>
<p>Almost everyone at D13/17 's college uses MacBooks. She bought hers from her college loaded with software, school wifi ready and with a 3 year warranty.</p>
<p>S16 got a postcard in the mail that Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Rice and UChicago are on the road together this fall doing info sessions. We signed up for one. </p>
<p>The details of the saga would likely bore everyone, but the short version is that S14 is successfully launched at Emory. With my wife unable to be there due to her mother’s death, S16 was absolutely invaluable. Great attitude and work ethic, from carrying boxes, to assembling stuff like desk lamps, clip-on fans, etc., to taking the trash down to the end of the dorm hallway, and more. </p>
<p>Stuff to file away for two years from now:
– S14 went on a four-day outdoor trip (organized by the Emory outdoor club) immediately prior to move-in and orientation. Although trips like this are offered to all the freshman, only about 10% choose to participate. S14 absolutely loved the trip (even though he’s not a real outdoorsy type). He really liked the other kids (about 15 of them) who were on the trip. As we walked around the campus on move-in weekend he already had connections to these kids (and to the other friends they’d made). He was SO happy that he chose to take advantage of this opportunity to ‘break the ice’ before move-in.
– S14 met his roommate on the Emory admitted students Facebook page. Not through a formal roommate matching aspect of the page, just by reading each other’s comments and then communicating with each other. It’s looking like an excellent match. His roommate is a very likeable kid. Smart and accomplished, but not nerdy/geeky or all that impressed with himself. Their first night together they were up until 3 am talking. He’s met other kids who ended up with random roommates, or matched through the roommate match program, and he’s happy that the two of them figured this one out on their own.</p>
<p>We arrived back here in the Bay Area late Sunday night, and S16 started school the next morning. On the first day of Biology his teacher asked the kids to pose any biology question that they’ve ever wondered about. My son asked, “How to porcupines have sex?” . . . Importantly, just this afternoon he passed his driver’s license test. Given that all year round he has swim practice two to three mornings a week at 5:30 am and also every day after school, this is a really big deal for his parents.</p>
<p>And FWIW, going back to a prior thread here, it seemed like every kid at Emory had a Macbook.</p>
<p>@Dragonflygarden: I saw that! We’re nowhere near that tour, unfortunately-- a good four hour drive to the nearest stop. We’re only about an hour away from the one with Duke/Georgetown/Harvard/Penn/Stanford, though, so we’ll attend that one. I kind of wish they were reversed. S took Duke off his list, I think (Harvard is on), but Rice, Chicago and Brown are still likelies. Well, for application, anyway. I don’t know if they’re really likely for admission for anyone short of Malia Obama.</p>
<p>@AsleepAtTheWheel: glad to see the launching went well! Am I correct in thinking S14 and roommate matched themselves then? How do they do that-- just tell housing they’ve decided, and it’s all good?</p>
<p>@petrichor11 – Correct. They matched themselves. Based on many notes on the Class of 2016 thread, it appears that all schools have a way that two students can request to room with each other. And if they’re clever enough to get into college they’re typically clever enough to figure out how to request a roommate!</p>
<p>Most of the schools on your list above were well out of reach for S14, so we never researched them. However, during the search I was very intrigued by (and read a bit about) Rice, even though S14 never applied. I was impressed with how it was one of the elite schools that appeared to really focus on the experience of the undergraduate student. Unfortunately for S16, because of Title IX they have a women’s swim team, but not a men’s swim team. He won’t absolutely reject a school that he can’t swim at, but it will be a consideration.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the following is a significant factor for the lottery-schools, but for some of the schools ‘demonstrated interest’ is a big deal. S14 received a $25K/year merit scholarship at Tulane, who was REALLY big on whether or not he’d shown true interest in the school (or whether it was just one of many schools he’d applied to). One demonstrates interest by going to these dog-and-pony shows (and making sure to register), following up with an email to whoever presented there, going to local college fairs (again, registering), emailing admission reps through the admission process, visiting the school, etc. Schools at this tier are concerned about their ‘yield’ statistics, and they don’t want to admit kids who aren’t seriously considering them. They also want to make a big push (merit awards, early invites for 'Scholars Weekend) for the desirable kids that they think they have a legitimate shot at.</p>
<p>@AsleepAtTheWheel - great to hear that your son is launched successfully. D also went on a 3 day pre-orientation trip before freshman year - was great for her to make friends. The kids she met then became good friends and pretty much hung out together all through freshman year. She doesn’t see them much these days - they seem to have gone their separate ways, but it sure made it easy freshman year to have met those friends in a smaller more intimate situation.</p>
<p>For D’s school, they had a facebook page where everyone answered a questionnaire about roommate preferences. You could look through answers from other folks on the page and then decide to room together which is what D and her freshman roommate did. Worked out fine for both of them - they were friends, but not BFFs! D had a bad experience rooming with “friends” sophomore year (honestly, I think with girls, it is too much drama!). Since then, she has roomed with other girls she knows of but is not necessarily friends with. She says it is so much better this way!</p>
<p>@asleepatthewheel, so glad to hear the launching went smoothly and the roommate seems to be a match! We took advantage of a similar trip when D13 began at UWashington, along with their Early Start program, which allowed the kids to arrive a few weeks early and do an intensive course. She is quite introverted, so it was helpful for her to settle in before the mass of people arrived, and she connected with people who seemed to remain her core group of friends throughout the year.</p>
<p>@3scoutsmom, we signed up for the PrepScholar 5 day trial too. I think D16 will do diagnostic today. Looking for a way to make the studying efficient!</p>
<p>We went to the Duke/Georgetown/Harvard et al presentation up here in Anchorage during D13’s senior year. It was interesting. As far as showing interest in a school, another way that I’ve heard to demonstrate that is to check the online portal one is given when one applies to a school. I suppose an enthusiastic and serious applicant dives into that space? My oldest daughter did not have much interest in any of her online portals, alas.</p>
<p>S16 has emailed a few schools’ admissions departments and asked whether they’ll be making recruiting trips to our area. Mostly they’ve said no, but at least it gets his name in there as interested, and maybe it will influence next year’s route. We’ll drive an hour, even two if it’s one of his “definitely would go there if offered” schools. But four hours one way on a school night is just too far for anything short of a 1:1 interview. </p>
<p>Well D16 is well into school - and the stress. These classes (APUSH, AP English, Concurrent Oral Com, College Algebra, Spanish and Chemistry) are giving her the biggest test yet. I have purchased a few study books to try and help her as she is putting many, many hours and not getting the information that she should. I bought study smarter not harder and what smart students know. I sure hope it helps out some. It is not that she is no willing to put in the time, she is not getting the information she needs from the time put in. She has not had to study that much up to this point to maintain her 4.0. The english teacher told them she was giving a practice test, and today said it was for a grade. No one make over a 76. This did not give her a confidence boost at all - as english is her strongest subject. :sigh: She has to learn…hopefully quick!</p>
<p>@asleepatthewheel Glad the transition went well.</p>
<p>@AKFirefly and @Mysonsdad please let me know how PrepScholar works for your kids. I’m really curious if D16’s improvement was a fluke, a culmination of prior prep or if PrepScholar did as much as I think it did. </p>
<p>I have S18 and S20 coming up and my tentative plan for them is to do the our local test prep course, use some prep books and finish off with PrepScholar as D16 is doing. Of course they are changing the PSAT/SAT soon. I’m sure the courses will change to meet the needs of the “new” test but not sure if our current books will be much good.</p>
<p>D16 has committed to do at least 5 hours a week test prep each week up until the PSAT. After the PSAT she’ll work on essay writing for the SAT and I’m thinking she should spend about the same amount of time, maybe a little less each week on test prep until the January SAT test date.</p>
<p>@3scoutsmom my d16 was going to try and do at least 5 hours too…I just hope she can with already being stressed over the other classes. I hope this passes soon. Good luck to your daughter.</p>