<p>@seal- Wow! 6 APs? S will have 2 at school this year, he had one as a freshman and then he will be maxed out with one senior year. And that still isn’t 6! This is actually an improvement…double what was there for his brother. And no summer AP work here. Or any ‘real’ test prep for us either. Guess we are a family of slackers!</p>
<p>@Dragonfly- Looks like you are starting late also. Your schedule issues sound as ridiculous for ours but probably your kids are out of synch too. Our kids just always plan on camping out at the guidance office when it first opens. S '13 once had a schedule as a sophomore where he had only 3 classes…two were history…one he had taken the year before and no English which is a yearly requirement. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Have you had crazy transcript problems too? </p>
<p>FYI to everyone that is going through this for the first time- DO NOT SEND OUT A TRANSCRIPT UNTIL YOU HAVE GONE OVER IT WITH YOUR KID AND A FINE TOOTH COMB!! Trust me on this. We have some absolutely nutty stories about this process which are too long to share now, even for me at this hour!</p>
<p>@Zagmom- I hope you don’t think I’m too much of an idiot for asking where your D is going to school. I could assume Gonzaga, but then maybe you are an alum?</p>
<p>We had just a great first-week with DD16 entering her junior year at a new private learning-differences school. Great prospects for new, stimulating friends and teachers. Learning more than she did at the old school. And me placing all school communication/prep responsibility into her lap. I will keep doing some research on college search in the background. So happy to pass the school-home communication “burden” to her. She’s gracefully making the transition. Love my teen. </p>
<p>@critter – We have four kids, but we have a fifteen year gap between the first litter and the second litter. So, we’ve never had to raise more than two at the same time. And we still frequently think we’re in over our heads. I can’t imagine raising five at once. You have my undying respect. . . I feel like I learned SO much last year going through all this with S14, but it was within the narrow perspective of the type of kid that he is and the tier of schools that we considered. You, having done this four times (and with kids at a broad range of different schools), must be an expert. It appears that you’re not bashful. That’s a good thing. Thanks in advance for all the thoughts and perspectives.</p>
<p>@dyiu13 – I think that you’d posted during the summer (which already seems like distant past) about your daughter starting her new school this fall. You are really doing her well by simultaneously putting her in charge of managing her school-related life. It’s wonderful when our kids rise to a challenge. It sounds like she’s on her way. Don’t be afraid to brag.</p>
<p>@critter Daughter is still at home for a few more days. Princeton move in day is Sept 6th for upperclassmen. Classes start Sept 10th. </p>
<p>I found out why the scheduling is such a mess. The whole school system went to a new student database software called Synergy. Apparently we won’t have parental access until late September- which will make me nuts. I hope they get it all straight within the first week of school. </p>
<p>I don’t want to reinvent the wheel…I’m sure there are some good, basic “countdown” calendars for college-bound kids for their junior and senior HS years. I want to plot key deadlines or seasons on a calendar, but don’t want to do it from scratch (like, when is the main date students must confirm their acceptance of an admissions offer…? ). I’m hoping to add to-do items such as PSAT test date, FAFSA deadline, secure LORs, etc. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I figure such a calendar will keep DD16 and me on the “same page” with less stress. </p>
<p>The main date for accepting an offer of admission is May 1st. FAFSA deadline will depend on the school the child has applied to. You are gonna need to do your taxes early (Jan) that year. You may also need to fill out the CSS profile depending on the school. If your child applies EA/ED (usually Nov 1st deadline) somewhere you will use estimated numbers. LORs ask for ASAP in senior year as some teachers limit the number of recommendations they will do. </p>
<p>Our goal is to have all testing done in Junior year. My son should have the same math teacher for 3 years so he will likely ask her for a LOR ~ she wrote a very nice one for D’13 who also had her for 3 years. </p>
<p>I think a lot of parents use spreadsheets to keep track of everything when it is application season. I have one right now with a lot of colleges that we are considering for S’16. My chart has application requirements (# of LORs, testing, deadlines, notification, app fee, etc) and admission statistics (score range, percent admitted EA/ED, etc). The MOST important thing on my chart- the estimated cost to us based on the NPC for each college on the list . As he gets closer to application time the list will get smaller. </p>
<p>@critter UW ended up being great for D13. We/she were very concerned about size for her as well. She is quite introverted and a bit ADD; tends to get very distracted and turn inward with a lot of extraneous activity. In the end she was choosing between Bryn Mawr and UW, two very different atmospheres! UW won, only because its linguistics program was more closely aligned with D13’s interests. </p>
<p>She found that it was relatively easy to find a niche on the large campus. She ended up getting quite involved with a progressive Methodist church adjacent to campus that had open hours for college students and meals twice weekly. Since she had avoided church all through high school, this was unexpected, but turned out to be a great thing for her. She found some volunteer work that appealed to her (a program that helped disadvantaged high school students fill out college apps). She found the professors to be quite approachable. The Seattle area is fantastic for a college student. So easy to get around via public transportation, and the food is great!</p>
<p>She did not purely homeschool through high school; some courses here and there. She was in a public school freshman year, did an exchange to Turkey junior year, then dual enrollment at a local college senior year. So not a difficult adjustment!</p>
<p>@critter. D13 is at Bucknell. You are correct D is (maybe was is now a better term) a skater and spent an amazing gap year touring with Disney on Ice. She had a hard time leaving but seems to be settling in to college pretty well. Tomorrow makes two weeks that she has been there. She has had 3 days of classes so far. Seems to like her roommate and has decided to apply for a campus job. Tomorrow she will audition for a play that will be performed at the end of Sept for Parent weekend so keeping our fingers crossed for her. </p>
<p>S just did his first practice test with PrepScholar. He seems to be buying into the program, because he had to send them his study schedule he stuck to it. I don’t know what his score was on the diagnostic test, but his first practice test is a 1970. Last year on the PSAT he got a 180 so if this is accurate that is a 170 point improvement. I also don’t know how much of this comes from just the fact that he has another year under his belt. Either way, I really like the fact that they are measuring his progress so closely. My only fear is that he gets tired of his schedule and does not commit to studying. </p>
<p>We did the Brown, Columbia, Rice etc. one with S '13. He still talks about it and although he only applied to Rice (and even then mostly because of the free app and then he lived to regret it because of the worst ever interview), he still talks about the Brown presentation (they showed a picture of students at desks to prove they really had classes and actually taught their students…hmmm) and occasionally Columbia (because they were obsessed with their minuscule green space). I’m not knocking either university-we have ties to both. It’s just interesting to read between the lines at those things!</p>
<p>We didn’t go to the Duke, Georgetown, Stanford one. S had been to Stanford a couple of times and he went to one that was just Duke. That was actually time well spent. Come to think of it, we went to one that was just Vanderbilt that was well done too, compared to being part of a multi-school presentation. We’ve been to several other combos of those as well, plus waaay too many on campus info sessions! </p>
<p>@Asleep- Loved the porcupine question! Must remember to share it with my S '16…it sounded like something he would have said. So glad to hear everything went so well at Emory. I hope things have stabilized a bit for your family. </p>
<p>Re: Rice- youngest D was obsessed with that place from the time she was in the 4th grade. She knew without a doubt that she would end up there. (I know, she is still a very random girl.) Anyway, I took her to visit during the fall of senior year and by the time she had checked out the campus and walked the perimeter (something we always do, it can have such an impact) she absolutely knew she could never attend. Didn’t even apply. Spent the rest of the visit watching the NCIS marathon and checking out Galveston. One of our fondest college search memories! But one thing I’ve learned for sure, when they know it’s no good, they just know.</p>
<p>Terrific advice about demonstrated interest. I like to post to commiserate or to contribute if I think I have something to add. (That’s why I’ve managed to keep my post count down so nicely over the many years spent here. Most of the time folks here have it all covered.) With well informed, sharp parents like you and so many others here, I should be able to limit my ‘talking’!</p>
<p>@AKFirefly- Haha to the portal reference! Your D sounds like my S '13 in that regard.</p>
<p>@petrichor- I am so with you on driving to the road shows and the distance/time. We are very selective too. Plus our boys had fall sports and it is a real pain to try to go all sweaty right from a sporting event.</p>
<p>D has slowed down a little bit on Prep Scholar this week because of the first week of school craziness but I hope she’ll find her groove soon. She’s got the golden “mastery” bar on about half of the individual skills on listed on the progress page. She plans to catch up on the hour she missed this week today. Looking ahead to “future assignments” she has a her second official practice test scheduled for next week and she plans to take it on Monday since she has no school so she can do it in one setting. I’m crossing my fingers but not holding my breath that she will do as well on the second one as the first. I also think their is a good bit of luck involved with these tests.</p>
<p>@Mysonsdad - is your son doing the essay or just ignoring that until after the PSAT like my daughter? Anyone else watching the the class of 2015 NMSF Qualifying Scores thread out of curiosity? </p>
<p>He must be doing the essay because when I looked at his results it said it estimated his score and that he would receive his score in a few days. He hasn’t mastered anything yet but is improving.</p>
<p>@3scoutsmom – I can’t believe that the no cutoff scores for any states are out yet, and that thread already has 1,300 posts on it, and over 225,00 views. That’s wild. . . . This NMSF bit was a painful process for us last year. S14 had a 219, with a prior year CA cutoff of 220. So we thought that he had an outside chance. Turns out that the CA cutoff was 223, up 3 points. And in many other states S14 would have been an NMSF. That all said, in the long run I don’t think that it mattered one iota for him, either in terms of admissions or merit scholarships. One of those many things in the application/admission/choice process that seemed like a big deal at the time, and turned out not to be.</p>
<p>@AsleepAtTheWheel the whole National Merit process is just crazy. It’s interesting that for some kids it’s a ‘golden ticket’ and for others it’s pretty meaningless. I have a friend who has an amazingly bright and talented daughter. She was in the same boat as you, the TX cut off had been holding steady at 215 for years when her daughter took the PSAT in 2012 she got a 218 and thought she was safe but that was the year TX went up by four points and she missed it by a point! Things worked out well for her in the end, I really do believe most kids end up where they are meant to be…</p>
<p>@Mysonsdad my daughter got the same message (must be automated) when she submitted her essay blank. Since she is holding off on the essay portion until after the PSAT, can you let me know how PrepScholar handles the essay once your son gets a score? I’m wondering if they explain the score and offer and critiques.</p>
<p>I had high hopes that my daughter would do her second practice test today but she came down with a cold this weekend so I’m just thankful she got her regular homework done!</p>
<p>I am coming here to vent so as not to lose it with my DS. I know it is a holiday weekend and Jr year is a marathon but 10 days in he has to has homework given his course load! He has been playing VIDEO GAMES all weekend!!! I have been trying to get him to commit to an ACT test date, prep schedule and finalizing plans for a college open house 3 weeks away (at a scholl he specifically asked to visit.). When I ask if he has put the visit on his calendar so it does not create issues with assignments he says “that may be when my project is due.” I refrained from the obvious “then shouldn’t you be working on that project?” But I am still frustrated with him. I have read articles that claim that many play video games to feel competent when they are feeling challenged elsewhere so I am willing to allow some but 2.5 days?!? I plan to tell him calmly (today) that he will have lots of things to juggle this year and we are going on the visit. It is up to him to plan accordingly. Anyone else dealing with this ostrich-like behavior?</p>
<p>Ohhhh, yeahhhh.
I just took S to school 40 minutes late because he managed not to do his econ homework (which was due first period) all weekend. He just finished it. Granted, he had a funeral to play at Saturday and a couple of obligations yesterday…but Sunday was devoted almost entirely to playing Civilisations. Ten. hours. straight. of Boudicca and cultural victories and something about depleted uranium.</p>
<p>And don’t even get me started about his interest in working on his school list. His sister’s is pretty well set, and will likely just get tweaked here and there over the next year. His? Still has (I think) 35 of the original 40 schools on it.</p>
<p>@Cheeringsection, omg your post made me laugh. You sound just like me and my S. I read your post to my S just so he knows I am not the only one. I always feel like I do to much complaining on here but posts like yours make me realize others are in the same boat. My S is finally getting down to studying for the SAT (thanks PrepScholar and @3scoutsmom) but when I ask him about the SAT II I cannot get a commitment. It is so frustrating. My S has 4 AP classes, I teach and I need to review material before I teach and I always ask him (and my 22 y/o going nowhere daughter) why do I study more than anyone else in the house? </p>
<p>Oh boy - sounds so familiar Looks like a lot of us with boys have the same problem. When S was home for the summer, H went ballistic at the number of hours S spent playing games on the computer. S did do some practice SAT work - but that more of a check-off item so he could get back to games on his computer!</p>
<p>In all fairness, he did sit down with me and commit to taking the tests - so we signed up for both the ACT and SAT. But now that he’s back at boarding school, I cannot even nag him about prepping for these tests Asked him last night and he said he couldn’t do any prep - he would do it next weekend …AAARGH! Test is in two weeks !</p>
Looks like a lot of us with boys have the same problem. When S was home for the summer, H went ballistic at the number of hours S spent playing games on the computer. S did do some practice SAT work - but that more of a check-off item so he could get back to games on his computer!</p>