<p>I have 215 posts to catch up on, and not enough time!! @mysonsdad I believe the same about my S. No matter what i want…he really is just too young and immature to do it. He thinks he knows everything…including how to study (“not”) for his physics test…“I know it…it’s easy”… I think I am way more concerned and losing sleep over his life and future than he is. I hate it.</p>
<p>@drmom123 – If you’re interested, see post #1775 (the post to which @mysonsdad is referring to regarding boys being knuckleheads). </p>
<p>We’ve repeatedly told our kids that the core lesson of growing up is that one’s actions have consequences. With our more difficult son we used a traditional carrot and stick approach, both bribes and punishments. Fr’instance, we don’t allow the kids to play video games during the week, but in addition every so often S14 would discover on Friday night that the Xbox was nowhere to be found. . . Good luck.</p>
<p>thank you @asleepatthewheel My S is definitely learning consequences of actions. But, it seems to me that his response is to try “less” – not “more”…'too hard"…which is still a lot of immaturity, I think. OR, it’s all a front, and he’s really working…just not showing us… </p>
<p>@drmom123 @asleepatthewheel We have continued to struggle with our S16 who does not respond well to either punishments or bribes or nagging. He claims he has things under control but continues to procrastinate to the last minute and not invest the time he could in his work. He asserts that he’s doing better this year than ever before and we should just trust him and let him work on his own schedule. HIs sleep is erratic and he does complain about it but doesn’t accept any advice on how to fix it.</p>
<p>That said, he went to sleep around 6pm last night and slept 12 hours before his PSAT this morning. He didn’t have trouble getting up, and ate the scrambled egg & OJ breakfast I prepared (that’s our “brain food” – he usually skips breakfast). Earlier this week he spent about 1 hour reading a prep book and 2 hours practicing the math section this week – that’s the sum total of his prep. He scored 10 points higher than his brother did in 10th grade, and his brother improved enough to make NMF so I know it is within his reach. It is even more important to him as he needs to convince schools that he’s got the potential his g.p.a. doesn’t yet reflect.</p>
<p>He reports that it went “Splendidly.” </p>
<p>well…my kiddo takes PSAT this weekend. we will see what happens…I’m not even looking for a NMF, or commended…I’m looking for him to get above 60’s or 600…however you want to say it…but…I’m not sure what he is looking for! and, I guess that is what matters. I think I need to lower my expectations…I am getting so frustrated by him…and maybe I just shouldn’t. he is who he is…</p>
<p>@drmom. I’m with you. My D16 got a 47 in the writing section on the PSAT last year (although in the 60s in math and critical reading as I recall). I am just hoping that writing score improves.</p>
<p>I with the group of @drmom and @momofzag: R 70 M 64 W 47 last year; doubt much better “omitted 8” on today test oh well…ACT has got to be better right?</p>
<p>D said the PSAT went “okay.” Said the writing section was harder than she expected. I think she realizes the importance of prep now. We will be waiting for results in December, but knowing the high school, we probably won’t get them until January (ugh). Is the PSAT curved?</p>
<p>Good question! I know the SAT is curved and I know that Nation Merit has their own curve for the state cut offs but I don’t know if the PSAT on a whole is curved. @Carlsn2 if you have Naviance the scores may show up there before the school sends you the paper copy of the scores, at least that’s how it worked for us last year. We could see the score on Naviance early/mid December but didn’t get the hard copy until January.</p>
<p>@momofzag – You may already be aware of this (from this thread or elsewhere), but there is a truly wonderful prep book for the multiple choice section of the PSAT/SAT Writing section, The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar by Meltzer. Obviously it’s a bit late for the PSAT, but if your daughter is (or gets) motivated to work on that section she would benefit greatly from a minimal investment of time and effort by working through this book. </p>
<p>A discussion that I had with S14 that in retrospect (per later talks with him) had an impact was when we talked about the growing income disparity in this country, now increasingly divided between have’s and have-not’s with little ground in the middle. I tried to make him painfully aware that it would hurt us (his parents) to see him land on the have-not side of that divide, but he was in control of that (not us). It helps that he has two (much) older sisters who underachieved relative to their abilities, and who now struggle mightily to make ends meet. . . Don’t know if that’s particularly relevant to your daughter or to @drmom123’s son. I do know how painful and frustrating this is. I’d urge you not to ‘accept’ it if it’s attitude and lack of effort, as opposed to simply not having the aptitude. For a couple of years when S14 and I were frequently yelling at each other (and I really do mean yelling) I tried to remind myself that I’d hate myself in the future if he fell short of his abilities and I wasn’t 100% sure that I’d done everything possible to move him forward, regardless of the strife that it engendered. . . No simple answers or solutions here, but I wish you both the best of luck and intestinal fortitude.</p>
<p>@AsleepattheWheel - that would require son to actually prep on his own. Not going to happen to any significant extent. And I already nag plenty. He already has so much homework already ( 2-4 hours most weeknights) and a fall sport as well doesnt get home until 6:30 or 7 pm - heading into playoffs now. We will see how PSAT goes but I pretty much gave up on it after last year’s score showed he would have to raise by 40 (400) points to make our state cut off for NMSF and begging him all summer to do some prep work. I think he will do better on ACT (based on PLAN score and also fact that the essay doesn’t end up impacting the composite score). I plan to get him a tutor for that once fall sports season is over - even though self study could do the job, a tutor will give him required deadlines. </p>
<p>DS’s report on PSAT was “it was fine. I like the way it is broken up in 30 minute sections.” Last year’s PLAN showed a chance at higher ACT than SAT ( based on last year’s PSAT ) so not really expecting anything amazing but I would love to be wrong about that! I’ll watch Naviance for scores. Thanks for the tip!</p>
<p>@carlson2-
Yes, the PSAT is curved to make the two administrations ‘equal’. S '13’s Wednesday 2011 date was more difficult than the Saturday test given so that is how they made them equivalent for scoring purposes. </p>
<p>S '13 thought the test went well. He thought it was fairly easy and he usually is a good judge of how tests of so we will see in December. He did say he knows he blew a perfect math score…missed at least one. Hopefully just one! You can’t miss too many on any section of the PSAT. There are just too few questions! Crossing our fingers for those who took the PSAT today and for those yet to take it on Saturday. Either way, it’s almost over!</p>
<p>@momofzag – I get it. Similarly my S16 gets home late every night after swim practice, and by the time he eats, unwinds a little bit (Snapchat, fantasy football, etc.), it’s already close to 8 pm. He does a couple of hours of homework and is exhausted. He gets up at 5 am three mornings a week (also for swim practice), so there’s no way he can start doing test prep after 10 pm. I’ve been unable to get him to do even a 25 minute practice test (out of the blue book) on school nights.</p>
<p>I know that there are a lot of demanding activities in which high school kids participate, but being a serious player on a team is more demanding than most. I hope that colleges appreciate that even kids who are not sports recruits (like our S16) should be given credit for the time, work, and discipline that they’ve put into their sport. Besides looking at their GPA in that light, the schools should also understand that these kids have developed a pretty good work ethic, and that by necessity most of them have learned good time management skills. . . In the section on EC’s the Common App has a box where you enter the number of hours per week spent with that EC. For sports teams that can easily be 15 to 20 hours. That’s a lot of hours.</p>
<p>Yes, playing a HS sport is like having a PT job. It only pays well for a few but it does force time management. </p>
<p>Was just told over dinner that my DS actually did prep a bit for the PSAT. It was actually an assignment in one of his classes. I love our district for helping with this whole process :x </p>
<p>Glad to hear that people are feeling good about the PSAT. I will tell you my primary interest in D16 doing well on the test is financial. The Nat Merit Scholarship itself is not large, but there are several colleges that offer significant scholarships to Finalists, and that gets my attention. She is a good tester too…I would not push the prep if it seemed that she was not capable. Our D13 got my husband’s GI Bill money, so our hopes are on academic scholarships for #2. Daughter number 3, age 10, says she wants to live with us forever, so we’re good there 
</p>
<p>3scoutsmom - thanks for your response. Our huge public HS does not have Naviance :-(. I agree with AKFirefly - my we’re interested primarily in this for the significant scholarships should she make NMF. </p>
<p>We toured UAkron yesterday. Nice financial safety for us. It was certainly no UMiami or Bowling Green as far as the facilities or the presentation, but she did get a free tee shirt. D16 says she could be happy there, even though its her third or fourth choice. </p>
<p>Next week there is a local event for UKentucky, which is currently out of the running in my mind for financial reasons, but the letter (and the phone call, and the email) state they are talking about “the new and expansive out of state academic scholarships made available for eligible incoming freshmen”. D16 may or may not be able to join me as she has mock trial. We shall see. </p>
<p>UofKentucky see blue scholarships are listed; D loved the campus…came off the list when her UG intended major went to a Grad program.
They definitely are COURTING high stats students.</p>
<p>The new ones for fall @Hoosier96? I’ll have to check that out. </p>