@Agentninetynine , Yeah, its cost of attendance is only $14.00. Isn’t that great? It’s a hidden gem!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek …I had to look it up because my first thought was “UT doesn’t give out tuition waivers!.” But it looks like they do give a few to those who have won a scholarship. I do know those are crazy competitive.
My roommate at Texas A&M wa a Russian major but I know nothing else about language programs at A&M.
@HiToWaMom Our oldest dd went to school in Canada for a yr. She used megabus a couple of times. Her boyfriend from then used it several times to come visit her.
Both didn’t mind it at all. It is definitely affordable. As long as you aren’t on a tight timetable it should be fine, bc yes, an hr or two off schedule did happen. Also, make sure you know what is around your drop off pt. How are you getting from there to your destination.
Any IB kids taking lot of AP exams? My S wanted to take up 8 to get the national scholar award, but given his schedule we told him it is overkill and he dropped the idea. He took 3 last year and he will do one this year (AP Calc BC). I am not sure the significance of AP National Scholar.
@srk2017, if your s has several other honor/accomplishments then the title of AP National Scholar doesn’t add that much. In fact, my DS14 didn’t even include his AP Honor in his college application and he was not on IB curriculum.
Do your kids read a lot of books for pleasure? My D use to, but I don’t think she’s read a single book for pleasure this school year. I told her sometimes a school asks you to list your favorite book. She told me it was a Dr. Seuss book, and she plans to write about that if asked. Umm, ok, that works!
She seriously needs to read more this summer!
@4beardolls - Thanks for your feedback. He does have few accomplishments, good GPA and test scores. That’s why I told him it’s not worth spending time preparing for AP exams since IB curriculum is different and he has to spend extra time studying.
@srk2017 DS is taking only one IB class: Spanish SL. He plans to take the AP Spanish test. If he can get a 4 on that (and his other 3 APs that he’s less concerned about), he’ll get AP National Scholar.
My sense is that with AP awards, they usually get crowded out of applications just like NHS membership. I think most college applications let you list AP scores, and adcoms can count. But, I can see that for an IB student, AP scores in classes that align well with IB classes can help at some colleges, since the IB scores aren’t available until after applications are done (though there is some predicted score).
@2muchquan - My S doesn’t find time to read books for pleasure that much. He reads magazines though. He has to read variety of books for his IB English class though. He has to write about a favorite book for an competitive summer program and I think he wrote a book he read in middle school.
@Ynotgo - My S is in full IB program i.e. all his 6 classes are IB. He will take two IB exams this year (IB Spanish SL, IB Economics) and 4 next year. His 4 APs will be Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry and Physics 1. His school doesn’t offer AP exams (except Calc), so he has to miss school to take AP exams. He will be missing school in April and May for competitions. Given all that, we thought it’s not worth going for AP National Scholar.
@2muchquan …sadly I think reading for pleasure is the first thing that goes to the wayside for these kids when high school hits. I am insisting that D create empty spaces of time this summer to be a kid and do some reading… Which she absolutely loves to do. She has a 3 week language trip; an 8-15 hr per week job and college essays and apps to complete… Hopefully she can squeeze in some reading. At one point she wanted to seek out a summer research program but I think that is absolutely too much. She will have a lifetime to grind away all summer working or in a lab. You only get one summer to be 17. I’m glad those opportunities exist for kids and if they can do it without feeling crazy stressed for time then that is awesome… But I’m putting a stop to the insanity at our house!
@srk2017 Someone can correct me, but isn’t it unusual to take AP Calc AB and AP Calc BC? Not unheard of, but I believe the AB material is covered by BC, and you actually get an AB ‘subscore’(?) when you take the Calc BC AP test. Maybe some schools require AB before BC? Anyway, probably not telling you anything you don’t know, I just don’t hear these both being taken too often.
@carachel2 Same here. Dd is going to have the summer free. She is going to take DE in an Econ class over the summer in order to see if a Econ focus with her languages might be something worth considering when applying, but other than that, I’m spent. If I am, I know she sure as heck is! She is overqualified for most of the programs she is looking at. Nothing will change that we can’t afford the programs where she isn’t overqualified. So…summer fun, here she comes.
Oh,one other thing I have found enlightening. I am part of a few groups of parents of college kids. One of the biggest gripes I have seen is that kids attending incredibly competitive schools (meaning they spent all those high school summers doing “the right thing”) cannot find any research, internships, or part-time jobs for the summer. (These are current college freshman and sophomores.)
That is not an issue my kids have ever run into. I’m thinking more and more that Gladwell’s point is well-taken.
We missed our flight out of Ohare due to long security lines. Lesson learned: leave earlier than you think you need to. We were very relieved to get on another flight stand by 5 hours later. Missed our tour at Seattle University, but had a nice chat at the Admissions office, picked up maps and a T shirt and walked around. D liked it which is a big step up from the 3 in state options she hated/ disliked/ would not set foot in the car for. She did think it felt a bit urban: lots of traffic, bikes/pedestrians close to campus.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek, why can those kids attending competitive colleges not finding any research, internships or part-time jobs for the summer? I am interested in your point since I have a college sophomore.
@2muchquan, I also found it odd reading about taking both AP Cal AB and AP Cal BC. @srk2017, perhaps your S has a particular reason? My D is taking AP Cal AB this year and will take AP Cal BC next year. She is not planning on taking AP Cal AB exam this year. Instead, she is planning on taking AP Cal BC exam next year. Is this the preferred way to handle it?
University of Washington: yes, it is big but D is ok with that. D liked the very pretty leafy green campus. Very good tour guide. He emphasized that freshman year can be a struggle, so get involved, don’t be an accidental hermit. It would be a reach.
We flat landers are not used to these hills! D liked Seattle and wished we had more time there
@srk2017 my older d is taking the physics and comp sci IB tests, plus the calc ab, and lit ap tests. She’s not taking the ap tests for physics, and she’s already taken the ap comp sci treat last year. So much testing. …
@srk2017 I agree with you. With all those IB classes, adding extra AP tests wouldn’t be worth the extra work.
@2muchquan AP Calc: Different schools have different ways of splitting up (or not) the Calc material. Some schools are AB for one year and then BC for another year. At schools like that, kids may take both AB and BC tests. Our school has students choose AB or BC (where BC is also dual-enrollment Calc I and Calc II taught on HS campus). Lots of variations if you read about it on the other forums here.
Reading: Agree, I’d love to see DS have time to read for pleasure again. He did read some SF/steampunk novel last week that DD21 had gotten from the library. His pleasure reading mostly seems to be the latest Dungeons and Dragons manuals, which he reads on his phone in a font that must be 4 point. He doesn’t have time to play D&D anymore, mind you. He says it’s good for vocabulary–the words come up on SAT and other tests. They don’t read much for AP Eng Lang. Hopefully, he’ll get to read some this summer and they’ll read more in AP Lit next year.
@brindlegreyhound Sorry about the missed flight. Security can be a hassle. DH travels a lot and advocates getting the TSA PreCheck (and the similar thing for international travel), but it takes some time at a big airport to get that set up.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I’m also concerned that you’ve heard about kids attending competitive schools who cannot find research, internships, or part-time jobs for summer. Did they not start looking early enough, not enough opportunities, or what?
@4beardolls I am not sure why. Someone started the discussion about what their kids were going to do this summer. With the exception of my ds who will be completing an REU and another student who was offered two different paid internships in the Silicon Valley, most of the kids could not find anything.
Ok, I just went to see if there were any updates and one other student has found a job as a camp counselor. 2 others posted that interviews for camp counselor and a retail job were taking place.
I guess I would hope that my student would have better opportunities than those if they had already completed 2 yrs of college. (I am pretty sure the student with the paid internship offers is at Berkeley, so it is a top school.)