Just found this board…you all have a lot of very helpful information!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek , my BFF homeschools her kids. Her oldest is HS class of 2020 so it is early for CC, but I recommended that she pop over here during a calm moment and not late at night when she wants to get a feel for things. The recommendation came with MANY disclaimers. LOL
In the meantime, she is following along with our journey to pick up what she can as far as timing and whatever advice we pick up from DD’s school.
@carachel2 , that is the realization we have come to with our DD. She wants to be close to home and doesn’t want to feel like she is always scrambling to stay above water.
@itsgettingreal17 My daughter hasn’t gotten any yet. My son got a ton last year. Mostly schools not in the range he was applying to. The ones he got that were of interest were ones where he replied to their emails or filled out online surveys. Basically showing interest in some way. Even free apps aren’t free though. We have to pay for each transcript plus the fees to send test scores too. The fee waivers seemed to flow more towards the end of the application cycle rather than the beginning too. Maybe they send out more or less depending on how many applications they get?
@carachel2 I can send you a few of the links I used for handouts if you want.
One thing I did that I think was really helpful was take screenshots of NPCs. I used 4 schools-- a local university, a state flagship, a less competitive meets full need school (28% acceptance rate) and a highly competitive meets full need school. I entered in the same fictional financial information for all of the calculators (I chose a lower income that would qualify for aid bc I didn’t know my audience. I had no idea who was going to show up. I used $70,000.) and I used that info to teach them the basics of how FA works.
I also provided the admissions data set for each of those same schools. I used that as a way to discuss test scores, high school course selection, LOR, and ECs. Then I used test scores to show how merit aid based on test scores/GPA/NMF works at some of the lower ranked schools, but that admissions alone was the only merit for competitive admissions need based aid only schools.
I think seeing it printed out on the calculators made the numbers very real.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek …I LOVE the screenshot idea! So did you just keep it simple and enter the 70k income and no other significant assets, businesses, etc.?
Has anyone tried for rensselaer medal? I came across it recently and DS tried for it and received it today. He is thinking of applying for the BS/MD program. Medal winners get $25,000 per year tuition reduction.
Yes. I just wanted to keep it simple. I also explained how the calculators weren’t accurate for NCP situations, small business owners, etc.
@srk2017 Do you mean he was nominated for the Medal from his HS? Or he actually got the medal/scholarship? I looked into it a while back, even asking D’s GC about the nomination process…but it has fallen off the list. It’s a pretty sweet deal, for sure.
Does anyone have any experience with the US History subject test? Son is spending the night before the BC Calc AP exam trying to prep for Saturday’s USH subject test. He just took the practice exam in the updated Barron’s book and said he did not do well. He has previously self-studied for Bio in 9th grade and Math II in 10th grade without concern, but USH is really giving him pause.
I suggested he push the exam date out to June and take it when he plans to take Physics, but he thought he would be fine for subject test after prepping for APUSH exam (while material is fresh in his mind). I think he also wants to leave time to teach himself some of the Physics subjects not covered in his AP class.
Does anyone know if the new Barron’s book is particularly difficult? As it is, he does not feel that his APUSH teacher has prepared them at all for the exam. (Only review test was today in class and they just finished the textbook material a few days ago.)
If there is a better prep book out there, please suggest, and I will order and postpone exam to June.
Thanks!
@CT1417 Well, I think your S is using his time wisely, not studying for Calc tonight 
My D doesn’t have APUSH to worry about, but she also is not studying for BC, watching Netflix instead and getting to bed early. It’s actually good to see her relaxing a bit for once.
Good luck to the Calc APers tomorrow!
@2muchquan - He got the certificate today from his GC. I found it recently and my son asked his GC to signup the school and asked her to nominate him. No one from his school tried before. Rennselaer is an expensive school. Total cost is $68K, so even $25K makes it expensive than UCs. Only attraction for us is BS/MD program.
@2muchquan – he seems to think that Calc has a massive curve? Either way, completely unconcerned as everyone has scored a 5 for the past four years, except there were two years when one student scored a 4. USH has an many 4s as 5s, so that is where the time is going.
Still looking for insight on USH subject test. It appears that 70,000 students take it each year, but I might do better on the class of 2016 thread since those students have already been through it.
@CT1417 I don’t know anything about the US History subject test. DS took APUSH last year & is scheduled to take US History subject test this June (probably should’ve taken it last summer when AP content was fresh in his mind, oh, well). I would also be interested in learning more about the USH subject test, how it compares to AP content, and good study guides if anyone has information to share!
S also said the AP call B/C test has a massive curve. Something like a score of 50% is a 5. We’ll see. S is taking the physics subject test Saturday. I figured he may as will take it while he is studying for the Physics C AP tests Monday. It’s only a little extra torture after all! Them he has the Calc 2 CBE his school offered (it’s the final exam) and state English testing. It’s a brutal two weeks. His final project for Asian studies though is a class sushi making event. They’ve opted for veggie sushi.
I signed up DS for two subject tests and was going to buy the official guide from college board or Amazon for him to use to review. I’d love to hear what others are using. Done with ACT and SAT. So glad I started reading cc ages ago. I would not have known to get him prepped and done if it weren’t for the parents here giving advice. I have many friends that have kids taking it for the first time in May and June. A big group of kids in our area planned to take the SAT in March but their test location cancelled the night before. Those kids didn’t get to sit for the retake until April and now they don’t know when their results will come in. What a mess.
This is the first summer since he was 12 that he hasn’t gone to a ballet intensive over the summer. It will be so nice to have him home. He plans to finish that drivers Ed and get his license, dance at his home studio and go to a summer session that specializes in screenwriting. He is trying some new things this summer and I’m happy he is branching out.
Twenty more days of school here…let the countdown begin!
So like 500 posts ago a couple of people asked what song was stuck in poor S’s head for so long. After much internet searching we found videos of snippets from every Rock Band (the game) sound track. S, D, and I were about to give up when the little snippet played and we all cheered. It was E-Pro by Beck (which none of us had even thought of in years!) After watching the video, D insisted we play the theme from Rocky to celebrate our victory.
D and I had a meeting with her advisor and GC today which went well. The most frustrating thing right now is signing up for concurrent enrollment classes next year. She’ll be taking engineering senior design, AP physics, AP calc BC and theater at school and 2 college classes (I think she should maybe just do one). The problem is that the master schedule for her HS doesn’t come out until July, but she has to fill out the college form by next week to tell them what classes she wants to take. We’re going to have to give them a bunch of possibilities for both AM and PM and also allowing for the fact that lots of classes may fill up between now and her actual registration time. I’m not sure why the college has to know so soon when HS students get last priority registration anyway. Anyway, small potatoes I guess.
@eandesmom I’m so glad your S and his trombone teacher “made up!” The camp sounds like a great opportunity as well.
I am mad with Common Core as well as with College Board.
“Results Are in: Common Core Fails Tests and Kids”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/results-are-in–common-co_b_9819736.html
Well, I’d have to disagree with that article on a few points, though there are areas where I think either the emphasis or implementation of Common Core is misguided.
For one, the first time teachers in our local districts got trained in Common Core teaching was the 2014-15 school year. This is the first year our elementary school district has had Common Core aligned math textbooks, and we haven’t done a CC language arts adoption yet. That will probably happen next year. The secondary district is “rolling their own” and doesn’t have plans (or money) to buy new textbooks for math or English.
So, saying that the kids tested last fall have grown up with Common Core is disingenuous at best. Sure, the standards were released in 2010 and adopted by most states in 2013, but that doesn’t mean teachers implemented them right away and textbooks were bought right after that.
And, the NAEP test is not aligned with Common Core, since the NAEP preceded Common Core. So, it’s almost like saying IB test scores went down when we changed the corresponding AP class content. I believe NAEP does not publish the standards to which they are aligned. (Hmm, “tested a representative sample”, where have I heard that before? The only people I’ve talked with whose schools got tested by NAEP were representatives from urban school districts. I’m sure they test some middle-class and upper-class schools, but I’ve never heard from one.)
Also, Common Core does not specify a reading instruction method (either phonics or whole word). It is more concerned with comprehension. It does raise the expected reading levels from the previous standards at the elementary levels. At the secondary grade levels, I think it goes overboard on contextual analysis (all the underlining and boxing) and doesn’t allow for writing that asks kids to include their own opinions and reactions to the text; only the intent of the author is important.
The Common Core math standards are not designed or implemented to be well-differentiated for students of different readiness levels. In CA, we used to let some kids start algebra in 7th and the rest could do algebra in 8th if they were ready or 9th if they weren’t. Now it’s pretty much just 9th for Alg I with a few districts experimenting with some algebra in 8th. State testing in math was done every year, but was based on the math subject students had just taken. Now, kids get tested in 8th and 11th, and the 11th grade test includes Algebra II content. That isn’t really fair, since a lot of underprivileged kids don’t get to Algebra II until 12th grade. So, the schools are trying to push everyone through to Alg II by 11th so that they can hope to score well.
An implementation problem is that the CCSS math standards require students to really understand what they are doing in math, rather than just applying rules and formulas the way they were taught. Up until fractions, this is probably easier to teach than the new textbooks make it out to be. So, you get the dumb problems that pop up on Facebook. From fractions/ratios/percents on through algebra, understanding why you are doing things requires a deeper understanding, and so shouldn’t be the first thing taught. I mean, teaching why you multiply by the reciprocal to divide by a fraction is actually pretty complicated for a 5th or 6th grader. And, these explanations require a teacher who understands math on a higher level, which isn’t always the case with elementary teachers and even middle school teachers.
Sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten started. I guess I need to provide a tl;dr summary.
tl;dr Well, yes and no.
@CT1417 , D was not very successful last year (760), so I wouldn’t want to give you bad advice. Also we never buy books for test prep, only borrow. She said Barron is usually hard and too much details, , and too much details. She likes Princeton Review the best.
The way NPC has been running, we need every dollar saved to pay for her college!! 
Thanks, @SincererLove – did she take APUSH in school last year? I had not ordered PR, but if he decides to postpone the test until June, then I will order it. I suggest he sit for the test as a practice and then cancel the score when he comes home. We shall see.
It appears for most subject tests combination of Barron’s and Princeton ells to get 750+ score.