Welcome @shuttlebus !
Our school does not rank. I hope our GC does not give an evil eye when I ask decile rank soon.
They weight a whole point 5.0 for both Honors and AP classes. Yes, GPA gets hit from PE, music, etc. DS got hit as he had to start at Spanish 1 not at Chinese 3/4 into AP when the school dropped Chinese.
@WhereIsMyKindle AICE(the Advanced International Certificate of Education) is much like an IB program (thatās overseen by Cambridge). Florida has been a major supporter of IB and AICE programs. Like IB, you take āpre-AICEā classes in 9th and 10th grade, and then the āAICEā classes (and test) in the 11th and 12th.
I love it: GPA gets āhitā when you get an A, @payn4ward. Whatās the world come to? 
I also asked for decile way back when, and received the same response: F no (paraphrasing)
We get +.5 for Honors, +1.0 for AP. No other programs.
D takes SAT IIs Math 2 in June (oops, late) and Physics next Fall, as suggested by her teacher. That will be it for testing (beside AP), so 1 Subject after this school year.
(Is it ābesideā or ābesidesā? 
@Agentninetynine I loved that! The Hunger Games of high school. My Sās school is exactly like that. He goes to a huge high school in TX. It is so competitive that it makes my head spin sometimes.
What I find interesting though is the huge disparity in knowledge among the parents of the students. Many know how to play the game because they have kids who have been through it before but many donāt and they and their students are shocked when they get to junior year and are too far behind to go to their dream schools (UT or A&M). I donāt know how this happens but there is a huge knowledge gap for a lot of the parents.
Some, like my S, still choose to take ālesserā classes like foreign languages because he enjoys them and his rank is hurt as a result. The system stinks but I donāt see it changing anytime soon.
I asked him so many times over the years if he wanted to homeschool but he always said he wanted to stay in traditional school. Maybe because he is an only child and needed to get away from his āsmotherā? Wondering how many others watch The Goldbergs and will get my reference. Homeschooling the way the homeschoolers here are doing it sounds great.
S is done with AP tests since he took a couple of dual credit classes instead of AP this year. Good luck to all the students still taking them next week!
@shuttlebus Many thanks for the tip on the sparknotes for subject tests! I didnāt think to look there.
I am a long time lurker that would like to introduce myself. My DD class of 2017 is our oldest. I have learned so much from CC! Her school adds .5 for both Honors and APs and does not rank.
Hi @Ldoponce !
In good news, we have power again 
Honors and IB classes get 5 for A, others 4 for A. Even though transcript shows plus and minus grades (A- or A+), no impact on grade points. So each teacher has their own cutoff for A. Spanish is 95% for A, English 93% A, others are 90.
Another fun thing to discuss:
Our school also has a ridiculous Honor Roll System where some huge percentage of the kids make one of 3 levels.
Top Level: GPA over 4.3 or no grade lower than A-
Mid Level: GPA of 4.0 or no grade lower than a B
Lower Level: GPA 3.5 or no grade lower than B-
So, it seems like a lot of kids are āmaking honor rollā. Seems kind of watered down. When I was in high school, you had one list, and it was more like the Top Level in my kidās school. It was pretty hard to make.
@CT1417 This may be too late for your S.
For anyone taking US history in June, I found that CB has a new book on History Subject tests. 2 in US and 2 in World History tests, I assume.
https://store.collegeboard.org/sto/catalog.do?category=325&categoryName=SAT
CB released Math 1/2 Subject test book (2 Math 2 tests) in addition to the Subject test book with one test each in all Subject tests.
Welcome @shuttlebus and @Ldoponce, it is great to see new people joining in.
I am overwhelmed by the number of AP courses all the kids are taking! My homeschooled son decided to do dual enrollment classes this year instead of AP classes, so no tests for us. He had the lab practical for his college chemistry class yesterday, which he was a little worried about since he has never had to take one before. But he says it was fine, so he just has a few classes left to wrap up this semester, none of which he is concerned about.
I am curious to see the March SAT scores next week, theyād better actually release on time because it seems like we have been waiting for them forever!
The mom of one of my tutoring students emailed me today with his March SAT scores. I was surprised to get the message because I thought scores were coming out next week. Have some scores been released or did the mom get PSAT and SAT scores confused?
Wow, this thread has been busy!! So many great topics.
I have really enjoyed CC as an incredible source of information and support. I like doing the leg work for my kids to help us understand all the alternatives out there, but I never recommend it to people and would seriously discourage my kids from ever using it. The āchancesā posts kind of break my heart. CC is not for everyone, and self-screening is a must. Many times Iāve caught myself falling into the comparison trap, and thatās slippery slope (anyone remember my panic post from last week?). How can there be this many over-the-top-mega-achievers out there? How can my normal kid compete with that? Yikes. Itās hard not to go there!
Iām also a dance mom (DD15), and years of competitions and studio drama have shown how destructive comparing yourself with others can be. But like dance, where very few have the āperfectā feet, turnout, technique, body type, flexibility - or whatever talent criteria you think you donāt have, thereās still hope. Because a performance thatās true and done with passion will often trump āperfect.ā Iāve seen it time and time again. When someone is being true to themselves, they shine and engage in a way that āperfectā canāt. So that why my ānormalā DS (who is extraordinary to me) is going to be a camp counselor this summer (which he has wanted to do for years) instead of staying home to take Pre-calc to get ahead in school. It IS better for him to follow what heās passionate about than do what would help make him look perfect on a college app.
Good luck to all the AP test takers this week. DS went into USH a little worried.
Prom tonight!! Tux is in the closet and Iām off to pick up the corsage for his date
:)>-
@caroldanvers My Jr is a gal who marches to her own drummer. She is planning on 0 APs and 0 DE classes. It isnāt bc she isnāt challenging herself. Goodness, the stuff she does at home is probably significantly more difficult than many classes she could enroll in. She made the decision with full knowledge of the possible consequences, but she is ready to defend her position. She proclaims that this is the time for her to explore subjects deeply and at her own pace, to follow the trails that in depth study exposes and allows her to do, and immerse herself in subjects that help her understand herself and what her future goals might be. She says she has all of her college years to study college level materials according the the universityās standards. She is pretty adamant about the whole thing.
She is going to take CLEP exams at her convenience after she has studied the material her own way. (The ability to take CLEPs whenever she wants vs being confined to May really appeals to her.)
She has a plan for demonstrating her knowledge and abilities to universities that doesnāt conform to a standard AP approach, and I think it is a solid one. So, her going forward with full awareness that her decisions may close some doors is fine with me.
On SAT Subject test, I also found this booklet,
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/sat/sat-subject-test-preparation-booklet.pdf
http://media.collegeboard.com/homeOrg/content/pdf/teachersguide-to-the-sat-subject-tests-in-science.pdf
and some random sites google found,
http://study.com/academy/course/sat-subject-test-us-history.html
@dfbdfb wrote
Yep me too with my 2018 daughter(whoās 15 right now). Totally different kid than my 2017 daughter. I havenāt started posting in that chatty thread yet, itās too stressful talking about all the stuff she does to push my buttons.
This morning older D calls me in a panic-the IB Physics test isnāt at noon, itās in less than 30 minutes and where is her car?!? I had her car-I was still in the neighborhood headed over to the gym and she has to park her car behind mine, so Iāll occasionally take it rather than do the vehicle shuffle to get mine out. I was like donāt worry, Iām still in the neighborhood and came right back, hopped out and she hopped in and took off. I hope she made it ok-she left her wallet with her driverās license sitting on the counter, ugh.
Thank goodness my husband decided not to take that car to take younger D to school today-he almost did, and would have if older D had parked behind him instead of me. I donāt know how older D got the times confused, but wow, stress. She has the second and third part on monday.
@jmek15 wrote
That stinks that they scheduled prom right in the middle of AP testing.
I think thereās a lot of value in feeling connected to the material youāre learning vs. āI had to take this classā and churning through it. Thatās how I felt about the Spanish class, and I feel faintly like Iāve been robbed of the joy of knowing something new, even though I got the A. It just feels hollow, and Iām glad to put it behind me.
Good morning everyone, and welcome @shuttlebus! Catching up on the thread and Iām wondering @payn4ward whatās the benefit of sending the SAT score in conjunction with the SAT subject tests?
@Mtrosemom - I LOLād at your homeschool comment. There would certainly be bloodshed in our house if that had ever been attempted and I hold all of you homeschool parents in the highest esteem.
Iām still boggling at the comments directed to you @eandesmom. I donāt understand why people need to be so nasty. College ready doesnāt mean a student has to have a 4.0. Remember when a C was average, a B was above and an A was excellent? Thatās still the way it is at my sonās high school. No grade inflation.
@jedwards70 : Love The Goldbergs!
@caroldanvers : The March SAT takers still donāt have scores???
Dsās school does rank but itās kept private. When our dd needed to know her rank for a scholarship, the gc was happy to give it, but itās not published.
Son suffers from test anxiety and was very nervous about the AP Calc test yesterday. He said the no calculator part was the most difficult for him. Heās not confident about his score. Today is APUSH and tomorrow he takes the SAT. I think itās really curious that the deadline to sign up for the June SAT has been extended by the college board. Sounds as if the numbers may be down.
@shuttlebus ā¦I just looked and no SAT for March test for my S.
Welcome to all former lurkers. It is nice to have additional voices in the discussions. S will be taking the Physics SAT tomorrow, so thank you to whomever said that there are no calculators allowed and they have to memorize the equations. I will tell him that, although I think he has a lot of the equations memorized anyway. I think that after all of the mandated testing, I will have to take him out for a really big ice cream or frozen yogurt sundae!
@Agentninetynine, maybe the CB extended the SAT sign up deadline because they are not going to get the March scores out in time for people to sign up for the June test if needed/wanted. 
@Agentninetynine I think @mtrosemom is correct. The Mar test takers already missed the opportunity to take the May test w/o knowing their scores. They have 24 hrs to register for the June test date after receiving their Mar scores. My dd is counting down the days.
@shuttlebus I had her look. No scores. She said the website has been redesigned, though, and the info looks presented in a different wayā¦ Her PSAT scores are showing up with her regular scores. (No idea why.)
I have no idea how to quote. @Mom2aphysicsgeek if the website has recently been redesigned, I wonder if the mom did mistake the PSAT scores for the SAT scores. I will have to ask her to double-check. No one else on this site is reporting getting SAT scores today, so they probably have not been released.