<p>Hi all, I thought I’d start following this thread since my D2 is in this age cohort. Glad to see the conversation about how to handle the change in the SAT – I agree that if the new SAT doesn’t kick in until March of 2016, I’ll have D2 take the old one. D1 (senior this year) took it in January and March of her junior year, so maybe D2 will do the same so we can see which version of the test she does better on!</p>
<p>Our D returned from Ghana yesterday standing taller and more self-assured than ever. Turns out she was the youngest by far but ended up a leader all the same. For the next year she will conduct a project intended to help those in the village where she stayed as well as getting more youth involved in service to others. She can’t wait to get started.</p>
<p>As for the trip itself and safety, chaperoning, guidance, etc., I cannot say enough about the Free the Children/Me to We program. They made it clear that it’s not all about the kids, but the people they went to help. The kids did real work and yet were kept safe and protected .D is singing their praises and has made life-long friends. I was quite nervous for her to go but I feel they did a great job. </p>
<p>As we start the second year of high school I thought I would make a suggestion for those of you who haven’t gone through the college application process before . When we started applying to colleges for DS13 the college applications asked questions like what activities,leadership roles,honors/awards he gotten over the years… Well… remember all of that was kind of tough and going through boxes of stuff to find the answer is no fun.So this time around I am keeping a updated ‘resume’ for DS17. I am hoping that it will make the process easier.</p>
<p>@MichiganGeorgia – that is a great idea and one I plan to follow with this second child. Recording the exact title of both the award and the activity will save time when filling out activity section of CA and when pulling together a resume.</p>
<p>I just kept a folder for DD14. Most of her awards had some kind of certificate, and I kept programs from all the shows that she had worked on backstage. But as you said, she blanked out on some details so some kind of record is helpful. Also keep a record of contact names and phone numbers or e-mails for references. Some colleges want only teachers, some specifically ask for at least one from a non-teacher.</p>
<p>Re: Keeping Track
I have a couple of Google Docs going that I’ve shared with S17. I suspect he’ll get more interested in them in a year or two. He’s my oldest, so I’m learning by trial-and-error and from ya’ll here on CC.</p>
<p>One document is a resume that I tweak every so often. He used it for a summer program, and it seemed to work well. I played with a few different organizations (chronological vs functional). It’s currently more functional, with headings for Education, Scores, Science Experience, Math Experience, Computer Science Experience, Engineering Experience, and Other.</p>
<p>The other is a big loooong document where I paste interesting links and have various lists going. Current headings are Goals (long-term and short-term), School year activities, Summer activities, 4-year hypothetical plan, and a few categories of miscellaneous notes and links.</p>
<p>Later there will be spreadsheets, I suppose…</p>
<p>Re: Catching Up
After visiting a cousin in Colorado who has his permit, S17 says he’s willing to do the online part of the driver’s ed, so I have to figure out how/where to sign him up. Anyone in CA? Not sure if the online portion is the same or different for different companies. I have local recommendations, but just about the driving part. He’s working about 40/week until school starts on a computer science project, so I’m not sure when the online class will get done. Luckily, he did read the assigned 5 chapters of Chemistry over vacation, so the summer homework is done.</p>
<p>@sseamom Glad to hear she is back safely and had a valuable experience!</p>
<p>@mtrosemom I think he will take the PSAT this year and next and the old SAT I at the sitting closest to the PSAT during junior year. I suppose that could change depending on what he decides he wants to apply for as far as next summer and what types of scores they require.</p>
<p>The school has them take the ACT Plan this year (now the ACT Aspire, but the school’s website/calendar doesn’t seem to know that yet). So, if he does well on that, he may take the ACT. I suppose they will end up being able to choose which scores to send from old SAT, new SAT, and ACT, and there will be conversion charts online to figure out which scores are better.</p>
<p>We get schedules on 8/19 and classes start on 8/25 for a dual-enrollment class and 8/27 for regular classes. They are starting a new “embedded support” bell schedule with regular classes M,Tu,F and 3-4 long classes and a short study hall on W,Th.</p>
<p>I am a student in the class of 2017, and I think it might make more sense to take the ACT twice, and then the new SAT in March as many times as possible.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many times we will be able to take the new SAT?</p>
<p>@Spiral7, there is not any restriction on the number of times you may take a test; however, some schools may look less favorably at a prospective student who takes a test 4 or more times. I seem to recall reading somewhere that there is a diminishing return for taking the SAT more than 3 times. Just time-wise, you will be able to take the new SAT 6 times before January of your senior year (March, May, June, October, November, December). You may also need to fit the SAT subject tests in that time frame too.</p>
<p>Well, since the new SAT starts March 2016, you could hypothetically take it March, May, and June of your junior year. (Sounds exhausting.) I think scores from October of senior year could count, depending on how early you want to apply.</p>
<p>@mtrosemom @ynotgo Thanks so much that was really helpful! I will probably just take it two times, unless I do poorly on my ACT and not so great on the SAT in which case I would probably take it a third time.</p>
<p>Can colleges see how many times you take it or just your best score?</p>
<p>Also… what summer programs have your kids gone to? I’m thinking of doing a short language immersion course at Middlebury, a 3-day volleyball workshop (I did one this year and it was really helpful), and a bunch of online college courses. I am really into languages and have had the dream of teaching ESL abroad (I’ve been tutoring it since 6th grade and still love it!) anyway, I found a program called pueblosingles where teens can teach kids in spain english, but maybe next year. Everything is extremely expensive so I’m going to have to find a way to cover most of this…</p>
<p>Anyways, any recommendations for summer programs would be very helpful</p>
<p>@Spiral17, some schools let you choose the score you send, some require you to send all of the scores from all of the tests you have taken. It really depends on the school. Also, you can take the SAT up until December of your senior year if you are applying regular decision (I have a D15 and have seen that in some schools admission policy). As you make a list of schools you may be interested in, research what they require for testing.</p>
<p>As far as summer programs, my S17 has not done that many that are targeted towards resume building. He like computers and did a summer programming class. He is also volunteering at a company that does e-waste recycling. He helps tear down computers. He plans to work with them on his Eagle Scout project. </p>
<p>I say do what you love to do for ECs, not what you think might look good. Adcoms at colleges like to see ECs and summer work where a kid has a passion for it. If you like ESL, by all means do that. You will have a great EC to include for schools and it is something that you will enjoy and, more importantly, keep doing. Good luck!</p>
<p>@Spiral7 I noticed that you posted on some UCLA threads. Note that the UC system is one of those that requires you to send all SAT test scores and not use the College Board’s “Score Choice” option. (Though you may still be able to use Score Choice for SAT II subject tests.) Also, the UC deadline to apply is late November, which is early compared to others, and it looks like the scores are due by December sometime.</p>
<p>Good advice to do what you love for ECs! </p>
<p>@Ynotgo Oh, I was unaware of that, thanks!!</p>
<p>D1 and D2 are back at college, leaving me home with my sophomore D3! Finally able to focus a little more on her! She’s been back in school for about 2 weeks. She’s got honors geometry, honors English, honors chem 1, art 2, honors Spanish, advanced orchestra, and sociology. She’ll take her permit test the this Thursday (day after her 15th birthday). Busy, busy year up ahead! </p>
<p>OK, so what the beep IS the ACT Aspire? I went looking for the ACT PLAN and found that - what - there will be this whole new system starting next year…sort of? If I go to their web page - pages - I find a lot of information about how school districts can adopt it, what a great product it is, how it seems to be endless testing from third grade on, mumbo jumbo about the Common Core, how wonderful their new company is (we’re happy for you), blah, blah, blah, but how does it fit into the idea of preparing to take the ACT? Do kids have to sign up or is it by district and they already are if your district has adopted it?</p>
<p>By way of an update, S17 starts Wednesday, has already started cross country - but has already decided this will be his last year for it (sigh). Took a free practice ACT on Saturday (from Kaplan) at the local library. Had a 3.75 for freshman year, incl. two honors classes - could easily have been better, motivation is an issue. Good schedule for this fall though. Will be wrestling again; he was conference champ among the freshman (29-0), would likely start at most schools this year, but he likely won’t even make the varsity roster; our team was #2 in the US last year, state champs going away, and likely even better this year. Varsity had 10 All-State incl. 4 state champs, 3 of whom are back this year. Ridiculously competitive. He will get a couple of varsity matches this year though, early in the season, so if they win State again in March he gets to be in the trophy photo as a sophomore.</p>
<p>It was great to hear about everyone’s summer break. I feel like my S is so busy but seeing everyone else’s posts helps because it looks like everyone is crazy busy. My S did a six week ballet summer intensive, we went on vacation for a couple of weeks and then he starts school on the 25th. We are in an area where lots of kids take the ACT and the SAT so we may just stick with the ACT because of the changes to the SAT. He does take the practice PSAT in October so we’ll see how it goes. His schedule is pretty hard next year and he has dance for three hours after school. I just hope he can get all of his homework done every night. Right now, he is finishing his summer reading. </p>
<p>Did everyone else’s kids have summer reading? If so, what did they read?</p>
<p>No summer reading for school here…just reading for fun! S just tested for and was awarded his second degree black belt in Taekwon-Do Friday. He has worked very hard and is now caught up with his Dad! Now both of them will hopefully work together on their third degree belt, if he sticks with it. That will take at least 4 years I think. S also drove me ( 
) to his golf lesson Sunday. He did very well and I tried very hard not to look like the nervous parent. He told his dad I didn’t have to yell at him once! </p>