<p>I’m sorry that I vented like that! I didn’t mean that I wanted to leave, or that I didn’t think I’d have a lot to learn here.</p>
<p>Nope. No apologies for venting here, Ms. Jane!! 
Nor any for bragging if the urge strikes. This is a great place because it has a great degree of anonymity, and everyone wants to hear the fabulous things the kids are doing. We also all tend to share the same frustrations and stress factors, so venting is a good thing. We would spend way too much time sitting in the corner in the fetal position otherwise! Often I’ve found some spouses don’t get as involved, or think everything will be fine, or friends are not in the same place as CC posters so this is the perfect place to vent, stress, and hopefully more often, brag about the kids’ great accomplishments wherever they may take place!</p>
<p>I agree with 89wahoo - the 2013 parent thread has kids of various abilities, but all parents support other parents’ kids. It’s a positive bunch, and a good place to learn a lot. It may be true that Calc AB or BC is very heavily recommended for top ten, or even top 100, but that doesn’t mean all kids need to include it just in case, especially if a student is not great at math. GPA is important, as well as course rigor, but each parent/student needs to evaluate that for their specific situation.</p>
<p>Some kids aspire to the top ten - that’s awesome, and definitely a HMFR for anyone, regardless if they are a perfect 36 or 2400 on the ACT/SAT, and higher than a 4.0, etc…those schools re-direct 85-90%+ of kids who are stellar! Key is to love thy safety…which is a school that a student can get into, is financially do-able, and the student will love going there.</p>
<p>Some parents aspire to as low cost as possible - key there is to aim for schools where your student is in the top 25% of admission requirements. But know that it appears as though those top 25% numbers go higher each year, than the year before. We found this out, and scholarships for our DD’13’s stats were higher the year before, so it caught us off guard. Therefore, prepare appropriately.</p>
<p>Some kids will want to study music/drama/theater/musical theater (MT) and other performance type majors, which is a whole ‘nother ball game…similar acceptances for some, like MT, that rival the Ivy acceptance percentages.</p>
<p>That said, I hope this parent thread will have the same characteristics of the 2013 parent thread - welcoming, supportive, helpful, empathetic, and everything else we will need for this wonderful process!</p>
<p>You know what I visualized? </p>
<p>While I was reading 89wahoo’s post #59, I saw, in my head, all the HS’17 kids and their parents in a great big boat sailing toward the unknown future, captain 89wahoo giving that great speech at the front tip of the boat, and all the passengers go YAAAAY CLAP CLAP CLAP!!! </p>
<p>Let’s not have first class cabin or third calss cabin in this boat. But we will have lots and lots of safety boats!!
We will hit the rough ocean ahead but I would like to enjoy the ride with you guys!</p>
<p>OK, so since I’ve already brought up the question of summer, I figure I’ll take this opportunity to brag.</p>
<p>When he turned 13 my son told me “I bet you’re looking forward to my next birthday!” When I asked him why he said “Because I’ll be legal to work. I’ll get a job and you won’t have to pay me allowance”. I have to say I was skeptical. I don’t know any kids who get jobs that young, except maybe walking dogs, babysitting, or shoveling snow. </p>
<p>He’s been 14 for less than 2 weeks. During that time he’s managed to pass the test to be certified as a soccer referee, with games starting in a week; gotten a job as a caddy at a local country club; and signed up to take the test to work reshelving books in the library.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification on ED… We did apply for financial aid with our ED school. BUT we had already researched with NPCs and only applied to ones that met 100% of financial need. Even though our need still left a number we thought was too big, we tightened our belt and did it. So far…no loans needed. </p>
<p>Also, if you apply ED, and don’t take the spot, your kid is taking someone else’s spot away. I know some schools do not offer spots to someone else and they DON’T go into the RD pool. That’s why its REALLY important to do your homework before applying! </p>
<p>Now enough of that talk…who’s freaked out that their youngest is going to high school besides me? : )</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Change youngest to only and that’s me.</p>
<p>Jane-yayayayayay! Good for S! Careful, he may decide he’s made his first million already and scorn college! ;). Oh. And yes, I am freaked out about smallest child starting high school- but the school should be more freaked out… {evil laugh}
Hitowa… Me? Speech? Nope. I just cheer. 
I’m getting excited about this because of you guys. No offense, but with kid #2 a rising senior, and the trauma of letting Kid#1 go this summer, I should NOT be excited. I should be whimpering in a corner curled in fetal position. Or drinking heavily. Or both?</p>
<p>“Also, if you apply ED, and don’t take the spot, your kid is taking someone else’s spot away.”</p>
<p>From many years of experience, most schools have a good idea what percentage of ED admits will decline the offers, and adjust accordingly.</p>
<p>I am not freaked out about my youngest starting high school. He is staying at the same school and 9th grade is not a big change from 8th grade for him.</p>
<p>Hi everyone! My middle daughter will be starting high school next fall. We also have a daughter who will be a HS junior and a son who will be in 5th grade.</p>
<p>She’s really excited about HS and soooo ready to be done with middle school. She’s in the IB MYP program but as yet undecided about the diploma program when the time comes. Her sister decided to do AP instead.</p>
<p>Welcome, Quotia! </p>
<p>wahoo…as usual, you crack me up! </p>
<p>Love hearing what everyone’s kiddos are going to be up to over the summer…can’t wait to see what the next 4 years holds. Sitting here trying to make plans for my 13ers graduation party, and thinking 4 years from now I’ll be doing the same thing…for my baby!</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Signing into to this thread for DD (2), class of 2017. I’m also the parent of DS (1) 2014. He’s gearing up for the process in earnest now. He likes Northwestern, Rice, and Wash U. We really have to get to work on the safety / possible merit aid list…</p>
<p>DD has her high school schedule and placement now.</p>
<p>Honors Geometry
Freshman Accelerated English
World History
Spanish 2 Accelerated
Accelerated Chemistry</p>
<p>She’s also signed up for a communication arts sampler for Summer School.</p>
<p>And here we go again…</p>
<p>Welcome Dave!</p>
<p>It’s always interesting to see how different schools do things. What’s the difference between an 'accelerated" class and an “honors” class at your school. We only have on-level and honors until they get to AP/IB.</p>
<p>It’s an “in-between”. The honors/AP classes are weighted A=5.0 / 4.0 and accelerated are A = 4.5 / 4.0 with at level A = 4.0 / 4.0. For math honors is available as a freshman, but foreign language, science, and english only have accelerated. At level social studies, i.e. world history, is the only class for freshmen.</p>
<p>I think the whole question of how things are weighted is confusing. When I went to the presentation at the HS the principal told us that “For English you have one option, which is Honors English 9. For Social Studies most kids will take Honors US History, but a few will take AP US Government”. I don’t think this is literally true, as there was an option for “on level” English, and “on level” History on the registration form, but my understanding is that there are few sections of those classes.</p>
<p>The result of this is that weighted GPA’s at my son’s future school are crazy high. According to the school profile, 38% of students have Weighted GPA’s over 4.0.</p>
<p>^ This is why colleges recalculate HS GPAs according to their own standardizing formulas.</p>
<p>vonlost–I know that I have heard at info sessions that schools recalc GPAs, but I have to wonder how consistent the end product can possibly be. I hear of high schools that offer 4.0 for the college prep level of classes, 5.0 for honors and 6.0 for AP or IB, but then students from those same schools taking all of these honors and AP classes can’t seem to break 1900 on their boards.</p>
<p>As you would imagine, I ask this from the perspective of a school that only adds .5 to honors or AP classes, offers only one weighted honors course in 9th grade (but several unweighted honors), does not award an A+, and has a population that is 97% college-bound. I do not mean to sound as though I am complaining, just curious if it all really does even out. A close read of the school profile will reveal all of this but given the volume of apps, I wonder if large universities can possibly distinguish one public HS in CT from another, when the weighting process at each may be quite different. I can only remain guardedly optimistic.</p>
<p>The HS profile sent by counselors is meant to help clear up some inconsistency, but to what extent does it help? Hard to say.</p>
<p>The holistic approach helps a bit. Our D1’s LAC counts grades, rank and test scores as only 20% of the total admission value; the rest is courses taken in HS, interview, recommendations, essays and ECs. The numeric values clearly must be high enough to indicate future academic success, but are far from being a single most important criterion.</p>
<p>CT, I wonder the same thing from the opposite perspective. On one hand if everyone is taking “honors” I feel like the course shouldn’t be weighted at all. On the other hand, it then seems unfair not to have an unweighted option.</p>
<p>I think the fairest thing might be to not weight anyone’s GPA, but also to look at level of rigor and class rank when making a decision.</p>