I’m sure we will take more tests in fall when push comes to shove, but I was hoping to get the tests done due to reasons Ynotgo mentions. Besides he may want to take SAT/ACT again in fall too so there are not many dates left.
Besides, June is better than October for Subject re-test when the materials are “fresh” before summer amnesia sets in. We just will not know if he did well enough in May already or not.
Also don’t forget that your child may have to take SAT II Subject tests for some schools. Those cannot be done on the same day as the regular SAT, and are not available on every test date. Check the schedule.
Any parents of band geeks out there? My daughter is in marching band, wind symphony, orchestra, and pep band. The band director started her freshman year, and is really turning out to be a turd. He favors certain kids, mostly the kids who want to go on to study music after HS. That is not my daughter, who enjoys the band for all the social aspects. I’ve just about had it with this guy and his power trip, and I’m wondering what you might think it would do if she were to drop band in her senior year? She really wanted to get through it for 4 years, but my blood pressure would benefit from taking another class she enjoys. I’m not sure she still feels this way.
Band for 3 years vs. 4 years? Big deal? Quitter?
@2muchquan IMO, if she quit band and took a different class instead, I can’t imagine she’d be judged negatively for it, especially if the substitute was more of a core academic course.
@2muchquan I really don’t think it would affect her at all. My eldest is an oboist (freshman in college) and had a turd band director after we moved cross country. Boy, I wish she had just walked away from that program. She could have taken private lessons and participated in competitions. He was a bully and constantly made fun of her for being from the south (she has a full tuition academic scholarship and a music scholarship, so he can stick it). His attitude and the way he talked to those kids was so detrimental to her emotionally. Thankfully, she is at school and has blossomed. Other than having a leadership position to put on her application, there was no advantage to her sticking it out.
All of that to say, what impact is his behavior having on her confidence and emotional wellbeing?
@2muchquan …let her drop it! We had a similar situation here with orchestra with major upheaval within the department. All three of the directors (we have about 6 orchestras at the high school alone) ended up leaving. D had many other things she wanted to explore. I was hesitant to let her quit since she was in the varsity orchestra and was afraid it would look bad on her ECs for apps. It has turned out to be a great thing…she is exploring a sport that is new to the district (archery!) and also has room for a small part-time job.
Band is a huge time commitment at least here in Texas. If the kid doesn’t love it, time to explore something new.
As an aside, I do NOT get these orchestra and band directors who seem to thrive on yelling/humiliation and shame. I get the hard work and why the hours are important, but for heavens sake…make it a little fun! Those kids work SO hard!
I do understand CB issues with SAT. I thought they only messup SAT not SAT subject tests :-). My S will take one or two subject tests in June and thinking of taking one (Spanish) in October. I am hoping he doesn’t have to retake. With AP & IB exams it is tough to retake SATs.
S will take SAT subject tests too this spring. Not sure if May or June. That kind of depends on how he does on the ACT and whether he will need to retake the SAT. If he does well on the ACT which is given at his school in March (fingers and toes crossed), then he will only have 1 SAT subject test left to go. I think it would be good for him to take the subject test around the same time as the AP test so he can combine the studying.
@2muchquan If she replaces band with something else the looks rigorous or otherwise good, I think it will be fine. But, I suppose it needs to be about how she feels, not so much about improving your blood pressure. B-) DS isn’t a band geek, but our band director has also caused problems for a previously great program due to his disorganized style and some other things. The band parents complain a lot and have to organize things when he drops the ball.
DS has to decide whether to continue in the 4th year of his engineering program, since they dropped the robotics capstone. About 15 of 100 seniors dropped the program this year. He’s keeping an ear to the ground about how the new capstone program is going this year. I think it will be fine if he does decide to drop it, because he will do something else, I’m sure.
We scheduled our annual meeting with our GC, but couldn’t find a date that worked for everyone (mostly DH’s schedule conflicts) until Feb. 19. I think class signups for fall are in early March.
I asked our GC about whether a couple dual-enrollment classes had made it onto his HS transcript yet because of some summer program applications, and she said, “The district is undergoing some changes to how college courses are transcripted. At this point, I would have him submit both his HS transcript and any college transcripts (directly from the institutions) for any programs he applies to.” So, now I’m worried about what that means, especially for weighted GPA and class rank. I’m hoping to find out on Feb. 19.
@carachel2 “I do NOT get these orchestra and band directors who seem to thrive on yelling/humiliation and shame.”
Have you seen the movie, “Whiplash”?
I totally agree with you. What’s the point of taking the fun out of music?
@HiToWaMom …no I haven’t! I will have to look it up. Does it address angry aggressive orchestra and band directors? I mean, I totally get that it is a TOUGH and demanding and time consuming job. But these kids show up and work for hours and hours and these are usually the ‘good’ kids who are top ranking, involved in the school, etc. Why kick a kid like that?
My D is planning on 2 SAT II tests this May, around the time of her AP tests. She took one last year after her AP world exam and she wasn’t happy with her score so she was able to take another one in June while the info was stil fresh in her mind. If she had to wait till the fall to retake it, she would’ve lost interest in the subject and had no motivation to prepare. She will definitely take the math 2, but not sure which other she will take. Maybe lit or chem. She is only taking the ACT as she is steering clear from the new SAT plus she likes it better anyway.
My S took two SAT IIs in June last year right after the school ended (2 days gap between finals and SAT). It is hard for him to do in May due to AP, IB, finals and some other activities. Good thing is he doesn’t have to repeat those 2.
Oh yes, the movie IS about a jazz band director who thrives on yelling and humiliating students. First I thought it was director’s tough love, but … anyways, it becomes a battle of wills between the director and a student. It can be hard to watch if you have a kid who wants to perfect their music talent.
The evil music director was played by J.K. Simmons and he received an oscar for this role.
I like the reference to Whiplash @HiToWaMom , and I agree @carachel2, this band director has totally taken the fun out of band for my D. She picked up the tuba just to stay in band, and be in marching band. Her real instrument is the piano, but that’s hard to haul around the football field.
I think I tortured S last year by signing him up for the May SAT. He did decently despite all of the other testing. Luckily for him his Math 2 test was the June one because of the fiasco with the June regular SAT. The SAT subject test wasn’t affected by the timing discrepancies. I think that the new format SAT would be a better fit for him than the old ST was. He will be taking the Physics SAT subject test this Spring plus the Physics C mechanics AP and the Math BC AP tests. Glad I’m not him, but he has a math mind and I was good, but not that good at math.
My S will probably take AP biology, AP Calc BC and 2 IBs in May and then SAT II Biology and may be SAT II physics in June. I don’t think I could have done this many. I hated exams 
@2muchquan , DD quit marching band due to change of director, and stopped music classes-- jazz band ( she plays sax) this year and she said that was the best decision she made.
I think your DD also needs to ask herself how likely she is making leadership or if she needs or likes it. DD will make section leader at least in her senior year. But she already got president at a large club and will be swimming captain, so she decided that the pain doesn’t worth the reward two year later.
I have a question. DS took the SAT II Math 2 test in December and is happy with his score with no plans to retake it. He just took the Chem SAT II test in January but may need to retake it depending on his score. Does anyone know if you have to report all attempts or do most schools allow for score choice?
@DOTexe it really depends on what school she is applying to. I have a d16 and she applied to 10 schools and some required all of her scores while most others let her pick and choose.