Anyone here have a child using Khan Academy to prep for the PSAT in October? If so how much time are your kids spending on it?
S15 was high stats⊠35 ACT, NM commended, 3.88/4 UW GPA, 9 APâs (of the scores we have he has 5âs on all but one test - waiting for 3 more in July), 4 dual enrollment courses, 4 years for one sport with two as captain and 3 years of another sport, NHS, two jobs⊠and we were shocked by how little merit he received. Thank goodness he was happy with our in-state option and it is affordable for us without merit. I have a whole new outlook with S18. We will not be chasing merit. It was so disappointing to see him rejected for the big scholarships again and again. And our EFC is so ridiculously high there was no chance of need based aid anywhere. I think 1/3 of your gross pay is a bit much to ask,but that is what was calculated.
You all may know this already, but I feel like so many people said âoh, he will get tons of money⊠you wonât have to worryâ, that I was under the impression he was going to be able to pick a school when were were comparing offers. LOL.
wrights1994 - thanks for sharing. Your story with Sâ15 is an example of how tough it is to come by merit money and why a family should not count on it. That said, it doesnât hurt to identify schools where your child has a chance of receiving merit money and taking a few calculated shots at it. But itâs clear that it is important to be realistic and understand the chances. And, of course, the child needs to want to attend the school(s) where they have a chance at merit aid or the merit money may not be worthwhile. Not for prestige purposes, but some schools just arenât where a student wants to be for four years (too cold, too hot, too preppy, to much partying, too big, too small, too urban. too rural, etc.). Thatâs why it is important to try to identify the right set of schools (including safety, match and reach, both academic and financial) for the student and the family. That takes some effort.
Anyone have any thoughts about their âvery brightâ on paper child who hasnât managed to get into many honors or AP classes?
Weâre done with the âvery brightâ on paper child who has squeaked into almost all available honors and AP classes and he got into a pretty good college, his top choice academically, but this DC18 has managed to get into only one honors course for grade 10.
Our DC18 is still contemplating careers, so that is not much help. Does have a high GPA, around 4.0 W, 3.7UW, but with no honors.
Are the AP/Honors classes at your childâs school only available on teacher approval?
Just to circle back to the merit aid discussion, D15 also had very high stats and did not get a lot of merit aid at the schools where it was very competitive. However, she did get some preferential FA packaging at a few schools, sort of like merit aid through the back door.
I was wondering the same thing. I think this may be something that is somewhat different based on High School policy. It seems most kids here can take AP classes if they choose to. Some may be encouraged to do so while others may be encouraged to take Honors classes, but Iâm not sure I have ever heard of a kid wanting to take an AP class and not being allowed in. And not all AP classes are built the same. Some have broader appeal and should be open to most students while some (Calc BC, for example), maybe not.
At our school students can request to take pre-AP and AP course so long as they have the prerequisites. Students donât find out their actual schedules until August and thereâs usually some drop add the first week of school.
Could you meet with the GC and find out why he isnât getting placed in honors classes? Is he only requesting very popular classes that fill quickly?
I would never discourage kids from trying for merit aid, just not to bank on it. It seems that many of the schools are using their merit aid to, at least in part, make themselves more attractive to students they suspect would not consider them as strongly under other circumstances and that have something they really want in their student body mix. So, a student has to figure out, the best they can, how attractive they are not only for the target school, but to schools that are even harder to get into when thinking about those very competitive merit scholarships (even if the student isnât really interested in those other schools). And that has a trickle down effect for those schools that are slightly less hard to get into, and so on.
Did that make sense?.Not sure my thoughts were very clear on that one.
No, itâs not that they are popular per se, any more than all the AP courses are popular. The math department head is very picky, and has âdouble-secret criteriaâ where âthey findâ that kids who meet the schools criteria for honors or AP but donât exceed it âdonât do wellâ in the next honors or AP class. So they are going against the HSâs criteria for their own purposes
His HS is very early - pick classes in March, honors and AP based on midterm grades, but then the department head can do whatever he or she wants. Everything settled by May unless the student keeps appealing.
The next town lets anyone into AP courses who wants to be in them, but makes them drop if they are not doing well.
How irritating. Our school allows any kid into AP classes as long as the class pre-AP courses have been taken. The teachers donât choose which students to allow into their classes. How much say do the parents get in this process? Does your kid even want to be in AP classes?
Yes, he wants to be in the highest level of math available, and he opted not to appeal not getting into an AP science because he doesnât like it.
His current teacher recommended him at the second level of appeal, with nothing changed since the original application, and we were told that the only reason he didnât make it originally was the teacher recommendation. Gee.
And annual math test scores are consistently highest possible (300 in our state).
Sounds frustrating. Sorry.
Thanks - heâs 2E by the way and we hope that isnât affecting the process.
Hi all,
I am a student in the class of 2018 (not a parent), with some questions you parents and fellow students may be able to answer.
If your kids are looking at Ivies, how early are they looking and at what particular aspects are they looking at? (I.E what it takes to be admitted, classes to take)
As our sophomore year approaches, how many APs are they allowed to take (if any) and how many are they taking?
What are their guidance counselors and school admins doing to help them with their college search and being admitted to their dream schools?
Thank you in advance.
@codemachine We are not looking at ivies as they are not affordable to us. We are looking for school that will fit, that have programs that interest S18 and that we can afford.
Our high school offers âa full slateâ of AP classes according to their web page I think they offer most of them, around 30 I think. They are adding the two new APâs, capstone seminar and research next year. They offered Comp Sci Principles as dual credit from UT Austin but taught on campus during the school year, Iâm not sure if they will continue this or shift it to the new AP Comp Sci Principles class. At our school their are no limits on taking AP classes other than you have to have the required prerequisites.
My S18 took both Comp Sci AP and Comp Sci Principles last year, for sophomore year he will take AP World History and AP Physics 1/2.
Our GCâs arenât doing anything with them yet but will start them on Naviance in January of sophomore year.
@codemachine, I have a D your age and a D that just graduated. I really think itâs too early for you to be concerned about colleges and chasing âdream schools.â At this point, I recommend that you take a rigorous schedule (if you can handle that, but not if you canât), get good grades, and find some activities that you enjoy doing. Enjoy your high school experience.
At this point, my D has no idea whether she will be âlooking at Ivies.â In theory, she could take as many APs as she chooses, but the course progression really only makes two of them available this year which is plenty for a sophomore IMO. There is no work with her GC in regard to college until some time in junior year, and that is very very preliminary.
Essay-writing, and being able to express yourself articulately, will be a huge component of your college application process and your professional life after college. Take the most rigorous high school English courses you feel you can handle (AP Language and Composition, usually offered junior year, for example).
I second what suzy100 said: donât be tempted to make your high school years solely about the race to college. Find clubs and activities you sincerely enjoy and do them, not simply because they might look nice on an application. You will hear this 10,000x in your college search, and it will be true each time: there is no âperfectâ student. There is no âperfectâ application. There is the student the school is looking for to make a well-rounded class. I would encourage you not to limit your search to âIvyâ schools. Your perfect match school may or may not be an Ivy. Be broad-minded.
Hi Parents! What are the pros and cons of taking OLD SAT in Sophomore year? Will colleges accept the OLD Sat scores or ask the student to retake the NEW SAT? Dâ18 is scoring very high on the old test and would like to take old SAT in OCTâ15 to get that out of her way. I was advised to call the colleges that she plans to attend and ask them but she hasnât narrowed down the colleges or fields of study yet. Thanks in Advance!
That is a good question about the SAT.
I think it wouldnât be a bad idea; not sure how it could hurt in any way as colleges will know it is changing.
My son will take the PSAT definitely in October, to get a handle on how he might do on the SAT. But the SAT itself might be a good idea too. I saw that January 2016 is the last sitting of the âoldâ and March 2016 is the first sitting of the new.
Unless he totally aces the âoldâ, heâll be taking the new too.