I also have a question about the SAT. It’s going back to the way it had been done way back when without the essay? Would you still reccomend writing the essay or is it not even worth it?
rhandco - what is 2E?
codemachine -welcome. Looks like you’ve received some good advice so far. Have fun, study hard and do what is interesting to you sounds like good advice to me.
When it’s time to really develop a list of colleges. I would recommend not worrying about the Ivy label and to instead look for schools that make sense for you and your interests. If that’s an Ivy, so be it. But there are plenty of good schools out there, not just those 8. Also, and this is a hard one for some people to come to grips with, the very competitive admissions schools (including the Ivy’s) have way, way more people applying than they have room for (several now having an acceptance rate of below 10%). Think about it - when you have over 30,000 applying for fewer than 3000 slots, as is the case with some of these schools, the result is that many very qualified people will not get in. It’s not personal. It’s just math. I think it helps to know that going in and to have lots of other schools you like, can afford and would be willing and happy to attend on your list.
S’18 took AP Human last year and will be taking AP World and AP Capstone Seminar next year. Try to challenge yourself. I think that means a lot later on. You might even learn more.
2E = twice exceptional = has a 504 plan or an IEP and/or a disability and is (has been tested or evaluated to be) gifted
All my children are 2E, and it significantly affected our oldest and we are hoping to avoid any major issues with our next one.
(of course, there will arise issues with whether he can live on campus or needs to go to school locally so he can commute or be driven to school; we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it and he has done very well in the past year compared to 8th grade so fingers are crossed)
In our world the PSAT is more important than the SAT since S18 will be required to take the new PSAT he decided to stick with the new format. He’s signed up for the first new SAT test in March.
I called few colleges to check their policy on the SAT scores. It really varies per college. Some colleges wanted to see new SAT scores and some colleges will accept both as long as the scores are not 3 years old. Guess DD will have to wait until next year.
By the way, 2E stands for “twice exceptional”.
The College Board has already placed some practice questions for the New SAT up on their web page. They will release the NEW SAT Blue Book (four complete practice tests) next week. You can order it from the CB or from Amazon.
The blog for PWN the SAT has some practice questions too. Sorry, can’t post a like but you can google it.
D18 has been enjoying her summer break by doing a little running each day to be ready for cross country intramurals in July, watching movies, doing a few assignments for a couple of her upcoming sophomore year classes, and just enjoying some well deserved down time.
That all changed yesterday afternoon at around 3:30pm when she was invited to fill a last minute slot at the U.S. Air Force Academy Engineering Summer Camp – that starts TOMORROW! Apparently, a camper had to drop out and our local Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Post offered to sponsor her.
We’ve been scrambling around since then, making airplane reservations for her and packing the things she’ll need to bring. She was also given this emergency “homework” list to go over during any free time she can manage on her way to Colorado Springs.
So much for our nice, predictable summer! But, she’s extremely excited about the whole turn of events and say’s that she’s up for the challenge. We head out for the airport in about 10 hours!
Congrats to your daughter, LMH573. Good luck tomorrow.
If your kiddos aren’t already in the habit of summer camps, specifically away from home summer camps, I encourage you to send them. Looking back on 2015 Daughter’s high school years, I feel the experience of staying parent-free and not with family can really give a kid an idea of what it’s like to be away from home for school. I would definitely do that part differently if I could, and I will be doing it for 2018 Son.
S18 is at swim camp this week on a college campus. Hoping he has fun and swims fast. He has been to camps for years, but somehow got resistant this summer.
I agree with the summer camp sentiment. S’18 is at two-week music camp at one of the large in-state schools. He went last summer as well and was really excited to go again this year. It’s a bit of a drive for us, but worth the effort.
Thanks @dadotwoboys, just came home from seeing D18 off at the airport. We had so little time to get everything ready for her trip that I didn’t have time to think about much else. But last night I starting having all of “those thoughts” I’ve read about on CC posts. “Why did I let her go on this trip?” “She’s only 15 and not ready for this,” etc….
Yesterday she went online and found all of these videos showing how to navigate the airports she’ll travel through and she showed me that she knows her way around them like the back of her hand. She also patiently listened to all of my parental advice on how to survive out there in the world.
I got one of those passes that let me go through security with her & we shared a bagel and juice while waiting for her flight to board. She was so confident and calm, and she seemed so grown-up.
The truth is that she’s more than ready for this. We’ve all (little by little) been preparing them for things like this their whole lives.
She will be great! She’ll have such a boost in self-confidence when she masters these steps of traveling and being away from home. What an adventure she will have!
Dd18 has flown out solo to California every summer to visit grandparents since she was 12. We also fly frequently as a family both domestically and internationally so she is very familiar with airports.
She has a very busy summer ahead of her, with daily preseason workouts for cheer, club soccer, and swim team as well as her online course. The two of us are in Canada at the moment for a brief vacation before all this kicks in next week.
2018 Son is immersed in a Chamber Music workshop this week with a wonderfully talented Polish cellist. This is his first exposure to someone who has made her entire life about being a professional performer. He is mesmerized. The workshop is in a rundown old brick office building, but the teacher has transformed a room into something from an old European city: heavy red velvet drapes, antique this and that, and some pretty high expectations. Son voluntarily practiced for two hours last night after the first afternoon of work. I can only look on in amazement.
Nice when they get inspired like that.
S18 got his first AP score back, a 5 in comp sci, he’s very happy.
@3scoutsmom Congrats to S18 that is fantastic. He is the same one that attends or attended the Snowfarm art camp? If he’s completed it this summer did he enjoy it as much as the first time? Are his interests in digital art or animation?