Hello, so glad to find this discussion. I have a dd for class of 2018.
Welcome @Pri930
Just joining this group today after joining the parents of the HS class of 2016 a few days ago for my S16. It is such a great opportunity to hear othersā experiences and suggestions, but I realize for my S itās at the tail end of the experience. My D18 has quite different interests than S16, and she is much more school oriented and motivated than him. Her passion is singing and performing, which right now is primarily through school and community musicals, although she is very strong in opera. Unlike S16, D18 really isnāt sure what she wants to major in at all, and is trying to find something to pair with her singing talent and interest. Any suggestions of majors that might compliment a minor in vocal performance or voice/opera are much appreciated! (S16 is going into computer science, so performing arts is completely new for us). I look forward to chattting more with all of you in the new year!
Thanks for the welcome. I am trying to get used to the terms used here. So I am in NJ and have a D18 
It will be so great to share and learn on this group.
My D18 definitely is interested in STEM fields. We have not yet decided the college list. Her current schedule is
Academic English, Honors Spanish 3, Honors Chem, Honors US History, AP Comp Sci A, AP Calc AB, Honors Band and PE
@lifeguarding, welcome I have a D16 and a D18.
Major for your D18 with music /voiceā¦how about music therapy?
@lifegarding and @labegg I have a D16 and a S18. I think S will be more motivated to look at colleges than D (although she is more of a perfectionist at school, tests etc). Also have a D24, but will have to wait a bit for her!
If your child can handle it, thatās great. There are many parents in my district who push their children up the math sequence. My older son was in AP Calc BC with a sophomore, as a senior. That would be MV Calc in 11th grade.
There are some colleges that offer placement tests, but many do not, and many donāt offer them past Calc 1. Most of the programs where I teach require four semesters of calculus, but the placement exam is only for those who had poor or no calculus in HS, to see which pre-calc is appropriate or if calc 1 is fine.
Honestly, if yāall have such superstar sophomores, it would behoove you to look into colleges now and see about possibility of college credit and/or placement exams. To be honest, my sonās college credit from AP exams is chiefly so he can take a co-op for a semester and a summer, and still graduate on time. That should be a consideration especially for prospective STEM majors.
Harvardās math placement exam policy:
http://placement-info.fas.harvard.edu/examinations
"Mathematics
The mathematics exam has three parts. Part I tests number sense, fractions, algebra, elementary functions, and functions and graphing. Part II tests differential calculus and elementary integration (this material corresponds roughly to the Advanced Placement AB curriculum). Part III tests integration, series, and differential equations (material corresponding to our second-semester single variable calculus course). Please note that you must complete the three parts in one sitting. The score on the math placement exam is a reliable assessment of studentsā quantitative skills and is helpful for placement not only in math, but also in other disciplines.
"
Seems to me that MV calc is not on their math placement exam.
Harvard in particular is cranky about having to take upper level classes if you place out of lower level classes, unless the student gets a full year of advanced placement approved. Penn also required taking upper level courses if a student placed out of lower level courses. Other colleges may do what my older sonās college does, and my college does, just let them skip the course and count it towards graduation without requiring an upper level replacement.
My S18 will take possibly two AP classes, and it will have to be outside of his HS because his disability makes it difficult for him to comply with more esoteric requirements that his HS promulgates (group projects, how neat his notebook is, etc.). If I could afford it, heād be in a private school.
Welcome to the new parents!
I have been silent for some time but thought I would chime in once again. DS is looking at precollege programs in the arts and is interested in Lesley University Young Artist in Residency and MECA. For those who are pursuing an arts track I recommend the Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan University. DS attended last summer after freshman year and loved it. This may have been discussed before but anyone else considering precollege programs?
The school sent out an email today with the details of the PSAT10 they are charging $25 if paying in cash more if you pay by credit card. I know that the school sets the price for these test and our are always high. They are encouraging all 10th graders to take it but not requiring it. They are giving it on Tues 2/23 during the school day. I think Iām going to go ahead and have ds take it if for nothing else than to compare it to the PSAT he took in Oct. Heās taking the SAT on March 5th. So once we have scores from the Oct. PSAT, the PSAT10 and the new SAT we should have a very good idea of where he stands.
D18 is on the fence about summer programs. She has received some mail from Standford, U of Chicago both of which are VERY cost prohibitive. I canāt see shelling out 10 - 12K for a summer program. She just received something from Syracuse which I havenāt looked at yet. Iād like her to do something because she really has not clue what she would like to pursue and any investigation into potential careers would be a win in my book!
@labegg thanks for the tip on music therapy - a friend of mine just mentioned it to me recently, as a field to consider. I donāt really know anything about it, but will mention it to my D and she can explore it as an option. Sheās very self-motivated to look into future options, which is a nice change from S16 who waits for me to hand him all the information he needs :).
Thanks for the welcome messages - looking forward to being a part of this group thread!
Agreed that kids who are highly advanced in math should consider schools carefully if they plan to pursue math further in college.
MIT offers placement exams for not only calculus but diff eq and linear algebra. Cal Tech does not specify how advanced their placement exams are but I imagine it would be at least on par with MIT. Princeton, with a renowned math program, acknowledges that some students will have advanced backgrounds, including experience in international competitions and Olympiads. For those students, they suggest bypassing multi and linear algebra.
PSAT scores were released this morning. I was very happy to see my D18 had a huge improvement in her writing score over last yearās test, but Iām really not clear on how the scoring scale changed and its impact on her score. I do know, though, that she improved from the 68th% in reading and 84th in writing (among 10th graders) to the 90th% this year.
Someone in an earlier thread mention the PSAT10. Can someone who is knowledgeable explain the difference between the PSAT taken in October and the new test? Is there a reason to take both?
Just looked at my S18ās PSAT score as well. Trying to compare it to my older daughterās soph PSAT score is difficult with the new test, even more so since we donāt know what the NMSF cut offs will be with the new test. There is speculation they will be 10-12 points lower, just based on the way the test is scored now. If so, my sonās 193 SI is not too bad as it may be commended in our state and is within reach of NMSF if he can improve a bit. We will see.
Wellā¦at least I donāt have to be worrying about the SIā¦ I knew it was going to be bad, D18 said she didnāt do well on the math section and she was right. Not exactly sure how a kid with a 93 in Algebra II answers half of the questions incorrectly. Hopefully these scores will light a fire. :-S
My D15 and S18 score fairly similarly on standardized tests. S18, however, has surpassed D15ās 11th grade PSAT by seven points. Iām thinking the new SAT might be better for S18, though he has not tried a practice ACT yet.
My D18 has also surpassed her sibiling D18 on her PSATs although I canāt seem to figure out the exact point differential. They are almost identical in GPA, Class Rank etc. I would have been REALLY worried if I had seen D18ās PSAT score without the reference I have from D16 experience. I had been lurking on CC for some time before D16 took her PSAT and after we got the scores I nearly cried, convinced that she would never get into college and she would be living at home forever. She has gotten in to 10 really good schools so far!
D18 still need to hit the study guides!
I just discovered that the PSAT is out of 1520 not 1600. I think that means that the index numbers canāt be compared. I saw a preliminary concordance table that showed that my S18ās 10th grade score was actually identical to D15ās 11th grade score.
I think itās very hard to compare this yearās PSAT scores to ones taken previously by siblings. I think the best way to get close is to do what was suggested in another thread:
- Look up the college board's concordance table for old and new PSAT. https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/.../psat-nmsqt...
- Find each of your 3 subscores and determine what the old equivalent was.
- Add up the old equivalent to get an idea where your score would fall on the old scale.