I only wish I had this problem. My S is not “allowed” to take PSAT in 10th grade. Gee, do you think that might have anything to do with why 1 kid in the past 5 years has made NMF from your school? So annoying. (Tons of kids with killer ACTs and great options for college, but PSAT is so NOT a priority here.)
@Booajo I pulled my 10th grader out of school for the morning of the PSAT and had him test with his homeschooled brother because of this non-sense! Is you school offering the PSAT10 in the spring? Fat lot of good it does my DS18 as he is taking the new real SAT the week after …
Because the CB screwed up AGAIN neither DS18 or DS20’s scores are available
I’m just focusing on percentiles at this point because I can’t get a good handle on how to compare new and old tests. Percentiles are ok (90th for 10th graders) but could obviously use some improvement. Not even thinking about NMSF as our state is ridiculous. Cutoff for class of 2016 was 222, same as it was my last go-round with DS14. I’m expecting it to be around the same for class of 2018.
Welcome new members!
We looked at D’s PSAT scores today as well. She was pretty unhappy with them, but I pointed out that she did make small improvements in her percentiles in each section, but her overall percentile fell. Not surprisingly her math score was the weak link. She does well in math, but has never tested well in it. She was mad because the testing environment was pretty bad this year. At her school all sophomores take the PSAT for free. And they all do so in the same room, the gym, a large echo chamber filled with less than motivated students and a small fraction of motivated students. Needless to say, for many the object of the day was to see what noises you could get away with making… quite a few it turned out. 
Anyway, I do think the score was something she can work with to take a stab at the SAT this spring, if she studies. (That’s a big IF, and all up to her)
We’ve also been looking at summer programs, both to get her some exposure to career ideas (she is pretty lost there) and to experiment with being away from home (she has some anxiety in this area and agrees this is a good place to start). The idea was controversial with her over break to a certain extent, and I’ve now left the rest of the “work” in her hands for this month. She knows about several programs, how to use google to find more, how to ask me for help, etc… I’ve set a meeting date with her at the end of the month to review her progress (so she can’t just push it under the rug completely without having to face me first :-w )
No PSAT10 here. Will probably do SAT or ACT this spring.
Hi! New to this thread. My D is class of 2018. We live in the Boston area where she has attended an all girl private since 6th grade. Like others we just got her PSAT scores: 98% reading and writing, 66% for math. SI was 184. Would love to have her work on the math a few times a week, but I will not push…yet.
This summer D will probably work at the same bakery she worked at last summer. She could also work at a camp, but the bakery offers more hours and is more fun. She may also go to a couple of basketball camps; she plays year round and loves the game, although she also does XC and LAX. She goes for her driving permit soon and I cannot wait for this girl to start driving herself around!
This is my second time around CC, had a S in the class of 2011 so I am fairly familiar with the road ahead, but am sure I can learn a few new things from the other parents here.
I look forward to “meeting” everyone.
@1822mom - My son has done a couple of summer programs over the past two years. The first year, between 8th and 9th grades, he did the Acadia Institute of Oceanography summer camp in Acadia National Park. It was super fun and he really liked it (we live in WA state, so it was a good trip for him as well, going all the way across the country). At that point, he was sure he wanted to do Marine Science and was deciding between a three week program with Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth or the Acadia Institute one. The AIO one was one week shorter and a bunch cheaper, plus he wasn’t really looking to be in a classroom for half the time, so we went with that one. He learned a lot, had a great time, and would recommend it to others.
The summer between 9th and 10th grades, he did a summer program at Michigan State University called High School Engineering Institute. He also loved that one. They exposed the kids to several different kinds of engineering and had professors come in to give them an intro and then they got to do real lab work in the university labs with the professors. He thought it was great. They made Ethanol, developed nano-thingies (this is not my area!) to track Tuberulosis in Mexico, and lots of other fun labs. One of the highlights was when they had to develop a robot that would do a certain course and be able to “fight” other robots. The robot his group built actually beat the MSU collegiate team’s robot and they were so pumped!
That camp was just one week long and it was great. They reserve the right to give out scholarships at the end if they want to rising seniors and they did give one out to a boy in my son’s group!
This summer, he is spending most of his time as a camp counselor so we’re not sure if he will have time to do the summer programs, but they can be a lot of fun for kids to try something out without worrying about grades or committing to it fully.
I just texted my son to see if he had checked his PSAT scores and he did. In October when he finished the test, he said that the reading section seemed easy, but that there was a math section where he didn’t recognize half the problems. His scores reflected that, with his math score being 70 points below his reading. I want to see his score report so we can see the scores from each section, but he said the report listed him in the 98th percentile, so that’s good!
Wow @RoonilWazlib99 those sound fantastic! I am really impressed your S was willing to travel those distances on his own… unfortunately that distance would not fly in our house. We are pretty much looking at in-state options for our “baby steps” (we are in CA). Fortunately, there are plenty of those, she just has to figure out which ones interest her!
Welcome @mamom !
And I wanted to thank @labegg for the reminder about CC-tinted glasses when viewing these PSAT scores! Sometimes I do forget… and congrats to your D16 on her acceptances!!
Welcome @mamom! I also had an S11 and now have D18. You may be finding, like I have, that their interests and talents are different enough to make it a whole new ballgame.
Just out of curiosity, is your daughter a young sophomore, or does MA not allow kids to get their permits at 15? Just asking, because we go in a couple of weeks for D18’s license. Seems too soon!
Welcome to the new folks.
S’18 got back PSAT scores as well. He did great. Hope that’s a good omen for next year. He has his drivers test in a few weeks. He seems ready enough to pass the test, but I’m not sure I’m ready for him to pass. He’ll be driving under some “home” rules for a while (no friends in the car, no Interstate driving without a parent yet, etc.).
Dropping our older son (S’13) at college this weekend. He would normally go back by himself, but we decided to tag along and go to a basketball game. My first. S’18 is very pumped. Should be great.
My S18 just started driver’s ed, but can’t even apply for his permit for several more months. I’ll be lucky if he has his license before the end of this calendar year.
@1822mom, Thank you!
D18 just finished her last driver’s ed “drive time” tonight. She turns 16 next month but we haven’t been able to schedule testing time with the DMV until April. Her driver’s ed school will do the testing for $50. Not sure if she will decide to wait or pay for the convenience of taking the test at the school. The money comes out of her savings so I am leaving it up to her. I think she needs some more practical driving experience, but what Mom doesn’t right?
Our state allows you to get your permit at 15 if you are signed up for Driver’s Ed. If you aren’t, you can get your permit at 15.5 years I think. Our driving school does the written exam at the end of the six months of classes and then you can take your driving test through them as well. Our son passed his driving test last week so now on his birthday, he logs on to a state website to print out a temporary license and then they send him his official one about a week later. It’s nice that we don’t have to go to the DMV again!
I can’t wait until he can start driving himself to some of his sports activities! He and his dad bought a car last February and he has been fixing it up over the past year so it will be ready to drive safely. Birthday is next month!
DD got her permit over the summer. Minimum license age here is 16 +3 months so she has to wait until the end of April at the earliest. She’s already done the classroom portion of driver’s ed and has been driving with us since the summer, but still needs to do the behind the wheel portion of the class. She probably won’t take that until the summer given her schedule so she won’t get her license until July or so, just like my DS whose birthday is in February.
On the one hand I will be happy when she can drive herself to some of her activities, but on the other I will miss the time in the car with her. She’s my youngest and the only one left at home, and I retired early 4 years ago so it really isn’t an imposition on me to drive her places.
It was the weirdest feeling when D15 drove off down the road for the first time without me. It will be a while before S18 can take his driver’s test. We have to do 65 hrs of supervised driving. I also want to teach him to drive a standard with our other car but we haven’t had much time.
My D has had her license for a few months and it has been liberating! She’s a kid who needs to be around other people, so it’s been nice that she can pop over a friend’s house to study and hang out.
We are looking for summer programs here, but I refuse to pay for the pricey ones so the hunt is on.
D18 gets her license in March. Already picked her up a car, which she’s been driving at every available opportunity.
@suzy100 we’re contemplating summer programs as well. The problem we have, I think, is she’s not quite competitive enough for the super selective ones, and I’m not willing to pay $3000+ for a resume builder that won’t actually help much. There are also no real opportunities for “internships” or the like where we live, but she’d love to get some exposure to different careers or some scientific research-type activities. It’s tough to know where to look.
@suzy100 @jcc - Thought you might be interested in checking this out: There is a FREE (yes, FREE) Materials Science camp at the University of Washington for rising juniors and seniors interested in Materials Science. They have labs and research and everything you would want from an introduction to Materials Science camp and it’s all free! The information on the site is from last year, but according to the organizers, new information will be up by the end of January and applications are open through April. Camp will be held Aug. 8-13, 2016. It is a competitive application process with some particular background knowledge needed to participate, along with transcripts, an essay, and letters of recommendation. If you are in the area or would go to Seattle for a vacation during that time, what a great way to get some exposure to engineering! Here is the website: http://depts.washington.edu/matcamp/index.html