Yes, @collegeandi , it is not ideal.
The good part it APWH is first and that one is harder. AP Stats is 2nd and overall considered easier, plus she is a mathy kind of person and finding the class pretty easy so far. I’m just kind of glad the order isn’t reversed. So far she isn’t worried but she is going to be an anxious mess the week or so before the exams.
@mom2twogirls yes, we are in the same boat with the compressed AP schedule (and also had BTS night last night). They have to move really quickly to cram it all in. AP tests are a solid 5-7 weeks before school ends in some cases, depending on the test date! My senior will have 2 the first week and one the week following so will be done with AP a solid 5 weeks before school gets out for him. The sophomore gets an extra week to study but then still has 6 weeks of school left.
Both of my kids, the senior in particular, would have be greatly aided by having some of those 5 weeks available to study prior to the test.
A total aside but S19’s Honors English 10 teacher is CRAZY!
Holy cats. I’d heard she was odd but wow. Unless you are a conceptual big picture theory kind of thinker you are going to get lost really quickly. The adults in the room couldn’t quite get where she was going or the points she was trying to make. Very out there. Lucky for S his brain works that way although he is so literal and linear that his out of the box conceptual stuff is generally framed up in ways the lay person can grasp…hers, not so much (and she apparently thinks he is amazing, it was odd/bizarre/nice/flattering but WIERD) but…wow. Most kids brains do not work that way. Very glad S17 didn’t have her!
My d19’s English 10H teacher is also very different from teachers she has had in the past. But in an interesting and cool way, thank goodness! Hopefully your S continues to do well with his teacher.
@mom2twogirls - Ugh. I hadn’t looked at the AP schedule yet but DS19 is in APWH & AP Stats too. So he will be in the same boat as your DD. He also is a math kid so having the APWH test first is probably better although it would have been nice if they had been on different days.
Kind of surprising they’d schedule it that way—you’d think world history/stats would be a not-uncommon combination of tests to be taking the same year.
The APWH teacher said it has happened before with AP Chem. I didn’t tell him which other AP she was taking, so he didn’t mention if it has before been paired with stats. I was just trying to figure out if she would have time to eat between exams, he said she would.
@mom2twogirls Never thought about the school start date aspect. Easy to forget that it’s a nationwide test when you’re only thinking about your own kids. While some school districts wait until Labor Day to start, it seems that most start a week or two before. And, for some unknown reason, almost all Phoenix area schools start a month before Labor Day.
Speaking of school start dates: When we lived in Florida, school districts started pushing their start dates earlier and earlier in August to gain an advantage in state high-stakes standardized testing. One year Seminole County (and I think a couple others) started school on 31 July, which started enough of a parental revolt that the legislature stepped in and wrote a “no earlier than” limit into state law.
These AP test dates and the school start dates need to be addressed. Many students don’t get enough time to cover the syllabus with the required rigor due to time crunch due to late school start date if the teachers don’t give summer work like ours. It affects students taking heavy APs more. Our AP Chem teacher has just finished 4th chapter out of 21 chapters. I don’t know how they are going to get through the May 1st exam date with all the holidays coming up…
It’s frustrating. My kids are so slammed in their AP classes as a result it’s ugly. We don’t start till after labor day. It won’t be addressed, our kids are simply at a disadvantage on the tests, no other way to state it.
Our kids start at the beginning of August. They usually are slammed with a bunch of summer work too. There really isn’t any way to get all the information in for these tests regardless of when the test date is. I have complained that our kids should start later so that they can have more summer. But the powers that be don’t listen. I would gladly give up those extra weeks of schooling before the test.
SAT/ACT test question here. When are your kids taking it? Both my girls took it for the first time in the fall of junior year. But with marching band, fall is a really, really busy time for us so I was kind of thinking about having S19 do at least one of them this spring.
^D19 wants to take ACT in the fall of junior year and SAT in the spring as of now.
ETA: SAT in the spring of Jr year.
Right now my thinking is to do the new August SAT and then the September ACT after probably a summer prep class for one or both. Although S will have some August activity with marching band and XC, it’s not crazy heavy and does get a ton worse when school starts. I found the December ACT to be a difficult time to prep for with S17 so would lean towards the Feb test as the next best option for a first or repeat sitting (personally). For SAT we’d probably look at March for 2nd sitting if needed, assuming he took it in August.
It will depend on a couple of things. We will see how the PSAT goes as that will be an indicator. He will take a diagnostic test on both to see which he is stronger at. Once we have those 2 data points we will see if it makes sense to do both or focus on just one.
He will likely take the Math SAT II this spring, I need to look into it but that one makes sense. No clue on others as none of the other kids have taken SAT II’s… and S19 may not need them but it would be the time to do it and better to cover the bases to be safe.
D17 took both the ACT and SAT spring of her sophomore year (and did better than expected, so testing was—huzzah!—done at that point aside from the state-mandated sitting of the ACT her junior year). D19 might first take them summer after this (sophomore) year, but fall of junior year is more likely.
Why the Math SAT II this spring? I’m trying not to overthink this but my D15 is having such a fantastic experience at UVA that I want to keep him competitive if possible. He tests pretty well but is highly resistant to test prep so he probably won’t do much if any.
DS19 will be taking it ACT/SAT May/June of this year. He will also take the Chem & Eng SAT II this spring. The reason is that Georgia Tech gives credit for those subject SAT II scores that are high enough and he may not end up taking AP Chem or English. So if there are any schools you are sure your kid is going to apply to check and see if they give credit for SAT subject tests.
Taking SAT in August of junior year. S19 has already taken timed tests with Princeton Review of both ACT and SAT and he’s chosen to focus on the SAT. He will study over the summer with books and Kahn and see how he does on practice tests leading up to August. If he needs a boost, we will hire tutor to just focus on his specific needs. After that, I’m not sure. I would assume he will want to take it at least once more. Our school gives the SAT to the juniors in the spring (maybe March?). We just figure that he has everything he needs now to do well on the test (finished Algrebra II/Trig H freshman year). He just needs to work on how to take the test a bit more.
So many kids here wait until spring of junior year. I just think that sounds risky. Plus, S19 will have four APs, five finals, and maybe an SATII to take in the spring of junior year.
SAT II for math as it would be following precalc and I’ve been told that’s the best timing while the math is fresh. SAT II for Chem might be a possibility, we considered it after honors bio but did not and will likely not do that one. He is loving honors chem though and I can see him wanting to try that one.
My concern with a sophomore a ACT or SAT is for any schools that require all test scores. We won’t be doing any prep this spring for sure I’d rather do the prep over the summer but again will have a better idea once he does the diagnostic test and that won’t probably be till February at the absolute earliest.
I’m planning to do the same as well. I hope this would give an indication of which one to focus on, but S17 was smack in the middle, his PSAT and ACT scores were equivalent, so S19 might be the same way.
Rather than having him take the real tests several times, I am planning to have him take practice tests in real setting (3+ hours at a sitting) at a test prep company or in the library with me as a proctor (save $).
If his practice scores are not good, I will delay his first test to winter.
It was soooo nice to have all the tests done by June before senior year with S17.
I hope to do the same with S19. That means his last ACT will be either April or June 2018. His last SAT will be March 2018 as he may want to do more SAT Subject tests in May/June.
The best time to take SAT Subject Math II test is right after Precalculus so S19 will take it after this school year, this June. If he bombs it, he can do another go in next fall, November. S19 is taking AP Chemistry (the test is on May 1st) so he will take SAT Subject Chemistry this May 6th (with another go in June 3rd if May scores are not good.) These two should meet the engineering college requirements if he does well.