@BmacNJ – woot woot! Is that the first acceptance on our Class of 21 board! Love it!!
@NJWrestlingmom – glad her Syracuse interview went well!
My S is doing a mock interview tomorrow (she’s a friend of mine but he doesn’t know her) and has two interviews the next two weeks – one with Case Western and one with WPI. I think both are with AOs. The only other college on his list that offers interviews is Rice (huge reach) but it wouldn’t be until early 2021.
Congrats @BmacNJ ! I’m hoping D has one in the next week or two!
OY - the governor today tweeted that colleges and universities CAN open for face to face instruction if they can maintain social distancing. Of course, S17’s school (and most others) pulled the plug on face to face a week or two ago! Bills finally came out Monday and bunch of people canceled housing to do classes remotely! What a mess this year is!!!
It’s the best! I’m so thankful our school district does the 4x4 accelerated block scheduling and I recently found out that we’re the only school district in North Texas, and 1 of only 3 in the entire State that does it this way.
We’re also on a block schedule but with all classes full year – there’s one anchor class every day that’s about 45 min and then three classes on “A” day for 90 min each and three classes on “B” day for 90 min. (although S21 is taking a free period for one of those, don’t know yet where that will fall - it’s normally a first or last period). Been told that in virtual school, about half of each class period will be live with the teacher.
Normally I’d prefer not do to the half in 1st semester/half in 2nd but it does seem like it would be better to have less to juggle in the current environment.
@BmacNJ Congratulations! That must feel great to have one admit in!
@Momof3B My nephews in CA go to a HS with a 4x4 schedule. They don’t like it because it’s made it hard to maintain a good band program since kids can only be in band for one semester. And, it’s been a problem to have a big break between math and foreign language classes. On the plus side it seems like it would be nice to focus on fewer classes at once! Has your school found a way to mitigate the challenges?
How would they prepare for the AP tests, which are in the Spring term?
@anaray – Yes, this is an issue that comes up. Apparently they will do some refresher ‘camps’ led by teachers in the few weeks leading up to the AP exams. Also, they usually recommend students get the AP prep books to help.
In my S’s case, b/c he’ll only have 3 classes in the Spring (seniors usually get a free period) he should have plenty of time to prepare.
The potential lack of continuity with math and foreign language issues is more of a downside with block schedules, IMHO. I guess there’s always tradeoffs.
@Muad_dib UC Davis where we live is one of the few universities that has vet program. It’s a great school and in a solid area. Very college town vibe. Close to Sacramento and 90 min from San Francisco.
We have band full year even on the 4x4 block schedule…fall semester is marching season, spring semester is concert season. Marching Band is a huge deal here in Texas lol, they wouldn’t let anything mess with that! Some AP classes (Bio, Chem, Physics) span both semesters also…Since each semester is made up of two 9 week grading periods, the second 9 weeks is spent on AP test prep for those science classes. As far as foreign languages go, when doing schedule planning, they make sure you take the languages back to back so that there isn’t a break. Like with my twins, one decided to start Latin 1 this past Spring through our virtual learning academy, then he took Latin 2 over the summer also through Virtual learning. Twin 2 will have Spanish 1 this Fall and then Spanish 2 in the Spring.
It is so nice to only have to deal with 4 classes a term, and our final exams are in december, so kids come back after winter break recharged and ready to start 4 new classes.
I’m so fascinated by the block scheduling. We have always been 6 classes per semester. With distant learning, we’ve gone to 3x4–three classes each quarter.
I’m so confused because my son has Q1: AP Calc BC, Reg English, Government
Q2: AP MicroEcon, AP Stat, principles of engr
Q3: AP Calc BC, World Geo (district req), English
Q4 (3/12-5/27) AP Stat, AP MacroEcon, Principles of Engr
If AP Exams are usually early May, they don’t have much time MacroEcon and then a whole quarter without AP Calc.
Anyone have experience with this and seen impact on AP exams? I figured it’s been done before COVID so it’s likely legit for AP prep? I do think it’s better to focus on 3 classes with distant learning vs all 6 classes each day.
Meh.
Like most things in life, It is a mixed bag. The biggest negatives are:
AP is a real challenge. For fall classes, you are almost 5 months removed from the class. For spring class, you may have a few weeks of material left to cover. That’s 6 weeks worth in a class on a normal schedule. We end up with few kids even bothering to take the tests, and of those that do a 5 is pretty rare.
Every day missed is essentially missing 2 days worth of material. If you are out sick for a week, it is very difficult to get caught up. Even missing a day or 2 for activities can be a challenge, and taking a few days to do college tours is a major pain to catch up from.
Continuity in math and foreign language especially is an issue. If you have Spanish 3 in fall of your soph year, then don’t speak a lick of it until spring of your junior year, that’s over a year off. Same issue with math. Those subjects in particular are rough getting back into after just over a year off.
If you have an activity that relies on taking a class (art, music, band, orchestra, or in my daughter’s case FFA which requires an agriculture class) that can eat up a substantial part of your schedule. I think it’s particularly rough on the band kids in our school, it’s tough to take a “most rigorous” schedule and still stay in the good graces of the band teacher. There are several interesting classes D wanted to dabble in that just weren’t realistic with her AP and ag classes.
Attention span of teens, especially freshmen who aren’t used to the schedule, can limit how productive that second half of class really is. Heck, I’m 48 and I still can’t concentrate on something for 80 minutes without taking a break.
Positives:
There are many, one frequently overlooked one is that I think it makes the transition to college easier. They are used to covering a year’s worth of material in a semester. That’s an adjustment they don’t have to make.
D21 has an alternating day block schedule - four 90 minute classes one day and then the other four the next day. I have no idea what’s planned for our online schedule at least until mid October. She had her orientation yesterday and I didn’t hear much other than they were planning a “music composition” class so they must have found someone to teach music. No word on orchestra. She has book and laptop pickup today so I guess I’ll hear later.
I have no idea about further application movements. She has a school webinar at 2 going over the Apply Texas app. Hopefully that gets her moving. My only comment to her yesterday was “you don’t have as much time as you think you have left”. I think UMDCP is off the list for good though. It’s the only Coalition app school on her list and another whole app is just too much. I’m willing to bet UCLA will be off too because she will be burned out by the time that app opens.
@mm56 Any block schedules that I know of around here are modified like yours. I like that version. Still have seven or eight classes each semester but meet every other day.
Maybe the UM and UCLA apps aren’t that much different than the ones she completes first and she can use a lot of the same info? I know it’s still more data entry but maybe not as much work as you think? D has been able to use one of her essays for three schools but just had to fuss with the word count each time. She needed a 650 word count, a 250 word count, and a 150 word count for a pretty similar question.
Maryland announced they are now on the common app the other day!
Continues to look like D will go to school next week. Her school had more freshmen orientation in person yesterday. Pics posted on Twitter and I ran by and saw groups of kids outside. She got her group assignment - group A. So her first day of school in person is one week from today. I have very low expectations but, even if they can get just a few weeks in, I think it will be good for all of the kids’ psyches.
@homerdog our guidance counselor (private school) has been in touch with many elite and selective schools. The students were told this week that AOs of schools that have gone temporarily test optional for this cycle will NOT hold it against an applicant if they do not submit a score. Although this is what test optional should mean our GC was happy to report that this has been emphatically stated by the AOs that if you have a score they will use it as part of your holistic review but if you don’t they will not adversely ding your application. So, if kids want to traipse all over the country for a score because either they think it will be a good addition to their application or they are looking for merit money etc that needs a score or they are an athlete who is hoping to play in college and the NCAA still require a score then fine but for those who are only doing it because they are worried about how it looks if they don’t I would say “give up” and let the student focus on their essays.
If kids have a score and want to submit it they should be able to. As long as an application is reviewed on what it contains and not what it does not then all kids will get a fair shake.
@havenoidea I would likely not try and chase the score. Sometimes this is a red flag to colleges when kids with perfectly acceptably good scores chase for an extra point. However, to answer your question about the disconnect between the Math score vs his Linear Algebra and Math Sat, the standardized tests in Math only test regular math concepts through the end of 10th grade. Sometimes when the kid is more advanced in math they perhaps just don’t recall math stuff from freshman year or before since it was so long ago. They also ask questions in a weird way so often it is more about the reading and figuring out what they want you to answer rather than the complexity of the actual math. I think when you see a 34 in Math, no one is going to ask why it is not a 35 or 36, the difference is just missing a couple of questions.
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My only comment to her yesterday was “you don’t have as much time as you think you have left”.
Exactly! Why don’t they believe us? ?