S22 had 3 AP classes this year. He feels he did well on the first 2 tests - English Lang and World History. He has Stats today. He will be very glad to be done!
He has a choice of either pass/fail or a letter grade in each class. I’ve advised a letter grade, as he has all As. But, he keeps bringing up that if he only takes AP classes that are weighted as letter grades, his GPA will be higher. We asked the school about it and whether ranking would reflect some kids opting out of an A just for the higher GPA, but they don’t have an actual answer yet. Anyone else struggling with this? It makes a 0.02 difference in his GPA. Not a lot, but enough to make a difference.
S22 successfully got through the AP World History exam yesterday. No submission issues, thank goodness. His prompt related to “religious tolerance”. Per Twitter, he lucked out with that prompt, it was deemed one of the more welcome ones. Other prompts I saw included: “non-western elites”, “Mongols”, “environmental effects on imperialism”.
That environmental one was particularly hated from what I could tell.
D took a 4 hr long diagnostic test offered by her school to determine whether the SAT or ACT is better (or equal) for her. She was markedly better on the ACT, so we thought she should go that route. Bought official test prep books for self study, but that is all we were planning. Would it make sense to prep for PSAT even if she will probably not take the SAT? It might be a nice distinction to be a National Merit commended scholar or semifinalist, but is the test score important to the admissions process? Thoughts?
@songbirdmama , I think National Merit Finalist helps in admissions with most schools, as they all tout how many NMFs they have in each class even if they do not award any specific NMF scholarship. Plus, it’s nice to have the large NMF scholarship schools like Alabama and the Florida publics in your back pocket in case other plans don’t work out. Also, College Board now accepts the ACT as a confirming score for NM, so she would not have to take the SAT anyway.
@songbirdmama , yes but I think it is a long time frame, something like 2 years. Check College Bd PSAT site to be sure.
@GKUnion , we were in the same boat. He just had to complete the road skills test and then get his permit upgraded to a full license. We were checking with the private companies that do the road skills test and they finally opened last week here in the New Orleans area. Then, we found out he did not have to go to the OMV for his license, and could get it from a nearby private title shop. Much easier!
D22 is signed up to take the June 13 ACT (Rescheduled from April) and has been doing some ACT prep most days in the last few weeks. She likes to be busy and has been working out, reading, various projects etc but still had a lot of time on her hands. So she had the idea of studying for the ACT then PSAT.
I’m thinking it will be cancelled. Even if it’s not, I don’t know how I feel about her taking it. We’ve been staying home and not getting together with anyone because of elderly grandparents we are helping out…
The testing location isn’t our school because it wasn’t offered so I guess I will try to call them to see if they know yet if it will be cancelled.
We’re using Varsity Tutors for SAT prep this summer. S22 has one-on-one sessions with his tutor. We’re targeting the October PSAT, and will probably add an SAT seating as well, either October or November.
Unless they somehow don’t have SAT/PSAT this year. But that’s hard to imagine. It’d be 9 months of missed SATs.
@sfSTEM I just checked Varsity Tutors’ website. There was far too much information that I needed to provide to simply see their pricing. That lack of transparency is a complete turn-off.
@GKUnion, our HS partnered with Ray Dass Scholars for online PSAT training. I looked them up and they charge $2500 on their site, but the program they are doing with our school is only $400.
Are your kids interested in prepping for PSAT and SAT/ACT already, or are you, as parents, leading them at this point? My D is not really thinking about college or the application process at all.
@songbirdmama My S22 is vaguely interested in his PSAT/SAT. But that wouldn’t translate to him to actively seeking it out. Given the dearth of summer activities available this year, I pushed him to do it this summer. Better now than starting in September for the October PSAT.
My kid is not exactly itching to, especially now that the UCs have gone test optional. I am waiting for school to be over to sit down and chat about SAT prep.
We just found our test prep tutor. We’re starting as soon as school ends, she does a 3-4 month program, so he should be ready for a fall test and the PSAT.
Thanks for sharing the news @SilverGrass I just switched my son’s June SAT date to the early Oct. date.
And in response to @songbirdmama I would say we are definitely leading our son. Since he finished pre-calc this year, he agrees it makes sense to study this summer for the fall SAT and PSAT. While he is not at all excited to study for them, he does want to do well. We will see how the practicing goes - hopefully, his older brother can be encouraging and helpful while he’s home from college!