Congrats @RichInPitt @vistajay & @Luanne for the great PSAT scores!! 
Your kids have the NMSF status already in the bag!!
My DS22 got a couple points over last yearās SI cutoff so we are hopeful that he can make the list.
He is continuing with virtual school (likely to remain that way for the rest of the school year), math competitions (virtual), martial arts classes (virtual), and tutoring friends on math (virtual).
No virtual college tours yet, hope we can do in-person tours next summer.
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@Beyou2022 - good luck to him!
Iām with you on hoping for in-person tours in the summer!
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Iām hoping for tours as well. Our S was able to tour maybe 10 colleges several years ago. Our D, however, has not been able to officially tour any. She has attended multi-week summer camps at Georgetown and Stanford so she has experienced two very different campuses and dorm life. Still, Iād like to have the opportunity to tour several other colleges.
DDās extracurriculars are 2 varsity sports, Youth Legislature, and work. Soccer has been off and on, and we travelled out of state to get in an indoor track meet. She is also an ambitious little entrepreneur, so has stayed busy making and selling her products at markets and to local businesses.
Hoping to apply to a summer program or two, but she desperately does not want the program to be online.
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S22ās main extracurricular is basketball ā tryouts are this week, not that we know whether there will really be a competitive interscholastic schedule. Heās improved a lot in tennis just in the past few months and might go out for that team in the spring.
He tried somewhat halfheartedly to get a job last summer but didnāt manage to; perhaps better luck this summer.
Heās been talking about starting a homelessness charity ā itās something he takes seriously, but I fear his idea is a little too broad at this point. Weāll see.
His on-again-off-again interest in architecture may be on again, and he might look into summer programs in the field. At the very least, if heās really intent on it, Iād like him to talk with the several senior architects weāre friends with.
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S22ās Dec 5 SAT scores were supposed to be released today but are āpending.ā 
May take another week. Hopefully he gets them soon. Anyone elseās kiddo take the Dec 5 SAT, and did you get scores back? Hoping not a problem with S22ās testing site.
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No scores here yet either.
@vistajay, my guyās scores just came in. Hope you might have yours, too. Weāre super pleased and he is done, which is just a lovely place to be. Hoping you have good news, too!
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My kid got the results of the Spanish Subject Test. She took it just to get it out of the way for the State Seal of Biliteracy. She had not done any specific prepping but she got a really good score, so we are happy! Not planning to attempt the SAT proper until spring.
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CB says scores will be released between 8a and 8p. Itās only 7:30p now, so no scores 7 and 10 hours ago isnāt so surprising.
If anyone happens to be checking in from the Middle East, scores there appear to be on hold for a cheating investigation. Egypt was cancelled in September for the first year and another country, Jordan?, was cancelled days before the December test. Since I believe international is all the same test, this isnāt too surprising. Itās not like leaked exams stop at a border.
Thatās really interesting. I have never heard of that in our state. What is the score required for biliteracy?
Hi all,
Weāre starting to look at schedules for next year. S22 has put his foot down and refuses to take a fourth year of Spanish, and science, math, and history are not required next year for him.
We know heās going to take AP Lit and AP Stats, but I told him he needs to take a science and a history class. Heās suggesting AP Comp Sci, but I donāt think that would be counted as a science class, it would be viewed as more math. Any thoughts?
Iām a little concerned about no foreign language next year, but the schools weāre looking at donāt require it, and I donāt think heād be successful if he is so set against it.
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Not required for graduation is different than what colleges want to see in their applicants. Students should be taking four years of their core courses.
And I agree with you that CS is not typically considered a science course. It was in the math department at my Dās school.
Believe I know that he SHOULD take Spanish, but he hasnāt put his foot down about anything else, so he obviously feels very strongly about this. Iām just trying to replace it with something else that will be attractive to schools.
I lost the fight on Spanish also. Our school does Spanish 1 split in grades 7 and 8. So they take Spanish 2 as Freshman, and Spanish 3 as Sophomores. DD took Spanish Civ and Culture this year which is taught in Spanish and a world language class but not sure what the perception will be for this either. Her teacher has tried talking her into Spanish 4 but apparently itās super hard and sheās a hard no.
As for the core content, I would insist on it. Are there honors options that may be more desirable to him? I donāt think it has to be AP or bust.
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I was reacting more to history and science not being required for graduation.
Has he had a year of bio, chem, and physics? If not, one of them should be taken as a senior. If heās done with all three and isnāt going to be a stem major, maybe ok to stop depending on the caliber of schools heās going to have in his list.
Has he taken government yet?
Agreed that they donāt need to be AP level courses.
My older opted out of senior year of Spanish (it would have been Spanish 5, though) and did AP CS instead. My DS21 is doing physics online outside of school so he can take an extra history or language elective that is of more interest.
I think the preferred is 4 years of 5 solid academic classes, but an alternative can work if it makes sense for a particular kid and doesnāt look like slacking. What would his proposed schedule be?
His school does honors science before youāre eligible to take AP, so heās had honors physics, chem, and bio, and AP Physics so far. I think heāll need to take AP Bio or AP Env Sci next year. No more honors available for any of his classes, its AP or reg.
Right now, all we know is AP Lit, AP Stats, and he has to do his fine arts elective (probably video production). The rest is up in the air. I think AP Macroeconomics is probable because itās a teacher he loves, and he was suggesting AP Comp Sci. But, I donāt want to overload him with APs either, so weāre struggling here.
How many periods does he have to fill? Block schedule or ānormalā?
What has he taken for History courses?
Does he know anyone who has already taken these courses? At my Dās school AP bio and lit were both difficult and required a lot of work. Stats, env sci, and CS much less so, but course load/difficulty can really vary teacher to teacher (as well as student to student depending on strengths).
Heās done honors world history and honors us history 1, heās now taking APUSH (two years of US history are required in NJ).
We have to fill 7 classes. PE is one, fine arts is one, 5 main classes to fill. Maybe he could do reg science classes, and fill the other 4 with AP?