So I guess we are adding 2 more choir groups to his EC’s. He auditioned and got into both.
Running tally is now band, 3 choirs, musical, track, football.
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S23’s grades for the year: 5 As or A- and a B+. I’m pleased, he did great, all things considered.
He got his first job today, too! He’ll be doing work for the local theater, which is mostly music and stages things like those tribute band concerts that always seem to be coming to town, and also actual name bands from, like, 40 years ago, etc. Theater holds 1,700 and there’s a bar, but clearly he can’t bartend, but he can work concessions, run crew, etc.
And he takes his driving test tomorrow.
Big week at Chez Gators!
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Transcripts were released today…Thing 1 moved up 7 places and is now 65 of 1098 and Thing 2 moved up 15 spots and is now 75 of 1098! They are 5.9%/6.9%…I am so proud of how well these two did despite this crazy Covid school year!
We tried to register for the July ACT today but there is no availability near us…I guess we’ll wait for August registration to open up.
Summer is going well so far…they are both in SAT Prep classes 3 days a week. Thing 1 has his Engineering Camp starting June 14.
Other than that I’m busy with dorm shopping for S21 and getting all his affairs in order, he’ll be moving to Lubbock/Texas Tech the week of Aug 11th.
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S23 is taking the SAT tomorrow. I did get him to take 2 practice exams and tried to simulate the experience with the 2nd one 2 Saturdays ago. Hopefully he’ll do okay because I’m not sure if I can get him to take it again without some serious bribing.
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2plustri0 - i love to hear this! my bro was a huge lineman in HS (and college) but he also sang and was in musicals. People thought it was funny - but it was also pretty sweet! good for your son.
and @Momof3B - what type of SAT prep? online? in person? thanks . .
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S23 also finished well - he could have done better but I am happy with the finish - 5 As and 2 Bs. The Bs were in PreCalculus and Chemistry - as mentioned before, this semester was a tough one for all of us.
He is taking the ACT next Saturday (6/12) but is not preparing for it at all - I had asked him to do Khan Academy at least 30 min to 1 hour daily but to my knowledge, I don’t even think he’s even opened Khan Academy yet. After seeing his lack of motivation to prepare for the ACT, I am hesitant to pay for a tutor for SAT/ACT prep…kwim? He also starts dual credit English 3 on Monday - should be interesting to see how he makes time for that. He’s also working lifeguard (started last weekend).
I am still concerned about him taking 4 AP classes next year (in addition to Advanced Robotics, Advanced Engineering & Dual Credit US History). We shall see!
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If you’re simulating test conditions at home, then he should be fine on the actual test. My S took two timed practice tests and the school-administered PSAT prior to testing and his actual score was very close to his practice scores. He also didn’t want to test again so it’s nice to have that piece of the puzzle over and done with. Good luck to your son!
In person…we enrolled them at a local prep center that is popular in our area.
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(Apologies in advance for what’s going to sound like a lot of humblebragging by proxy.)
My D23 finished very well—all As, and she now has a cumulative 4.0UW/4.08W, and is tied for 15/452 in her class. (The weighting of grades in our school district is very stingy compared to a lot of the grading schemes I regularly see here on CC.)
As I’ve mentioned before, in the fall she transfers to the all-DE high school (and, speaking of stingy weighting, DE courses are not weighted by the district). She’s starting to be a bit more confident about it—the 4.0 this past semester helped—but at the same time she’s half convinced she’s going to crash and burn hard. Part of me suspects that this is because she’s been in so many courses with hyperachievers for so long, and so the reactions she’s going to get at the college tours this summer when she says she’s a rising junior with a 4.0GPA/32ACT will be helpful in that regard.
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@bgbg4us Yeah, add in that he plays OLB and the flute, people always seem to be shocked.
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I enjoy reading all of the updates. It’s been awhile since I’ve done one so I’ll just do a quick summary. Despite the challenges, S had a good year and finished with all As. This summer he’s swimming, taking tennis lessons, finalizing research with his mentor, and working on getting the required driving hours to get his license. There is an engineering camp as well as an art camp in the mix too. He has some college interests (engineering and liberal arts) and preferences (no southern colleges). Now that he has an SAT score, we’re formulating a list and planning college visits for fall/next spring. Some of his/my choices overlap with D19’s grad school targets so college visits will likely be a family affair. Now that the school year is over, we’re all looking forward to a more normal summer. Hope you all have a fun and safe summer too.
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Wow this group seems to be finishing strong! Ours did too, despite 3 APs still kept the high A avg and waiting to see if she is still ranked 1 or possibly has moved to 2 now. She got a regular unweighted requirement done early so rank might have dropped, which is fine. Hoping for 5/5/4 on the APs(one was very difficult , 5 is not likely).
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Admitting we may end the year with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or 3.4 here. Some may view that as a failure but not in this house.
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Nowhere near a failure and you have every right to be proud! 
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say, DFBDFB, i just wanted to add that humble brags are great and accepted here! Go for it. it’s hard to share sometimes good news and humble brags in real life, with parent friends of your kids. That’s why i like this forum so much - sharing, appreciating, accepting, encouraging and not competing. 
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Nice to hear all the year-end updates. We still have a week and a half of school left but attention is shifting to the summer. Don’t have final grades yet but looks like D23 will have nothing less than a B and likely mostly As. It’s been a rough, up and down year for her so happy with that outcome. She even got a strong A on the DE pre-calc final.
Had her first SAT tutor session last week and Monday is first college tour (not counting when she went along on a few tours for S21). We’re going to see U of Mary Washington since it’s pretty close to home and one of the smaller VA schools. May be a good academic and financial safety for her.
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After this past year? Whether a kid got a 5.0 after weighting or managed to pull off a 2.0, simply getting through counts as a victory for our kids’ sophomore years, I say!
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I need to find a local tutor for test prep.
I have no idea how to do this.
Both my kids go/went to HS out of the area. The only local people we know didn’t have kids that were overachievers, or went to anything but the local college.
I know my kid won’t do self-directed prep; he tells me this, and I know him. If he doesn’t have a deadline and a scheduled appointment, he won’t do it.
(Yet he can make his “scrim” for his Overwatch league team every night - go figure).
Has anyone faced this problem? There are lots of websites with, like, “find a tutor” - but they seem to be akin to the “find a babysitter” sites that I looked at briefly 18 years ago and decided were worthless in terms of reliability and quality.
There’s Princeton Review, which “guarantees” either a 31 or a 34 ACT, depending on how much you pay (close to $5k for the 34!!!), and I think that’s one-on-one, but might only be virtual, which seems like a lot of money for what you get.
And that’s when I threw up my hands and decided to ask here.
If worst comes to worst, his school college counselor offers local recommendations. While he goes to boarding school, it’s only 90 minutes away, and we are inured to long-distance driving for everything at this point. Maybe we just schlep him back and forth to a tutor near his school. Sigh.
Not in my house either. My son will probably end up with a 3.3 as well. Damn you chemistry and geometry! He’s not a math person and neither am I. My son started a part-time job last week at a country club so this summer he will learn all about personal finance. New terms like FICA will enter his vocabulary. I might also have him take an online self-paced personal finance course. It’s something I wish I learned when I was in high school. He’s supposed to take his learner’s permit test soon but I cannot find his social security card so I may need to order a duplicate. We are both really looking forward to a break! I am a teacher and this year has been the longest school year ever!
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Not a failure at all! Mine barely kept his at a 3.5. That’s kind of a new magic number for us. He just hates easy academic classes and does miserably when he thinks he knows it all. I am making him wait on his drivers license because he fell far below my minimum grade standards. Pretty sure my family thinks I’m being unfair on that one. Oh well. He did get some African American college board thing asked on his psat which I think might be a big deal. I can’t really figure out what it means. He is getting ready for back to back college prep camps. One is prestigious. Again, can’t figure out if the other one is.
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