Same. During 9th my D breezed through physics remote with a solid A but H chem in person full on is no picnic. She got a B+ last term and I hope will for the same. Sadly, I think she could have gotten an A but she let herself get behind in work so the test scores were lower. It’s just the return to in person that she found tough plus navigating the social scene. She has AP World History and H English starting in January and will be rid of math and chem.
She is supposed to pick up her Pact score at lunch and I’m playing it cool but inside dying of curiosity.
Hello, experienced parents! First and only go round here. And I have a testing question. My son has taken the PSAT three times. His schools offered the 8/9 in both 8th and 9th grades, and just got results from the 10th grade PSAT.
But he’s never taken an ACT. I just learned there is such a thing as a PreAct, but not only does his school not offer it–I don’t see anyone near us who does.
He’s starting to get burned out. A lot going on this year. I hear that you can essentially add on 100 points from 10th to 11th on the SAT to get a comparative score. Do I have him just take a practice ACT one day at home and see if it’s WAY better? Or do I need to also have him do a full SAT practice test to get a sense of which one we really want to prep for?
And as for why…he did score quite well on the PSAT, but he’s very strong in science and not quite as strong in math. So I’m wondering if the ACT will actually turn out to be a better fit. No way to know unless he takes it!
Most kids take the PSAT twice at most - once in 10th and once in 11th. That’s it. If you want to see if your son prefers the ACT format, he can do a sample test and see how it goes–they are available on-line and there are also some places that will do a proctored practice test. The SAT is similar to the PSAT so I don’t see any benefit in doing another practice for that. If your son is burned out, take a break. You don’t need to start test prep a year in advance to be successful.
I wouldn’t have him do a full SAT since he’s done a PSAT already (the PSAT 8/9 isn’t really on par with the PSAT they take in 10th grade). But he knows the style and the things they ask on the PSAT by now, so SAT will likely be similar. For ACT, you could have him do a PreACT, but I think finding an old ACT and having him try it would be sufficient vs. doing a formal, registered PreACT session. I would only be okay with a practice full SAT and ACT (not a formal registered session) if the student is working with the coach and the coach has a diagnostic process that requires it. The ACT has Science, Math, Reading, and I think English version. My S21 said that he felt the ACT Math was more straightforward vs. SAT, but he’s really strong in the STEM topics.
Thanks. It wasn’t up to us that he took the 8/9 in 8th and 9th grades. The schools just offered it. But I didn’t think it was a bad thing. We don’t want to start prep now. But I’m trying to figure out summer plans, and I do want to work some test prep time in there without making him nuts.
Thank you! So you think we would be able to get a sense from him just taking a practice version of the full ACT and then just having the PSAT under his belt? I think we will start with the ACT. Maybe one day toward the end of winter break. And then either he does awesome at it or it’s ehhhh. They are just long, and I don’t want to have to put him through 2 days of a 3 hour boring test just to tell. But if we really excels at the ACT and it requires less prep in general, that’s better overall. He did well on the PSAT, but he does do very well in science, so I’m wondering if the initial scores would be even stronger.
I would wait until the late spring to take the practice ACT. You dont need to start prep before then even if he is planning an early test and he has time between the end of winter break and the spring to mature in his thinking and to learn more math.
Wow the course load for 9th and 10th seem a lot. Is there a entrance test or something to get into this school? I know some magnet schools and governor schools where they select X number of kids through some tests and transcripts for admitting and they have more more rigor than other public school
No entrance exam to get in to this school. The AZ laws governing charter school enrollment do not permit entrance exams or anything like that. Every charter school in the state handles its enrollment the same way…there IS preferential enrollment priority to, for example, children of employees of the school. Then priority is given to students already attending the school who are re-enrolling for next year. After that, I think it’s siblings of students already attending the school who get priority…stuff like that.
They’re also required to accommodate disabled students, students who have IEPs and all that. All charter schools here are required to do so.
That being said, there’s basically one set of curriculum. And if a student fails classes, that student repeats the grade. If a student, for example, did ok in all of his/her classes except for one, that student would proceed to the next grade, but would repeat the failed class. DD24 has a classmate in this situation…he’s repeating Pre-Calculus this year but not repeating any of the other 9th grade classes.
@RadM Engineering physics at the UW is no joke. They set the curve at 2.7 and you had to do 2x the standard deviation to get an A.
@SueLyon I agree with @helpingthekid73 on waiting til early summer to do any practice test or prep. The kids got way too much going on with school right now. Give them winter break to decompress. I’m going to have D24 take a week break after she’s done with the school year and then she’s going to tackle test prep.
It was the norm at the UW. Talked to some of my Seattle friends and their kids confirmed it’s still true. Weed out classes—Gen Chem series, Organic Chem series, Physics for Engr series, Bio series, Calc series, and the nasty CSE 142 class all of us pre-engrs had to take. Was like this before 1993 and still like this now.
Sometimes maybe you get lucky and it’s set at 2.9. And then there’s my son who goes to Brown and they don’t get grades lower than a C.
oh good to know that they still do it. I had done by BS outside US so and for us our entire GPA was based of the final exams (board exams: common exams across the state) and that was the hard part but there was no curves. I first heard of curves when I did my Masters in the US and luckily there the curve was no were as hard as 2.X.
That’s how Duke was when I went too–mean set at B-/C+(2.3-2.7) for calc, chem, orgo, bio etc…it weeded out the premeds for sure! But many of us loved it and thrived. Mine is not premed but her sci/engineering freshman friends report only slightly higher means (2.7-3.0) on tests (but much worse for Econ).
Hello all, I am new to the admissions process so was pleasantly surprised to find a Class of 2024 thread already! I was following the AP related threads so had a general question/concern.
My S24 goes to a rigorous and competitive school on the East Coast, where almost everyone takes 1-2 APs in Sophomore year. He couldn’t get the AP of his choice (there were limitations because of # of students/staff). This sometimes happens when many kids apply for the particular AP and the kids in the upper classes are given a preference. As a result he is taking the AP outside of school. He is doing well overall in HS so far, maintaining an UW GPA of 3.8, with 2 Honors classes this year. Good athlete and good ECs. My concern is this - sorry if this sounds silly but its been on my mind so asking. Will 1 (or 2) AP less than what his peers are taking in school disadvantage him for T20 and T30 schools? He feels like he can easily handle 3-4 APs next year, but I am worried since he hasnt taken any APs in school so far.
The short answer I believe is no. Those admissions are so competitive that 1 less AP especially if it is because of scheduling will not make a difference.
on the Physics. I personally loved physics but I know many friends who felt that way.
Weed out classes—Gen Chem series, Organic Chem series, Physics for Engr series, Bio series, Calc series, and the nasty CSE 142 class all of us pre-engrs had to take. Was like this before 1993 and still like this now.