Dang, that’s a rough thing to have to go through. (And for some reason CC won’t allow me to react to posts with emoji, but for what it’s worth, here’s a hug:)
It was physical rather than mental health, but my D17 nearly died about three years back from a rapid ramping up of chronic issues we still don’t entirely understand (though over the most recent winter break she finally got a preliminary diagnosis for what might have been the underlying cause). So yeah, I haven’t lived your experience, but I know the fear of seeing a child go through issues that you have so little, possibly no, control over. But there is beauty and peace in your post, too: He is here, he is happier, he is finding his voice, and he sees light again. I see that with my daughter even when she gets frustrated with her body not always (read: frequently not) working the way she would like, and it is good to hear that your son is feeling that even when his body (the brain is part of the body, after all) isn’t always working the way he would like.
If you opt to stay here on this forum (or return one day) your voice is welcome, and your experience valued. If you are signing off, though, I want to send you off with a sincere wish of success in your part of supporting your son’s journey and growth.
Sending you many virtual hugs. I have just gotten home from an all day conference for school adjustment counselors and other student support services to learn to screen for and identify mental health decline in students. We were presented with several stories from attendees about this crisis that is plaguing our kids. I am glad that although it sounds like a very difficult road to identification and intervention from professionals, that he did eventually find help and is happier and finding his way. I can only imagine how helpless and terrified this has been for everyone.
Oh, @Picklenut6 , this post brought tears to my eyes. May your son continue to improve and may you all find peace during this troubling time. I’m so sorry your family is going through this and glad to see that there is a bit of light now.
Has anyone started to think about test prep? Does your student plan on taking the new digital SAT or opt for the ACT?
I took the SAT a million years ago, S23 prepped for and took the SAT twice and I assumed that d25 would take a similar path. She is however a more serious student than s23 and has a very heavy load planned for her junior year. She’s talking about doing test prep this summer so she doesn’t need to add it to junior year APs, sports, EC etc. Looking around there doesn’t seem to be much released yet regarding the new SAT. Maybe this will change as we get closer to the summer, but I’m not sure if anybody yet knows much about this version of the test. I’m wondering if it’s maybe a better to guide her towards the ACT with all of its available practice tests and materials. Any thoughts? What do your students plan to do?
When you say she is a “serious” student, do you mean that you expect her to do very well on the tests? Do you think she has a chance to score at the National Merit level on the PSAT? If so, she might consider prepping for the PSAT and SAT and take both tests around same time.
Serious as in she’s planning a very academically intense junior year. With practice she might do well on the SAT but hasn’t taken enough tests that I can really guess about national merit etc.
I think we’re going to have S25 prep for both tests next year since I’m still not sure which he will test better on. He took the Pre-ACT 8/9 before 9th grade and scored in the 98th percentile and took the PSAT this fall and also scored in the 98th percentile. We may have him do some more prep on his own this summer, but I’m not sure that we’ll do any formal prep programs this year.
We received S25’s list of recommended courses for next year and I’m a bit confused/concerned. He’s took one AP class last year, is taking two this year, and next year he’s only being recommended for one AP by his teachers (APUSH). This is what he has on his schedule so far:
Honors English III (rather than AP, for which they need teacher recommendation)
APUSH
Honors Chemistry
Honors Pre-Calculus (which seems to be the normal progression at his school after Alg II/Trig)
World Religion (required)
Spanish for Juniors
Honors Band
Band Ensemble
I’m trying to get more information from his counselor about it, but she’s not being very forthcoming. He had all A’s last semester, but I wonder if his lack of maturity is playing a part in the courses being recommended. He’s a super smart kid, but he definitely struggles with squirrely ADHD behavior in class. I’m trying to be careful about not swooping in and being obnoxious, but I’m also concerned about him not be able to advocate for himself or understand the importance of course rigor when it comes to college admissions. I may see if S25 can meet with the counselor first for more information before I consider reaching out again for more information.
Yes, I think S25 is going to do an online SAT prep class this summer and take the August SAT. Then he can take it again in the spring if he wants to. I guess we’ll have him take the ACT as well but I doubt he’ll do any separate prep.
His planned classes for next year are a lot too.
AP Lang
AP Physics
AP US History
Honors Pre Calc
Band
Spanish 3
Religion (required)
Our high school requires ACT. My daughter signed up for an elective ACT prep class for next fall (they take ACT spring of junior year). That was her choice. She does very poorly on tests and scored low on her PreACTs the past 3 years. She’s my solid 3.0 student. She tries, she just has slower processing speed.
I don’t push my kids to do ACT prep. Especially with so many test optional schools available.
She has an older brother at a tech school as he has learning disabilities. She has another older brother who did zero test prep and scored 35 first try (36 in science). My daughter has many wonderful redeeming characteristics. Standardized test taking is just not a skill she is strong in.
We have similar kids. My D23 is the same way with tests. It’s affected her college admissions process not at all. Test optional has been a blessing for her. On the other hand, S25 is a great test taker in general and test optional may actually hurt him. No perfect answer with this stuff.
Mine is taking both. He did both the PSAT AND pre ACT and got similar scores. I think his school offers another PSAT in Spring. He plans to do practice tests over the summer. My DD did the same, took both pre tests then both the SAT and ACT. She could have been one and done with a 34 on the ACT, but retook it a second time and got a 36. My son’s pre-tests don’t indicate he will score as well so I am going to make sure he does prep this summer. I may sign him up for the actul SAT in June or whenever it is for practice.
My D25 so far has identified elementary teacher as her career choice. She needs a score of: Math 570, 610 Evidence-Based Reading and Writing or 30 Reading Section and ACT of 23 in both sections for the praxis equivalent. Because she’s not a contender for NMF especially for NJ I don’t plan to have her take a summer prep course for PSAT. She did take PSAT 10 this year and did ok enough. I will look for a prep program for next spring to prepare for the SAT/ACT whichever her school offers.
The most difficult admission she’s likely to go for will be TCNJ. Rowan is solid and offers what she wants (so far) but merit from these schools would make them more affordable for us. She’s a B student and not likely to get much or any merit for her grades. Why does it have to be so expensive for our in state publics? We’ll look into some of the small private schools in PA like Susquehanna that some posters have been successful with their B students.
We’re prepping for the SAT and planning on having her take it not too long after the PSAT in the fall. That way she can take the old paper version. Then depending on her score she may take the digital SAT in the spring of 24. There are some things I like about the digital SAT and some I don’t. I like that the test is shorter but don’t like that the questions are weighted differently and that it’s adaptive.
Next year D25 plans on taking:
APUSH
AP Calc A/B (B/C is not offered at her school)
AP Lang
BioMed 3 ( I believe this is considered a dual enrollment class, weighted as an AP)
Honors Physics (AP Physics is not offered)
Spanish 2
Leadership (something she has to take for student council, 1 semester)
Bible class (also a requirement for graduation, 1 semester)
They only have 7 periods.
This year she took/is taking:
AP Gov (the first chance kids get to take an AP at her school)
Honors World Lit
Honors Chemistry
Honors Pre-Calc
Biomed 2
Spanish 1
Strength training (gym requirement)
Leadership (for Student council and also counts as Bible this year)
D25 is taking SAT prep and might take a real one in August. We’ll see. It would be nice to get a baseline score for moving forward and she won’t apply to any school that wants to see them all. The colleges she’s started talking about don’t require the SAT, but a lot of things could change and there are a few schools that will need it that I think she should apply to. Just way too early to say no standardized test needed at all, and I don’t want her to have to scramble last minute.
Schedule for next year is a lot:
AP Lang
AP Physics
AP Calc AB
AP Comp Sci
U.S. History
Language 3
PE
There’s no gatekeeping for honors/APs at the school, interesting to see that above. I can see the good and bad about that.
I am glad D25 realized that APUSH is notoriously epic and skipped it.
We just selected classes for next year. So far he has only had advanced so it will be his first AP’s.
JROTC
AP European History
AP Physics (2 periods lab every other day)
Advanced Calc (or possibly AP)
Spanish 2
Advanced English 11
Wind Ensemble
He wanted AP comp sci but physics takes 2 periods. So every other day he will have a study hall.
Plan for Sr year
JROTC
Wind ensemble
Spanish 3
(Sadly for gpa purposes those are un-weighted classes!)
CHS (college in high school or dual enrollment)- history or government
AP calc BC (possibly- math doesn’t come super easy to him, yet he’s accelerated).
AP comp sci
(Will already have had 4 sciences)
So do you think that not taking all APs is a negative for the second tier top schools like Wake, Emory, Rice etc? My D ultimately decided to not take AP Calc as a junior and dropped down to the middle of the three college tracks. She has four other APs (Lang, APUSH, Physics I and Psych). Algebra based math has definitely been a struggle and she has gotten extra help when she can but, she is an athlete so doesn’t have the time to get as much help as needs. The PreCalc teacher actually said that AP Calc AB was easier than PreCalc but, with four other APs (only two this year) she decided, for all our sanity, to not take AP Calc. Other than Algebra 2 and Pre Calc she has solid As but, Bs in the math classes despite spending as much time on them than all the others combined.
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