We really don’t have any targeted college conversations yet, but it comes up once in a while, also because he has an older sister who is in college and he came along for a few tours when she toured.
S26 does not have the greatest work ethic and the grades last year showed it. So we talked about how good grades equal money from the universities and the better his grades the more choices he would have. Not sure that sunk in though 
We did talk about his interests not too long ago. He knows what he does not want and made it abundantly clear that he will not be a math, STEM or healthcare guy (there go the well paying careers 
) He loves history but knows job prospects are poor (doesn’t want to teach). My guess is he will end up majoring in a social science or some business related major. I’m glad he has a few years to figure it out. And since he will not chase highly rejective schools I am pretty relaxed about the whole process at the moment (ask me again in two years though…)
My D26 is the same. Knows for sure that she doesn’t want to major in anything STEM (it’s all of the math, physics, chemistry that she doesn’t care for). D26 is thinking of business, maybe an IT-related major, minor in history or double major in history.
When she’s in 11th grade, I’m going to do the same thing w/her that I’ve been doing since January w/D24 - sit down with the kid for one 15-min session per week and it’s only in that 15 min window that we talk college stuff. The rest of the week? Constant talk about college is not allowed. If I have something I want to ask her? I have to wait until the next 15 min session next week.
D26 is struggling a bit right now with exploring extracurriculars and trying to figure out what interests her. At the same time, the pressure of getting good grades is starting to get to her and it stresses her out a lot (to the point where she’s reluctant to try additional extracurriculars because she’s afraid she won’t have enough time for HW & studying).
D26, like your kiddo, knows that she doesn’t want to be a teacher. We, too, aren’t going to be targeting top whatever # colleges and there’s 1 in state university (maybe 2) which D26 really likes a lot and has said she could see herself being happy going to college there. There’s also a small college in TX which we toured this past spring for D24 which D26 likes a lot.
I think that right now, one’s kid is probably ahead of the game if he/she knows what they do NOT like. Knowing what you DON’T want is half the battle. And besides, what 15-16 yr old knows exactly what they want to be when they grow up? A lot of college students end up changing their major a couple of times, too, so there’s that to consider.
As of now, S26 wants to go to U of Alabama for engineering and wants to join the marching band. We will see if that stands.
Thanks for all the info. D26 thinks she wants to go to Rutgers- we are in NJ. I think this is not a great fit for her (personality wise) so want to tour to get it off her mind so is open to other option. She has a few ideas on career goals- all in medical sciences and all requiring a master.
Also trying to talk her out of only thinking about schools her best friend wants to go to (very different academic abilities/goals). I’ll let it rest until the summer.
But she is loving sophomore year and has been able to manage all her extracurriculars and classes so far.
D26 has said she “doesn’t want to go to college anywhere it’s super cold.” And since we live in AZ, that also means “I don’t want to go to NAU and I don’t want to live in Flagstaff for 4 years.” 
I think that knowing what you do NOT want is half the battle.
Also what is in the “definitely do NOT want ___” list is any college with general ed requirements that require you to take a whole year of lab science and that require all students to take a full year of Calculus regardless of major. She’s probably going to be some combo of business & history major. So, for example, this eliminates a school like Hillsdale College (which is in Michigan and would have been off the table anyway because of the weather) or NM Tech (in Socorro, NM)…NM Tech requires all majors to take a year of engineering calculus, a year of engineering physics, and a year of chemistry even if you’re an IS major…so that school is a big no.
D26 has an older sister who’s going through the college app process right now, so a lot of this in in D26’s face regularly.
Your D26 and my S26 would get along splendidly He has already announced there is no way I will make him take Calculus in HS (which I am totally on board with). He has not made a pronouncement about science yet. He will have Biology next semester, so I will see what he thinks about that.
I think he will also end up in a business and poli sci/international relations/history major. He doesn’t know enough about business yet but absolutely loves poli sci/IR and history. He would do well in a European setting, where he can dive right into his chosen subjects without gen eds. He will not like gen eds like English, Art, Math at all! Since he is an independent kind of guy, I could actually see him ending up in Europe.
He is singed up for a March 2024 ACT, as his high school offered it for Sophomores and it costs only half and is taken during school hours.
And we have started getting college flyers in the mail. The first one was University of Kentucky. At first I though that one was random, but then I remembered his sister applied and was accepted there (though does not attend). Anything that has “institute of technology” written on it, will go straight to the recycling pile 
If your students are interested.
I went to Rutgers and it’s easy to get lost in. Depending on which Rutgers college they go to it can be a very different experience. I was pre-med and the school had good resources to help you with the process so if the goal is to go to medical school Rutgers in-state tuition can be a big boost. They also had a lot of programs with UMDNJ which is now Rutgers Medical.
On retrospect I wish I had gone somewhere warmer and sunnier down the east coast.
1st trimester grades came out today. D26 is doing well so far this year, a mix of A’s and B’s (more B’s then A’s). Actual transcript, though, will only reflect the one grade per class for the entire school year, which gets updated to the transcript at the end of the school year.
Anyone’s sophomore take the PSAT?
D26 got her score yesterday: 1300, which is 98% for juniors! She didn’t do any prep work, so I’m pretty blown away by that! Not sure how much the score would be expected to improve in a year.
Yep, my kid took it. Don’t know what her score is yet, though. Congrats to your D26! That’s great!
Mine took it on 10/18 so scores not back yet. She said it was hard so I am not expecting much. Her brother ended up concentrating on ACT after realizing it was a better fit for him. He did way better than on SAT so only submitted ACT scores. Not sure D26 will do the same as she is the kid who would run out of time on the ACT.
My son did pretty well on the PSAT, which unfortunately means that I’m probably going to make him study a bit for the junior year test so we can try to get merit scholarship.
But now I’m starting to think about colleges (I know its early but my older kid is a senior so it is on my mind). I’m thinking he needs smallish (LACs or smaller publics like UVM or SUNY Binghamton), excellent stem but not at all cut-throat, and super duper quirky. Not sure exactly how we’re supposed to do the research to figure out quirky-friendly schools…
My D26 also took the psats recently she scored an 1160 which I thought was low but after digging a bit deeper is an above average score. She is rather uninterested in her scores- said they don’t mean anything-which is a bit frustrating honestly.
But trying to not pressure her…