I’m new, this is my very first post on this board so I’m not sure if this is allowed, but my oldest kiddo is a couple months into 9th grade so I thought I would jump in and say hi and how is my kid in high school already?
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A little bit about us:
S27 has wanted to study space pretty much his entire life and he declared in first grade that if he only had one thing to do ever it would be math.
His schedule this year is:
German 1
English 1(should have been honors but we screwed up with registration)
Math 2(whatever comes before pre pre-Calc)
Biology
PE
Jazz
He’s in three clubs and volunteers in a language class on Saturdays.
He’s way busier than I ever was when I was his age and yet he still manages to spend an unfeasible amount of time on his phone and computer.
Hi! My middle child is a freshman, too. She isn’t entirely sure what she wants to do, but something in art/writing/counseling. She’s in a few clubs and is contemplating trying out for a sport for the winter.
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Hi! I have a D27! She is loving high school and the challenging work. She plays year round sports right now and has joined a few clubs. I also have a S24 so really focused on him at the moment. However, she is all into the college process and already has a list. She would like to do something in the medical field, possibly nursing or PA. I believe this grade will have it easier than years past as there was a decline in the birth rate due to the recession.
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S27 is contemplating trying out for it a sport this winter as well. He played tennis for years before the pandemic so he may go out for that.
It had never occurred to me that there was a recession-related decline in birth rate.
And it’s impressive that your daughter already has a university list. We haven’t gotten that far yet. My son’s list is basically my alma mater and two more schools within driving distance. But hey, it’s a start.
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I know, I wouldn’t have either but I read about it on here, and also know a few university employees that have discussed it. If I find a link to an article/study I will share it.
The second child is different than the first because they also go through the process when the older one does. When S24 was a freshman, neither of us were thinking of college yet. I think I started thinking about it at the end of Freshman year and found this group. Thanks for starting the thread by the way.
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Hello! I have a freshman too. He is very interested in astronomy, specifically cosmology.
Kiddo is taking:
Dance Tech 1
Honors Literature & Language Arts
Enhanced Math 2
Intro to Engineering
Honors Living Earth
Guitar
Honors Modern World History
Hi everybody! 
I just finished this process and here I am again. My D23 is a freshman at Muhlenberg College this year and my S27 is a freshman in high school. He got dragged along to most of the college visits we did with my D and has developed a distaste for brick buildings
He is undecided about what he wants to study in college. I could see him going an engineering route or a liberal arts route (history/political science). We’ll see!
This year he is taking:
Health
PE
Orchestra (viola)
Honors English 9
Honors Civics and Economics
Honors Earth Science
Honors Biology
Honors Geometry
Spanish II
He’s similar to my D in that they both like to be busy. Dance and Theatre are his primary activities, but this year he also took up Fencing at our local Y and he joined Model UN and the French club at the HS, in addition to Drama Club. He’s never taken French but apparently that’s not a requirement for French club
He seems to be enjoying the high school so far and is doing well in his classes, although homework completion continues to be an issue - not usually due to lack of time, either. Hopefully he’ll figure that out soon.
I look forward to chatting with all of you over the next four years!
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Ooh, how is your D is liking Muhlenberg? C24 is applying there. They liked the campus when they visited over the summer and they like the courses available for theatre majors, but I’m not sure they got a good feel for what life on campus is like.
I love that he is so specific. My kid has said he doesn’t want to go to space, and I don’t think he wants to design stuff that goes to space either, but I’m not sure whether he’s more into astronomy or planetary science or whatever.
Over the summer Kiddo took a general astronomy class at our local community college. They have also done a lot of extra reading on cosmology and think that it’s super fascinating.
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My D is loving it there! I can’t believe how many things are happening all the time. They have organized activities frequently at all hours, including late at night and she’s participated in two overnight activities (one included camping out in the student center). I’m just super-impressed with how much there is to do. She’s a theatre kid too and was worried about being cast in her first year but there are SO MANY shows. She did not get cast in the first round of auditions for the bigger shows and she skipped auditions for the next few shows due to conflicts with the tech week schedules but then there was ANOTHER round of auditions and she was cast in one show and asked to be a stage manager for another. Those shows are both happening this month. And she’s currently prepping for the next round of auditions for shows that will take place early in the spring semester. The quality of the shows she’s seen are fantastic too - she’s been really impressed.
She’s also a dancer and could not try out for the fall dance shows due to conflicts (she’s also involved in music performance) but was able to participate in another smaller dance event. It just seems like there are a lot of opportunities for kids who want to be involved. She does say that the dorms are just OK (small and plain), and while the food is great, and the cafeteria is open continuously from morning to evening (no closing between meals), the hours could be longer (needs to open earlier on weekends and stay open later in the evenings). Those have really been her only “complaints” so far.
She’s met a nice group of other first year students and they seem to enjoy hanging out together. There is a party scene at the fraternities if students are looking for it but my D’s not interested in that currently and is having no problem finding things to do and people to do them with.
If you have other questions about it, I’m happy to answer them. I think it is a real hidden gem of a school for theatre and dance.
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Hi, everyone. Just joining the thread as I stay updated for D24, I noticed this group for S27. I can’t believe it is the last year my kids will be in school together!
S27 doesn’t have any strong ideas of what he wants to go to college for or where he will go. He is basically taking all the regular required courses for 9th grade with English being the only Honors level course this year. Outside of school, he plays guitar and participates on the Nordic Ski team. I look forward to seeing where his strengths and interests end up over the next few years.
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Joining here. I have a D24 who is going through this process now and a S27 that is currently interested in majoring in economics. He stopped playing football this year and started wrestling and made the varsity B squad, so we are seeing how that goes.
He took the digital PSAT in school a couple of weeks ago. He probably has his scores, but hasn’t logged into the College Board to check them. I should ask him about that… PSAT was optional at his school because they couldn’t get testing accommodations for this administration.
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D27, only child. I can’t believe how quickly time has flown by. Attending IB High School.
Girl Scout Gold Award Candidate
Varsity Women’s Rowing
Couple of Clubs at her school
wants to do something with Mental Health/ Psychology or Counseling, wants to continue rowing in college (so far)
We went on our first college visit (Temple), plan to visit Colgate in the spring.
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Wow! I just joined a thread for my oldest class of 25 but I figure I may as well join this one as well for my baby! My D27 is doing great in high school so far and has really matured in terms of responsibility and school. As the younger sibling, she “gets” the need for EC’s and importance of grades, but doesn’t yet have much direction where she’d like to go. She’s a pretty STEM-oriented kid so if I had to guess now, I’d say we’ll be looking at Engineering schools on the western side of the country with a decent big-school vibe.
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On our way home from a family camping trip we stopped by UCSB today and wandered around. The Kid said the campus looked nice, and they could see themselves living there for 4 years. The architecture is not really their style, but they liked the trees.
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I’m going to have to look at what local junior colleges are offering. There is some good stuff offered at a nearby university, but I don’t think you’ll be able to take any classes there for at least a year.
Our school district pays for the following tests each fall: 9th graders take the PSAT 8/9, 10th graders take the preACT, and juniors take the PSAT/NMSQT. We just got The Kid’s PSAT 8/9 score: 1420. This test is out of 1440, so that’s the 99th percentile. 
I know the UC’s and Cal State’s are test optional, but The Kid has their eye on some fancier schools that are either already considering or requiring tests, or may consider or require tests by the time The Kid is applying to college. We celebrated by making them a bowl of ramen with a side of bacon for dinner (two of their favorite things).