<p>Fresnomom,
Between your sophomore son and your older son, you must be doing something right to have TWO such smart and talented kids. :)</p>
<p>I have three, one taking a gap year, one that graduates this year and then my youngest who is the sophmore.</p>
<p>Thanks for the invite, Carolyn!</p>
<p>My 10th-grade son is a very different kid from his more intellectually inclined college senior sister, so this will be a totally different experience. He can't go to her college anyway, since she's at Smith!</p>
<p>Son did fine on 10th grade PSAT's (68 on both math and writing, but 60 in CR). He is a very easygoing/lackadaisical kid who is not at all driven, academically or otherwise. But he is a pleasure to be around and has great friends.
He has roughly an 85 average in all honors classes and will be taking two APs in 11th grade. Missing and late assignments have kept his grades down. Teachers have always said he is an underachiever, but he does not seem to care as long as he gets by. </p>
<p>He plays trumpet in marching and jazz bands, and will play euphonium in wind ensemble next year. He does spring track and is close to a 5-minute mile. He would love to do cross-country as well, but had to choose between that and marching band, as we did not think he had the time management skills to do both in the fall.</p>
<p>His interests are math and physics. He might be interested in engineering but does not know much about the various engineering disciplines. He also loves airplanes and biking (a la Wright brothers). He is an excellent long distance biker. </p>
<p>We think he would be lost in a big school and we really like the idea of an LAC with small classes and personal attention, but having an engineering major available to him might be a consideration. </p>
<p>Northeast/mid-Atlantic down through VA or so is the general geographic range.</p>
<p>jyber,
I chuckled when I saw your post about liking the idea of an LAC w small classes. We thought the same about my son. He's now a soph at NYU!</p>
<p>wjb,</p>
<p>My D, like your son, will definitely want strong music ECs. (I'm guessing even if she went the music major route it would probably not be at a conservatory, but who knows?) Music will continue to be a big part of her life, she has made that very clear, even if she's not ready to think about the rest of the college plan. I think she was a little deflated when her youth orchestra conductor told them that for those who were not continuing on in music, their current experience was likely to be the best group of talented musicians they'd play with. Her orchestra is really good, and I know she won't want to compromise on the level of performance standards, even if it's just an EC.</p>
<p>For those of you with music-inclined kids who aren't sure if they want a conservatory (BM or BFA) or a BA in music, I suggest following this link and having your kid take the "quiz." </p>
<p>The quiz was devised by DoctorJohn, a regular poster on the Musical Theatre forum and the department chair of Otterbein's theatre/dance department. When my daughter was a sophomore, we all assumed she would go for her BM; after taking the quiz, our college search changed radically because it became clear that a conservatory would probably not be a good fit.</p>
<p>Wow, orchestramom, I hope your D's orchestra conductor is wrong. I do believe that there are excellent opportunities for high-level musicians who don't want to go the conservatory or even the music major route. That's my son: Unless he has a serious change of heart (and at this point, who really knows) he does not want to go to conservatory or major in performance. Maybe a music minor in a Liberal Arts setting. But like your D, music will continue to be an important part of his life. I definitely have not done my due diligence, but off the top of my head, Williams is one example of a school with great opportunities for really talented musicians who are not majors. Only a handful of music majors (under a dozen kids, I think) but great classes and opportunities to play in student and area ensembles and orchestras. You're right that the music thing adds a layer of complexity to the search. Try layering the Jewish community thing on top of that!</p>
<p>Hi Carolyn.</p>
<p>While my senior daughter has been accepted at two schools and awaits responses from others, my sophomore son has recently begun to receive a lot of mail from colleges. He has also received 'signs of interest' from some Div. I athletic departments for water polo.</p>
<p>He is seriously interested in studying science in college, and is questioning whether he should instead focus on Div. II or III schools where he might have a better chance of balancing his academic and athletic interests.</p>
<p>As a year round athlete, my son has not had the time to pursue as many outside activities as my daughter. Sports at this level, and studying, consume most of his waking life. He has great grades, scores, and a long athletic resume. So, as we begin the process with him, we are having to evaluate everything through a different lens.</p>
<p>wjb
you may be right: that comment by her conductor may not apply to my D or your S or any specific student. But it's also true that not every highly accomplished HS musician will have the stats to get into Williams, for example. (my D probably will not). And the conductor was making that comment to a wide range of kids who would be heading off to a great variety of schools. Her point was not to discourage them, but gently help them set realisitic expectations.</p>
<p>To illustrate her point she made another, perhaps more accessible comparison: to top-performing HS athletes who will not compete at the inter-collegiate level, but plan to continue their activity in intramurals, and may find themselves at the top of a slightly lower level heap. Sort of like my D's experience in her HS pit orchestra: she does it for school spirit and because they need her, but really doesn't enjoy being the top musician nearly as much as being stretched by her musical peers in her youth orchestra.</p>
<p>Okay, I tried to edit my post to say mid 50's PSAT not mid 60's :( He is not a good test taker but is very motivated to start the Xiggi method.</p>
<p>Hi Carolyn and everyone with babes of '89/'90,</p>
<p>We have a S who is a soph, too. Nice to see and "meet" ya'll. (Southerners here). He will be looking at smaller sized schools probably along the east coast, especially those with strong art programs and a place where he can swim. DIII unless he grows propellors in the next two years. </p>
<p>He's a bright kid (3.9 GPA) with mostly Bs and B+s in Honors classes. Unfortunately, he inherited his mother's math genes. Will take 2 APs next year. We thought his PSATs were pretty good; it had on the reporting sheet that he was in the 93rd %, but after reading some of these other scores- whew! His were 62 W, 58 CR and 52 M. Maybe he had better study some over the summer using some of the prep books mentioned in previous threads. Amazon.com gets more of my money! :)</p>
<p>Being novices at this, we are trying to learn as much as we can about the whole process, yet have a fun time doing it! Then he can hopefully make a wise decision about a college that he is happy with. Best wishes to all of you!</p>
<p>I have a sophomore D- haven't looked at any schools other than driving by Seattle university every morning and visiting Reed 3 or 4 times a year- but hanging out in the computer center doesn't count I don't think.
She wants to go far away- but I don't know if that is realistic- I am considering someplace where she has to travel by plane or train rather than car though- her cousins have just gotten into too many car accidents from their cross state U.
hasn't taken PSAT- I guess she will take it next year-but we are likely to focus on schools that place less importance on them
Her interest is marine biology- her ECs are working at the zoo and hopefully at the aquarium after zoo program closes. She is on track and soccer teams, and her grades freshman year were 3.70 and last semester 3.00. Pretty impressive for someone with LDs who is taking an AP class :)</p>
<p>I'll join in here. Like wjb, I have a daughter who's a sophomore at WUSTL and a son who's a sophomore in high school. While my daughter is very socially oriented, my son is very introverted. However, he's active in a variety of extracurriculars both at school and outside of school. His grades are generally very good and his PSATs were high; he took one SAT II last year and will take another at the end of this year, with the idea of spreading out the testing joy so he doesn't end up with too much all at once. He's a real intellectual's intellectual in the sense that he loves learning for the sake of learning (I appreciate this quality, but sometimes I wish he cared a bit more about doing the little extra things that have nothing to do with learning but do affect his grades!) and can have his interest piqued by topics in most subjects. That being said, his love above all others goes to foreign languages. He has said since he was little that he wanted to become a linguist, and I'd be very surprised if that were to change. He already has a pretty specific list of schools in mind based on the strength of their linguistics departments and language offerings. He also has stipulated that he doesn't want to be too far from home (since we live in southern New England, this leaves him with quite a few possibilities) and would prefer to be in a swing state which leans liberal so he can lend his weight to pushing the state into the blue column in any elections held during his four years in residence.</p>
<p>We're starting this process for the third (and thankfully last) time with our sophomore d. She has really managed to come into her own as a student this year, due to the magical properties of self-prepared flash cards. She has a unique learning style, and none of us could understand how a kid who seemed so bright could have test scores all over the map. But she seems to have figured things out this year and is an A student in honors/accelerated classes - will take her first 2 APs (US History and Chem) next year. Chances are good that she'll graduate in the top ten percent of our competitive public school (mid-sized, suburban; average SAT score was 1160 last year).</p>
<p>She was thrilled with her 10th grade PSAT results, which were a few points higher than her elder sister's (it would seem this is really all that matters). She's very willing to put in some prep time this summer with 10 Real SATs or whatever the recommended text is this time around. Her main EC is dance, particularly ballet, but she has no interest in a dance career (fortunately, from the parental viewpoint). She is thinking about a dance minor and wants to have access to high-quality ballet classes at college, whether on or off campus. Her intended major now is pre-med. She wants a mid-sized school somewhere near the East Coast. We can't tell yet whether we can stretch our finances to accommodate a need-only school; our limits with the oldest two kids were about the cost of a good out-of-state public, but our finances may improve enough this time around to pay full freight. We'll definitely get this figured out before she sets up her list.</p>
<p>She already has a dream school: W & M, where her oldest sister graduated last year. I'm sure much of the appeal is that she's familiar with the school, the campus is lovely, and she thinks Williamsburg is cool. Still, it's very tough for an out-of-stater to get in. I'm going to try to help her fall in love with some less selective schools (plus, W & M's dance program isn't very ballet-centric).</p>
<p>Thanks, Carolyn, for putting those of us in the parental class of 2011 in touch!</p>
<p>KandK'smom, I am so glad that you reported your S's PSAT scores. My D's were very similar to your S just mix up the Math and W. I think that sometimes we CC parents forget that 93% is pretty darn good, it's CC that skewed! LOL!</p>
<p>And welcome, it will be a fun ride with these Sophomores!</p>
<p>Are neighbours from Canada welcome here?</p>
<p>I've got a DD Junior and DS Soph. The hurdles are complicated for internationals, as our GC's haven't even heard of SAT's and have no info .:( (DD is the first at her school who has ever thought of applying to the US).</p>
<p>Thank goodness for all the wonderful people from CC who give so much wonderful info. This board has helped us get our timetable organized and look into great books etc...and the humor helps when it all gets a bit much!</p>
<p>We have been concentrating on helping DD this year, and trying to encourage DS the Soph to start studying for SAT. He was very reluctant initially, but now sees it as a game and has started his own studying habit :).</p>
<p>Question: How many of you have already done SAT prep? How many of you had your kids do PSAT prep? Thanks. From one who just can't bear to face up to the fact my sophomore S will in fact be going through all of this....Actually, I can face the fact that he is going to go through it. It's ME going through it AGAIN that is causing me to hiccup.</p>
<p>I have a son who is STILL completing his aps (he's a HS senior). He's a strong student & NMF.
I have a daughter who is a HS sophomore who loves drawing (in fact can't stop drawing but doesn't want to take classes in it). Her scores are OK but below brother's.<br>
She's watching brother muddle thru the college process with apprehension & has seen her older cousins get into colleges they're happy at. Unfortunately she's a procastinator.
She's come with us on tours of a few campuses but isn't really "into" any of this now. Her school & friends are very focused on national testing & college prep, but there is only one GC for the entire school.</p>
<p>This sounds like it will be an enjoyable journey with all of you. I have a sophomore son in college, and twin high school sophomore daughters. </p>
<p>Right now we are focusing on passing the driving test and figuring out next year's courses :). For a while longer, I am enjoying CC for the camaraderie on the parents' board and not thinking about this subject for them much.</p>
<p>Hi Patient,
I'm back too with D2 in her sophomore yr of high school. She passed her driving test a couple of weeks ago and is taking herself to piano on week nights and robotics on weekends! Whew! D1 is a sophomore at Haverford. :)</p>