<p>Hi archermom, I remember you well! We'll be talking a lot, I'm sure! Test #1 is set for March 6th. Test #2 not yet scheduled (one has taken to the "subject" more easily than the other, or is perhaps just more motivated to declare independence....)</p>
<p>Hi all. Thanks for starting this thread! I'm also back for the second time with a sophomore D. Her main ec's are her 3 sports (one each hs season) and photography. She is in a couple of other clubs but hasn't done too much with them so far. She'll also start doing some community service this year. Academically she does pretty well, though her grades can vary from subject to subject and test to test. She probably has an A- average or so. Her practice psats were fair, better in CR and W than in M (which is consistent with her grades)--but I think she'll pull them up a lot next year with some practice. I think that her "reach schools" will be on the level of my S's "safe" schools from last year, so we'll also be looking at a whole new group of schools I'm sure. I'll be looking for input and suggestions as time rolls on!</p>
<p>Hi, everyone! I have been mainly a lurker this year as my senior son prepared his college applications. He is an excellent student and test taker and focused in depth on a few EC's. He will be going to Swarthmore next year, his dream school! My d will be a different experience and I probably will need all the help I can get! She is currently an A/B student, in honors and AP, a so-so test taker and a very talented, though unfocused, musician (voice, guitar, piano, saxophone). She is also extremely social and more likely to make choices that enhance her social opportunities. She is interested in music, languages and creative writing (especially music lyrics), but recently has discovered a talent in science, of all things! And, she is playing soccer for the second year. As you can see, she is all over the place. Math is her weakness. She is interested in a Swarthmore-type school, although she realizes her stats are too weak for Swarthmore. Right now she is interested in Bard, Bryn Mawr and Barnard. She knows she will have to focus and work harder for those schools to be a real possibility for her. Time will tell. Our school GC's will not useful to us, as I found out with my son. My son did not need any SAT prep, but I am sure she will, especially in math. The question will be whether to have her take a prep course or "do it on her own." Advice?</p>
<p>Atlantamom~ do you feel she would benefit more from doing it on her own or from taking a prep course. I am happy to hear we are not the only ones that have math issues. My youngest works very hard in math but sometimes struggles despite the tutoring.</p>
<p>atlantamom, have you read up on the xiggi method of SAT prep yet? It's here:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=68210%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=68210</a></p>
<p>If your d is willing to put in some time this summer, I think she'll really improve using these tips. Math is also my d's most challenging subject, but it's the test section on which kids can most reliably increase their scores with preparation.</p>
<p>Junefour, did your d take the PSAT as a sophomore? We were very surprised at how well my d did on the Math section, despite having to exert herself more in math class than any other. It turns out that new material is difficult for her to master, but the test covered things she already knew (to her great relief!).</p>
<p>You're so right orchestramom. Schools like Williams are a shoe-in for nobody, and there may not be many schools that offer what it does for talented non-music majors. Your analogy to top high school athletes playing college intramurals is a good one. Well, it should make for an interesting hunt.</p>
<p>On the subject of PSAT/ACT/SAT test prep: When my daughter took the PSAT as a soph, her scores put her on the cusp for NM. She did a little private PSAT tutoring early in her junior year. Wound up NM Commended, and went on to do a modest amount of private tutoring in her weaker area for the ACT. She did very well, but in retrospect, believes she could have self-studied just as effectively. Not planning at this point on any private tutoring for S. He did extremely well taking the soph PSAT cold, and thinks he can shore up anything he needs to on his own using some variation of the XIggi method. (Tip of the hat to Xiggi here. Actually, in talking with S I have NOT explicitly referred to the Xiggi method! My kid would think I'd gone around the bend.) I think the key is whether your kid is self-motivated enough to study on his or her own. If lots of cattle-prodding is required, and if the finances permit it, I think some one-on-one sessions with a private tutor are a good idea. But if kid will self-study, I think it's worthwhile to go that route first. He or she can always take the ACT or SAT once and see where the weak areas are. Because you send to colleges only the ACTs you choose, no downside at all. And not a huge downside on SATs, either, since colleges will mix and match the best scores from multiple sittings.</p>
<p>carolyn, so you have a Renaissance man, too! lol No, I agree with you, as long as the ladies are paying attention to him, there will be no going back to fball. Junefour and atlantamom, maybe we can all pool our $ together and get an online math tutorial group discount! Mine really has to work hard at it, too, junefour, which frustrates the heck out of him. His other subjects seem to come so much more easily with his studying. We have to continually tell him that it is OK, and as long as he is doing his best, that is all he can do. I have told him that when he gets to the point in his future that he is contemplating a serious relationship, he needs to make sure the prospective woman is strong in financial management or we may be in trouble. :) </p>
<p>I am so glad to see there are folks in this thread who have gone down this path before! I hope you are all not too worn out to share with us "rookies" your wisdom. I also find it so interesting to see that so many of you have second and third children who are so different from your firsts. I guess in that sense we are all rookies, right?! Looking forward to seeing how everyone's journey evolves. Have a great President's Day weekend everyone.</p>
<p>We should pool our online math tutoring monies together and develope a math forum! :) I also tell my youngest that so long as he is truly giving it his best then I cannot ask anymore of him. His other grades are good and he is not interested in an Ivy education. He is looking at football coaching today, wanted to do something different yesterday and doesn't have an idea of where he will be next week. He is 15 and enjoying being 15.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm happy to see my d isn't the only one with a math "issue." She will be busy this summer -- family vacation, 4 weeks in France, and driving lessons, but I may have her try out a little self study to see what happens. I will look at the Xiggi method later today to see if that looks promising. I wish we all lived nearby and could pool resources for a tutor! She probably would respond best to one-on-one work.</p>
<p>Frazzled1,</p>
<p>No he took the PLAN test instead. He did better on it than expected. I know there is a propensity to retake the ACT/SAT tests and I assume he will take it more than once.
My other son took his three times, he received the same score twice but only took it a third time because when he finished the second test he was not finished answering questions. He had lost his place along the way.</p>
<p>This is a great thread. It's helpful to see what other sophomores are up to. My son has started a little SAT prep. He's putting some vocab on flash cards since he wasn't happy with his CR score. He may start working on some practice tests soon, at least during the summer. He is planning on taking the SAT in January and if necessary in March of junior year. My daughter did that and it did make senior year slightly less overwhelming. He will probably not take any SAT 2's until Spring of junior year since his school does not offer AP classes to sophomores. He would like to take the Physics SAT 2 but probably won't since he cannot take AP Physics until senior year. Does anyone have any experience taking the Physics SAT 2 with only an honors introductory physics class as background?</p>
<p>As for SAT prep he will self study using the xiggi method. My D did this and had fantastic results.</p>
<p>No, I agree with you, as long as the ladies are paying attention to him, there will be no going back to fball. ></p>
<p>KandKmom, Oh, you have that one right. He had a real ephiphany about football when he attended the first theater meeting. I suspect his reasoning went something like this: "Let's see...I can spend my afternoons and weekends with 60 other sweaty guys, or I can spend my afternoons and weekends being the only guy in set design. Hmmmm...which should I choose?" :)</p>
<p>I am so glad to see all of the familiar faces here going through this again...and also very glad to meet some NEW people. Welcome! It should be fun to share notes and thoughts as our kids wind their way through the next two years.</p>
<p>To the moms of math-challenged kids: don't give up hope. My daughter scored a dismal 430 in math on her sophomore year PSATs. The next year, her score went up to 490 without any prep. Still not good, but better. Working with a tutor, and taking Algebra II in junior year both combined to get her math score up to a 580 by the March SAT that year. I think if she'd been willing to take it again in senior year after a few more months of tutoring and the first few months of trig, she might have passed 600 but she felt that she worked pretty darn hard for that 580 and was happy to call it a day. </p>
<p>I fretted through most of this year because her math score was so skewed compared to her reading (680) and writing (700) scores. But, in the end, it all worked out just fine (she wasn't aiming at Ivy type schools), and she had plenty of great options to choose from.</p>
<p>While I don't have proof of this, I suspect that many colleges put more emphasis on reading/writing scores than math (unless, of course, you're looking at a major that requires strong math skills). So, my take is you are on the right track by insisting your kids do the best they can, but don't worry too much beyond that.</p>
<p>Thanks Carolyn for sharing. My D also struggles most with math but i feel that she will pull it up quite a bit if she works hard at it! May I ask which schools your D applied to and does she know yet where she is attending?</p>
<p>Same question to Carolyn from me. My D's sophomore PSAT's are 68 and 69 in CR and WS, but 50 in math. She has not taken geometry yet. I am hoping that actually knowing some geometry will help bring that score up. She did just finish Alg II Honors with a solid B. (Her schedule got messed up because of all the performing arts courses she was taking.)</p>
<p>Bridie,
My daughter wanted a small liberal arts college and had a definite preference for laid back/quirky schools. She sent out three early action applications and one rolling admissions application. Was accepted to all four schools by December 15, with some nice merit offers. She'll be attending Beloit College in the fall, and is VERY excited about her choice.</p>
<p>She did have four other colleges on her list. At her guidance counselor's suggestion, she sent out her transcripts, test scores, and recommendations at the same time she sent them out for the EA schools in early November. The guidance counselor said that way she'd be ready to go if she didn't like the news from the EA schools. </p>
<p>Of course, she did like the results, but, ironically, she has had personal phone calls from admissions officers at all four of the other schools referencing her grades/test scores/recommendations and strongly hinting that she'd be accepted if she just sent in that pesky application. Two of the four called her more than once, and the head of admissions from one of the four actually called and offered to pay her airfare if she wanted to visit. :)</p>
<p>The schools on her list were: Beloit, Goucher, University of Redlands, Wheaton College (Mass), Earlham, Hendrix College, Lawrence University, and Humboldt State (her drop dead safe bet school).</p>
<p>She has a 3.6 weighted GPA (3.4 unweighted) at a Catholic high school. She had 1 AP class in sophomore year, taking two more this year. Some honors classes in English/French/History, regular college prep track math and science. 4 years English, 4 years French, 5 years history/social science, 4 years math (through Trig.), 2-1/2 years science (bio, chem, 1/2 year intro science), 4 years religion. Her main EC's were art-related and horse-back riding, with some community service and club memberships - nothing major. She wrote her essay about learning not to be afraid of big things from her riding instructor. She did have a very strong and very personal recommendation from her guidance counselor speaking about her character, but only a so-so recommendation (in my opinion) from her French teacher (who gave her a copy). </p>
<p>I probably shouldn't have worried as much as I did. She knew early on what she liked and didn't like (even if it didn't always match my preferences!) and stuck to it. I think she instinctively built a list based on schools that fit her, and that wanted students like her. I should have trusted her judgement more. :)</p>
<p>I am hoping that actually knowing some geometry will help bring that score up. >></p>
<p>My daughter was only just starting geometry when she took the PSATs sophomore year. That alone probably made the difference between her sophomore and junior year math scores. My son, on the other hand, took geometry freshman year and is in an accelerated AlgebraII/Trig class this year. So, by the time he took the PSATs last fall, he was already halfway done with Algebra II. I think that served him well (although he has always done very well on standardized tests in math as well).</p>
<p>Thank you for starting this Carolyn. I missed the boat with our 1st son, a sophomore at Lawrence. He decided at the very last minute to leave school following his junior year. Being a musician and living in WI, Lawrence was the logical choice. I look forward to joining everyone as we take the "normal" (whatever that is) journey with our sophomore son. I live within a half hour of Beloit College, so am familiar with the city and am very happy to answer any questions about Lawrence University.
Chris</p>
<p>"I probably shouldn't have worried as much as I did. She knew early on what she liked and didn't like (even if it didn't always match my preferences!) and stuck to it. I think she instinctively built a list based on schools that fit her, and that wanted students like her. I should have trusted her judgement more."</p>
<p>LOL</p>
<p>Carolyn, I didn't realize your daughter received merit awards. Did you mention what they were? </p>
<p>People should know you don't need 4.0s to get awards.</p>