<p>Kiddo #5, son #3, is a sophomore as well this year. He is impatiently waiting for his older bro (the senior this year) to leave. He is beyond tired of being in his brother's shadow. He loves him and respects him and will miss him, BUT he is counting the days. Some of his teachers have commented on the same thing, that he will be more successful and productive when his larger-than-life sibling has vacated the premises!</p>
<p>If there could have been any of his other siblings to be right next to in age it would have been much easier for him. He has teachers this year that no matter how hard they try they still call him by his big bro's name. And its not just one of them, more than one is guilty. They know and they try, he smiles and says he understands but it is hard on him. We haven't even discussed colleges for him, he wants to wait til his brother's stuff is all done. I have requested some things for him quietly and will do more once his older brother has graduated and moved on with school.</p>
<p>There really could not be two more opposite children. So I get to post here and not say a whole lot til summer.</p>
<p>Hi Everyone! I have a senior D who is waiting for two more college decisions but already is leaning heavily toward attending our flagship state school, the University of Florida, to study marketing. She was rejected early decision 1 from Emory. The emotions have been virtual roller coaster in our home as we switched gears from "where she wants to be" to " where can she also be happy". Just when I thought the ride was over...
Here we go again! This time is a doosy. My second D is a sophomore at the same very academic prep school. She is a very different child than her sister. She is very bright but has major time management issues in terms of her schoolwork. To compound this, she has a chronic illness which she has been struggling to keep under control for the past few years. She has missed quite a few classes this trimester...and come late to more. She also had major food allergies for her entire life (all dairy including whey, eggs, berries, cherries, PEANUT...shudder). Just as she outgrew the allergies (except she is Fatally allergic to Peanut forever) bam, she develops the chronic illness. Guess what she wants to study in college? Nutrition. She loves children and babysits all the time. She wants to become a registered dietician and someday counsel children with all types of diseases and dietary issues.
Her sophomore PSATs were 51 CR, 51 M, 62 W. She has a weighted GPA of 3.6 (school doesn't unweight). Freshman year she took Honors Bio, Spanish 3, Geometry, World History 1, Honors English, Band, PE/Health. Sophomore year she is taking Honors English, Band, Spanish Conversation, Chemistry, Algebra 2, World History 2 Honors, Sat prep/computer applications. She has been taking 2 honors classes each year...I don't think she can handle more, let alone any APs. If you do not keep a B+ in an honors class at her school, you must drop to a regulars class the following year. To move from regulars into honors you must have an A in the class. To take an AP one must have an A in the honors class the year before. She usually gets A's in regular classes and B's in honors...
I printed the information that everyone here posted on the xiggi method to study for the SAT and plan to get her a private tutor between tests. Otherwise, I try to concentrate on keeping her low stress and healthy. CC is both a blessing and a curse when one's child is not the academically elite. There are no lovely LAC's near a good medical facility that also have an accredited nutritional science/dietetics program. It seems this major is in every humongous state university though. We are looking into them now and will get serious next year. She wants very much to go away to college (although her health may dictate her academic future as well).
Anyhow, I am looking forward to sharing with the parent's of sophomores and thrilled to have found you all.</p>
<p>Okay, I'll join this throng! My son is a freshman at the University of Washington and my daughter a sophomore at the local "we try harder" high school. Son attended "superstar" highschool, 'cause they allowed transfers then, but now you have to go to your home school in the district. But, "we try harder" has a great family feel, very dedicated teachers, and offers more AP classes than my daughter will get around to, so it's working out well for her.</p>
<p>She wants to go to an art school and be a graphic novelist, and I keep saying she needs those day job skills to tide her over for that decade or two before the art thing works out. She took ACT as an 8th grader for a talent search the UW started in Washington state, and placed in the upper tier statewide. She's quite talented in English, but math is not her strong suit. She's taking honors math and struggling with it, but not willing to get extra tutoring:( Likely it'll be regular (not honors) pre-calc next year, then AP Statistics, and she'll hope to never take another math class again, I think!</p>
<p>SAT prep or PSAT prep I think would pretty much be a non-starter -- she'll do well in all but the math on her own. The art schools she's most interested in (SCAD and AAU) have completely open admission policies, just show up with money and they'll let you in, but I'm looking around for LACS with good studio art programs, as well as art schools with stronger liberal arts curriculums.</p>
<p>Nice to see all the other parents of sophs popping up -- good idea, carolyn!</p>
<p>Seiclan, Nutrition/Dietetics is a great field (My sister majored in it). However, there are PLENTY of smaller schools that offer ADA accredited degree programs. A few I can think of off the top of my head are Pepperdine (CA), Marywood (PA), Dominican U (IL), Simmons (MA), Meredith (NC), Winthrop (NC), Bradley U (IL), Loyola U (IL) but there are others out there as well. Another possibility, of course, is to major in a related subject at ANY undergraduate school and then get a graduate degree. From my sister's experience, that may, in some ways, be a preferrable route.</p>
<p>I assume that you've already found the education site of the American Dietetic Association, but just in case, I'll pass it along. Their database of accredited programs is very nice, as it tells you the basics of what is offered, and how many majors are in the program. </p>
<p>My son self-studied between sophomore & junior PSAT & his score declined too. It was a disappointment & surprise -- fortunately, he qualified & became NMF anyway. He was bummed that the test was redone & analogies that he loved & did well on were taken out.</p>
<p>I think the PSAT prep course could really help sophomore daughter who struggles with math especially. In any case, it's a social thing, since most of the school (& indeed much of the island) takes the course at her HS.</p>
<p>It is tough for kids when their sibs cast a LONG shadow. I really felt for my sibs, since I know we were tough acts to follow & we had a huge family, all of whom went to the same public schools, K-12. My younger sister really resented having to follow all of us & didn't vent about it until she was a peer advisor in HS!</p>
<p>At this point, with daughter's chronic health issues & prolonged absences, we're just focusing on getting through one quarter at a time! Health issues are so very frustrating <sigh>.</sigh></p>
<p>Hi all. I'm Rhonda, a west Kentucky mom, with a sophomore son in a small town HS. Thank you, Carolyn, for this thread. My son's college search is our family's first experience with this process. I'm looking forward to surviving the next few years with all of you.</p>
<p>I don't know how else to say it: my son is uniquely himself. He's an intellectual introvert, strong in science, math, and history, carries a 3.4 GPA, and makes A's in his numerous AP classes. He thinks he'll major in Computer Science. His ECs are chess club; on-line gaming, role-playing, and game mod development (he is a host server and an administrator), German Club, and science clubs. He's not remotely interested in manipulating the appearance of his resume' to get into a particular college, but wants to visit colleges to find where he can experience a "meeting of the minds" with other intellectuals like him. He plans to visit Allegheny College, Beloit College, and Denison University during the next 18 months. He wanted to visit Colgate College and Hamilton College, but he won't consider schools that don't offer a Bachelor of Science degree. As his mom, I'm trying to help him keep up with the various deadlines, make sure we don't miss important details, and most of all try to keep the stress down.</p>
<p>BassDad, thank you for your openness. I was planning to just lurk with my question, but you have inspired me to get involved! I admire your son for not letting depression keep him down. My son has anxiety problems. So, instead of GPA problems (which I'm sure happens so often with depression), my son has problems with his standardized tests (CATS, ACT, PSAT); his scores don't reflect his abilities. He seems to have no problems with the tests in his classes, but his standardized test scores swing wildly up and down even in a given subject. The anxiety causes careless errors that have shown up even in the coding he does on the tests, so that -- for example -- his report says that he wants to go to a Catholic college and major in food service -- instead of going to a small private liberal arts school and major in Comp Sci. I can't help letting a smile escape on that one, while understanding why he thinks it's an absolute tragedy. If anyone has any suggestions to help with this problem, we'd really appreciate it!</p>
<p>Welcome! My husband and son #1 (senior) will be visiting Denison next week! PM me any questions and my husband will do his best to get them answered!</p>
<p>It's really good to see some new names come onto the board! This sophomore parent/child group looks wonderful and diverse!</p>
<p>Bassdad--I have a friend whose daughter actually missed a good part of one full year of high school due to severe depression. She found a passion (which I won't identify for privacy reasons, but is not school-based) that helped her enormously in her gradual recovery. She is now back in school, and living a much fuller life. She is planning to enter the two year California honors CC system that permits a transfer to a UC after 2 years. Her healing has been so incredibly wonderful to watch. Her parents have been so steadfast and calm through a very, very dark few years.</p>
<p>My daughters didn't take the PSAT as sophomores either. (their brother did when he was a sophomore) The school discourages it for reasons of maturity, even if the kids are in accelerated classes. (about 15% of the classes usually end up as NMF or commended, about half and half). They used to take the PLAN test but I don't think they even do that any more. </p>
<p>I do care about their being properly prepared for the SAT, I don't think that the PSAT really matters that much unless one really needs every bit of scholarship aid available or it's an ego thing.</p>
<p>Tongue-in-cheek question: if my girls follow the Xiggi method, will they also turn into conservative Republicans?</p>
<p>Hi Rhonda! My son has similar issues with standardized tests. He tends to freeze and overthink which can often lead to misinterpreting the original question. Even when he knows the work backwards and forwards he tends to do this on Spanish tests as well. I've been told that it's anxiety. FresnoMom it would be great if you could start a new thread about your husbands Denison visit after he visits next week. I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in that. I personally really appreciate and enjoy the visit threads.</p>
<p>How wonderful to hear success stories about kids who have done so well overcoming adversity. So glad your friend's daugher has found a passion!
One book my son said was pretty enjoyable in prepping for the SAT was "Tooth & Nail," which uses SAT words in a novel. We borrowed it from the library & later bought it at the bookstore. It's a decent read & has the vocabulary words in a glossary in the back of the book. </p>
<p>One other thing that is important is for kids to get used to the timing of the test they are going to take (I'd suggest having them practice at least once or twice with test-like conditions, so they can figure out how to budget their time/question and/or section).</p>
<p>Hi all, this is my first time posting to this thread too. My daughter gets straight A's in standard classes but grades drop drastically in Honors. She switched out of her Honors math class earlier this year & her grade went from a D to an A+. I am not sure how this is possible. My guess is that she is sailing through standard coursework but does not want to put in the extra effort required for Honors which doesn't bode too well for the future! Any idea if colleges favor better grades in standard classes or low grades in advanced?
In any case, she is not sure what she wants to do - says its too early to get serious about college.
She is possibly toying with the idea of medicine but again the hard work & number of years involved may be a deterrent.The other "maybe" is something related to psychology - I am not too familiar with careers in that field - any suggestions as to careers & colleges known in psychology? Would also be interested in finding out which colleges offer combined bachelors/masters programs in the field.
She is an outgoing person who enjoys doing a lot of different things - gymnastics, dance, field hockey, Planning Board, Photography Club, volunteering etc. Knowing her personality, her career will probably have to involve helping people in some way. We have not started SAT classes yet, when is a good time?
Looking forward to any suggestions.
Hopefully we will all make it through this successfully!</p>
<p>Along - Welcome, I also have a D who gets A's in regular classes and lower grades in honors. My plan with my child is to have her use the SAT practice test books over the christmas break next year then take the January test. Then I will get her a private tutor to work with her weekly until she retakes the SAT in April or May (not sure of the test dates). She will also take the ACT twice next spring on the alternating months from the SAT. Hopefully all testing will be completed by June.</p>
<p>Carolyn - thank you so much for that website. It is much easier to navigate than the ADA website. I am quite sure that D2 would want to be on the East Coast and preferably in the bottom half of the country (weather) but I put her on Simmon's College mailing list anyway (although she will prob. not be thrilled about all girls schools. BU has a great program but we will have to see what kind of SAT's/ACT's she gets to see if it is worth applying there. I wish there was a smaller school in Florida or Georgia for her...still looking. Meanwhile she feels well this week (hooray) so we are all happy in our home. BTW, she needs a school near a major medical center or excellent gastroenterologists ( just in case...)</p>
<p>Seiclan, Georgia Southern University has a Nutrition and Food Science program. It is in Statesboro GA. The hospital there is called Eastern Georgia Regional Medical Center.</p>
<p>Along - We haven't done her schedule yet but it is under discussion now. We are contemplating her taking Honors English 3, Honors Physics, Social Psychology, Precalculus (poss. honors) , U.S. History honors and Band and study hall....she wants to try to do the honors...I am not so sure. Since many Juniors are bumped up to AP classes, perhaps the honors level will be a little easier next year?</p>
<p>FresnoMom, thanks for the offer for info from your Denison trip next week. Has your senior decided on Denison, or he still in the decision process? I'm just curious what aspects of Denison interested him. We don't go for our visit to April 4, this year. I agree with PrimetimeMom that probably a lot of people will be interested in a Denison thread. I would just love to hear what your son liked and didn't like and what his general impression of the place is. Does he like the food, the residential halls, the laundry facilities -- you know, all those vital areas! ;)</p>
<p>PrimetimeMom, my son is glad to know that he is not alone on the test anxiety issue. I can guess that your son experiences the same frustration with this problem like my son does. My son's PSAT test results were so weird that I'll have to settle down to research some solutions in earnest. I'll share anything promising that I find -- and hope you'll share any tidbits you find too!
--Rhonda (I try to remember to sign with my name since my call sign is so non-descript)</p>
<p>along1 - my D sounds similar to yours as far as grades goes. Except she keep pushing for the higher track classes. Even though she struggles to get Bs and Cs in the honors classes, she insists that is where she wants to be. I'm dreading the AP class she signed up for next year. But that is what she wants to do. I'm glad she would rather push herself than sit back. Although I have to remind myself of that when the grades start dipping!</p>