<p>DD is still a sophomore in high school but we are starting to think about what she should do to prepare to attend OU in 2016.</p>
<p>It was icy here yesterday (a rare thing in our part of the world!) so I had her drive to school with her father so she could get a taste of driving in winter weather:-0</p>
<p>We've carefully gone over her current and future high school AP classes and dual enrollment classes and compared them to the class conversion chart on OU's web page and picked classes that will count towards DD's intended major.</p>
<p>She has very good grades and is taking rigors courses at a very academically competitive high school. She is taking as many advance math, science and computer classes as possible as well as four years of German. I've heard that many students that start out as MET majors switch majors because they can't handle the math. DD plans to complete Calculus IV dual enrollment so most of her required math will be taken care of. I think she'll be well prepared for the rigors of college level course work.</p>
<p>We think she has a good shot at National Merit so we got her the on-line study guide from the College Board and the Blue Book. If she doesn't make the cut for National Merit, what, if anything, can she do put herself in a position for other merit based scholarships?</p>
<p>She'd like to be an RA after her freshman year so she is planning on taking the required RA class her freshman year. She is also working on 'counselor in training' with Girl Scouts. She has completed CIT I and has been accepted into the CIT II program this summer and will be a full fledged camp counselor the summer before she starts college. I'm also going to encourage her to attend "Camp Crimson" the summer before college. Anything else she could do to make her RA application stand out?</p>
<p>Anything else she can be doing now to prepare for attending OU?</p>
<p>Your daughter is a sophomore in high school and you’re already thinking about the RA interview?! </p>
<p>OU’s merit scholarships are awarded on the basis of grades and SAT/ACT scores. If she does well on both, she’ll get a merit scholarship. If not, she won’t. Departmental merit scholarships are typically awarded either sophomore or junior year of college and require a passing grade in a key course, demonstrated interest in a subject, and a decent GPA. </p>
<p>Yes, being an RA is pretty high on her list of things to do in college. She views it as something like being a camp counselor four young adults/peers. She really enjoys being a camp counselor. She scored one of the top scores in our region on the National German Exam and was offered the chance at an all expense paid (including airfare!) trip to Germany this summer and she turned it down because it conflicted with camp! <sigh> So yes, being an RA is something she <em>really</em> wants to do so I think it’s prudent to start thinking about it now, I understand there is a lot of competition for RA positions.</sigh></p>
<p>DD makes good grades, she currently has a weighted GPA of 105.14 and unweighted 97.71. Her PLAN composite score was 30 and PSAT was 214. With some prepping I think she will improve in her jr. year, when the PSAT counts and on the official ACT. It’s good to know there is merit money based on grades and test scores if she doesn’t make NMF! We’ll be crossing our fingers and she’ll be prepping for the PSAT/SAT. Even if she doesn’t make NMF OU is still her first choice. </p>
<p>Based on her current grades, her GPA should improve by the end of the year. Her freshman year was difficult because it was her first year in a traditional school - she had been homeschooled until high school and never had to deal with grades before.The first semester this year was tough too, in addition to her regular classes she was taking an on-line heath class and drivers ed. She is also taking an after school PE class two nights a week, playing in a city wide youth orchestra (in addition to her school orchestra) one night a week and taking private music lessons. Next year she’ll be taking 5 AP classes so she is thinking of dropping the city orchestra to give her more study time. She goes to an out of district school and commutes 45 minutes to an hour each way so all the ‘extras’ add a significant amount of time to her day. </p>
<p>So other than working on grades and test scores, what else should she be doing?</p>
<p>I think you’re overthinking this. Not that OU isn’t a great school, because it is. However, it is a state school in Oklahoma, not an Ivy. She will be at the top of the pool of applicants and will have no problems with admission or scholarships. I say just relax and let her enjoy high school. She’ll be fine. And for goodness sake, don’t let her quit orchestra just to have more time to study. There is so much more to life than studying/grades. Music is something she will carry with her for the rest of her life. High school grades are forgotten before they step foot on a college campus as a freshman. Both of my college kids have friends who did nothing but study and jump through the proverbial hoops in HS and now they regret all they missed out on. Life is short. </p>
<p>In HS, my son participated in ECs and volunteer work that interested him (as opposed to ones that looked good on his applications), did very little standardized test prep, chose AP classes based on interest and didn’t feel compelled to overburden himself with AP classes just for the sake of having a “vigorous course load” on his transcript. His senior year, he was sick of feeling overworked, so he opted out of all AP classes. He had a lot of fun in HS and has no regrets. He is currently thriving at OU. He is a National Merit Scholar, has scholarships in addition to the NM package OU offers, is in the honors college and is getting two degrees from two different colleges. His first semester, he made the President’s and Dean’s Honor Roll. I tell you all that not to boast, but to let you know that kids don’t have to sacrifice their teen years to be successful in college. </p>
<p>Just to be clear, dd isn’t giving up orchestra all together. She is just giving up the city orchestra for which she is actually covering two levels of orchestra. She will still continue in her school orchestra, her school ensemble and the Girl Scout Ensemble. She just feels playing in multiple orchestras and multiple ensembles is too much since she’s not going to major in music in college. Dropping the city orchestra will allow her to spend more time on UIL and other school performances with her school orchestra and free her from one week night a week. The city orchestra meets Mondays, 7-9 because it is closer to her school than home she has to go from school to orchestra every Monday putting home after 10:00pm every Monday.</p>
<p>Since we are out of district she has a lot of travel time. She leaves for school at 6:30am and doesn’t return until after 10:00pm on Monday because of city orchestras. Because of the after school PE class she leaves directly from from school Tuesday and Wednesdays to make it to class from 5 to 7 which puts her home around 8pm. On Thursdays she has music lessons across town (again we go directly from school) but make it home around 7:00pm. On weekends she has school or city orchestra performances and additional hours for her after school PE class, plus Girl Scouts, church and other clubs. Something has to give and she has picked city orchestra. If it was up to me I’d tell her to stick to it (which I have) because the city orchestra also give a small scholarship to graduating seniors based on how many years they have been in orchestra and she been a member since 6th grade but something has to go and city orchestra is what she has picked. Due to home work and travel time she has almost no time to actually practice for either orchestra!</p>
<p>I not at all concerned about dd getting into OU, I just want to make sure she is as prepared as possible to make the most of her experience there. She is taking AP classes both because she wants to challenge herself and because of financial concerns. If I had known that she was set on OU last year and that the COMP SCI AP test would not count toward college credit for her major at OU even though she got a 5, I wouldn’t have wasted money for the test. </p>
<p>As for enjoying her high school years, she <em>wants</em> to take challenging classes. Her freshman year she was not allowed to take the number of Pre AP classes she wanted (because of lack of ‘academic history’ due to homeschooling) and petitioned the school to change two of her regular classes to pre ap classes at the change of semester. They allowed her to change one of the two requested even though she had high A’s in both classes.</p>
<p>Summers she totally does her own thing, usually Girl Scouts and music camps. The summer before last she went on a 17 day international camp out in Ghana, Africa, this year she is going to Morocco to backpack in the Sahara Desert. This is in addition to volunteering as CIT in resident camp and Program Aid in day camp.</p>
<p>She might not be doing the traditional “fun” things in high school (she loathes pep rallies!) but she is doing the things she wants to do to make her own unique high school experience.</p>
<p>I am only asking if there are things that folks that have ‘been there done that’ have found beneficial or things that they didn’t do that they wish they had. I’m not looking for some sort of cookie cutter recipe for success at OU.</p>
<p>You never know. She could change majors and the Comp Sci test may mean something. We are really happy with the OU choice in that they give quite a bit of credit for good AP scores. S1 will likely start college as a sophomore, or nearly so. Crazy concept to me, but if it keeps his expenses down it is a great thing. </p>
<p>Sounds like your Daughter will be fine. She has spent time away from home sans parents (camps and such) so you have a good idea she can handle herself. Grades and scores are great. I would not sweat her being successful at all.</p>
<p>Wow, your daughter sounds so motivated and musical! I think she’s doing all the right things. Now it makes sense to drop one or two music groups, especially if she doesn’t have time to practice. I can’t think of anything else she might want to do except maybe take a psych class to prepare for an RA position. Maybe she could do a research project on the RA’s job dealing with intense issues like mental health problems, conflict resolution, life/death, gender identity, racism. I’m just remembering what my RA’s dealt with my freshman year.
On the other hand, my son was just motivated enough, didn’t do a lot of extras, and he’s NM and might decide to go to OU. I guess kids just have to be who they are.</p>
<p>Also, especially the summer before Junior year, she needs time to study for the PSAT. My son’s dad really worked with him a lot. Make sure she marks the box on the PSAT test about National Merit. Then double check that it’s been done when she gets the results. If she qualifies, really pay attention to the deadlines. Our son’s HS principal was new, wasn’t familiar with the whole process, and needed to be gently notified of deadlines and helped to know what to do along the way. </p>
<p>3scoutsmom, are you an Oklahoma resident? If so, your daughter’s PSAT is comfortably above OK’s cut-off for NMSF. Her score will likely increase without any preparation, although I would recommend preparing. My daughter is a senior at an OK public high school and will be starting OU in the fall as a NMS. Her 10th grade PSAT was barely above the OK cut-off for that year. Before her junior year PSAT, she spent a few hours with the prep books I purchased focusing on her weakest area (math). Her score went up 19 points. I attribute the increase more to another year of rigorous math education than to preparing; however, greater familiarity with the types of problems will increase speed if nothing else. It sounds like your daughter is well-positioned for a national merit or other large scholarship at OU. It also sounds like she has great ECs and is learning leadership and time-management skills. Congratulations and enjoy her high school years. </p>
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And for goodness sake, don’t let her quit orchestra just to have more time to study. There is so much more to life than studying/grades. Music is something she will carry with her for the rest of her life. High school grades are forgotten before they step foot on a college campus as a freshman. Both of my college kids have friends who did nothing but study and jump through the proverbial hoops in HS and now they regret all they missed out on. Life is short. </p>