<p>If your kid was just starting high school this year, is there anything you would do different regarding their education?</p>
<p>Education? No. Extracurriculars? Yes. I’d have her do more things in her field of interest. </p>
<p>DS’16 just started HS so we are paying more attention to the ECs with him. We have his classes about 90% planned out for all four years.</p>
<p>Crew. All of the schools had athletic scholarships for crew. My kids did really well in academics, and ec’s but the scholarships (merit) weren’t there. The kids who got full rides were in athletics. My kid-4.4 gpa, treasurer, key club, internship in microscopy. Their kid-3.3 gpa, waterpolo, crew, UCLA full ride.</p>
<p>If I could go back. I’d encourage new forms of exercise for my bright/disorganized kid that aged out of the local soccer league but was not hs caliber athelete. Exercise is good for the brain, counterbalancing intense academics.</p>
<p>@aunt bea
My DD’13 is in her 4th year of crew. It owns her 25 hours per week all school year but she is too light (5’6" 112 lbs) to pull hard enough to get recruited by top colleges. Best kids for crew are tall and solid. DD has a regatta this Saturday. </p>
<p>I wish she would have done more clubs like science, writing, and debate through all four years. </p>
<p>My DS’16 is not interested in crew so far. He has other activities.</p>
<p>There are no scholarships for men’s rowing - only women. If you’re a male rower, it might help you get in if you’re going to row in college at a Division I school with a team but you won’t get money for it. That said, it’s a great sport and is something a little different to set them apart from a lot of applicants. My son is rowing for his club team in college (Div I school but it’s only a club sport) and it’s a great way to stay in shape and meet people. </p>
<p>Otherwise - I wish we’d taken advantage of the internship program our school offers for DS11 & DS13.</p>
<p>D2 is a HS senior this year. In retrospect I would have sent her to a completely different high school. Her current school is not a good fit (too small, not academically rigorous enough). Also would have gotten her started in fencing earlier (she played volleyball because her sister did – same reason she went to this high school). Dropped volleyball in 10th grade and switched sports, but wish she had done so sooner.</p>
<p>I’m not clear on the question. Is this a “What would I done differently to get my kid into a top college?” question.</p>
<p>Frankly, I think you give the kid some space. Let them explore widely, make whatever mistakes they are going to make and then figure out what college would be appropriate. </p>
<p>Parenting is about responding you your child’s needs as they mature. Presumably you’ve done fine so far. You’ll figure it out.</p>
<p>Tell your kid freshman year does matter to most colleges. Every point of homework is important, so hand your freaking homework in on time for full credit!!!</p>
<p>qialah:
It is a combination of both. I am curious about what parents may do to get their kids into top colleges, but also what parents of regular kids would have done differently. My daughter was always a handful in high school and never saw the importance of it. She is now in a CC and regularly tells me she wishes she had tried harder in high school. I don’t really know what I could have done differently with her, cause God knows I tried everything. My S is a top notch student. So because I had such a wide difference in my own kids I was curious from both aspects.</p>
<p>Interesting question. S1 and S2 are doing well at colleges that they love, so I wouldn’t change anything.</p>
<p>D is still in high school. What I would like to go back and change for her are a few things that happened before high school. I would have requested a teacher change one year in elementary school. We let it slide for several reasons, but I view that year as a lost year. Fun teacher who was very disorganized. She didn’t learn much in his class. On the other hand, I also would have moved her to a lower level math track earlier. She tested into a GT level track, and we kept her there (she really struggled) for too long. She has been a hard kid to figure out: very bright, very stubborn, and greatly disliked homework as a young child. She has matured, the homework load is no longer an issue, and we found the right mix of classes that challenge her appropriately, but it took awhile!</p>
<p>I have some friends who would do a number of things differently, if only they could. Their kids, now college age, began struggling in different ways when they hit high school (or earlier) and those struggles weren’t addressed, or were misinterpreted. Things that are clear in retrospect were missed or not addressed until they became a huge issue. I’m talking mostly about mental health issues, learning disabilities, ADD… Things that either didn’t begin to show up until puberty or existed in kids who were smart enough that they could compensate until the work load (in either high school or college) overcame their coping skills.</p>
<p>After attending meet the teacher night last night; I would scrape together the funds for a private school with rigorous classes that are not AP classes. I hate hearing teacher after teacher tell me that their major goal is for our kid to pass the AP exam, as if that is the highest and best goal of a high school class.</p>
<p>missypie==passing that test often equates to dollars saved for college or at least a leg up for admissions. I would HOPE that your AP teachers prepare kids to score well on the AP tests. Also, private schools will have AP classes as well.</p>
<p>Well I like our public wayyyyyyyy better…</p>
<p>S1 and D1 - Not choose an expensive private prep when our public is excellent with an array of rigorous classes, great teachers, and higher SATs (and not choose an expensive private college for S1 when our state flagship is awesome…where D1 now attends…S1 graduated from that ridiculously expensive private college already…without a job haha)</p>
<p>D2 - would have never attended the private prep where her two older siblings went…she transferred out after finishing her soph year…I knew from the beginning it was a bad fit when I saw the type of kids taking the entrance exam with her…just not her…</p>
<p>S2 - finally did something right from the beginning with this one…attending our excellent public…boy was I hard headed…but you know what hindsight is like</p>
<p>Either join a club or do an extracurricular activity if they aren’t already. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>The best private schools around here don’t have AP classes because every class is considered rigorous. They don’t have any problem getting kids into good colleges.</p>
<p>My kids attend our suburban public HS. There isn’t anything I would change. My girls were involved in many EC’s, my son not so much, but that was his choice and I would not have been able to change that, he is extremely stubborn.</p>
<p>mamabear1234–do those kids still take the AP tests though? The classes might not be called AP but they still prepare the kids to take the AP tests for those that choose to do so.</p>
<p>I work at a highly sought-after independent school where college admissions is a blood sport. 7 years ago the school dropped all AP courses. The faculty hated teaching to the test and felt that the AP curriculum was too restrictive. They also felt very rushed to get in all the material before early May. Yes, there are plenty of “most rigorous” courses and they are designated as such on the students’ transcripts. This decision has not hurt admissions decisions at all.</p>
<p>The number of students that take the corresponding AP test has dropped quite a bit. The students don’t want to self-study for any AP material that may not have been covered in class. Also, many colleges only using AP results for placement purposes.</p>
<p>What I would have changed has more to do with middle school. D15 had a horrible time in 6th grade. Just wasn’t ready for the many teachers, changing classes, more responsiblity, etc. She went to a small private school for 7th and 8th grade where I felt she’d have more individual help, time to grow up, etc.</p>
<p>To an extent that was true. She was definitely more organized and ready for 9th grade (back in big public school) than she was in 6th. But the private school had a crappy language program. She had to start from scratch in 9th grade, which means she can’t take an honors French class until 11th grade, and will not be able to take AP French. Also, we would have had a better outlook on what level would be appropriate for her in all her classes. Looking back, she should have taken Honors French I and Honors History last year. But we had no way of knowing she’d be ready. </p>
<p>She won’t be taking many honors classes in high school. And no AP. It’s a shame she didn’t take the ones she could have – and should have, but we didn’t know. And the way Biology and Geometry are going this year, it would have been nice to have something to offset those two disasters in the making.</p>
<p>Wished I’d realized how bad the counselors were in giving guidance for college. Thank god for cc. Without the forum I would have felt I was constantly behind figuring things out. </p>
<p>For example, from cc I had my son start filling in the common ap right after it came out in August before school started, before he got busy with classes. Would have been nice if the counselors suggested kids start checking out the common ap during the summer when they left in June so they could become familiar with it instead of students scrambling to figure it out while writing their essays and EC lists in the fall. </p>
<p>The list is endless of all the things they did right before deadlines.</p>