Parents of the Class of 2019

[soccerdad72]

Denver trip went great! We all absolutely loved the DU campus and the presentation they did that day was really good. Now begins the local college tours - at least the Ohio schools within a couple hours of us for comparison. Trying to come up with a short list, but it's hard trying to narrow things down.

Soccer season has unofficially begun (albeit not without some fighting with our son to get moving ). They started a team camp today and it's going to be a long week for him - working from 9am-3pm each day this week, with team camp going from 3pm-8pm (he's going over around 4pm each day). Then scrimmages Saturday and Sunday. Official tryouts begin August 1st.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Denver trip went great! We all absolutely loved the DU campus and the presentation they did that day was really good. Now begins the local college tours - at least the Ohio schools within a couple hours of us for comparison. Trying to come up with a short list, but it's hard trying to narrow things down.

Soccer season has unofficially begun (albeit not without some fighting with our son to get moving ). They started a team camp today and it's going to be a long week for him - working from 9am-3pm each day this week, with team camp going from 3pm-8pm (he's going over around 4pm each day). Then scrimmages Saturday and Sunday. Official tryouts begin August 1st.

That's great! Of course you picked one of our hottest weeks to be here! But you didn't get much rain, so that's also a plus!

DD is off to Boston on her first campus tour at MIT. DH took her and our DS who is going to be a freshman this year back east early to visit his parents and combined that with a visit. She visited a professor that she interviewed for her Biotech class last year yesterday and got a lot of good information on getting ready for college, one big piece of advice the professor had for her was to try and get an internship, and that extra-curriculars were important, so everyone can take that however they like. DH said that DS was really impressed with the tour as well, so maybe this will be a good catalyst for him to get kicking academically! Amazingly enough, DH also said they're really interested in swimmers, which is DD's sport, so she was happy to hear that too. (Now maybe she'll want to train harder too!)

We start school in 3 weeks! I can't believe it's almost here!

 

[laughinplace199]

How do you decide if your kid will take the SAT or ACT? Around here, most people take the SAT, but it seems that the ACT is becoming popular too. Do kids take both and see how they do? I do have one DD who just graduated high school, but we didn't get great guidance from her school as to which test to take and almost everyone in her class took the SAT, as did she. My DS will be a junior this year, so I want to be a little better prepared this time around.

 

[mom2rtk]

How do you decide if your kid will take the SAT or ACT? Around here, most people take the SAT, but it seems that the ACT is becoming popular too. Do kids take both and see how they do? I do have one DD who just graduated high school, but we didn't get great guidance from her school as to which test to take and almost everyone in her class took the SAT, as did she. My DS will be a junior this year, so I want to be a little better prepared this time around.

It tends to be very regional. Around here (midwest) it's all ACT. Nobody takes the SAT unless they are hoping to attend a school in an area of the country that relies heavily on the SAT. Even back in the day (as in decades ago ) I got into a very competitive school with just the ACT.

 

[mjkacmom]

How do you decide if your kid will take the SAT or ACT? Around here, most people take the SAT, but it seems that the ACT is becoming popular too. Do kids take both and see how they do? I do have one DD who just graduated high school, but we didn't get great guidance from her school as to which test to take and almost everyone in her class took the SAT, as did she. My DS will be a junior this year, so I want to be a little better prepared this time around.

Definitely both. Dd21 is my oldest, only took the SAT. Ds19 took both, did better on the ACT. His tutor said that ACT is better for those who excel in math (dd is an accounting major, ds finance, all of my kids do great in math). Dd16 kicked butt on the PSAT's (especially considering she didn't prepare at all), but will be taking both.

 

[Colleen27]

It tends to be very regional. Around here (midwest) it's all ACT. Nobody takes the SAT unless they are hoping to attend a school in an area of the country that relies heavily on the SAT. Even back in the day (as in decades ago ) I got into a very competitive school with just the ACT.

It seems like the SAT has gotten more popular in the midwest than it was when I was in high school. I was one of only a handful of students at my school to take the SAT, but since MI switched to the SAT as the required high school standardized test most kids now seem to take both. All of the schools DD has seriously considered so far accept both for admissions.

 

[mom2rtk]

It seems like the SAT has gotten more popular in the midwest than it was when I was in high school. I was one of only a handful of students at my school to take the SAT, but since MI switched to the SAT as the required high school standardized test most kids now seem to take both. All of the schools DD has seriously considered so far accept both for admissions.

I can see where that would make a difference. My 2 recent college grads both took just the ACT but they stayed in state for school. Our high school offers an ACT prep class as an elective, but not an SAT version.

 

[mjkacmom]

I can see where that would make a difference. My 2 recent college grads both took just the ACT but they stayed in state for school. Our high school offers an ACT prep class as an elective, but not an SAT version.

SAT is more popular here, school only offers SAT prep.

 

[mom2rtk]

SAT is more popular here, school only offers SAT prep.

No doubt. The SAT is much bigger on the coasts. Which is why I said it's regional. This map should help:

http://www.studypoint.com/ed/sat-and-act-test/

 

[soccerdad72]

ACT seems to be more popular around here (Midwest), from what I can tell.

 

[bjscheel]

Yes, that map was interesting. In Iowa, the ACT is king. Their offices are based here. DD took it freshman year because her TAG teacher wanted to see how she would do. She got a 25 with very little prep (I think she looked at the study book on the drive over?). Her English and Reading were very high and math and science quite low. Hoping she can raise a few points this year after having College Algebra and going through practice tests. I'd love for her to hit 28 as that seems the point more merit scholarships kick in.

 

[laughinplace199]

Thanks everyone. I think we will have him take both and see which one he does better on, and go from there.

I just can't believe we're heading down this road again. It seems like we just finished with DD!

 

[mjkacmom]

Yes, that map was interesting. In Iowa, the ACT is king. Their offices are based here. DD took it freshman year because her TAG teacher wanted to see how she would do. She got a 25 with very little prep (I think she looked at the study book on the drive over?). Her English and Reading were very high and math and science quite low. Hoping she can raise a few points this year after having College Algebra and going through practice tests. I'd love for her to hit 28 as that seems the point more merit scholarships kick in.

I think it's 31, ds got 30, he didn't get any merit.

 

[bjscheel]

I think it's 31, ds got 30, he didn't get any merit.

It depends on the college. Most of the ones DD18 looked at had a certain level of scholarship for different ACT scores and 28 was usually top level. DD18 had a 25 too and was offered merit scholarships for that.

 

[Lynne G]

Yep, soccer starts for DD this week too. Not a happy camper. I bet she's not as in as good as shape as she should be. But, looking forward to her Junior year though. Seems to be more and more interested in our local, large state university. I think that would be a good fit. She's leaning toward the medical field, and to get to medical school, our local state university is fine for undergrad. We have a top, well recognized medical school, which is also a state school, so she'd be local for that. Decisions. I asked her if she wanted to be a vet. She said rather work on people. Okay then. We will see if that changes in the next year.

We are definitely all about the SAT.

So nice to see all are ready for back to school. DD doesn't go back until the day after Labor Day. I can't believe it's going to be August tomorrow. The summer has flown by so far.

 

[bjscheel]

We start 8/23. Soccer won't be until spring. DD is a bit bored at home, but she has found quite a few opportunities to get away. August will fly by between All-State Camp, church family camp, moving her sister to college, and the State Fair. She isn't sure if she's excited for the year, I told her she might as well be. The fall play will start soon, so that will be something fun for her to look forward to at the start of school. Currently she is unhappy about some friend drama so I'm hoping that the school year goes reasonably smooth in that department.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I think it's 31, ds got 30, he didn't get any merit.

Amazing how much things have changed. I got a 27 on mine - only 3 of the top 3% of my class scored that high & we each received 100% tuition free scholarships to any University of Missouri campus. That was 90th percentile then, but this was before prep courses were a thing.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Hey, do any of your kids' schools use "Powerschool" for parent communication? And if so, is it easy to use? What do you like and not like about it? I just found out that our school is switching from our old parent portal to that one.

 

[Lynne G]

No Polly. We use Skyward. Hope someone else knows about it.

 

[mom2rtk]

Hey, do any of your kids' schools use "Powerschool" for parent communication? And if so, is it easy to use? What do you like and not like about it? I just found out that our school is switching from our old parent portal to that one.

We've had Powerschool for years here. Honestly though, I don't use it. My kids have though. So if you have questions, let me know and I'll ask them.