Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[punkin]

Not how I would ever want to spend my summer but whatever floats your boat.

That's funny. My niece is planning to spend her summer in an intensive writing program. I am assuming she'll get in since she got in last year. I would rather have died than do that at her age. She's dying to go.

 

[IDoDis]

Wait, what?!?
You get a discount for Honor Roll?!?
I need to call our insurance and see if they do that!!!

Yes, definitely ask about a good student discount. I have to send them his transcript and had to do the same thing for DD. They only asked for it once when we first added DD, but some insurance companies might want transcripts each semester.

 

[mamacatnv]

DD's first SAT score is in from the January sitting
Her overall 1790
Now I am trying to decipher what that really means

 

[aprilgail]

That's funny. My niece is planning to spend her summer in an intensive writing program. I am assuming she'll get in since she got in last year. I would rather have died than do that at her age. She's dying to go.

Where is she taking that? My friends son applied for the Harvard program a few years back and was turned down (he was valedictorian in his class!) so my daughter panicked a bit and applied to another college too just in case. She applied to Brown in Rhode Island and she heard from them this morning and she got in. We are still waiting on the decision from Harvard though because she would prefer to go there if they accept her.

 

[AustinTink]

DD's first SAT score is in from the January sitting
Her overall 1790
Now I am trying to decipher what that really means

That was the last of the "old test" on the 2400 scale right?

My DS is taking the new one soon. We shall see how that goes.

 

[punkin]

Where is she taking that? My friends son applied for the Harvard program a few years back and was turned down (he was valedictorian in his class!) so my daughter panicked a bit and applied to another college too just in case. She applied to Brown in Rhode Island and she heard from them this morning and she got in. We are still waiting on the decision from Harvard though because she would prefer to go there if they accept her.

She applied to the UVa program. She was there last summer and absolutely loved it.

 

[Tinijocaro]

DS just got his third and final SAT scores. With superscore, he's at a 2250. This time around he got a perfect in math but his reading went down quite a bit, not sure why since his reading on the first test was a 730. He beat out my other son by 20 points so I'm hoping that means some good scholarship money.

He will take the ACT's soon.

 

[AustinTink]

DS just got his third and final SAT scores. With superscore, he's at a 2250. This time around he got a perfect in math but his reading went down quite a bit, not sure why since his reading on the first test was a 730. He beat out my other son by 20 points so I'm hoping that means some good scholarship money.

He will take the ACT's soon.

Wow, he has taken it three times already? My kid is taking it for the first time soon.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Wow, he has taken it three times already? My kid is taking it for the first time soon.

Don't worry…my DD is taking it for the first time next month too. Some of the big universities where we live will not take the old SAT for the class of 2017, so we had to wait for the new SAT.

DD is struggling with AP Chem. I found a tutor today…finally! I'm hoping we can get that C+ up to B range.

 

[AustinTink]

Don't worry…my DD is taking it for the first time next month too. Some of the big universities where we live will not take the old SAT for the class of 2017, so we had to wait for the new SAT.

DD is struggling with AP Chem. I found a tutor today…finally! I'm hoping we can get that C+ up to B range.

Ok, I feel better. He did take the ACT, but the first SAT is coming up. AP Chem was a toughie for my kid too. This year, AP Physics is kicking his butt. He has really had to knuckle down and work hard. Same teacher both years. A brand new teacher fresh out of college who has never taught before... teaching AP classes! Oh brother!

 

[robinb]

What is it with physics teachers? My DD is taking advanced physics (like honors, but not AP) and her teacher has warped the grading scale so students need a 96% to get an 'A' but can get a 'B' all the way down to 76%. It leaves no motivation for my DD to try to get an 'A' whatsoever since a 96% is pretty much out of her reach with everything else she has. A 90% would be doable but since she can coast through and still get a 'B' that's what she's doing. It bugs me that she doesn't try harder, but it's really the best option for her to concentrate on classes that she can get an 'A' on with that added effort instead of a high 'B' in physics that looked exactly the same on her transcript as the middle to low 'B'.

 

[AustinTink]

What is it with physics teachers? My DD is taking advanced physics (like honors, but not AP) and her teacher has warped the grading scale so students need a 96% to get an 'A' but can get a 'B' all the way down to 76%. It leaves no motivation for my DD to try to get an 'A' whatsoever since a 96% is pretty much out of her reach with everything else she has. A 90% would be doable but since she can coast through and still get a 'B' that's what she's doing. It bugs me that she doesn't try harder, but it's really the best option for her to concentrate on classes that she can get an 'A' on with that added effort instead of a high 'B' in physics that looked exactly the same on her transcript as the middle to low 'B'.

That's crazy. I've never heard of that type of grading scale. This B in Physics might be what keeps my kid out of his dream school.

 

[aprilgail]

Ok, I feel better. He did take the ACT, but the first SAT is coming up. AP Chem was a toughie for my kid too. This year, AP Physics is kicking his butt. He has really had to knuckle down and work hard. Same teacher both years. A brand new teacher fresh out of college who has never taught before... teaching AP classes! Oh brother!

Ap Chem was tough but AP Physics is kicking my daughters butt! Its really tough class! She LOVED AP bio in 9th grade but physics she hates! Her teacher is a bit odd, won't look any of them in the eye and talks about his cats a lot LOL. I tried to get him to look me in the eye at parent teacher conference but couldn't make that happen.

 

[IDoDis]

I think some of these AP teachers are professor wannabes and make the classes harder than college. My DD had one of those in high schoo for AP Psych. He gave a 100 question test every 2 weeks and DD got an F on her first paper and a C on the rewrite, yet he didn't make one single comment on the paper and it looked great to me. This was a straight A top 3% in her class student. When she talked with him after class to ask how she could improve her grade he was very pompous and gave her the title of some intellectual book to read. She dropped the class, took intro to psych her first semester of college and got an A+. She is minoring in psychology and said they are the easiest classes on her schedule each semester. So why was there way more work and unnecessary stress when she took it as a senior in high school? It was much more difficult than the college psych courses she's had.

 

[robinb]

I think some of these AP teachers are professor wannabes and make the classes harder than college.

My DD had a teacher like that in freshman year honors US history. She was teaching 13 and 14 year olds like they were in college. She was a GREAT teacher and really engaged the students and my DD loved the class but when it came to testing she chewed kids up and spit them out. It was like Jekyll and Hyde or Good Teacher/Bad teacher. I met with her twice to see how my DD could raise her grade and the teacher offered zero help and turned everything back on my DD. My DD had to study more, etc. My DD studied for hours and hours and hours for that class ... probably twice as much as her other classes. The teacher would provide a 2 sided single spaced study guide of possible topics on the tests and then ask questions on something else. I had a feeling that my DD just had to learn to give the teacher what she wanted but the teacher was unwilling to communicate that with my DD. She didn't even agree to go over the tests and point out how my DD had gone wrong. My DD got a "C" in the semester she had her ACL surgery and was out for 2 weeks with no accommodations as her other teachers gave her.

I complained to the head of the department because I wanted to let him know that instead of installing a love of history this teacher was discouraging the students with her over the top expectations. It wasn't the first time he had a complaint about her. It really soured my DD for history and she dropped from honors history to regular World History the next year which was a complete joke. Her teacher was glad that he had a smart kid in his class that was not disruptive and she got "A"s easily. Thankfully he encouraged her to retry honors history and she took Honors Modern US History last semester with the head of the department. I was nervous that he would prejudge her by her freshman year and my complaints but he did not when I met with him he was very enthusiastic about her. She loved the class and got an "A".

 

[aprilgail]

I think some of these AP teachers are professor wannabes and make the classes harder than college. My DD had one of those in high schoo for AP Psych. He gave a 100 question test every 2 weeks and DD got an F on her first paper and a C on the rewrite, yet he didn't make one single comment on the paper and it looked great to me. This was a straight A top 3% in her class student. When she talked with him after class to ask how she could improve her grade he was very pompous and gave her the title of some intellectual book to read. She dropped the class, took intro to psych her first semester of college and got an A+. She is minoring in psychology and said they are the easiest classes on her schedule each semester. So why was there way more work and unnecessary stress when she took it as a senior in high school? It was much more difficult than the college psych courses she's had.

I totally agree! My brother is a history teacher and he says my daughter got more homework in 8th grade than he did in college. She took pre-AP social studies and it was brutal- she was 12 years old and the teacher was teaching them like they were college students. The homework was insane, hours upon hours- all the parents of kids I knew in that class all complained about the same thing! Teachers attitude was they can drop the class if they don't want to dedicate hours every evening to the homework and 1 day per weekend for projects- "its a college level course so they should expect college level homework"- it was EIGHTH grade buddy, NOT college or even AP---it was PRE AP!

 

[Poohforyou]

I guess it just shows how different schools and kids can be. My DD has enjoyed her AP classes much more than her regular or honor level ones. She really enjoys class discussion and learns a lot from them. In her AP classes the work is more long term projects, papers or tests vs daily or weekly homework. Class time is all about discussion. She's having her best year this year with having 1/2 her classes AP level.

To me it's a reward for her having all the really tough teachers last year.

 

[bjscheel]

DD took the ACT on 2/6 and I had an email that her scores were online already yesterday. She had a goal and she got it exactly so she was happy. She'll probably do it again in the fall.

She really likes working on her project (a large portrait of her sister) in Art TAG, but is a little disheartened by her teacher. DD shows her the hand and foot studies she drew, or her latest progress on the portrait and really all she does is point out flaws or say "hmm". Really never anything good or encouraging to say! DD14 took Jewelry last semester and says in a normal class she's nice and encouraging to the students, so I figure she thinks for TAG she has to be tough? DD is just shrugging it off. She had her old art teacher (who never taught anyone anything) in as a sub one day and it was nice to hear some good words from him at least.

The choir concert next week is Disney themed! The girls are anxious though because they not near ready. They haven't even had try-outs for the solo in Touch the Sky. They thought they would be one day, so DD17 wore her Merida shirt (and she has her own curly red hair) so he would be sure to consider her . It didn't happen that day, but they did have the opportunity to educate the teacher on Brave, who after going through the song said, "This is a good song. I'll have to watch Tangled some time." So now he knows what Merida looks like and the basic storyline

 

[mamacatnv]

That was the last of the "old test" on the 2400 scale right?

My DS is taking the new one soon. We shall see how that goes.

Yes, the old scale - it was her first time and she has had no prep.
She will be taking the new one as well and also the ACT.
I was talking to a friend of mine who is the head of admissions at a University, she said they are all interested to see how the new SAT will present.

Wow, your son's scores are excellent! Good for him

 

[mamacatnv]

My DD loves Physics, she really loves the teacher, now her IB English class is a wholenother matter. Fairly new (young) teacher with this being her first year in IB - its not going well, she takes weeks to post grades, does not respond to student emails and is not timely in responding to parent emails when their kids are frustrated due to her lack of response.

DD is contemplating dropping out of the IB program down into the AP - we have no issue, the IB is a huge commitment/workload and frankly, with everything else that goes on in high school we want her to enjoy things besides homework.
She is on the fence and has until at least May to decide. Meanwhile, she has maintained her grades she is just worn out and really doesn't want to do another year. Can't say I blame her.