From the linked article: "Incest-Fest is, essentially, a campus party where making out and hooking up with as many people as possible is the goal. It gets the “incest†name because the event is open only to residents of Kirkland house–one of Harvard’s undergraduate residences. Thus, students who are living together (as if they were members of the same family, get it?? Incest? So funny, right?) are having sex with one another." I don't think colleges should be sponsoring events encouraging "hook-ups".

I don't know if these Harvard students are "super-gifted", but they have lost their sense of right and wrong: http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/11799

Cash is treated the same as a savings account. Can you put the money in a retirement account? http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1213/help/fotw31cF4c.htm What is your total current balance of cash, savings, and checking accounts? Add the account balances of your (and your spouse’s) cash, savings, and checking accounts.

Many people homeschool because they don't agree with the values taught in school and lived by many of the students. Such homeschoolers, and other concerned parents, should consider what kind of environment their children may be in at college. It's true that no one is forcing your child to behave like the young people in the article, but it also true that young people sometimes emulate their peers, against their better judgement. I live near Boston and know conservative families that have had their children commute to college from home, perhaps to avoid the environment depicted in the article. I probably won't do that with our children, but we'll see.

Here is an article and a blog post on this topic. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/guidance.html ACT vs. SAT By MICHELLE SLATALLA New York Times November 4, 2007 http://educationrealist.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/whats-the-difference-between-the-sat-and-the-act/ What’s the difference between the SAT and the ACT? By educationrealist June 22, 2012

An article http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/boys-on-the-side/309062/ Boys on the Side by Hanna Rosin The Atlantic September 2012 describes the current social environment at some universities . It is not pleasant reading. I want my children to respect others and to respect themselves when they grow up.

Some companies, including those on Wall Street, do ask job applicants for SAT scores . At least on the coasts, the SAT is still a bit more prestigious than the ACT. Everyone knows that an 800 is the top score on a section. Fewer know what the top score on an ACT section is. I think anyone who can score very well on the SAT (which can be determined by taking a practice test) should take it, even if he or she also takes the ACT.

Message below copied from the Davidson Gifted Forum: Just posted on the Davidson Institute website - the brand new guidebook, "Considering Homeschooling: A Guidebook for Investigating an Alternative Path to Education". This guidebook is a valuable tool for parents who are considering homeschooling. Readers will find information on homeschool curriculum, applying to college, cost considerations, networking with other families, homeschool laws and more. Check it out today! http://print.ditd.org/young_scholars/Guidebooks/Homeschool_Guidebook.pdf

How has your daughter prepared so far? There are lots of SAT prep books available. One study http://educationrealist.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/why-chris-hayes-fails/ found that the average SAT score gain for whites from a prep course was only 12.3 points (I think this is a total for all three sections).

You do not need to enroll your child in a talent search to have him take the SAT.

The previous thread I posted here "Which AP exams earn credits at the most colleges?" http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=404729 lead to an interesting but largely off-topic discussion. The College Board has a site "AP credit policy info" http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/apcreditpolicy/index.jsp?AffiliateID=1&BannerID=ba_189785 that links to sites at colleges with relevant information.

A woman wants to make where she lives look like a home. Men are often less particular.

The peak annual earnings of a smart college graduate may be $100K/year, so graduating from college X years early could mean $100K * X increased lifetime earnings. Other factors, such as sports participation (as the OP mentioned) or simply the pleasure of having your children at home with you should also be considered, of course. Yes, one can study college-level subjects at home, but once you get beyond the AP level, colleges usually will not give you any credit for such study.

I think the whole idea of "parent orientation" is strange, since they are not the ones going to college. Universities overspend on administrators who have too much time on their hands and do unnecessary things.

I think the report is interesting, but many of the things wrong with the for-profits are also wrong, if to a lesser extent, with the so-called "non-profits". I use scare quotes around "non-profit" when such institutions have been raising tuition and fees faster than inflation and family income for decades. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/education/harkin-report-condemns-for-profit-colleges.html Senate Committee Report on For-Profit Colleges Condemns Costs and Practices By TAMAR LEWIN New York Times July 29, 2012

More work for you, but when you assign reading, specify the page numbers for more than one edition, and when you assign problems, give the problem numbers for multiple editions. You need to check if the readings and problems you assign in the new edition are also present in an older edition.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/07/08/education/edlife/8edlife_chart.html Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid (interactive table) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/education/edlife/a-rise-in-students-receiving-merit-awards.html Help for the Not So Needy By CHRISTOPHER DREW July 17, 2012 ... Consider this run-through of the federal financial-aid form: a family making $75,000 a year might have to pay about $10,000 a year toward the cost of college before qualifying for need-based aid. With income of $150,000, the expected family contribution is $35,000 to $40,000. Student loans loom. “We certainly have found that with the recession in recent years, many middle-income families and even some higher-income families are looking for more aid,†says Earl D. Retif, vice president for enrollment management at Tulane University in New Orleans. Rather than lose bright students to less-expensive public colleges, universities like Tulane offer sizable amounts of aid based mainly on academic promise. While there are no national statistics post-recession, an Education Department study released last fall showed that the percentage of students receiving merit aid grew so rapidly from 1995 to 2008 that it rivaled the number of students receiving need-based aid. Recent College Board data from more than 600 nonprofit colleges and universities show that some are giving fewer students more money or stretching their dollars by handing smaller amounts to more students. But others are expanding the number of recipients as well as the amount of their awards. “Merit aid is one of the few bright lights in college financing now,†says Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder, a college counselor in Lancaster, Pa., whose new book is titled “The New College Reality: Make College Work for Your Career.†She describes how students are allowed to fall in love with a campus, and only later do parents figure out how they will pay for it, if they can. She advises putting financials in the forefront, sprinkling schools that offer generous merit aid on your college wish list. “Consider the schools that will want you,†she says. “That’s how you will uncover the best deals.†...

Suppose someone has the discipline to use Adderall only rarely and on high-stakes situations, such as taking the SAT or a final exam. Other than it being illegal, why is taking it worse than using caffeine? I have never used the drug.

About 20 years I graduated from college in 3 years because I was given "sophomore standing", based on 5's on 3 AP exams, one of them being U.S. History.

Which AP exams are most widely recognized by colleges in terms of getting college credits? There is a list at http://about.myedu.com/data-and-infographs/2011/3/22/top-10-ap-classes-most-widely-accepted-at-colleges-and-unive.html , but I don't know how they arrived at the numbers. My guess is that high scores on the older, single-discipline exams, such as calculus, physics, or U.S. History are more likely to earn credit than high scores on newer, inter-disciplinary subjects such as environment science of human geography. The College Board has online data on how many students take each exam, which is likely correlated to widely accepted the exam is accepted by colleges.

You are probably right about most students, but a 1995 (1999?) study http://epgy.stanford.edu/research/computer.pdf Raymond Ravaglia, J. Acacio de Barros, and Patrick Suppes. Computer-based advanced placement physics for gifted students. Computers in Physics, 9, pp. 380-386, 1995. found that most gifted students who got a 4 or 5 on AP Calculus AB or BC could get a passing score on AP Physics C (Mechanics) after taking an online EPGY course.

This packet of pre-calculus problems (with solutions) may be useful summer review for students taking calculus in the fall. http://www.harrisonhigh.org/_pdf/CalculusAB_PrerequisitePacket.pdf 'Students need a strong foundation to be ready for the rigorous work required throughout the term. Completing the prerequisite packet should prepare you for the material to be taught in the course. This packet consists of material studied during Algebra II and Analysis. Students should anticipate working approximately 10 hours to complete it properly. This packet includes • A copy of the first chapter of your textbook. Please return it in good condition at the beginning of the semester. This chapter should be used to complete the problem set from the book and as a reference if you need help on the additional problem set. • An acknowledgement of receipt of the prerequisite packet. • A “Toolkit of Functionsâ€; you should be familiar with each of the graphs. • A formula and identities section. These are for your reference and do not need to be memorized at this time. • A unit circle template with which to practice your unit circle. • A list of skills that you will need for AP Calculus. If you feel you are weak in any of the areas, let us know and we will be glad to help you. • Calculus Prerequisite Problems, please show all work. Answers are provided at the end of the packet.' Many past AP questions and solutions are at http://staff.4j.lane.edu/~windom/AP/ .

This article on frats at Dartmouth was very disturbing. It was also discussed at http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/129246/Dartmouth_fraternities.html#Post129246 . http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/confessions-of-an-ivy-league-frat-boy-inside-dartmouths-hazing-abuses-20120328 Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy: Inside Dartmouth's Hazing Abuses by Janet Reitman Rolling Stone March 28, 2012 2:05 PM ET

Have any homeschooled students studied popular culture, especially music, in an organized way? A list of courses on rock music at Indiana University http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/courses/rock/ illustrates what I have in mind. Such a course should not take time away from core academic subjects, and I would be reluctant to pay college tuition for it. But I would also like my children to appreciate popular music before their time. Many teens just listen to what is currently popular, even if it is no good.

Does anyone use this series? There are ten volumes in the Cambridge Introduction to World History, written by Trevor Cairns: The Coming of Civilization The Romans and their Empire Barbarians, Christians, and Muslims The Middle Ages Europe finds the World Renaissance and Reformation Monarchs and Revolutions Power for the People The World Europe Shaped The Twentieth Century The book on the Romans is the only one I have, published in 1970 and 96 pages long, with color pictures. I think it's interesting. Amazon says it is for ages 11 and up.