No particular order - Lands End LL Bean Talbots Coldwater Creek I get emails from each of them, free shipping, twofers, etc.

:iagree:

Here's a discussion on College Confidential - I thought #8 by "Marian" was particularly insightful -

Wow. THANK YOU for posting this, Tracy! Her theology and her faith are amazing.

Read number 6.

You get to choose actual tests from previous test dates, but not the current one, if you are sending in conjunction with an actual test. If you send one of the 4 free you must include all of the tests for that particular sitting. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm talking through a drum this morning. :(

I think what you are doing is perfect. You are in an area with lots of good options (sigh, trying not to be jealous) and she can narrow down what she wants (not necessarily THE specific colleges) by looking at things slowly and as you are in the neighborhood. We've done some of the same thing, only substitute dance for swim :) I *made* my dd look at Stanford when we were in California for dance, she was pleasantly surprised (but it still lacks some things on her list) and it confirmed other things on her list. I'm a bit confused by your comment comparing with the lists on this board - is her list more selective? If she finds something now that is attractive and she's willing to lay out a plan to get there, she'll be in much better shape two years from now, when she actually begins the application process. :)

I would take her to the bookstore and spend some time (30 minutes or longer) perusing the test prep books. Have her find one (or more) that she will actually read :) Then plan for test prep every day till the test. Have her take multiple practice tests, using a timer if you have one.

quote=Janice in NJ;963894] Does it make sense to try to improve his score by signing up today to take the test again in two weeks? For some reason the college board has extended the registration deadline - probably because of the whole swine flu thing. /QUOTE] Nah, College Board just wants to get more of your money :lol: I don't know how to multi-quote but I wanted to address your PSAT concern - the subject tests and PSAT/SAT address two very different areas. I wouldn't let your "concern" over his subject test score interfere with your excitement over his PSAT score. Now as to whether a 700 is a good score - the answer, of course, is "it depends." What colleges is he looking at? Are you hoping to get scholarships? Is he interested in the sciences? If the answer to these two questions is yes, he might consider retaking it. Otherwise I would say it's a very good score Was this his first subject test? FWIW my dd has taken 4 subject tests and her first one was her lowest score, her most recent one was her highest. Sometimes just getting the rhythm and feel of how the tests are, can be helpful. She's been at the testing school 3x now (including her reasoning test) and the place has become happily predictable to her :) I would look at the websites for some of the colleges he's considering and try to glean what their accepted scores are. Try to find their Common Data Set (it's sometimes called something else but the name escapes me). And the SATs - of which the subject tests are only a subset - are only a piece of the puzzle that admissions people use. It seems more colleges are going toward what they call a "holistic" approach (if I had a dime for every time I've read or heard that word, I could pay my dd's college education ) - anyway, they look at extracurriculars, recommendations, grades, etc. Some schools even place a high priority on "demonstrated interest" - i.e. did you visit the school Again the priority on each item is covered in the Common Data Set. Some schools don't even require SAT subject tests. Is your son a junior? It sounds to me like he's a sophomore - in which case, he has all next year to take or re-take SAT subject tests (they're offered about 6x per year). I don't think I would pay a late fee and have him try to scramble to re-take it in 2 weeks. Enjoy the fiber optics kit, breathe, and think things through before you decide your next step.

FWIW My dh wouldn't be with his company (last 18 years) without it.

How close is your dh to finishing school? (Sorry if I have missed this somewhere). What are his long term plans career-wise? One other thought to throw into the mix - your children are very young now, your thoughts might change as they get older re: homeschooling. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of our journey and I'm sad for the limited time I have left :( Have you considered teaching online classes? I don't know whether it's too late for next year - most places probably already have their schedules set for next year.

I asked my dd about this (she's the queen of test prep) - her response was, test prep isn't going to get you beyond your natural ability, what it did for her (in her opinion) was help her reach her natural ability and give her the best odds of doing well.

How fun! I'm on a Dickens kick at the moment so I may be more interested in this than the rest of my family ;)

Barrons has a reputation for being MUCH harder than the actual test. Congratulations!! That must be really encouraging. If he's taking the PSAT in October, I wouldn't do too much this summer, maybe read some sections of a prep book *if he wants to do it.* I would start in early Sept. to have him do a few more practice tests, read some strategy tips, incorporate what works for him ;) and throw out the rest. I would take him to a bookstore and find the book(s) that work for him. My dd learned early on that Barrons was beyond her and she couldn't even make sense of what they were trying to say ;) so for her, Princeton Review worked the best, with Barrons or Sparknotes to possibly fill in the gaps. My dd found little things worked to help ease her nerves during tests - for her, it was having her hair totally out of her face, having TONS of super sharp pencils, and having a sweater in her backpack :)

I think UNT would be her best bet, it's in Denton about 45 minutes north of Dallas.

My dd hasn't taken the AP foreign language yet. She felt the SAT French was the hardest SAT subject test she's taken (she's also done Lit, Math and Chemistry).

Yes, each SAT subject test is ~ an hour. The AP for foreign language is ~ 3 hours, and the student might be in the test center longer depending on how many students are taking it, because of the speaking audio prompts. This year the French exam had a fiasco with the listening part, I believe the timing was off so it moved too quickly. Students have the option to retake the test at a later date.

Yes, if you have a B&N or Borders (or some other large-ish bookstore) nearby, I suggest spending a chunk of time in their test-prep section. You'll see where a good chunk of my dh's paycheck has gone this last year :lol: Between SAT, SAT subject tests, and APs, I've bought 12 test prep books since September - for one student. But as of today, she's done till she takes more SAT subject tests in October.:001_huh:

My dd is doing English Lit online at Scholars Online and plans to continue with American Lit next year. Dr. McM is a really good facilitator. I know he has some summer classes, maybe Shakespeare? They're not doing that much writing though - there is a separate class the student can do for that. http://www.scholarsonline.org/Info/index.php

Actually my dd found her prep work helped to solidify what she had learned, particularly for science and math - maybe the prep book summarized it differently than her textbook or clarified it better.

Thanks! I'm not intending that they necessarily hold onto the report - really just to indicate that she's interested :) I read somewhere the student could indicate only one college. If my dd could come up with 4 schools where she's mildly interested, I'd be doing cartwheels ;)

The Homeschool Library http://www.thehomeschoollibrary.com/index.php

Got it, thanks Gwen. :)

I took the ACT cold. Agreeing that our students live in a different world. My dd compared prepping to practicing piano or dance - it gives her the best odds of doing her best on the actual test day. She took the PSAT as a sophomore "cold" and did very well, which convinced us with a little studying she could be within range of Natl Merit when she took it as a junior. She's discovered other little things as she's done practice tests - last week she discovered she wanted her hair totally pulled back (she generally wears a headband). So sometimes it's the little things.... ;)

We have watched Alg 1 and 2 and Geometry, the Geometry teacher is the best teacher among the 3. He does a good job of summarizing and explaining concepts. We watched each set at the end of that particular math course, as a sort of review. I wouldn't use them as a full blown course though :)