That's good to hear. Thank you!

yvonne, how are you handling that December 2 score? DS is also taking a subject test on December 2, and I was hoping to be able to see it before it is sent to the school. However, at least one of the schools says they accept the December scores, but that you have to list them when you register as one of the schools to receive scores. So we would be sending it blind. I am just curious if it is sufficient to pay for rush/priority sending after receiving the score to still get it there by January 1.

I'm sorry. I am feeling similarly worried. First child! If only I could have had a practice run with this! :grouphug:

Can you double major in physics and engineering? Even if it took you an extra semester or two, is this possible? At some schools, they are in different colleges, and you have to apply to one or the other. At others, you just apply to the school.

So very cool! Congrats to your DD!!! :hurray: :hurray:

Thanks, all. I guess I am worried that, although they don't require it, they will still see it, and it might impact their opinion. DS has to send that score because that was his highest math score of the two times he took the SAT.

Congratulations! That's awesome! Thank you for sharing your journey here. I wish I had been sooner to get on top of this with DS1. I think there is a real misperception that scoring well on these tests is a matter of intelligence. I mean I think people say they know that it's not, but on a subconscious level, we still think it. But it really is so much about timing and practice. To be honest, I don't know why the thing is even timed at all! Or why they aren't just a little more generous with time. Does the timing really separate out people with greater abilities? Why does it matter if it takes you 30 seconds to solve a problem or 60 seconds? Is the person who can solve it in 30 seconds smarter? I'm not convinced. I'm not saying they should give you all day, but in reality, what does the high pressure of the timing tell us? I'm not convinced that the person who can do it quicker is somehow more talented or smart.

I am sure the answer to this varies depending on the school, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this. For schools that do not require the essay, how do you think they view a score on the essay if you do take it and send it? Would they just not even look at it at all? Would they look at, but maybe not consider it that much? Basically what I am trying to ask is, could a poor score on the essay affect your chances at a school that doesn't even require the essay, simply because you had to send it to them for them to see your best score on the other sections? This is not really a question that you want to call the admissions office and ask them. But, at the same time, how can you know?

Thanks, all. It was an unfortunate turn of events, but it is what it is. He is thinking about trying to take the ACT instead, since there is still time to get that in. He can't fit in another SAT because he has to take subject tests in December. Is it reasonable to think he could prep for subject tests and the ACT in one month, having never done any ACT-specific prep before?

For those who have experience with both, what is your opinion on which is more difficult? I know that many say one or the other isn't harder, they are just different, but I really just want to know your opinion. I am especially curious about the SAT essay vs the writing component on the ACT. Do you think one is innately easier to prep for and get to what they are looking for? Just curious for opinions. I understand this will vary widely from person to person.

Ugh. I don't know what to do. DS (a senior) was supposed to take the SAT again tomorrow morning, and he was really hoping to bring his math score up. However, he is really sick and not sleeping well. I will wait and see how he is, but if his fever is down by then, I don't know whether to encourage him to push through and take it, or to just stick with the score he has. He can't take it again in December because he needs to take a subject test. I wish we had done these earlier and gotten them out of the way. If he takes it and is feeling really bad, and gets a worse score, would that be worse than just not taking it again at all?

This topic is on my mind now as DS applies to colleges. I don't think there is an easy answer. There are many qualified applicants for a finite number of spots.

The SAT essay is not required for most of the schools where DS is applying. However, there is one school that he is interested in that asks for it, so he is going to take it (THIS Saturday!) just to see. He has not done much prep for it, though. What is your best resource for something we could work through in a few hours to at least give him a good base for knowing how to tackle the essay and what they are looking for when they evaluate? Thanks for any recommendations!

I agree with Kathy about it being good to have a year of Calc under their belt before tackling Physics C. My son did not do it that way, but in retrospect it would have been better if he had. My son took Calc AB concurrently with both Physics C courses, with PAHS. While I don't think it was bad, it probably would have been a better fit to have started Calc a year earlier. It was not really an issue for Mechanics, but it definitely was an issue for E&M. There was Calc needed for E&M that they hadn't learned yet, so in addition to learning a lot of new Physics and Calculus material, he had to also learn some additional Calc outside of class that wasn't even being covered in Calc AB. I just wish I had known that going into it. Well, actually, I wish I had known that further in advance, like at the beginning of high school when we were laying all of that out.

:grouphug:

Would you add course descriptions to the Common App, even if none of the schools to which your student is applying has that listed in their requirements? Do you think most admissions offices want to see these from homeschoolers anyway? How descriptive do you need to get? We had a couple of subjects where we didn't follow a specific curriculum, but rather took a more eclectic approach to studying.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of that! That is very helpful!

So do we need to create a separate account as a counselor? Ugh, I am so worried I am going to mess this up!! :confused1:

I definitely see your point and understand why some people would decide to just not apply to a school where that was the case. However, I just meant that you really don't know what you might get in the end, if you might get additional merit aid for example, or a certain scholarship. So, if you really liked the school and thought it was a really great fit in every other way, I think it is also a reasonable option to still apply and see what happens.

I guess from everything I've read so far, there just isn't a 100% accurate way to know for sure what the student might get in terms of financial aid. It seems to vary so much. I have read people who said their package was exactly what they expected based on the NPC, and others who have said it was much lower or higher than they expected. I know different people have different opinions on the topic, but I don't think it is an unreasonable prospect to apply to places that might be out of reach financially based on the ticket price and see what happens, if the student really thinks the school would be a good fit. I always think it is good to have options. I do agree though that it's a great idea to be sure that you have some academic AND financial safeties (or at least one) where the student feels they would be happy. It can be hard to find though.

I am struggling a bit with this. How much to turn over and how much to still stay in the loop on. I want a system where I can see what is being done for the outsourced classes and can add in the classes we are doing together. Maybe instead I should just give him the schedule for our homegrown classes and let him add to his own preferred method of planning.

I feel like this might be true for students in a b&m school, but I think that the more selective schools will look at the AP score more for homeschoolers. I tend to think that homeschoolers probably have their scores taken into account a bit more.

I'm sorry, OP! I knew about this only because I had a friend whose son wanted to enter PS in 10th grade, and they made him start at 9th. It didn't turn out to be a big deal for him because he was young for his grade anyway, so in the end it worked out. Maybe you can look into private schools or even a junior college for a year? Here we have junior colleges that are sort of like community colleges that offer two-year degrees, but they have sports teams. Some of them are actually really good, competitive teams, too. Or look for local community sports. We have all kinds of sports here that aren't affiliated with schools, everything from rec level to more competitive than the high school leagues. Good luck!

DS is still assembling his list, too. It is hard! I feel clueless and worry that we are going to miss something. DS has five on the definite list right now, but another 15 still on the Maybe list. They are all great schools that I think he could get a lot out of, so it's hard to narrow it down. Also, not knowing what you might get financially complicates the generation of the list. I feel like we need to explore some more financial safeties, but I don't know where to start with that.

This makes me a little nervous, because I was also planning to do the transcript by subject and not by year. I will have to rethink it. I don't want to derail your thread, just responding that my DS also took a more zig zag approach to math. He jumped ahead in some areas, and then circled back around, and ultimately got everything in, just not always in the linear way it would have happened had he been in a brick and mortar school.