Younger ds is in China doing study-abroad research (gotta love Skype) and older ds is finishing up a paper that he will be presenting at an aerospace conference in June. Heady stuff for him. A lot of hieroglyphics for mom. Then off to the first "real" job at NASA. A dream come true for a guy who was launching Estes rockets in the back yard seemingly only a minute ago . . . This is the one that gets to me --> 100 Years. Always wondered how actors cry on stage. This answers it for me.

What about seeing if your ds could be the TA or lab assistant for the class? That's what ds2 did for chemistry one year. He loved helping the instructor with the labs (got there early, carried things in, set up the labs, helped "teach" them). He also fielded questions from his friends who needed help with homework. The instructor gave him as much as he was willing to do. It was a wonderful experience. Ds reinforced what he had studied, gained confidence, and added TA-ing to his high school "resume" (rather than listing it as a class on the transcript). He continued with his other science class, in addition to TA-ing. Good luck with your choices! :)

Does your son have a friend or two who would be interested in test prep? The very best test prep that we did in high school involved my ds working with two friends. I stewarded it, but they took practice tests together and then we talked through the answers/rationales. They explained the "whys" to each other and we ended up going over more "right answers" than we normally would have. Understanding the rationale for the right answers can be benefical--especially if you have to explain/teach them to someone else. It kept the guys accountable and made the prep time more fun. Good luck. Test prep is definitely worth it in our experience--especially if you have a student who is motivated, but just needs a bit of help staying on track. :)

I'm afraid I would not be as gracious as some who have posted responses. Boy, I think I would make it crystal clear that I do not appreciate any put downs. They can think it and talk it to others all they want. But not to this momma bear. <_< Tell them to go read Outliers. And watch "Shift Happens." We are training kids for jobs that did not even exist a few years ago.

:iagree: I write lots of letters of rec, and I think this is excellent advice. She should ask now if the potential recommender would be willing to write a rec--and indicate that she will follow up in the summer or fall when she has all the details (the schools/scholarships and their links/forms). Aim to give no less than 4-6 weeks notice before the first deadline. As others have suggested: don't ask for generic letters of rec or for recs to be given to you directly. Schools and scholarship organizations have very different questions and requests for specific feedback from recommenders. Usually there are online or hard-copy forms to complete, so there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation.

There is no minimum score requirement. :) Your student must take a standardized achievement test once a year, and you will keep that in your records.

A number of years ago when my scienc-y DS1 took the ACT for the first time he was livid with the test and his score. He flew out of the school where he was testing and huffed and puffed that the "Science" test wasn't really testing what students know about science. He and I both learned a lot about that part of the ACT: it's more about learning to reading charts and interpret data and do it really, really fast. Here is a link to a series of videos that helped DS1: Super Magnet Man. Good luck! I hope these are helpful. :001_smile: edit: haha, regentrude beat me to it.

:iagree: and hope that might be some small stress reliever. So sorry. Once all the acceptances are in, crossing finish line will be sweet! ;)

Wow! Congrats to your whole family! :thumbup1:

Super point! Here's the 2015 schedule: AP Exam Test Dates.

AP English Language + AP US History (APUSH). ;) The DBQ in APUSH and the synthesis essay in Lang match up well. Also, the other Lang prompts often have a history/philosphy slant to them. I would have a hard time justifying two AP history classes in the same year. AP Euro and World are huge. Tremendously time consuming--and something would have to give in the other subject areas. Unless you have a real history aficionado, I would spread the history APs out to one per year. Just my couple-a cents. :)

So true! For my two, the "scholars program" dorm was way-yucky! My guys had to usher me out because I was hyperventilating. (They didn't care though! It looked just fine to them--> independence casts a warm aura, haha) It didn't take me long to wise up, though. Go for the less-than-stellar honors dorm. There is plenty of fun there. And guys (gals may feel differently) DON'T CARE that the dorm has peeling paint and doesn't look like a Hampton Inn. Lots of other dorms take fun to an extreme. ;) Honors dorms --> Fun+study=success!

:iagree: I have had two who have gone through scholarship interviews and my one piece of advice: practice. (Maybe not this soon--but when the time draws near.) Have your son practice first with you--and then with a couple of friends/colleagues. It was surprising to us how our first son (extroverted) stumbled and bumbled his way through simple questions like: why did you homeschool? He was often stumped on basic/expected/typical questions. And in other cases I had to restrain myself from blurting out: "you just can't say that!" :w00t: So create a list of questions and in a comfortable setting have him respond to typical interview-ish questions. Then I would suggest that he do the same thing with a couple of other adults who will give him sincere feedback--from the simple: you need to make eye contact--and you need to not fidget, to "your response was hard to understand" or "I interpreted your answer to be a bit arrogant, even though you didn't mean it that way . . ." Practice helped my two a lot! You cannot make a reserved person someone he's not--and scholarship interviewers are not looking just for extroverts. But you can help a reserved student be more at ease--and then his wit and wisdom will have more of a chance to shine through. Very best of luck to you and your son!! ~Brigid p.s. The director of a full-ride scholarship program corrected my son when he effusively told her that he enjoyed talking with the students he got to know at a scholarship weekend "because everyone was so outgoing!" She cautioned him that that really wasn't the case--and that they were not just looking for outgoing students. She really did say that! My observation: They are looking for smart, interesting, engaged students who want to 1) make a difference and 2) give back. Good luck! ;)

My two participated in the 4-week Summer Ventures in Science and Math (in North Carolina). A terrific peek into the college world--and a wonderful academic and social experience. The deadline has passed for 2014, but another NC program: The Governor's School.

Grad student DS1 moved into his off-campus house last week. We moved sophomore DS2 into his dorm suite yesterday afternoon. He's with lots of his very best buddies from last year's suite. A happysad day. Hugs to all! :grouphug:

**Eight** SAT 2s! :svengo: Wow! It was **three** SAT 2s when my older ds applied, and I thought that was excessive! We're making progress!

I only can report what I submitted and got approved. My syllabi were laid out week by week. It's a challenge to fit in all that you need and want to cover in a year. Organizing by week has helped me with pacing (perhaps the most challenging part of planning, for me). The College Board doesn't expect that you are going to follow your syllabus to the letter. There will be lots of adjustments throughout the year. And no one from the College Board is going to come knocking on your door . . . ;) Good luck!

That's not a stupid question at all. I think the answer is--you can if you want to. What I did for my AP Lit and AP Lang syllabi was include the "scoring component" number(s) to make it easier for the person reviewing my syllabi to see that I had the objectives covered. So one of my lines of text might be followed by--> [C6] [C13] to show that it covered these objectives. I included enough to show that I was covering each scoring component--but I did not go overboard and mark every single thing. Doing this also helped me see if there were holes before I submitted. Good luck! ;)

When we completed the common app, there was no separate place to upload course descriptions, so we created a single pdf that included a 1-page transcript and 15 pages of course descriptions. The challenge was to marry the portrait-oriented transcript and the landscape-oriented course descriptions in one pdf. ;) I remember having to play around with that (before I had Adobe Pro!).

We used The Fallacy Detective, along with Colonies to Constitution and New Republic to Civil War, in a logic/critical thinking co-op class in 9th grade. The teacher also included CNN Student News materials, as well as other current event resources. I did not feel that The Fallacy Detective was too young for high school--just a very different approach than formal logic instruction. It met our objectives. ;)

It's very helpful to get a glimpse behind the curtain. Thanks for posting this.

I was just looking at the Khan Academy (free) website, and there is a test prep section that explains how to tackle the math questions in the Blue Book (the official SAT guide). It might be helpful for students who want to zero in on the practice test problems they don't understand.

If it were my ds and 1) I did not have concerns about his ability to manage the various aspects of the trip, and 2) I did not have concerns about him in some way inadvertently jeopardizing his scholarship chances, I would let him go on his own if he specifically asked to go alone. It would be hard, but I think I would let him. He sounds like a brave young man who will be well prepared for college. :)

:w00t: Oh my goodness! That's ridiculous!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: to all of you. I was a basket case when ds1 left. Now he's in grad school and ds2 is a sophomore, and I have seen that the heartache does heal and a new normal takes hold. But it takes a while, and it's so hard when you are in the midst of it all. It helped me to remind myself over and over to "just ski what's in front of you" (just as I do every year on our family ski trip--when I start down a steep, scary mountain). That helped me focus on today (and sometimes even to just get through the next hour!). :grouphug: :grouphug: