topic Re: Junior Year In High School in Community Chat

Junior Year In High School

ScrapHappy — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 17:27:22 GMT

My daughter is a junior this year. She's an excellent student, all A's and 1 B last year. I know that that a lot is coming up in preparation for her Senior year and applying to colleges. She has taken the PSAT once in her sophmore year and her score needs improving but we also recognize she hasn't had some of those classes yet when she took the PSAT. I'm hoping that those parents who have recently gone thru this can give some direction and advice about when she should take the PSAT again and when should see be taking SAT"S? From what I could gather so far, she can take the PSAT as many times as she wants...for practice. But how many times can she take the SAT's? They all count. Also am I supposed to go to collegeboard.com to sign up when and where to take these tests? Someone told me you need to schedule 30 days in advance? Her high school got all new counselors this school year, all the other ones left. So, from the emails that come out from the principal, they are not up and running yet.

Re: Junior Year In High School

ThinkingOutLoud — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 17:34:44 GMT

I just heard the other day that many colleges don't even require the SAT's any more so I'd look at what's needed for the colleges she's interested in and go from there.

Re: Junior Year In High School

CrazyKittyLvr2 — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 17:46:54 GMT

Nope. When your number is up............it's up. Dead, period.

They aren't going to put "she never ate a carb" on my tombstone.

Re: Junior Year In High School

Bri369 — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 17:54:39 GMT

She can take the SAT's as many times as she wants. They're only given on certain dates throughout the year and there are deadlines. I believe the latest she can take the SAT is in December of her senior year. Go to www.sat.org and sign up. She can designate what test she wants to submit to the school when she applies.

Re: Junior Year In High School

FiddleDeeDee — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:09:33 GMT

@ScrapHappy Been there, done that and have a junior right now so starting it again,loll. In a nutshell, it depends.

You can take the PSAT if you want but many, we have found, don't bother. It was not part of sophomore year last year at our HS and isn't being pushed this year either; it depends on your school. Many students will take a study course or prepare with online courses for the SAT's. If your daughter is interested in early enrollment at the college of her choice, check with your county for SAT dates or go online to sign up. There is a fee each time you take the test so many parents will only do it once; you can take the SAT as often as you like. Also, check with the college to see if the require it. You only turn in your best score so, they don't actually all count; the colleges aren't going to see them. As for scheduling....as long as there are slots open and you submit the fee, you can get in 1 day before the test.

I will tell you this: we don't put much faith into the SAT's. Our sons know that you can attend community college for the first 2 years, save money, receive the SAME education as the 4 year college and the SAT's mean nothing to enter; therefore, DON'T STRESS about the SAT's. Doesn't mean a CC is on the agenda, it just helps with removing the stress and often assists in the student relaxing and doing better. Best of luck to you and your daughter!

Re: Junior Year In High School

Sooner — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:11:48 GMT

@ScrapHappy wrote:
My daughter is a junior this year. She's an excellent student, all A's and 1 B last year. I know that that a lot is coming up in preparation for her Senior year and applying to colleges. She has taken the PSAT once in her sophmore year and her score needs improving but we also recognize she hasn't had some of those classes yet when she took the PSAT. I'm hoping that those parents who have recently gone thru this can give some direction and advice about when she should take the PSAT again and when should see be taking SAT"S? From what I could gather so far, she can take the PSAT as many times as she wants...for practice. But how many times can she take the SAT's? They all count. Also am I supposed to go to collegeboard.com to sign up when and where to take these tests? Someone told me you need to schedule 30 days in advance? Her high school got all new counselors this school year, all the other ones left. So, from the emails that come out from the principal, they are not up and running yet.

@ScrapHappy Encourage your daughter to check with the administrators, teachers and others at her school for advice. THE most important thing you can give her are the skills to get information for herself. She will need that above all else. So whether they have answers or not, encourage her to make those personal contacts.

Of all the education I got at college, learning that is what helped me most in life.

Re: Junior Year In High School

Wsmom — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:53:31 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
@ScrapHappy wrote:
My daughter is a junior this year. She's an excellent student, all A's and 1 B last year. I know that that a lot is coming up in preparation for her Senior year and applying to colleges. She has taken the PSAT once in her sophmore year and her score needs improving but we also recognize she hasn't had some of those classes yet when she took the PSAT. I'm hoping that those parents who have recently gone thru this can give some direction and advice about when she should take the PSAT again and when should see be taking SAT"S? From what I could gather so far, she can take the PSAT as many times as she wants...for practice. But how many times can she take the SAT's? They all count. Also am I supposed to go to collegeboard.com to sign up when and where to take these tests? Someone told me you need to schedule 30 days in advance? Her high school got all new counselors this school year, all the other ones left. So, from the emails that come out from the principal, they are not up and running yet.
@ScrapHappy Encourage your daughter to check with the administrators, teachers and others at her school for advice. THE most important thing you can give her are the skills to get information for herself. She will need that above all else. So whether they have answers or not, encourage her to make those personal contacts.

Of all the education I got at college, learning that is what helped me most in life.

ICAM. You can also do your own checking and following up, but this is the time for her to be doing these things, especially signing herself up. You won't be with her in college to do these things and sign up for her. Also if she forgets something she needs for school kind of thing. Once they learn if they forgot it they don't get it is the last time they forget it. This is the time to learn, when she still has you as the safety net, so she is prepared when she goes off to college.

Good luck with all! Such fun times and they go way, way too fast!!!!!!!

Re: Junior Year In High School

Q-Checker — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 20:11:32 GMT

Yes -- I totally agree! If your daughter is bright enough to get high grades, she is capable of learning how to seek information. It is part of growing up! Doing it for her is, in my opinion, halting her development of the adult skills she will need to navigate this world. In this cyberspace world, it should be well within her reach to do her own research even if her school cannot be of much help. I am sure that you do not do her homework for her, so just think of this as more of HE.R homework.

Re: Junior Year In High School

RedTop — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 20:24:03 GMT

@ScrapHappy

I've been in your position and totally understand the point of your post, but if your daughter wants a college education as much as you want her to have one, I urge you to start now putting the responsibility of keeping up with testing schedules, etc. on her shoulders. She needs to follow this process, and the many more that's coming next, on her own, or she will not be ready to face her freshman year of college.

As the secretary to the Dean of Housing at a local college years ago, I dealt with a large number of tearful students in their first weeks of college who were ill prepared to handle student life on campus. We always had students who withdrew within the first 3 weeks due to being homesick, but we also lost a good number of students who could not grasp the concept of a class routine without parental guidance and push.

My years in that job certainly helped me prepare my daughter for college; I was insistent she had to stay local for the first 2 years, but she loved this school so much she had no interest in transferring later on.

Re: Junior Year In High School

ScrapHappy — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 21:01:32 GMT

@RedTop wrote:
@ScrapHappy
I've been in your position and totally understand the point of your post, but if your daughter wants a college education as much as you want her to have one, I urge you to start now putting the responsibility of keeping up with testing schedules, etc. on her shoulders. She needs to follow this process, and the many more that's coming next, on her own, or she will not be ready to face her freshman year of college.

As the secretary to the Dean of Housing at a local college years ago, I dealt with a large number of tearful students in their first weeks of college who were ill prepared to handle student life on campus. We always had students who withdrew within the first 3 weeks due to being homesick, but we also lost a good number of students who could not grasp the concept of a class routine without parental guidance and push.

My years in that job certainly helped me prepare my daughter for college; I was insistent she had to stay local for the first 2 years, but she loved this school so much she had no interest in transferring later on.

I have had this conversation many times with my daughter. I tell her often that each grade in school is teaching you to get to the next level. I believe as her mom, it's my responsibility too and I feel I am failing. She is an excellent student, excellent grades. It's common sense (for me anyway) and the ways of life she just doesn't get. There are no 2 year colleges in our area. I've thought of that too.

Re: Junior Year In High School

CelticCrafter — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 21:42:01 GMT

@ScrapHappy wrote:
My daughter is a junior this year. She's an excellent student, all A's and 1 B last year. I know that that a lot is coming up in preparation for her Senior year and applying to colleges. She has taken the PSAT once in her sophmore year and her score needs improving but we also recognize she hasn't had some of those classes yet when she took the PSAT. I'm hoping that those parents who have recently gone thru this can give some direction and advice about when she should take the PSAT again and when should see be taking SAT"S? From what I could gather so far, she can take the PSAT as many times as she wants...for practice. But how many times can she take the SAT's? They all count. Also am I supposed to go to collegeboard.com to sign up when and where to take these tests? Someone told me you need to schedule 30 days in advance? Her high school got all new counselors this school year, all the other ones left. So, from the emails that come out from the principal, they are not up and running yet.

As long as you're willing to pay for it.

Re: Junior Year In High School

stevieb — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 01:37:21 GMT

If she's going into her senior year, taking the PSAT again seems a waste of time. In my day. we took the SAT as juniors and then again as a senior in order to have scores available when applications were made. Moreover, for the most part, we were pretty much on top of what we needed to do and the guidance counselors also advised us of what we needed and when we needed it.

Re: Junior Year In High School

RedTop — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 22:04:26 GMT

@ScrapHappy

You are not failing; your daughter just has not taken on her responsibilities because of her comfort level that you will always be her safety net of support.

It has been many years since I worked for the college dean, but the saddest sight ever in that job was watching honor students, including valedictorians and salutatorians, walk out of the office bawling with their mothers arms around them because they were not prepared for college.

Your daughters high school guidance counselors are responsible for meeting with juniors and seniors to be sure they are on course to graduate and headed towards their goals after graduation. Your daughter needs to take the initiative to meet with someone who can help her get on the right track to where she wants to go.

My daughters are in their 40's and as long as I'm alive, I will in some way be their safety net. However, teacher daughters wall of diplomas and certifications are her own achievements. Trucker daughters 2 million miles driven across the US is solely her achievement.

Your daughter is young and needs your guidance and encouragement, but now is the time to really push some self sufficiency as well.

Re: Junior Year In High School

ValuSkr — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 22:09:09 GMT

Oh oh, @CrazyKittyLvr2 . It looks like you posted on the wrong thread.

Regardless, I agree with you.

Re: Junior Year In High School

Trailrun23 — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 22:39:03 GMT

Try not to let your daughter see how anxious you may be about her test. That can really effect her and how she sees the entire college test experience. Some schools will now accept either the SAT or the ACT. In the past, mostly private schools required the ACT. Requirements have changed since COVID and some require neither. Go to Collegboards.org for more info. Remember the score for either test she gets is just a snapshot of how she performed that day. Nerves and test anxiety can certainly contribute to a lower score. I would not spend time retaking the test too many times...many find the scores start going down since the student gets so freaked out..it's just too many tests. If there is one area, like math, that your daughter is having the most problem with, then tutoring can help. Beware using the SAT prep class companies. Most I have dealt with are huge scams and I am not sure how they manage to stay in business. I would find a private tutor instead. There are also practice tests available online that can be helpful.

i would go to the website of every school she is interested in applying to and see what their requirements are regarding SAT or ACT scores. Her school counselor should be calling juniors in later in the semester to talk with them to make sure they are on the right track, class-wise. They can also be great sources for steering you to other resources. I hope she has a great year!

Re: Junior Year In High School

blueroses47 — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 12:33:21 GMT

@ValuSkr wrote:
Oh oh, @CrazyKittyLvr2 . It looks like you posted on the wrong thread.

Regardless, I agree with you.

I was just going to post the same thing.

And yes, I agree with CrazyKittyLvr2 completely.

Re: Junior Year In High School

gardenman — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 13:05:02 GMT

Going way, way back (1970s) when I took the PSAT and SAT, a friend of mine (Big Eddie) wasn't happy with his PSAT score and took courses to improve his score before the SAT. He went to the University of Delaware for an SAT prep night school course they offered for local high school students. When he then took the SAT, he got a worse score than on his PSAT. He then took a more local SAT prep course and bought several books that supposedly guaranteed to improve his scores with special tricks on how to guess if you didn't know the right answer. His next SAT score was lower still. The more he tried to improve his score the lower it got and the more pressure he put himself under for the next test. I'm not sure how valid all the prep stuff is for many students. His highest score ended up being his PSAT.

Now, with that said, an old dentist of mine from the time, went to a private school where every test they took was in the SAT format. Their classes were designed to get the highest possible SAT score. The average score at his school was over 1,400 and at that time a perfect score was 1,600. Several kids in his class got 1,600s. Then he almost flunked out of college in his first year as he'd never taken any other type of test and was woefully unprepared for the types of tests offered by his university. He'd never taken anything but an SAT type of test.

Some schools go crazy to prepare kids for the testing while others ignore it, so the test results get very skewed. I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the tests and the results as many universities now largely ignore them knowing how skewed the results can be.

It's gotten to the point where her social media presence (no bullying, support for the "right" causes, nothing negative, etc.) are almost more important to schools than anything else. They use social media a lot in evaluating potential students these days. They feel that gives them a truer perspective of who the student truly is. Now, students have figured that out and are often very conscious of what they post and where they post it, to try and hide the bad stuff. Administrators will dive deep into a student's social media accounts going back many years even, to try and learn more about a kid.

Re: Junior Year In High School

Another new name Sue — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 21:44:19 GMT

@ScrapHappy

These questions should be addressed to your daughter's high school counselor, up and running or not. It's their job, don't make excuses for them, please.. Call and make an appointment so you and your daughter can go in together. Write your questions down so you get all the answers you want.

While getting information here might be ok, best to go to your high school Best wishes to your daughter for a good junior year ahead. It's a stressful but exciting time.

Re: Junior Year In High School

ScrapHappy — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 21:58:07 GMT

@Another new name Sue wrote:
@ScrapHappy

These questions should be addressed to your daughter's high school counselor, up and running or not. It's their job, don't make excuses for them, please.. Call and make an appointment so you and your daughter can go in together. Write your questions down so you get all the answers you want.

While getting information here might be ok, best to go to your high school Best wishes to your daughter for a good junior year ahead. It's a stressful but exciting time.

Actually sent an email to her counselor today, she did after I kept on her about it for days. On school website it had "Junior Advisement Appointments" and to schedule using the online link. Clicked on link and couldn't get any further. August schedule is there but can't access it. When I click on arrow to go to next month (September), nothing happens. Sent email to counselor to make her aware of situation and to advice. We'll see what happens.

Re: Junior Year In High School

vsm — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 02:37:50 GMT

@ScrapHappy wrote:
@Another new name Sue wrote:
@ScrapHappy

These questions should be addressed to your daughter's high school counselor, up and running or not. It's their job, don't make excuses for them, please.. Call and make an appointment so you and your daughter can go in together. Write your questions down so you get all the answers you want.

While getting information here might be ok, best to go to your high school Best wishes to your daughter for a good junior year ahead. It's a stressful but exciting time.
Actually sent an email to her counselor today, she did after I kept on her about it for days. On school website it had "Junior Advisement Appointments" and to schedule using the online link. Clicked on link and couldn't get any further. August schedule is there but can't access it. When I click on arrow to go to next month (September), nothing happens. Sent email to counselor to make her aware of situation and to advice. We'll see what happens.

Make a follow-up phone call, @ScrapHappy Better yet, have your daughter make the call.