My son does very well in school. The issue he has is standardized test taking. He had his dream school, of rose Hulman. He is starting his senior year.
My question is 3:
Here is common data. https://www.rose-hulman.edu/academics/academic-affairs/irpa/reports/AY2018-2019.pdf
Does he get testing accommodations in school? If mot, unlikely for SAT or ACT.
Consider test prep like Huntington. Can be pricey but helped my D raise score ACT composite 1 point after 10 hours. Depends on how much time can put into test prep.
Consider he reach out to admissions rep asking for advice on app.
To see test score information for last year’s new freshman students, search for the Common Data Set for Rose Hulman. The Freshman Profile will have information on average test scores and percentile distribution for SAT and ACT scores.
For help raising up his test scores, you may want to look at the “Xiggi Method” discussion: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html
He goes to a private school and they have worked with him.
Thank you
They work with him. I know the info from rose. What about Florida tech
70 points on the sat or 7 points on the ACT? Because 7 pts on the ACT is HUGE whereas 70 pts on the SAT is doable with prep.
By the way, has he tried the SAT?
Look up “Rose hulman CDS” and you’ll see the average score as well as the top 75%. It’s always better to be above average to have a better shot, and to be above top 75% to move out of reach/match category.
Any school you want to see information for, look for their Common Data Set. Most institutions have the Common Data Set available on their website.
Maybe not in the area that you are looking but WPI is test optional. They will look at grades first and extracurricular/passion for engineering/STEM. They also offer evaluative interviews so kids that don’t present well in paper have a chance to show what they have to offer in person.
Did he take the SAT or only the ACT? Did he try any SAT subject tests?
Test optional schools might be a good option.
Does he have test anxiety with regular classroom administered tests? If not, I might get him a couple of therapy sessions and/or help to change his mindset…these tests are all about being prepared and confident going into it, like preparing/practicing/studying for a class final in school or a sport game/match or a music performance or a theater production.
Here is a list of test optional colleges sorted by state. https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional/state
What is his current ACT score? Will a seven point increase place him in the average range or the top 25% of accepted students?
A 7 point increase isn’t impossible, but would be challenging to get.
What was his score breakdown on the ACT?
Has he tried the SAT?
Help him to understand that he can achieve his post-college dreams with a degree from many different schools. RH is not the be all and end all. There are so many good engineering schools, find one he can get into with his current scores. If he has test anxiety, he may actually be better off at a less intense college. Engineering is tough and taking exams in a much bigger class at college compared to HS may trigger that. You can also get him help for his anxiety through a counselor. That may be worth more than the test prep.
You may want to look into a tutor, rather than a group class for ACT prep. A tutor could focus on the areas of concern and give him strategies to use to overcome at least some of his test anxiety.
My best friend’s daughter was in line to be second in her class at a very competitive school. She scored a 27 the first time she took the ACT. She had a history of being a poor standardized test taker (her parents had to fight for her to take all Honors classes her freshman year because her scores on MAP testing were pretty low…she ended up with all honors classes and was one of only two people in her class of 480 students to obtain Straight A’s in all honors classes).
The average score for the other top 10 students was a 35. The school counselor basically said 'We never tell students they need to improve their scores, but you need to improve your score. There is just to much disconnect between your grades and your score." The kid spent an entire summer taking practice tests over and over and over again. She raised her score to a 33.
Oh and she graduated from a top 1 0 school with a 3.9 GPA.
My daughter, also not a good standardized test taker, went to Florida Tech. It’s a good example of the type of school he could still get accepted to and the ACT score won’t really matter that much except that Florida Tech awards its merit money based on scores and gpa. It changes the merit program all the time, but generally there are 3 levels of awards, and the top scores/gpa/class rank gets the top award. The lower level (still get a good amount) is either the third level of score/gpa on the matrix or another automatic qualifier like Eagle scout, robotics team member, graduated from a science high school, etc. But yeah, once admitted the ACT score only matters for merit awards.
The ACT scores listed for Rose Hillman will be an average. I doubt there is a minimum score required and they will look at the entire application. I wouldn’t drop it off the list if he doesn’t get the extra 7 points.
My daughter had no problems academically at Florida Tech. There were tests given to large groups of students like in Calc and chemistry (courses taken by almost every student in the school) but there weren’t time pressures like with the ACT.
My other daughter (not an engineer) went to U of Wyoming. It has a really good engineering school (especially for hard rock and other natural resource fields). Again, ACT scores play a bigger part in merit awards than admissions. http://www.uwyo.edu/admissions/scholarships/non-residents/bgcommitment.html