@Sam-I-Am, I am aware of no schools that reward scholarships with ACT but not SAT scores. Can you give an example?
The SAT is the obvious choice for students with a PSAT that may make them competitive for NMF. Not sure how this student did on it, though (and they do t know yet, I assume).
OP says that the student did not take the PSAT, so no National Merit based scholarships for her.
I personally didn’t study for the SAT at all, just winged it. I did fine and ended up in a top STEM school. I’m not saying that’s what I recommend, just pointing out that it’s not the end of the world if you don’t study. For a student who’s been actually learning in class (vs just skating without absorbing the material), that is their SAT prep.
As a current sophomore, it’s a little bit early to be pushing her to study for the SAT. But it’s really unfortunate if she missed the PSAT completely - is there no chance to take it later in the year? The PSAT can be very helpful for scholarship money if you’re a NM finalist.
On a slightly different note, I’d like to recommend taking a look at the student’s mental health and considering how far you want to push this. Pushing kids too hard in their teen years can set them up for anxiety issues down the road. If she’s avoiding studying for the SAT due to anxiety and stress, then have a serious conversation with her about how you all as a team can help reduce her stress. If she’s not studying because she’s just laid-back, chill, happy-go-lucky, then a little pushing would be ok. Speaking from personal experience with 20/20 hindsight, I wish my D hadn’t studied a whit and had spent more time doing activities she enjoyed with her friends instead. Every kid is different, so YMMV.
@anomander OP stated her D is junior class of 2019. PSATs are given in Oct and only count for NM in junior year so that boat has sailed.
Happykid didn’t take the PSAT because she was a lousy test-taker and there was no way she would have landed the scores needed for NM. We went out to brunch that morning instead. It is entirely possible that the OP’s daughter knew what she was doing by skipping the PSAT.
Right now, the only talk the parents need to have with the daughter is about the money. What can they pay? What are her affordable options without any merit money that don’t require test scores.? Is she happy with those? Then she might not ever need to take the ACT or SAT.
I think your daughter is taking on too much at this point…All As, taking all the AP classes available, Works a pt job, Varsity track and JV soccer, Plays violin in two different groups, Class officer. She doesn’t probably realize that. I have seen too many 4.0s either not interested in standardized tests or they bomb in tests, especially when they are doing too many other stuff. My suggestion would be to ask her to go a little easy, before even thinking of testing.
I agree entirely with @Much2learn Have her take a timed ACT and SAT at home during the holidays with no prep. It may be that she doesn’t need any prep and will ace the test. It may be that she does much better at one than the other and will know how to best invest her time. It may be that she gets a lackluster result that stings her pride as it’s out of sync with her grades and she decides that prep is a good idea.
Practice test at home is relatively low stress - roughly a four hour commitment for each. To me, this is a much better idea than winging it on the real thing, especially if she intends to apply to schools that require submission of the complete testing history.
My D was overextended and not really invested in the college process until Spring of her Junior year. Once she got on board, she was on board. First SAT in May of Jr year, SAT subject tests in June, and then ACT in the fall, after taking a practice test at home and realizing that it was a better test for her. So I think you have time. But I do agree that she might want to take a good hard look at her schedule and see if there’s any way to cut back.
Good luck - it will all work out fine!
Here are all the test dates for the SAT. I agree with letting her take an early one with no test prep if she chooses, and then let her make the decision to re-test depending on the results of her first one. With six test dates available before she submits applications (almost a year from now), she should have plenty of time to prep if she wants to try to increase her score. There are also at least six test dates for the ACT after Dec. 2017 and Nov. 2018.
March 10, 2018
May 5, 2018
June 2, 2018
August 25, 2018
October 6, 2018
November 3, 2018
My oldest took the both the SAT and ACT twice and her first dry run with no prep was the best score. The others were close and did show improvement in a couple of subject areas, but the concordance tables showed there was no significant difference between the four composite scores (there might have been but for the science section in the ACT which she bombed both times). She did a few practice tests for the last three, but never studied with a purpose. Her results averaged at about the 92 percentile composite. She had good EC’s but not as good as the OP’s daughter. Her grades were also not as good as the Op’s daughter but she did go to a fairly rigorous private high school. She’s now a freshman at a top tier LAC and got lots of very good merit aid offers at the private schools she was accepted to (but not at the two large public’s).
I think I’ll have my youngest, who is also a junior, take the same approach that I suggested: dry run early, then let her choose to re-take if she wants. She’s a great student and ranked very highly in her large public but really has no desire to attend a highly ranked and rigorous college. She says our very good flagships are good enough for her.
This kid did not take PSAT and has not studied yet for the SAT. Consider studying for the ACT, as many kids do better with that format. Then, if subject tests are required by any of the schools she is interested in, she can take those unhindered by having to eliminate some of the test dates to take the SAT. This plan offers the most flexibility to kids that either did not take the PSAT, or took it without qualifying for NMS, or who have otherwise not invested time into studying for the SAT.
Thanks for all the helpful comments. She really is a good girl, self motivated, and this whole scenario seems so out of character. We don’t push her to do a thing; everything she does is all her. Our only rules are (1) whatever you do, do well, and (2) high school is supposed to be fun. So have fun. We’ve had to reign in the work hours a bit; but she’s proud to earn her own money and frankly she enjoys some of her male coworkers. 
As for colleges, we’ve run NPCs at places of interest and know what we can do. She’s generally leaning to small LACs but has a couple NOT test optional universities high on the list, most notably Vanderbilt. As far as career, she has wide array of interests and we’ve never encouraged medicine or anything in particular (as several stated correctly: it’s her life). I can easily see her as a PhD in Chemistry, say, as an alternate. We shall see. But we need to get these tests handled with grace.
I think I’m being dense, but I don’t understand why you are recommending the ACT instead of the SAT? She doesn’t know which one she’d do better at.
My kid was not one of those who did better on the ACT - because she found the science portion very difficult. I know that this is not a problem for many kids, but I don’t think the ACT is an “easier” test.
Are you suggesting the ACT since she doesn’t have the practice experience that the PSAT would have provided?
Either way, she’s starting from scratch with no knowledge of the different formats and test strategies for either one.
I do agree with you though that the ACT IS accepted as a factor for merit aid at many schools. I’ve seen many schools that listed the SAT OR ACT scores that would allow students to receive merit aid.
Some kids prep…and some kids don’t.
She is a junior. She should take the SAT and maybe the ACT in the early Spring. Then she can get her scores and decide if she wants to retake in the fall of her senior year.
This is not something I would push in any way.
After she takes the test the first time…she may think differently about prepping…if her scores are not where SHE wants them to be.
There are plenty of colleges that use the ACT to award institutional scholarship money. They don’t all require the SAT.
NMF doesn’t award scholarships without an SAT score…but this kid didn’t take the PSAT so that isn’t even a concern…at all.
This quote concerns me. It’s HER job, not yours.
@Decal7 “this whole scenario seems so out of character” - Yes, this is the sign that there is something going on with your DD. Junior year is very stressful for many students as this is when it gets “real”. Even my super confident easy going DS started having stress-related issues his Junior year. So some heart to heart talks about what her fears or worries are might be a good idea. Once we pin-pointed what was causing DD’s anxiety, we were able to help her work through these issues and she is doing so much better now. This anxiety was not normal for her and we were pretty shocked when she had the ACT meltdown. Your DD may be internalizing stress from other sources like her GC or friends about college, testing etc… It’s such a a bombardment their Junior year.
Sorry…removed duplicate post.
@thumper1, do those schools not accept the SAT for scholarships? That was the implication of the post I was responding to
It is very easy to understand why anyone would avoid sitting through a 3.5 hour torture session answering random questions. Neither of my older children studied or took a prep class. Their attitude was, “Read a book instead, you might actually learn something.” I kept my mouth shut when parents talked about studying. Adults actually asked my daughter what her scores were after she was accepted to school.
Have her sign-up for the March SAT test date at the same test site as a friend. Plan something fun afterwards. She will be studying in school for AP exams in April and taking them in May. June is a perfect Sat subject test time because the information from AP exams is fresh. Encourage concert tickets or some other fun event with friends after the exam season is over. Down time is very important.
December of junior year until November of senior year are miserable with so many days of testing and not a lot of learning or time for college searching. Girls, especially, realize that time with HS friends is ending and immerse themselves into their favorite activities.
What @KLSD said.
My junior doesn’t want to talk about colleges yet. He was willing to take the SAT, but he didn’t touch any of the prep books I bought him. I didn’t put much pressure on him to prep - he did a couple of practice tests on Khan Academy, that’s about it. He just barely hit the 99th percentile, but now wants to re-take it to get 20 points higher.
He’s taking the ACT on Dec. 9 and so far has never seen an ACT question. He said he’ll do a practice test on Dec. 2. I suspect he’ll do well.
A kid who is getting straight As in AP classes probably doesn’t need extensive test prep. Just sign her up for the March date and see if she freaks out or opens up about why she doesn’t want to take it.