How to help my D (class of 2012). Need advice from other parents!

Parents Forum
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<p>My D is a high school junior, class of 2012.</p>

<p>She is a smart girl but is not strong in math (never has been, it's just not her thing). She is interested in visual arts. She is quite strong verbally. Her current GPA is around 3.85. She is in 3 AP classes, but is in "regular" math and science. This semester she got A's in two of the AP classes (a high B in the third one), plus B's in the other "regular" classes).</p>

<p>She has taken the PSAT twice. Her latest scores are not so good. 61 in critical reading, 46 in math, and 57 in writing skills, for a total of 164. She has never been the best test taker. Even at school sometimes she knows the subject matter but just bombs on the test every so often. Especially math. This semester she got a B in math, and is sure she will never be able to pull it up to an A. Her brain just doesn't work in that direction, despite having good tutors for years.</p>

<p>Needless to say, I'm worried about college admissions.</p>

<p>We live in N. California and she would love to go to Berkeley or UCLA. I think, given her grades, Berkeley might be a very long shot. I've heard that it is brutally competitive. Not sure about UCLA -- but UCLA has a strong visual arts program that might be good for her. She doesn't want to go out of state, and frankly we can't really afford 50 grand a year for a private college. Of course, there are a few other UC's and the CSU's. </p>

<p>I was going to sign her up for an SAT prep course (like Revolution Prep) but then I read some bad things about it -- and other parents have warned me that some of the prep courses are "rigged." Despite that (and the cost of around $500) I thought perhaps a course like that might help increase her confidence and "force" her to concentrate on improving her test scores.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I wonder if I should just get her the official SAT and ACT prep books and have her read them and do the practice tests. There's also the College Board online SAT course. In addition, I thinking of hiring a private SAT tutor for her so she can have some one-on-one help.</p>

<p>Her 3 AP courses keep her very busy. She doesn't have a lot of time for extracurricular activities. I'm afraid she might not have the time or motivation to do the correct amount of prep for the SAT or ACT. I wanted her to take a prep course a few months ago, but she refused, saying that she was just too busy with school work.</p>

<p>I know that the test scores are VERY important in admissions. She only has one extracurricular activity and barely has time to eek that out. I just don't know how she will be able to compete with the students who get 4.5 GPAs, do tons of EC, and get awards, etc. She's smart, but she's not in that top percentile.</p>

<p>I don't want her to go to community college. She has more intelligence and potential than that. I want her to go to a good liberal arts college.</p>

<p>I would appreciate advice from other parents who have "been there." I know that college doesn't define your life, but as a parent I feel that it is my responsibility to give her the best guidance to take her best shot.</p>

<p>BTW, I'm not impressed with the guidance she receives at her high school. The college office scheduled a workshop for Juniors all about college admissions -- during finals week! I don't know what the heck they were thinking. My daughter said that nobody she knows was able to go because they were so busy preparing for finals. I think her school has more than its share of nitwit administrators.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>She might be a student that does better on the ACT. You might consider having her do some ACT practice tests to see if she is more comfortable and does better on them than the SAT. My son’s ACT was hugely above the equivalent SAT’s.</p>

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<p>Our S took the SAT 3 times as a junior and scored consistently in the low 1200s in Math and Verbal. As a senior we spent the money on StudyPoint for a private tutor for 6 weeks. It wasn’t cheap but the 4th time S scored in the high 1300s and received a nice scholarship to the school he is attending. S was a good student who hated the SAT and refused to take the ACT. His PSATs were mediocre. We are making sure our D gets private tutoring and takes both the SAT and ACT. D is more open about standardized testing.
If I could it do over I would have had S spend the entire summer after junior year with the tutor and take the early fall SAT again as well as the fall ACT. It would have cost more but he may have scored even higher. He may have gotten even a little more scholarship money but he still got into all his college choices. The bottom line is: S would not have received any scholarship nor likely be attending his current school without the SAT tutor.
For us the money was well worth it but every case and every student is different.
Good Luck to your daughter.</p>

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<p>The admission stats for UCLA aren’t much different than for UCB - they’re very close to each other in admission competetiveness.</p>

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<p>The summer after her Junior year D1 took online princeton review after scoring 450 CR and 750 M. we live in a rural area with no other courses. she then got 640 CR and 800 M in the fall senior year. worth every penny (around $500). We also bought practice books. She said the most valuable was the online (timeline computer making her do it instead of me bugging her) and then doing the practice tests.</p>

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<p>Tutoring is expensive, especially private tutoring, but at the end without the score it’s hard to get into some of those schools. D2 is not a good test taker, her test scores do not match her GPA. We don’t live in the US, but she is getting tutored via skype with a firm from CA. It’s helping her a lot with writing and math. According to D2, SAT grammar is very different than what she knows from school, but it is very mechanical. The hardest one to improve is reading. </p>

<p>D2 is a junior, she took SAT in Nov with not so good result because she didn’t feel well. She will take it again in Jan or Mar depending on her practice test results. Her tutor keeps her on track to make sure she is doing her practice tests. It takes away a lot of my nagging. They also noticed that D2 doesn’t have good stamina - she gets more wrong in later sections. They are suggesting different ways to get D2 to re-focuse after each section. They analyze her test each time to see where she needs extra help during her tutoring session. </p>

<p>D2 is also very busy, with full IB and ballet close to 20 hours a week. But she knows if she wants to get into a top tier school, she will need SAT scores close to mid 700s. With 2 wrongs in math, the score drops down to mid 700, there isn’t much room for error. D2 is also not as strong in math. </p>

<p>Our nephew did go up 300 points by studying for SAT for a month, and he got into his dream school this month.</p>

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<p>I ditto the idea to try the ACT: with the four sections averaged into a composite, one can “hide” the miserable math score (yes, we have experience with this)…and don’t let her be scared by the section called “science”; it isn’t…it’s a trumped up reading section with science type passages and charts…</p>

<p>even with her math weakness, she can be successful in visual arts programs with and without portfolios…
you don’t mention whether you want her to stay on the West Coast; there are private schools around the country that are not $50,000 and there are OOS publics that are that expensive…</p>

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<p>You can also help her by helping her explore and get excited about colleges that she can get into with the numbers that she has–just in case the numbers don’t change much. Sonoma State worked well for neighbor’s D.</p>

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<p>I’ve been through this once with an older son, and am going through it again. I have a few themes to add to all the good advice you will get.</p>

<ol>
<li> You are only on the beginning of the journey. No part of the process is an end in itself. Use every part of it to learn more about your D (and yourself). Lay out the options with her and how the different choices might affect outcomes. What’s her learning style? Does she learn better in a classroom (prep course) or on her own (book)? How does she feel about risk? (trying for a hard school vs safety school) Does she want you to do the first cut of schools or to have you butt out? (my sons felt overwhelmed, so went for former).<br></li>
<li> Forget everything you think you know about colleges and admissions and start over. The applicant pool completely changes every few years… what I thought I knew for son #1 is not so relevant 5-6 years later for #2… the economy changes… technology changes the app process… the tests change… schools’ reputations and pools change… your child changes… the culture changes…</li>
<li> What if nothing objective changes about your D? use all the nifty search for college engines out there… here on college confidential, on Princeton Review, other places… look in other parts of the country and in settings you and D would never consider to get ideas… look at the places folks here suggest to get ideas…</li>
<li> Then tweak the parameters to raise the scores a bit, or raise the gpa, or look at the schools most like her dream school and look at the profiles of students who go there… could she stretch or match those applicants in her own way?</li>
<li> Be dismayed by the superstars who are rejected from Berkley and UCLA and every other school they apply to…how random it seems because so many, many applicants ARE accepted
6 And be comforted by the average, ordinary, every day students who get into THEIR dream schools, sometimes with great merit packages.</li>
</ol>

<p>As for the SAT question… Me, I’d start with the less expensive way to prepare if my D thought it was right for her, and ratchet up as a back up… but no one solution is right for everyone…</p>

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<p>I’ll just add this - Math is the most coachable/preppable (is that a word) section of the SAT. I assume it’s the same for the ACT. She can probably raise that math score with some sort of prep - whatever you can afford. With a person scoring below 500 they can often improve their score significantly merely by learning a few time savers, learning to just plug in nuimbers or answers, and even learning which problems to just skip altogether because they subtract for wrong answers and you can waste a lot of time on some problems. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Have you looked at Mills College? I believe they have a good art program and scholarships.</p>

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<p>^good suggestion. You say your daughter is interested in a visual arts program-- can you be more specific? A CSU might be closer to what’s she’s looking for than a traditional LAC.</p>

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<p>Mills students may also be able to cross-register for some Berkeley classes.</p>

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<p>Some students do well with just 10 to 20 minutes of SAT prep per day. Check out majortests.com and give her a 10-question quiz a day. If you submit the answers online, you will get feedback and an explanation. You can try this for a few months, and then she can take the March SAT, and then you can go with tutoring or a class if she still needs it. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Your daughter might benefit from a test optional school. Here’s the list: [Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>

<p>Alternatively she might do better with the ACT.</p>

<p>Or if she is self motivated she could use xiggi’s test prep advice here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Alternatively, you could put together a realistic list of colleges for the scores and GPA and course rigor she has now. I’m not as familiar with CA colleges as left coasters, but UCLA and Berkeley don’t seem realistic to me - even as reaches.</p>

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<p>I am a left coaster and I would second most of what mathmom says. Unless your D has some serious art talent or unusual hardship, UCLA and Berkeley aren’t realistic even with a score increase. I also second the xiggi suggestion, if your D has self discipline.</p>

<p>I would add though that it isn’t UCLA, Berkeley or community college. There are many other UCs which may be better for your D. My D, along with many others, prefers the mid-tier UCs because they are less intense and competitive, but there is still impressive scholarship and amazing and diverse students. I’m just not sure where the UCLA/Berkeley fixation comes from. If it comes from your D maybe you should visit some of the others.</p>

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<p>I tutored my D in math through high school and for the SAT. With (for her) major effort, she eeked out a 630. But it took a couple of tries, and a LOT of sweat. Her PSAT scores were only a bit higher than your D’s. I would say that a SAT course would not have been sufficient to bring her score even up to 630. It requires one on one work (although the online Princeton course might work that is mentioned above). But it just took a LOT of effort with someone who could explain it for her to achieve that score. It was worth it for my D, as that score was by far the weakest part of her applications.</p>

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<p>I highly recommend you read the threads in the Parents’ Forum on B students, particularly the one on Western schools.</p>

<p>All of us who have been in your position were just as concerned, naturally, and we have gotten terrific advice and support there. Also you’ll see that many of the students that we all were so worried about have gotten some wonderful acceptances to great colleges.</p>

<p>A really helpful expression for a kid like your D is “well-lopsided.” She doesn’t have to be great in everything. Good effort in what she doesn’t excel at and real passion for what she does excel at will serve her very well in the long run.</p>

<p>Best wishes!</p>

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<p>I highly recommend subscribing to the “SAT Question of the Day” on the College Board website. It is free. You get daily practice on an SAT question (some math, some reading/writing). </p>

<p>Consider having parent and student subscribe, then discuss at dinner. (OK, we did not do this. But my kids are just naturally good test takers. Organization, ha that’s a whole different ballgame).</p>

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<p>You guys are so AWESOME! Thank you so much for the terrific advice you’ve been offering! I have a bunch of things to look into.</p>

<p>I agree about her being “well lopsided.” It has always been that way. I think that in life a person doesn’t need to excel at every subject. In fact, most people don’t. I resent that the colleges put all this pressure on kids to do well on tests for subjects that are not their forte. However, it is unfortunately (still) necessary. </p>

<p>My H and D are going to southern Cal later next week to look at colleges in those areas (Santa Barbara as well). I know there are many other colleges besides UCLA and Berkeley – my D is just stuck on Berkeley because she likes the funky town (“her kind” of artsy people) and it’s not far from where we live. But she might just have to get over that. I mean, college is about education, whether you love the town your college is in, or not. UC Berkeley might well be too competitive for her. She is not a stellar “top 1%” type of kid. Smart - yes. Brainiac - no. I think that as this process continues, and she matures a bit more, she will have a more realistic view of the situation.</p>

<p>In the mean time, we need to:</p>

<ol>
<li>Get her motivated to study for the SAT and ACT</li>
<li>Find a methodology that works for her and get her to stick to it</li>
<li>Get her scores into a higher range so she at least has a shot at some of the tougher schools.</li>
</ol>

<p>I will find the thread on B students and read it. </p>

<p>Thank you! Please keep replying to this thread if you have any further suggestions!</p>