<p>I look back over the last two years, getting two kids into college (one a freshman, one starting Fall 2009) and think of the many things I learned in the process. I propose a new thread...everyone post ONE thing you wish you had known when you started this process.</p>
<p>I wish I had known that my son's stats which seemed plenty high enough for the schools he applied to, would not be high enough in this competitive environment. (I'd have had him retake the SATs and apply to more schools).</p>
<p>With my first child I wish I had known how FAFSA & PRofile aid would function differently for each family, and how dramatic the differences would be</p>
<p>I wish I would have known about the great information available here at the beginning of D’s junior year rather than after all her colleges were decided and apps were already in!</p>
<p>Okay, I wish I would have known that what your child THINKS they want may not be what they actually do want once the admittances come in. </p>
<p>My S did not want to visit schools, so we cast a wide net (15 applications) with a variety of schools, but mostly the type he thought he wanted. After visiting some, he’s changed his tune, but fortunately has some good options.</p>
<p>I wish I had known only taking the ACT could be the kiss of death. Composite scores of 34/35, and even several 36 subscale scores, could not mitigate the lack of SATs.</p>
<p>Many CC kids have been accepted to top schools with ACT only. In fact, if I had a “wish” it might be, I wish I had known that my daughter’s ACT score of 28 was perfectly fine for all the colleges she was looking at, and that I hadn’t added to the stress of the admission process with an unnecessary retake of the SAT. I think that’s silly, actually - because its a hindsight “wish” (as in, “I wish I could have seen the future”) … but I do think that some posters are mistakenly attributing college rejections to test scores, when the real reason is simply that their kids didn’t happen to make the cut in a highly competitive process based on holistic factors.</p>
<p>I meant the regular SAT not SAT IIs. My daughter took and submitted stellar SAT IIs along with ACTs.</p>
<p>The HS college counselor theorized the lack of SAT scores could account for her waitlist/rejections since everything else she submitted was exceptional – better or comparable to her classmates who submitted SAT scores and were accepted by those same schools.</p>
<p>Privately, by another CC poster, I was told that some top colleges who claim the ACT is enough, only use the SAT for some of their statistical computations, so they prefer students with SAT scores. I do not know if this is true or not.</p>
<p>If I had it to do over again, I would encourage my daughter to take and submit SAT scores (especially since she did very well on the PSAT) if for no other reason than to keep me from wondering if it made a difference.</p>
<p>I wish I knew how terrible the financial aid process is at my oldest daughter’s school , instead of taking what they said at the info sessions as the truth.</p>
<p>I wish I’d known the potential financial impact of a kid taking the “most challenging curriculum” in a small school that doesn’t weight grades, allows students to create their own independent study topics for a grade in place of more “advanced” subjects, and bases class rank on GPA (unweighted, since there is no weighting). Competing with a friend for #1 is bad enough, but doing it on an uneven playing field is a real bummer. Knowing ahead wouldn’t have changed the choice of school or curriculum – my son’s grown so much there because of other factors, and he needed the challenges – but it might have influenced me to be a better advocate for him with a couple of younger teachers in his first year or two.</p>
<p>This is very disturbing. TokenAdult has carefully studied this and all schools say that they treat the ACT equally. We ask why would they lie, but maybe they really do. Now you’ve got me nervous, and what you say jibes with our Naviance plots, although not nearly as many kids took the ACT. Can you say which schools you think secretly favored the ACT on you and how long ago it was. </p>
<p>I just registered D for the June ACT this morning. She did ok on the Jan SAT, but not quite commensurate with her GPA. She’s taking additional subject tests in May (bio) and June (latin). She didn’t think she’d have time to prepare for the SAT I in May just before 3 AP’s, and the Latin SAT II is only offered in June. Oct SAT is Columbus Day weekend and we were planning to visit colleges. The plan was to prepare hard for the June ACT which she has time to do because her AP classes are all done and shoot for at least a 34 in which case she would stand pat and be done with standardized testing. Now I’m wondering if the schools will really only consider the SAT and whether this plan is not a good one.</p>
<p>I wish I had made my daughter take a test prep class for the ACT or even do some practice tests. She did well, but an additional point or two would have qualified her for more scholarships. </p>
<p>I also would have made her apply for the scholarships that require an interview. She is very shy, so I didn’t want to stress her out. (“Please don’t ask me to do that. I can’t talk to people I don’t know.”)</p>
<p>I just shared these things with her, and she agreed. (Wow . . . it’s great when they go to college and learn that Mom and Dad DO know something!) :)</p>
<p>There is no logical reason for a school to prefer the SAT to the ACT. It is too easy to convert from one to the other. For anyone with lingering concerns, just go to the Common Data set for any college of interest. That report will show the number of SAT scores reported and the number of ACT scores reported among those accepted students. Most schools will show 20% or more of the students submitting ACT scores, in which case it is safe to assume the school knows how to interpret ACT scores. If the school reports few ACT scores, then it might be worth some follow up with the admissions office of the school.</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad–it would seem that any sort of ‘unacknowledged preference for the SAT by top colleges’ is something that could never be established, definitively. However, it would seem that – if such a preference exists, even in a minor way – your daughter could maximize her options by doing an Oct test, after prepping in the summer (if she will). Since the Jan SAT score is going along w/the SAT IIs to colleges anyway, it couldn’t hurt to try for an increase in points. </p>
<p>Perhaps your daughter/family could take a day off in the fall to create another long weekend (other than Columbus Day), in order to free up the Oct SAT date? I’d think a missed day of school would be a very reasonable price to pay to give her a few extra testing points as an edge (even if schools claim it doesn’t matter…).</p>
<p>Jolynne, if absolutely necessary, she would just take it in another city - which would be a real pain, but she’ll survive. However, she’s hoping that her June ACT will be good enough and if so, without any real evidence of an SAT bias, there are so many more important things for her to worry about. We don’t have to decide just yet, she can see where she is in the application process before deciding. </p>
<p>I’m just perturbed that colleges may actually be lying about having no preference. That would be really bad. I’m not quite ready to believe it yet.</p>