<p>My son is a rising junior. He is a good student (3.9 GPA at a tough prep school, 2-3 honors courses per first 2 years , 3 AP classes coming up junio year ). His PSAT scores were terrible and now his practice ACT also very low (24-26's). He will be doing private tutoring but we are interested in test optional schools as well. I would welcome other folks' experience with these . Thank you !</p>
<p>D is finishing up her senior hs year. She was a decent student who worked hard but had terrible SAT’s. We hired a tutor but at the end of the day the SAT’s did not reflect the student she is. We took the approach of applying to both SAT optional schools along with those that required the test scores. We had a good mix. She was waitlisted at one reach school and accepted to all the others. She also received a decent merit award from one of the test optional schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>Those ACT scores are average, not low- even in the highest scoring states the average is around 22 for end junior year, fall senior year- not sophomores. How well your son does on the AP exams will be useful to you- 5’s would be good, 4’s fine. Any 3’s means your son’s HS isn’t as tough as you thought or the teaching isn’t good in AP (assuming your son get’s A’s in the courses). Curious what “terrible” is in your eyes as well- remember your son took the PSAT as a sophomore, not as a junior for the National Merit qualifying test. He will have had another year of HS- another 50% of education (he is only 2/3 of the way to the typical testing timing).</p>
<p>Too soon for you to worry about his test scores. Wait another year to see how much he improves. Then you can figure out if he needs more prep and retaking tests in the fall of his senior year.</p>
<p>Hi - both my boys study at test optional schools and are very happy with where they ended up. Both did apply to a mix of test optional/test required schools and are happy where they landed. In particular my younger son did well in HS and decently on his SAT and ACT but it didn’t reflect his grades. There are many excellent test optional schools with more being added all the time. Have you seen this list? <a href=“ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest”>http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional</a></p>
<p>Momofsam…the PSAT that really matters is the one he will be taking fall of his JUNIOR year. That is the one that is used for NMS consideration. </p>
<p>And in addition, a 10th grader, in most cases, has not yet taken the courses that will better prepare him for the SAT he should be taking spring of his JUNIOR year in high school. Your son is finishing 10th grade! </p>
<p>That 10th grade PSAT is not really used for anything.</p>
<p>But if the SAT isn’t his cup of tea, he should consider the ACT…but again…take it at the end of the JUNIOR year in high school.</p>
<p>At this point, I don’t think you really have sufficient SAT score information to determine if this student MUST seek a test optional school.</p>
<p>If the standardized tests will hurt the application then by all means look at the test optional choices – there are tons of great schools out there that are now test optional (some ask for an interview, a graded paper or something else in place of the tests others say they just go by what gets sent in so if there are no standardized tests then the other factors count more). One very good school that I visited with my D was very clear that if you were below their average SATs they would rather you apply test optional – I’m guessing they wanted to keep their average SAT statistics up!</p>
<p>Resident of which state?</p>
<p>CA: UCs have less emphasis on SAT/ACT than GPA. Non-impacted majors at non-impacted CSUs are test-optional for residents with a 3.0 or higher GPA (automatic admission in this case; however, most CSUs are campus-impacted, and some majors are commonly major-impacted, so this does not apply to those campuses or majors).</p>
<p>TX: Top 10% rank (7% at UT Austin) means automatic admission regardless of test scores at TX public universities.</p>
<p>Some of the selective test optional schools have individual forums here you might like to browse. Weslayan just went test optional so there won’t be experience with students who didn’t submit scores, but it is a fab college. Other forums that come to mind: Bowdoin, Bard, Bates, Bennington, Brandeis, Colby, Connecticut College, Dennison, Earlham, all those and more are listed with varying activity.</p>
<p><a href=“Bowdoin College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/bowdoin-college/</a></p>
<p>Thanks BTMell, I have seen that list, it’s great. Thanks also BrownParent, I am new to this site and didn’t know there were forums for different schools . </p>
<p>I am not sure what you are asking. What do you mean when you ask what people’s experience was? Have you seen the list of test optional schools at the Fairtest site? Many are top schools. Are you asking about the application experience or the experience once on campus? I don’t see how being at a test optional school would differ from being at a school that requires tests. Are you afraid that the academic experience will be affected? It won’t. Are you hoping the student body will be less stressed and more focused on real learning versus performance? I don’t know but it’s possible.</p>
<p>Agree that sophomore year testing is not as viable as junior year testing especially with the ACT where there can be a couple point difference between sophomore and junior year. 24-26 is above average for a sophomore. Test-optional is a viable path, but next year when you are targeting specific colleges, with the GPA and scores your student will be working with, read the fine print if you are in search of merit based monies as some of the test optional colleges ask for test scores int he awarding of money which was our experience with a test optional college on S2’s list. Finally next year your son’s GC will likely be able to add value with an understanding of what types of colleges students with GPA and test scores like your son were accepted. </p>
<p>Thanks momofthreeboys, that was very helpful! </p>