My D needs 5 more points on the ACT

Parents Forum
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<p>Another vote for dumping the “dream school” fixation, especially if your daughter’s dream is, as you indicate on another thread, an “ivy.” Even an ACT 29 is going to be iffy for a highly selective school. She sounds like a an accomplished student that would be a person of interest to a lot of academically strong colleges and universities. Helping her see the positives in schools across a range of selectivity would be, to me, the greatest favor that you could do right now.</p>

<p>I would also note that your daughter’s application needs to address the disconnect between her grades and scores. Though GPA generally trumps test score, this kind of discrepancy will raise questions. She could be, as you say, just a poor test taker. Some schools are tolerant of this weak point, some are not. Test optional schools are an obvious solution, but there are also schools – mostly, but not only, small liberal arts colleges – that take a more holistic approach to admissions. In that event, it will be the other, more subjective, elements of her application that push her over the top, like essays, recommendations, resumes, supplements.</p>

<p>Or there could be another underlying issue like grade inflation or reading problem. I don’t mean to diagnose, but someone should. Perhaps her counselor could shed some light on the problem in his/her recommendation? Have you talked to the instructor of her prep course? Was she just not paying attention, or did she really struggle in completing the test?</p>

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<p>I agree that maybe a better strategy would be to let go of the dream college idea. That said, would it make more sense to take the test in the fall and study over the summer? I made my oldest practice writing SAT essays and when he finally got a higher essay score, he mucked up the multiple choice and got exactly the same Writing score. Younger son never did get his math score to budge. He just can’t seem to do math fast. (But he also didn’t practice that much, some yes.)</p>

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<p>Sure… where I am taking exception is that you are talking up how your kid took ownership when you spent $2K on prep tutoring. Just saying…</p>

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<p>If she isn’t invested in prepping for the test, I would be less than thrilled about investing in the “dream school” notion. </p>

<p>I agree, she may need to adjust her idea of the “dream school” to fit her reality.</p>

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<p>With my entire quiver of children, I gutted it out and got them private tutors. Yes, I never go on vacation or buy new clothes. I barely eat. And I work 24/7/365. All I did for years is pay for SAT or ACT tutors. The kids had sports and other EC’s and the only way I knew they would focus on the test prep was by having a tutor show up at the house and individually coach them. </p>

<p>There was a broader strategy, though, that began in fall of junior year. HS offered “actual, timed” older versions of both the ACT and SAT tests that were not reported. I insisted my children take both and then based on the scores and their feel for the test, choose their “poison.” Then I hired the tutor and kid went through the basic program at home w/tutor 1-on-1. Kid took first, real test shortly after New Year of junior year. Scores came back, we assessed progress, got tutor back to drill and kill on lowest sections, but not waste time on sections that were really high or perfect. Kid took test second time in early spring. Assessed progress and whether tutor was necessary again. </p>

<p>In case of DS three years ago, he was a bit (!) rabid about getting 36 or as close to 36 on every section, so he even prepped in fall of senior year and retook it a third time. (Would that he had focused on his school work for four years with as much passion!) </p>

<p>Last spring in junior year, DD hit her “Ivy” scores and elected to stop there. (She did not “need” a bunch of 36’s like her brother!) For good measure, she even did one SAT II–US History–right after the APUSH test with absolutely no prep. Nailed a 770/800 on that. (None of her schools required SAT II, but she wanted to demonstrate high competence level. ) </p>

<p>DD then spent summer and fall working on her art portfolio for submission to film schools w/animation programs, recognizing that this submission would have a huge bearing on her acceptance. The good news was that her scores were so great, she could afford to do this. This past fall while the other seniors were scampering to raise SAT or ACT scores, she was focused solely on her various college essays and the many variations of the portfolio that the universities required. </p>

<p>I have to say that the strategy was a great one, albeit expensive. I think a variation on the theme would be to have the kid go to a course, but follow the basic technique of beginning in fall of junior year, assessing, doing further prep based on weaknesses, and retake as necessary.</p>

<p>I am so glad not to have to pay any more tutors as DD3 is the last one to go to college. I’ll still be working 24/7/365 and never buying a stitch of new clothing as now I’ve got college expenses! Does it ever end? :wink: </p>

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<p>OP, the others are correct. Your daughter needs a different dream school. It can’t be one of the Ivies. Why is X school her dream anyway? What is it about it that she loves? If you tell us more we can probably help by suggesting realistic alternatives that might then become attainable dreams.</p>

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<p>^I agree with trying to get your kid to focus and try to get as close to the scores they want as possible by end of junior year. I think it adds a lot of stress trying to bring scores up in the fall of senior year. You can’t really finalize your list of colleges without knowing your scores. And fall of senior year is just crazy busy.</p>

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<p>If this student has an Ivy in sight and I didn’t go back and look at old posts then I doubly recommend talking to the guidance counselor about where the top kids the past couple years scored on the ACT and where they applied and were accepted.</p>

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<p>Does your school have Naviance? You might be able to open her eyes by showing her that. Be sure she knows that dots with lower scores or GPA may have some other “hook” that she doesn’t have, so she would at least want to shoot for the middle of the Naviance pack for her school.</p>

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<p>1) A 29 will make her a borderline Ivy candidate at best.
2) A 5 point increase in SAT scores is a VERY big increase. Its about equivalent to 190 points on the 1800 point SAT scale.
3) Whose dream school is it? If it her really her dream school (and not her oh that would be cool school) then she would already be doing everything in her power to get her scores up.
4) Getting a tutor and taking ownership are fairly independent considerations. </p>

<p>A great tutor will allow a child to optimize the limited time available (6 weeks or 6 months). They’ve been through it and they should know how to best spend you child’s study time. </p>

<p>Ownership is what she does with the available resources (online, books, tutors, parents, human sacrifices). When a kid wants something enough, they will be almost single minded. When they don’t want it as much, then other things find priority.</p>

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<p>OP…what IS your daughter’s current ACT score? On your other thread, you say she has a 28. On this you say a 24. And on that other thread you say she is aiming for an Ivy and will submit an arts supplement. </p>

<p>If her ACT is a 28, she might be able to get up high enough for an Ivy to be realistic. If it’s a 24, it would be a challenge.</p>

<p>Has she taken the SAT? Some students do better on the SAT than the ACT.</p>

<p>I agree with the folks on that other thread, she should add some test optional schools to her list. </p>

<p>In addition, she should list out the characteristics of whichever Ivy is her “dream school” and look for other schools with similar characteristics.</p>

<p>If this were my kid, I would insist that she find a realistic safety school first…or two. These would be colleges where she would be happy to attend if accepted, and which are affordable, and where she has a very strong chance of being accepted. I would also add one rolling admissions school to the mix…preferably a safety type. That way she will have an early acceptance. </p>

<p>She really needs to be invested in upping that standardized test score. She does. If she isn’t invested in that, then she really does need to review her college options. Of course she can apply to this dream school, but she absolutely needs some sure things on her application list as well.</p>

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<p>If she has already did many practice tests, there may not be much room for her to improve. My D improved from 31 to 35 after a summer of practice (20+ practice tests) and 31 was her baseline at the end of sophomore. So a 5 points increase from 24 to 29 is feasible if that 24 is her baseline score.</p>

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<p>I echo @intparent with using Naviance since it will show her how she compares to students at her HS who applied to colleges in which she’s interested. It’s a big eye-opener for students to see who actually gets accepted from their HS cohort. If OP’s daughter also has an art portfolio in her future, she should be aware that certain programs within universities may be even more selective. Having just been through this w/ DD3, we knew that universities with schools of film (for example) only takes a few dozen or less students each year into each of the majors (e.g., screenwriting, prod, animation). The high selectivity of certain programs needs to be factored in when making a decision about applying. Also with art portfolios, depending on the chosen major, some institutions want a lot of talent, and grades/test scores are less important, while some want it all: talent, WGPA over 4.0 and Ivy test scores. My head is still dizzy helping DD3 wade through that labyrinth. </p>

<p>I also agree with those who have suggested generating a realistic list of colleges. The GC should be doing it this year with the students, but if not, make an appointment BEFORE GC disappears for the summer, so daughter can research them in the next few months. She should KNOW before applying the weight the institution will place on her test scores, what exactly goes into a portfolio, etc. She will then be ready in fall to hit the ground running with a strong list of safety, target, and reach schools. </p>

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<p>One thing I haven’t heard anyone talk about is how many schools will super-score. So what went into that 24? Does your D really need to raise all four areas or just focus in really bringing up two?</p>

<p><a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-use-practices-list.pdf”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-use-practices-list.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This link will show you how her dream school will treat multiple tests.</p>

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<p>Here is the list for ACT superscoring:
<a href=“http://www.freetestprep.com/blog/resources/list-of-colleges-and-universities-that-superscore-the-act-test/”>http://www.freetestprep.com/blog/resources/list-of-colleges-and-universities-that-superscore-the-act-test/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There are not as many schools that superscore ACT as SAT.</p>

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<p>To improve ACT:
Option1: hire a private tutor for 2-4 hrs each week. D does 1 full timed ACT test each weekend at home and you do the timing. Tutor goes over all incorrect answers, how to solve the incorrect answers, and any supplemental HW for the week to supplement the weak areas. d does supplemental HW during the week (maybe 30 mins each)</p>

<p>Option 2: no tutor, but you do the work of the tutor</p>

<p>I would say that if you weighed the ACT vs the scores on the AP tests in may, the act has a MUCH higher weight in her college admissions than the scores on the AP exams. (Almost incomparable). Also if she goes to a “good” HS, she won’t have to do any studying for AP exam because they have learned it all in class. Strategically, she should focus her time and energy on the act and let the APs fall to the side.</p>

<p>The act is very formulaic and repetitive. If she takes multiple full length acts, she notice the pattern that they are all similar. 4 trig questions, science questions in same formats, etc. so taking many full length tests (and reviewing the wrong answers with somebody) is what she needs to do to increase her score.</p>

<p>Btw, a act of 24 equals about a 1650 out of 2400 on the sat.</p>

<p>Ways to motivate?

  1. Pay her $10 per hour for time spent on act prep
  2. No Internet, TV, cell phone texting u till after her 1 hr spent on act prep</p>

<p>Also would look into test optional schools.</p>

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<p>I question the draconian reward measures that some are advocating here. If a kid has to be paid to study for a test to get a score necessary for entrance into an elite college, what’s going to happen once they get to dream school and the cash-to-cram reward system is no longer in place? That would really worry me as a parent. I think it’s short-sighted and ultimately counter-productive. </p>

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<p>I have been doing test prep since 2004. 24 to 29? Possible, but not likely. It will take a lot of practice. Trying to make her do heavy duty prep now with sports and APs is not going to work. Wait until school is out. Prep all summer for a fall ACT. There is no magic to prepping. Just spend time taking as many practice tests as possible. AND spend even MORE time analyzing missed questions so the same types of questions won’t be missed again. She should think of training for the test like she trains for athletic competition. You could pay her per test section completed. Is math a weakness? There are on-line video solutions to every math question on every ACT practice test/released test available. No excuse for not knowing how to do these problems. If she still won’t spend the time, then she doesn’t care enough to do what the “dream” requires. And even if she does work at it, she still may not reach a 29. I agree with other posters–much simpler to get a new dream school with scores in the range of where she is now. Or look at test optional schools. One common misconception I see (especially among parents of kids with average scores and 4.0 grades) is that good grades/ECs will make up for average scores–or that these elements will be considered equally in admissions. 4.0 students are a dime-a-dozen. For many (if not most) colleges, scores are the “key” that opens the door to consideration. If you don’t have the scores, they don’t care what else you have. If you have the scores–great–THEN they will look at the rest of the application. When their kid has perfect grades and average scores, parents tend to think, “My kid is extremely bright, and extremely hardworking. Just not a good test-taker.” Admissions officers are more likely to think, “Grade inflation. Average student.” (btw, I’m not saying that the OP is one of these parents–just common belief that good grades are worth as much as good scores. Also recognizing that grades, too, must meet a certain threshold for consideration, but pointing out that there are many, MANY more students with perfect grades/average scores than there are with perfect scores/average grades–and there is a lot of grade inflation out there, so emphasizing the importance of scores and the value of spending time preparing for ACT/SAT.) </p>

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<p>Yes, I’m rather surprised by these responses as well. Discuss what needs to be achieved and make a plan for doing so. Seems to me anything more than a little nagging to stick to the plan should not be required, and if that isn’t working, sounds like college goals need to be adjusted to conform with what the student is willing to do.</p>

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<p>An economical first step is the online prep program offered by ACT for $20.00</p>

<p><a href=“The ACT Test for Students | ACT”>http://www.actstudent.org/onlineprep/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Sign her up for the daily email questions.</p>

<p>I really think reading comprehension is the key to these tests, and so reading at least a book a week (and not current fiction, but something classic and more challenging, and in the case of science, a textbook or encyclopedia - and a real encyclopedia, printed on paper, not Wikipedia) might help.</p>

<p>My son enjoys the challenge of taking the standardized tests because he finds them interesting most of the time, so perhaps that is another key - helping your daughter relax and stay relaxed and change her perspective about these tests. Let her see them as just a challenge, but not the make-or-break for a happy life. That is way too much pressure for her to feel about these tests (I know the stakes are high.)</p>

<p>One key way to help her relax is to help her consider the reality that getting a higher score may not happen, and so what will be the plan if she cannot raise the test score despite her best efforts. Help her to come up with an array of choices, and to feel good about all of them, and not a failure, so that no matter what happens with her score, she will have a plan in place. </p>