Oh no @homerdog! I’m so sorry for your D. If it were me/my kid, unless she was too sick to go (doesn’t sound like it, sounds like a “just not 100%” situation), I’d have her take it.
If she usually gets test anxiety or if you think that this illness might be a physical manifestation of stress, being sick might be a “good” thing - expectations are a bit lower; she can “blame” a low test score on not feeling well.
She may very well go in, take the test and absolutely rock it because there are no expectations.
The seniors taking the test tomorrow are the stressed ones; she has no reason to stress at all. She has lots of test options ahead of her.
Not sure if this matters, but just as a reminder - the October ACT and the PSAT are one Saturday after another. My daughter has been prepping for the October ACT - just full tests from here on out as well for the reasons you stated (fatigue) - but it’s not as much time as you’d think, because she also wants to take a couple full PSAT’s between now and October. I’m thinking at most (with Homecoming and one other weekend taken up completely by fun stuff), she’ll be able to fit in two more full ACTs, which is not a huge amount of additional prep.
I understand that more time for Oct would be better but I think is a confidence factor also
If she preps and waits till Oct then she might feel more confident in her ability and not feeling sick. But if she’s ready then she’s ready and see how she feels in the morning. Very few kids, I think, ever feel completely ready for these types of tests regardless how much studying they do.
Perhaps I am ‘over-thinking’ this on the terminology used here. If your daughter does not take the test tomorrow, does she need to show up at the test center and tell the ACT co-ordinators, or just be absent? If she decides to take the test and then, within the prescribed period, cancels sending the score, keep in mind that the scores will not be sent but will become part of her permanent ACT record. To delete the scores from the permanent record, would require writing separately to ACT (not just cancelling).
On preparation for the test, I think a 3-hour period once a week, for say 4 to 6 weeks prior to the test would be enough. She knows the material, just need to condition her brain to the testing environment. I think studying for the test at home is not as effective as, say, at school or library, which are closer to the real physical testing environment.
Honestly if she’s a junior I would reschedule for spring (is there a Jan or Feb test?) And then come up with structure plan of study. As a second, I would wait until October to feel better and not worry about additional study since it’s not that much more time - you either know it or don’t with an additional month. Then treat that as an evaluation to see what need to work on for spring.
If you haven’t boxed yourself into a corner by waiting until senior year, I’m all for taking a test without stressing about prep to see where you are naturally under real (not practice) situations. But that was just our approach.
@scmom12 well we have a history here of one and done early junior year. S19 took the SAT in August of senior year after a summer of self study and it was awesome. We could make a list early and only visit schools that made sense. D21 wants to do the same thing. And she will be out of practice if we wait until spring. She was doing ten hours a week of ACT work per week before school started a month ago. She won’t have another big chunk of time to do that again.
We are planning on making spring break plans to see some schools and need to know some scores so that these visits make sense. We will be flying to these schools so we need to make sure that the visits are worthwhile
I think the downsides you write about in #5 are a big enough risk to just have her stay home tomorrow.
The ACT is kind of grueling, it’s not like just slogging through an exam at school or even an entire school day (which, note, she couldn’t do today). I think those downsides, not to mention test burnout, are something to be strongly considered here.
As a side note, I’m surprised to hear there isn’t some kind of sick policy where you can delay your scheduled test to another date. I get it that their rooms fill up, but personally think they should allow rescheduling without penalty for doctor confirmed sickness!
So sorry to hear this @homerdog. I think I would have her skip tomorrow and take it in October. If she was prepared for the September test, she will be prepared for October. She’s not going to lose that knowledge in one month. Agree it is hard to prep on weeknights during the school year. Carving out a couple hours each weekend could be the way to go. As for the stamina, being back at school in class all day, after an unstructured summer is going to do wonders for mental stamina.
Hi @wisteria100 I think she’s leaning towards not going. And that’s a good point that being back at school helps with stamina. As do the long hours of homework.
Homer, you and I have a long history of agreeing with each other on CC so you know I say this with utmost respect- back away from the ledge.
Your D is NOT your first kid, and while it would be great if she were a “one and done” slam dunk- she might not be. She’s a junior, and there are ample opportunities to take the ACT again, take the SAT if she doesn’t like her scores, or apply Test Optional if her guidance counselor believes that her scores are nowhere near a reflection of who she is as a student.
You might have to visit a college which is a reach. You might end up visiting a college which isn’t even a safety- it’s an uber safety. That’s the only downside to her being too sick to take the test tomorrow! That’s it! You are WAY early anyway, since your D is only a junior.
10 hours of test prep a week during the summer? And you’re trying to justify her taking the test if she’s really not feeling well just to make those hours and hours pay off?
Get a grip… I say that with love. This is one test, on one day, where your D might well be irritating everyone else with her honking and sneezing and wheezing. Or maybe she wakes up feeling great. But your D for sure is going to pick up on YOUR anxiety that if she doesn’t do well tomorrow OR in October you’ll feel like your entire plan to do what worked for S1 is going to fall apart.
And that’s not fair. She gets to do what works for her- which might not be to take a test when she’s feeling like ^&(. And she’s likely beautifully prepared after that grueling summer prep- which means she’ll be just as prepared in October. Kids don’t lose brain cells in a month (that’s for us oldsters).
@blossom I get it. My anxiety comes out here but I swear I’m not putting anything on D21. We’ve barely talked about it for the last three days. It’s D21 who wants to get this done early as well. She’s doesn’t need more time in school to do better on these tests as she’s advanced in math and a strong reader. She does tend to have more anxiety around tests than S19 and that’s another reason to start early. S19 even told her that he felt absolutely no pressure when he took his first SAT and that helped him relax. His friends who didn’t take the time to study in the summer were testing and testing junior year and THAT was stressful.
She honestly does not need the score that S19 got. She knows that. She just wants to do the best she can do. We really don’t compare the kids.
Homer- google the story of the woman who took the bar exam while she was in labor (my nephew was sitting next to her.) It will take your mind off your anxiety!
Your D is going to be fine. For every kid who decides that testing early is the best way to deal with test anxiety, there is another kid who decides to do “one and done” in the Fall of Senior year, and nobody knows which method is better. They are both fine. And if you visit one or two colleges this spring without knowing if they are too reachy or too safety for your D’s stats- that also isn’t the end of the world.
I told D21 that we should change the date of her test and she was so relieved. I think she thought I thought she should go. All is good. I could see the relief. Time to just recover from the cold and catch up on homework. Oct and Dec for ACT is the new plan.
