I have a S23 (gpa currently 3.3). Their school has them all take ACT in school in March of their junior year. So taking SAT or ACT before then is odd to me as well. I don’t see the benefit in it. My kids HATE standardized testing (and the school does preACTs in other years as well) so asking my kids to do extra tests “just to see where they are at” would be counter productive here!
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My S23 (GPA3.3 UW/3.6W) took PSAT in the Fall, SAT in March, and will take one more time in June. We will evaluate when scores come back if he does it one more time.
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My D24 isn’t planning on taking the SAT/ACT. Mostly because she’s not aiming to apply to any colleges that would require it. Also because at this point I think the plan for her is to attend our very fine local community college for a year or two, then transfer to an in-state public - possibly one she could commute to. She’ll apply to a fairly deep list of colleges just in case her teenage mind changes between Aug’23-May’24, but the feeling right now is she would be more than happy to start her post-HS life without moving out.
I’m very happy to not have to worry about the standardized test hamster wheel for this one. There’s a huge sense of calm and clear-path next steps about this one’s journey.
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I feel you. It is a really good strategy for a lot of kids if they (and their parents) can leave their egos at the door. I was having this conversation with my son last evening. If he has a bunch of college level AP credits and hopefully, a few DE courses, then it makes sense to consider at least another semester or two at a CC to get an associate’s degree. If most of those courses are transferable to the 4 year institution then COA/ budget could be doubled and more schools could be targeted. However, I think he is ready to move on.
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I think that’s a great approach. A lot of folks on College Confidential tend to look down upon community college, but it’s a really excellent way to reduce one’s total cost of attendance! And at the end of it all, when you have your 4 yr degree, the diploma only lists the 4 yr institution anyway. Out in the job market, nobody cares that you started out at community college.
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Report cards came out today. D24’s report card says GPA of 3.33, but I don’t know right now if that’s cumulative or just for this school year (report card didn’t specify). It still puts some out of state schools in the running, though, in terms of possible merit aid scholarships. She’s interested in going to college out of state.
No C’s on this year’s report card, which we are very pleased with. At this time a year ago, she got 3 C’s at the end of 9th grade, which was painful…but a lot of that school year was online instruction. And D24 learned during the pandemic that she doesn’t do well with online instruction.
The senior school counselor explained quite awhile ago that getting a B at this HS is equivalent to earning an A at other local public HS’s. Plus, the school counselor also apparently explains this in the school/guidance counselor letter of rec for the seniors when they’re applying to college. I’m hopeful that will help as well.
D24’s GPA definitely has a marked upward trend this year compared to last school year, so we are pleased with that. We are NOT targeting Top 25/Top 50 schools at all.
Planning on doing campus tours here in AZ this fall…ASU & UofA with probably NAU in the spring. Sometime this school year, we’ll also do a road trip to NM and tour UNM & NMSU, both of which D24 would gain admittance to and with their AZ reciprocal scholarships, it’s ~$11,000/year cheaper than going somewhere in state here in AZ.
Over spring break, we’re still planning on doing a week-long road trip of college tours to:
- Centre College in Danville, KY
- Univ of Alabama, Huntsville
- maybe Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, although based on D24’s personality, I don’t think she’d care much for the turbo Greek life vibe of that school.
- Southwestern Univ in Georgetown, TX
- Austin College in Sherman, TX
We can afford in state COA and probably won’t qualify for need-based aid based on my calculations, so we’re hunting for merit scholarships…which has driven this list.
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Just checking in here as we are in the final stretch of the year. No comments on the grades but I see an improvement from the fall semester.
We also had our first unofficial, official college visit. He hemmed and hawed about doing a drive by but we were right there. We were a few miles from Endicott College. We visit the beach frequently, have family on Cape Cod and explore NH and Maine and RI all the time, yet we get to Endicott, he saw the ocean and his jaw dropped. The campus was completely empty, yet very pretty. It doesn’t check all his boxes but he asked to go back to tour. The train is about 1 mile down the road to take to Boston if desired….but not for nightclubbing as it’s a commuter trail.
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Endicott College was not on my radar—what a location! I bet they have a strong sailing team…
S24 is in the middle of exams/Regents right now. I was stressed about the Spanish one. He failed several regular tests this year despite a lot of studying, and the final was cumulative. (S24 is dyslexic and can spend 20 minutes just trying to memorize the difference between sótano and sobrino, or comida and cocina.) Plus, our Spanish curriculum is very heavy on tricky grammar.
His grade was just posted and it’s a 74!! We are both in shock 
. Good shock 
. I’m proud of him for never quitting and managing to retain about 3/4 of the information. He’s not going to take any more Spanish in high school because it’s just too hard to worry about failing or having a D on his transcript. But he’s open to study abroad in a Spanish speaking place, or a true conversation class if offered in college. So relieved that he pulled off that 74 
.
Best wishes to any 24’s who are still not finished with sophomore year!
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In case anybody is interested, there’s a great podcast out that explains all about CLEP exams for college credit.
Your College-Bound Kid – 13 Jun 22
YCBK 230: Interview about CLEP & Modernstates.org with David Vise - Your…
In this week’s episode you will hear Introduction : Mark shares several announcements about major developments in Higher Education Interview David Vise, Executive Director of Modernstates.org Part 1 Preview David
Est. reading time: 2 minutes
It explains all about CLEP exams. Apparently, with this Modern States online organization, you can take several classes online for free and they include the cost of the CLEP exam, too.
Apparently, CLEP exams are usually about 90 min and almost always ONLY multiple choice, compared to AP exams (which can be up to 4 hr long). The word on the street according to a home schooler mom friend of mine is that CLEP exams are a bit easier to pass than an AP exam.
I’m going to have D24 take some CLEP exams at the end of next school year right around AP exam time.
Endicott does not have a sailing team. I believe UNH and URI may have club sailing, but truth be told it is just too cold during the school year for that, except maybe September.
Congrats to your son for his perseverance!
We are finally done for the year and it looks like S24 made honor roll. 
. He is starting to get things and work a little harder. I set up an official tour for Sacred Heart University this summer and we will tour UNH on our own. I hope to pinpoint a few more to schedule for the fall in the upcoming weeks. I can’t believe I officially have a junior in high school.
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Here’s the info on the UNH Team.
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UNH was on my radar because we have a young teacher at the high school who graduated recently and loved it. Didn’t know they had a sailing team, thanks! S24 has sailed Optis and 420s many winters in a dry suit, so not a fair weather sailor, which I unashamedly am 
. @Frogger73 , let us know what you think if you go there. Also, congrats on honor roll for your S24!!
I want to update with good news and the other kind. S24’s grades were terrific this year. He worked incredibly hard and finished with all A’s and B’s. Technically, his GPA rose out of the range of this thread, but that’s out of 4.5 so it doesn’t match up.
The not-so-good news: He just missed passing the Geometry Regents and must study this summer and take it again. This is despite a B in the class. He tends to do poorly on cumulative and/or long tests.
Also, he took a practice ACT cold and his score was considerably under 20. Granted, he has never learned grammar or Algebra 2/trig and the science section is weird, but I had thought his score would be a bit higher. He was down and seemed defeated after finishing, which is not like him. I think stamina is an issue. Plus, he was starving.
Anyway, we’ll talk to him again about whether he wants to say forget it and go test optional, or do some studying which could maybe get him up around 21-22. We’ll likely table the whole thing until winter break. I just wanted to get a ball park because it’s so hard to tell how he’s going to do on any test (except history where he shines).
Happy Summer to all! 
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Your username checks out then 
. Re: sailing at UNH. Congrats to your son on his great year! I wouldn’t worry about the ACT score just yet. We will not test until spring after S24 has completed Algebra II.
Happy summer to all! 
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D24’s AP scores came in.
AP Bio - 4
AP Euro History - 3
AP English Language - 3
Super stoked for D24 because in 9th grade, her grades were mostly a mix of B’s and C’s. 9th grade was rough and everything being online didn’t help thanks to COVID.
So just for a moment here, I need to whine. 2 of the 3 in state public universities won’t give college credit for an AP score of 3 in Euro History or English Language. What the heck. Annoying.
Then I foolishly read other people on other threads saying that their kids “only” got a 3 in test X, Y, or Z. Well, for MY kid, getting a 3 is a big stinking deal.
Colleges That Change Lives is going to be here in AZ in mid-August for a college fair on a Wed evening. D24 and I are going to go. I think there will be some good options there…we are already eye’ing a couple of not-as-prestigious LACs. We also learned in the ASU campus tour we went on last Friday that ASU is way too big for her liking.
Hope everyone’s summer is going well.
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For an AZ student, have you considered WUE schools? Places like Oregon State University, Boise State University and Sonoma State University will give credit for a 3 on the AP Engl Lang & AP Engl Lit.
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That’s a great suggestion! We are considering WUE schools, especially Univ of New Mexico & NMSU…those schools give college credit for 3’s on AP exams. Sonoma State Univ is out because it’s in CA and D24 doesn’t want to go to college in CA. OSU might be a possibility, so we will check it out for affordability.
Edited to add:
NMSU is only a 5 1/2 hr drive from where we live. UNM is about 6.5 hr drive. Both are a 1 hr plane ride from our home airport (PHX) to either ABQ or the El Paso airport (for NMSU). So getting there would be easier than OSU or Boise State.
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Such a great attitude about the 3 being something to celebrate. It is a bummer that some schools won’t give credit for it. I like focusing on how the courses and tests provide a good foundation for college classes.
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Thanks.
Some of the nuttiness gets to me at times re: college admissions, like people panicking over 3’s on AP exams (Did not do well on my AP exams. Should I report the scores?).
What they all tend to forget (which is why I’m grateful for the 3.0-3.4 GPA group here) is that with the tippy top schools, you could walk on water & part the Red Sea, and it still wouldn’t be good enough to get an “accept” instead of a “deny.”
Our HS counselor has talked a lot about finding the right ‘fit’ for your kid (academic fit + affordability fit + ‘campus vibe’ fit), so we’re focusing on that instead of prestige.
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Smaller state schools often have great academic support programs, fairly low student: teacher ratios and great programs for what he is interested in. We kind of brushed off our smaller, lesser known state schools until DD decided she wanted to go to one. We put our assumptions aside and attended an open house and were very impressed with what we saw. She will now be attending in Sept and it’s the perfect school for her.
Also, if you want to target schools with good academic support try looking at the matriculation lists of some of the well known secondary schools for kids with similar LDs. Not sure where you live, but some New England secondary schools are Landmark, Eagle Hill, Gow, Kildonan and Forman.
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Exactly the right focus! D22 got into several of her reaches (even with some 3s on her APs 
) but is headed to one of her safeties because she couldn’t care less about prestige and at the end of the day felt that school was the best fit for her.
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