<p>We all know our kids the best. What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for others. Fortunately the SAT/ACT is only one piece of the large admissions puzzle.</p>
<p>My D will be taking a small SAT prep class, only about 10 folks in it. The good thing is that, like the one my S took when it was his turn, she has an option for a free refresher class. That helps when you take the SAT more than once.</p>
<p>Also I agree about the college trips. It was a nice bonding experience when my D and I went on the 5 colleges in 5 days road trip. Had fun when we saw a few places like Voodoo Donuts in Portland, OR, and caught Transformers II in Grants Pass.</p>
<p>Hey Parents</p>
<p>Have your students taken the SAT yet–?
Our student takes in Saturday…for the first time since the PSATs soph and jr yr…</p>
<p>We are looking at ACT dates…An yadvice on when to tackle the ACT, as its so different from the SAT. Our student takes the APs in May and the Sat subject tests in June…</p>
<p>Your thoughts?</p>
<p>I’ve put off thinking about the ACT because all of the dates are bad! My son is doing the March SAT. I don’t think my son is going to take any more SAT subject tests. He did fine on the US History one last year after taking AP US History but his grades are not going to put him in the running for any schools that require SAT subject tests and I’m not going to waste his time and our money on them. The AP’s should be enough to get some college credit.</p>
<p>BTW, ALL students take the AP’s in May. Those are national tests.</p>
<p>fogfog - Sorry to ask these questions if you already told us. I assume your child is a senior. Which test(s) do the schools he/she is applying to require/recommend (SAT, ACT, # and type of SAT IIs)? What are the deadlines for submitting those scores?</p>
<p>Does your child’s Jr year SAT score fall in the range expected by each school? If not has your child prepared sufficiently so as to expect a higher score? If not you may just be wasting your time/money? You may be able to push it off to a later date so your child has more time to prepare. Check their website.</p>
<p>The ACT is different from the SAT. Your decision should be based on the amount of time your child has to study and each school’s requirements.</p>
<p>fogfog, if your kid is happy with his SAT score from this week’s sitting, or feels that he could bring it up to the desired level with just a little more work, why bother with the ACT? Like you say, it’s a very different test, so if your kid ends up doing very well on the SAT, just capitalize on that.</p>
<p>Using a CC suggestion, D1 started with the ACT, the logic being that if she muffed it she didn’t have to send the bad score at all to colleges and could just switch over to trying the SAT. Since our state public requires subject tests, she knew she would need to send in an SAT report to colleges eventually, and if she started with the SAT I and did badly she wouldn’t be able to hide the bad score. OK, so that advice was from before the advent of Score Choice, but it still seemed logical. It still makes sense to me that if your kid does really well on one test, just go with that.</p>
<p>D1 wants to retake the ACT, which she’ll do in April. She said the hardest thing for her with the ACT was just getting tired from the length of the test, which you can definitely see in her subscores 
Second time around, she’ll be better prepped for that, and buoyed by the knowledge that many schools on her list will superscore. She will take the SAT I in March (for NMF eligibility), and then like so many others APs in May and SAT IIs in June. She really, really wants to be done with testing by the end of the academic year. I’m still going to keep an eye on fall dates, just in case.</p>
<p>She’s supposedly taking her driving test today, except we’ve been having massive rainstorms, so we might put the kibosh on that.</p>
<p>HI </p>
<p>FLMathmom…our son was asked to take the SAT and give scores and transcript to a coach
He is a Jr–and has time to retake it if necessary.
He needs 3 subject tests for a few schools, so he’ll take the SAT2s in Math2, Chem and Physics…maybe Latin or Eng…but they aren’t necessary</p>
<p>He has the AP Chem, AP Calc AB, AP Latin Virgil and AP Eng in May (maybe APUSH self studied)</p>
<p>The reason I ask about the ACT etc is because the GCs at the school rec that the kids take both tests as some do better in the ACT than the SAT…
Our son has not begun to prep for it—theoretically he could wait til fall…</p>
<p>His school schedule is very demanding and he is a varsity athlete with practice 6 days a week … </p>
<p>Seems like these JRs have alot on their plates–and was wondering what the best strategy for the ACT is-- I have seen the ACT SAT comparison charts – wonder if AdComs see both scores will they lean ont he higher score?</p>
<p>fogfog-Your son has a very demanding schedule on many fronts. I agree with Slithey Tove. Unless there is a compelling reason why your son needs the ACT, why add it to his huge piled-high plate? Of course, he could take it unprepared just to see how he does. Then it is only costing him a few hours and you a few dollars.</p>
<p>From what I have read, the schools look at the best score of ACT (not superscored) and SAT (superscored). Do others agree? Frankly I would not send the ACT if it was not a score I was happy with. Just be careful of what your son’s school puts on his transcript. Some of them list everything albeit it is ‘unofficial’.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. You and your son have to do what is best for him regardless of the well-meaning advice given by others (GCs or CC parents). You know him best.</p>
<p>kathiep- My d also decided not to take anymore SAT 2 tests after just doing so-so on one last year. None of the schools she is interested in require it and I don’t see the sense of more tests for her and more money for us! She takes the SAT on Saturday with very little prep. CUrious to see how she’ll do. If she hits our target that will be it for her. Our target is fairly reasonable and within reach based on her PSAT. She isn’t interested in top 20 type schools, so hopefully one testing and we’ll be done. If not there is always March, May and June! I would like to be done by the end of the school year!</p>
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<p>This might depend from school to school. I do know from some info sessions that at least some schools will superscore the ACT. On the other hand, they won’t superscore when it looks like the student has gamed the system. There was an example of a student who on one test date concentrated on just some of the sections and ignored the others, then did the reverse on another test date. Voila, a near-perfect superscored standardized test! And no, adcoms aren’t that stupid that they’ll fall for this. </p>
<p>fogfog, will the schools requiring 3 subject tests accept three tests in the “same” general subject area? Depending on your son’s strengths, how kids at his school have tended to do on the different subject tests in past years, the test curves and the phases of the moon 
he might want to change around the subjects. He’ll just have finished APUSH so the US History SAT II might make sense, ditto the English SAT II. The Math II has a more forgiving curve, but he may need to review since it only goes through Trig/Math Analysis, not Calc.</p>
<p>Good luck to all our kids this Saturday (mine included). Let’s hope they all achieve their targeted scores so they can put a checkmark in the DONE column for the SAT.</p>
<p>Another point or two about the ACT–all dates are not available in all locations and there are fewer testing centers in some parts of the country. (Like the Northeast) Also, some schools will accept the ACT with writing in lieu of one SAT Subject Test.</p>
<p>S is also taking the SAT Saturday, also with no prep. He told us early in the game he wouldn’t apply to any schools that require Subject Tests. It’s been a lot less stressful than his '09 sister’s type A college search.</p>
<p>Are there schools other than H and GT that require 3 Subject tests anymore??</p>
<p>We too considered having D2 try the ACT in the winter/spring, depending on how she did on the SAT. It was a back-up plan since we’re most familiar with the SAT format and preparation and she already has 1 Subject test under her belt and should be well prepared for another this spring following an AP course. In the end, she’s happy with her SAT superscore after her second sitting last month, doesn’t want to do the prep it would take to do reasonably well on the ACT, and the dates at our location aren’t ideal. So, no ACT at our house, to be honest, I’m kinda relieved.</p>
<p>Best of luck to all the kids sitting the SAT on Saturday!</p>
<p>Why do so many juniors take the SAT now? Wouldn’t it be smarter to take it in May or June, when they’ve finished or almost finished the year and have more learnin’ under their belts? There’s still plenty of time to prep in the summer and retake in early fall.</p>
<p>It just seems to me that my D will do better with the rest of the school year complete.</p>
<p>researching4emb-speaking only for my D, she wants to take it more than once. Also, she is very busy in the spring, so thought this would be a better time. It is turning out that she hasn’t had any time to really prepare, so this should be an interesting experience!</p>
<p>Research- A lot of kids have other tests at the end of the jr year with AP exams and SAT2 tests which usually happen in May and June. And as Holliesue stated taking it now allows one to retake again before the end of the school year. Last my S may apply to a couple of schools over the summer and will want the results for those apps. </p>
<p>My S will take the SAT and AP exams in May, and the SAT2’s in June.</p>
<p>I’m trying to remember what I did when I was in high school re: taking the SAT. I remember taking it twice, but I can’t remember if both times were senior year. The big difference between then and now was that I was filling out a grand total of three applications, and our soon-to-be seniors will be filling out 3-4 times as many :eek: Faced with all that paperwork, no wonder that so many kids try to finish their testing in the spring.</p>
<p>Hi
Thanks for the thoughts re the ACT…yes we are praying that Saturdays run of the SAT is where he wants it…it would be nice to set that aside…The GCs seem to think that some kids ust do better on it than the SAT…
he took some test (like a PSAT) that predicts the ACT outsome–it seemed to be in the right direction…
and we’d rather not have him sit for so many tests if he doesn’t need them…</p>
<p>As for the SAT2s…he definitley needs math 2, and a hard science…he will take both the chem and physics since he is in those classes,
the GCs also tell us its best to take the SAT2s when the kids are fresh from the yr…</p>
<p>And he is focused on applied sciences and engineering in the future…</p>
<p>He is in AP Calc right now–and has been reviewing the stuff from Alg, Trig, Geo etc for the SAT since thta doesn’t go up to the AP Calc arena…</p>
<p>Gotta tell ya–what the kids are expected to complete…is very different than when I was in school…I think I took the SAT once–maybe twice–I do know I took the SAT the day after I went to the Rolling Stones (Tattoo you) concert!
Wouldn’t recommend it ;o)</p>
<p>Reasons my kids sat the SAT for the first time in fall/winter of jr yr rather than in the spring or fall of sr yr:</p>
<p>APs and Subject tests in May/June.</p>
<p>Wanted the opportunity for additional prep and a second sitting during jr year.</p>
<p>Believe that SAT prep >> a few additional months of school.</p>
<p>Summer after soph year was a better time for SAT prep since there are more opportunities for summer programs, internships, work, etc. after jr year.</p>
<p>SATs finished by the end of jr year gives the opportunity to develop a realistic list of colleges, and thus permits an early start on applications in the fall (particularly for rolling and EA schools).</p>
<p>Fall of sr year is an extremely busy time, didn’t want to add SATs to the load.</p>
<p>YMMV</p>
<p>Research - It is all a matter of balance. If your D is taking SAT IIs and AP exams in May then it would be better to have the SAT & ACT finished by then. If your D has a busy summer schedule, will be away or will be starting her college apps in the summer, she’ll want the SAT & ACT done prior. She also needs to know her scores so she knows what schools to apply to. She might want to check some of the deadlines for schools she is interested in.</p>