<p>Katch614 Berkeley is a T25 school and one of the best publics in the country. Very few people, if any, can consider it a safety.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s more of a safety these days if you’re an OOSer who can afford the 50k/yr COA :rolleyes:.</p>
<p>Current UC policy is to limit OOS. Berkeley has roughly 10% -12% OOS out of which approx. 3-5% are international. The overall acceptance rate is roughly 20% for instate students. It could be lower for OOS. So Jersey13 is correct - even the best students probably should consider Berkeley a match not a safety. Now keep in mind that the UCs are studying ways to raise more money and it’s possible that next year they may raise the OOS.</p>
<p>Just wondering for those who kids don’t take ACT, have they tried the ACT test, at least in practice? I know some don’t do it because of the higher level math but my dd who is not the strongest in math, is ended up doing best on the highest level math since it was freshest in her mind. ONe reason I recommend that kids try both, at least in practice, is because some have very large differences in one over the other. THat wasn’t the case with my son but is the case with my older daughter.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update, kathiep…I suspect in her heart of hearts that my daughter also prefers a smaller school than PSU main campus…let me know your thoughts on some of the satellites. At this point, trying to help her “think beyond the label”…which, with some kids is easier said than done. Villanova seems to have the whole package as far as she’s concerned, but it may be a bit of a reach for her – in terms of affordability and gaining entry.</p>
<p>Katch614, we also live in NYS and having a hard time convincing my daughter about the SUNY jewels…she’s hellbent on leaving the state (not that I blame her)…which is why we’re looking at OOS State schools…I think a lot of it has to do with too many campuses and the lack of a real SUNY identity and national brand. Not sure why gcs are recommending so many applications, but it appears the number of “safe” schools is dwindling no matter the caliber of the student. My son applied to 8 schools three years ago and it was more than enough.</p>
<p>ACTers----is there a free real (not like a diagnostic test from a prep place) test anywhere online? Or is there an equivalent to the College Board’s blue book of SAT tests?</p>
<p>The ACT-equivalent to the SAT blue book is The Real ACT Prep Guide (From the cover: The Only Guide to Include 3 Real ACT Tests and The ONLY Official Prep Guide from the Makers of the ACT). It is red.</p>
<p>Nickenzie, not sure if that was a typo, But it’s Nittany Lion (not Littany Lion!). Lots of kids from our area go to Penn State Behrend in Erie all 4 years. Website says its enrollment is 4767. I know they have many science and engineering majors there.</p>
<p>Klucky - in our city the Public Library system (through Princeton Review) offers a free taking of both the SAT and ACT, including essay for both tests (on different dates, of course). A week later Princeton Review provides a complete computerized breakdown of the results. It is worthwhile to see if your library offers something similar…or call Princeton Review and ask them if they will be doing it elsewhere in your area. Although their ultimate goal is to get new students, there was no pressure to sign up. My two kids both self studied using the College Board book of 10 tests (the ‘blue’ book) and accompanying Issues and Explanations book by Peter Tanguay.</p>
<p>Hi</p>
<p>New to this thread. This is our third time with college admissions. S1 will be graduating from UC Berkeley in 2 months. S2 is a sophomore at Stanford.</p>
<p>S3 wants to stay in-state. He will apply to the UCs and probably Stanford, USC, and Pomona. He took the SAT in January and scored 2330, so thankfully, he is done with that. He is scheduled to take the SAT 2s in May.</p>
<p>He attends a rural school that up until recently, was considered “low performing.” Financing college is our main concern. We hope that he will be offered Regents at some of the UCs. His PSAT score is in NMF range. I think he may also qualify for the Byrd Scholarship.</p>
<p>Recognize many posters’ names…will be a fun year for us!</p>
<p>Thanks Nickenzie for recommendations for study books for SAT and (if nec. after today’s scores)ACT.
Yes with us too about the considered schools not requiring SATII test, thank goodness.</p>
<p>Have no idea what time D1 got to bed, we had to get up pretty early to get to where the ACT is. I didn’t get home til quite late last night due to D2’s evening soccer game in another town a ways away. y-a-w-n
At least it’s an incredibly beautiful sunny morning here, that helps!</p>
<p>ACT has an online test prep for $19.95 good for one user for one year. They will even grade one essay. I am probably goind to sign up for it and I will let you know how it looks then.<br>
[ACT</a> Online Prep: Ordering Information](<a href=“The ACT Test for Students | ACT”>The ACT Test for Students | ACT)</p>
<p>Back from visiting PSU-Harrisburg. Very different vibe from the other colleges we’ve visited but not a bad one. The housing is very good and the academics sound challenging. My only concern is that it would not be a college experience like my other two kids have had, but son didn’t seem put off by that. He could go two years there and then two years at Main campus and by that time it would be smaller classes there. 60% of the students do just that so he would probably figure out a roommate from the Harrisburg group. I’m not sure it’s the best fit but a good option and a good visit.</p>
<p>Thanks for the ACT prep info all 
I’ll pass it on to LuckyBoy should he decide to try the ACT.</p>
<p>His sister ('13) attends a different high school. At her school, all juniors take the PSAT in the fall and the PLAN (is that the name?) in the spring, so that the kids get an idea which test might be best for college admissions. I think that’s darn smart.</p>
<p>
Welcome FresnoMom! Your SpringBreak must have been fun with a Bear and a Cardinal in the house…(GO BEARS! - I went to Cal)</p>
<p>Must add my two cents worth about Cal Berkeley being a safety…maybe for instate, but OOS, it is really hard to get into. Someone suggested that maybe Cal was looking for money from out of state, but I seriously doubt that. Most of the educators and politicians claim that the college education costs so much more than tuition/fees that are charged, if the stats came out with too many more OOS students than years past - in state residents would be furious that their tax dollars are subsidizing OOS students. I really don’t see that happening. The reasoning for the number of OOS that are already admitted, including international, is that the universities want a diverse student body. In our recent budget crunch, there are already people complaining about International students we are “subsidizing”.</p>
<p>Twenty-five years ago, I considered Cal my safety, but today I would never presume it, especially in engineering, even for being in state. Very few high schoolers in state can consider Cal or UCLA safety schools.</p>
<p>Good morning all :D</p>
<p>S1 is class of 10’ and making his final visits to his top contenders.
S2 is class of 11’ and took the ACT yesterday. :)</p>
<p>Soon we will be starting another round of school visits for S2 (hopefully will be a recruited athlete)</p>
<p>Have a great day all :blink:</p>
<p>So
post ACT–what did the kids think?</p>
<p>Mine said it was better than the SAT–
though during a reading section–the moderator said “5 minutes left” while there was one reading section w questions to go—and tried to fly trhough it–
only to have the moderator a few minutes later say “oh–made a mistake–you have 5 minutes more…”</p>
<p>what the hey is THAT! kinda through the whole group as they looked around at eachother like “what the hay?”</p>
<p>Anyway-- I read that the scoring takes a long while–especially because the scores aren’t given until the writing sections are all read/scored…</p>
<p>so…</p>
<p>on to the next thing–
3 SAT2s in May and 4 APS in May…</p>
<p>Taking this one day/week at a time.</p>
<p>WHat did you studnets think?</p>
<p>Well LuckyBoy has SAT I in May and 4 APs to follow. The day before his last AP, his fellow exchange student from Austria comes to stay with us for two weeks That will be fun! During that time there are two proms (the boys’ school and the sister school—ds will be attending with his now-girlfriend (!) and he needs to find date(s) for his Austrian friend, though he might attend with one of the female Austrian students), a trip to NYC, a weekend at the beach, lots of social events, and we somehow have to squeeze in a day trip to Philly…</p>
<p>I’m trying to find some patience today. Ds just announced that he left his AP Physics book at school before break…with two problems sets due and a test to take tomorrow :eek: He has to finish an AP Calc problem set today too. At least the other homework is done. Time for me to go play in the dirt!</p>
<p>fogfog–the multiple choice scores are released about two weeks before the writing scores, so the writing scores do not slow down that process. The scores should start coming out on April 26. Other than the math section, I thought the other sections were much better than the SAT. I am awful at vocab and choosing the error in the sentence, so the ACT fit my style a lot more.</p>
<p>fogfog: daughter was very prepared for this ACT but took it with a fever; she made it, but I am not optimistic about her reflections; thought it was very similar to practice exam difficulty with science being more difficult than practice…she was happy she took it, though, since each time you sit for it you become more comfortable with format, questions etc…this was her first…</p>