<p>My daughter didn’t realize that SAT II scores were available online from the last test date. She just checked today. As expected she did really well on the spanish with listening (780) but she thinks anything less than 800 looks bad for a native speaker. She missed a couple on the listening which is a bit silly but she said she would just zone out because it was so boring and then not hear the question. She may not need the SAT IIs and did not send them anywhere. I thought that there was only an upside to taking an SAT II early. I think any realistic practice with the stress of standardized testing is helpful even the spanish test can be a nice little exercise for students who are nervous or “bad” test takers. Every time you take one of these, the stress goes down and you can perform a little better. While the prep classes do get you to take the test in simulated conditions, that little nervous edge when you take a test that will have a score can be very helpful for some students and a barrier for others.</p>
<p>Hi, VandyGrad, yes, we have a 75-pound female Berner. The Berner won the working group on Thanksgiving at the dog show. Yea! We added a 95-pound Great Pyrenees rescue to the family after the DS '10 left for school, but too late to change my screen name. </p>
<p>Yes, it is definitely easier the second time. Everybody learned so much going through the process (not about colleges, but about ourselves!).</p>
<p>In some ways it is easier because I know what to expect and to get started earlier with the testing, but my kids are all so different and have different needs and interests the search is no easier. </p>
<p>I’m with reeinaz - I bet the schools have the PSAT results. I know it takes ours a while to match the results up with the booklets to return to the students. The guidance dept is busy with college applications still.</p>
<p>2nd go round here (not including community college with oldest foster son) - definitely much chiller, although I’m more savvy thanks to CC. I’m learning about all sorts of things that I had never heard of before - like SAT IIs and Naviance. My kids go to a very average urban public with very little guidance. If kids want to apply to anything but a state school, they are on their own. So, I’m enjoying being S’s personal college counselor. He’s a pretty chill kid so it works for us. We’re going to visit his safety school this Friday, Oklahoma City University. Hoping for a good impression.</p>
<p>My D’s school swears don’thave PSATs yet–ridiculously long for a simple computer scan. Her school says they will be in by second week in Dec.</p>
<p>Good Morning! I finally had D register for the March SAT (after reading this board and feeling like we were slacking). She will also sit for the June SAT. If necessary she will take the SAT in the fall as wel. </p>
<p>MegP/Heavylidded we are in a similar situation. Kids attend an public honors urban school where the guidance staff is overwhelmed with the number of kids serviced. Their push are the public colleges, specifically the ones nearby. I get their reasoning since these schools are affordable to most students. We do have many students that attend privates/out of state in the end, but I feel like you are on your own for that.</p>
<p>D did select her 4 schools to send her scores. She has a good list and I think we will have two more road trips and will be done. We are planning to visit some of the Ohio state schools, and a handful in NYC/Long Island. We have the private schools identified (Syracuse, Ithaca, Emerson, Saint Bonaventure U, and American). I am working on getting her to find some financial safeties now in the way of state schools. </p>
<p>I dont think any of the schools she identified require the SAT II. If they don’t she is not going to take it.</p>
<p>I’ve been monitoring ds’s new email account created just for college email. Nothing has shown up so scores haven’t been sold yet. His school doesn’t release scores until January, but I’m going to try to get them released early this year.</p>
<p>I’ll chime in with what I’ve experienced. We had Brown admin dir, Yale, U of Chicago and Georgetown come talk to my d’s class at end of 8th grade at her old school. The majority of kids took the SAT in 7th and 8th with JH CTY prg which was the reason they came to speak (individually) to the assemblies. They all agreed that 2x should be max you take the SAT’s and if you do the ACT do it with the writing piece. U of Chicago is the only one that does not count the SAT writing scores. Some colleges don’t even require SATs and you can find the list just about anywhere and it is growing daily. </p>
<p>This is what I heard from a mom who has 3 kids in ivy league colleges, so she is very savvy about the tests. She said there is no reason to take the January test unless you are looking to be recruited (she had 2 of her 3 recruited - for crew - but they were all brainiacs as well). The 3rd d is taking the test in Jan (she is in my d’s grade and very smart). She said that the March sat is easier. That’s where I disagree. I have heard from numerous people that March was the hardest, so I don’t know what the real answer is. In either case, my d is taking the March and May SATs. </p>
<p>If you are applying early admission or decision, it would be good to get the tests done now so it is less stressful come fall (in the event you do need that 3rd test).</p>
<p>It is my third time around for the admission process. Each kid of my kids is very different. We go to a “diverse” public school and basically I assume the counselors know absolutely nothing. I occasionally test them (the counselors) and pretty much they alway fail. I don’t really blame them, they have a lot on their plates. This is my first “college confidential” kid. I didn’t find the site until we were waiting for results with S2. For the most part,for my kids and their friends, everything has worked out in the end.</p>
<p>Med: Good info on the Jan SAT’s. My biggest concern was that the seem to be smack in the middle of Finals for us. S was thinking he would use the Jan test as a back up test date if needed (3rd times a charm?), but hopefully he will finally be happy with his score from the test this Sat.</p>
<p>I feel somewhat bad having S take all of his testing now…but I keep telling myself that he will thank me when he is all done and can just focus on his season in Spring. He has a very short recruiting window and will really need to focus on this times if he plans on running at the next level.</p>
<p>Hi all! Looks like the time has come for me to join in . . . the college mail is starting to pile in, and now I see that the PSAT scores are available on my S’s College Organize/Quickstart. Hopefully, our guidance won’t take too long getting him the access code! I’m hoping the mail he’s getting is some indication of his score . . . Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Case Western, Carnegie Mellon, etc! (It’s probably just an indication of who has a large marketing budget.) </p>
<p>We live in ACT land; in fact, he wouldn’t have known about the PSAT and its significance if I hadn’t come across some CC posts earlier this year. In order to take dual credit classes he did take the ACT in February of his sophomore year and scored 32, but he didn’t do the writing (clueless first-time Mom.) He’ll be taking it again this month. I’d rather he waited until February, but I’m afraid it will get canceled due to weather like two years back. He took a practice test this weekend and scored a 35, so I’m crossing my fingers he’ll be done with this one. He’ll probably only take the SAT in March if he scores high enough on the PSAT to qualify for NMS. He’s planning on doing SAT II’s (Physics/Math) in May to piggyback on AP studying. (Again, something we wouldn’t have known a thing about.) Like many of you, we have a less than helpful guidance department. I don’t know where we’d be if I hadn’t stumbled upon this site!</p>
<p>Oh, he’s interested in engineering /computer science. . . top choice is MIT, but he’s a math kid, so he understand odds and finance! So right now, UAlabama, UMinnesota, and Pitt are high on his list . . . Texas A&M, USC, Arizona State, and Northeastern if he gets NMSF. We’ll probably wait do visits to his top three after we see financial aid packages next spring, unless we happen to be vacationing in the area.</p>
<p>Oh dang, Sendemsoarin! I was going to comment that our school is pretty good about letting the kids know when the PSAT paperwork comes in and it usually hits about mid-December. But I just went and looked at D2’s college board account and it says the 2011 scores are up with an access code. Guess I’ll be emailing her counselor. She was so close to the cutoff last year; I know she’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t make the cut. </p>
<p>I was going to comment that I’m pretty chill too until I just had to run and check the PSAT site 
Guess I’m lying to myself…</p>
<p>For those other veteran parents: have you noticed that the mail is lighter this go round? I swear D1 was getting a lot more mail. Not that I’m complaining; maybe they’re doing more emails. </p>
<p>Just decided on two college visits today: College of Charleston on President’s Day weekend (figure that will be much more pleasant weather wise than St. Louis or Chicago plus I can get shrimp & grits at Hominy Grill. Yummo!) and then U of Alabama in March. I’ll figure out the NE college trip over Spring Break next month.</p>
<p>Well I’m definitely not “chill” - I can’t take the suspense…I just checked Naviance to see if PSAT was posted but alas…I don’t think I can bring myself to email the school, just have to wait a day or two for the mail I think…</p>
<p>David: they don’t get mailed to your home (unless you’re a homeschooler.) They get distributed via your HS. And different HS’s have different ways of handling it. Our HS “technically” hands them out in English classes in January, but they will hand them out to individual students if they go to Guidance before winter break. Some schools don’t hand them out till the Spring, if at all (you’ll see those nightmare stories here on CC.)</p>
<p>Now I want ds’s score! He just left school for a three-day field trip. Argh.</p>
<p>RobD - We had a meeting for 11grdrs and parents on Monday and I’m pretty sure our counselor said they’re mailing it to us in the next few days, although who knows maybe I heard what I wanted to hear!</p>
<p>David, maybe your school is mailing you something rather than College Board. Lucky!</p>
<p>Ah, OK. I thought you thought you were getting the scores from College Board Lucky! You may get the CC prize for “earliest distribution of PSAT scores by a school.”</p>
<p>Ours definitely distributes them when it is convenient for them. THey usually have a night where you can come pick them up and they have someone from Princeton Review (or another similar group) “explain” the results to you. I usually just pick up the scores and go home.</p>
<p>No PSAT score at the report card conference 
Even worse, his grades!!! This is by far his worst quarter, mostly Cs and a D in English. Again this is the aspiring writer. But he did get his first A in gym! Luckily, the quarter grades don’t get reported on the transcripts, just the final grades. He gets narrative reports in addition to grades and all his teacher said fantastic things about him, mostly about his contributions to the class discussions and stuff. His math teacher even said he has a math mind. And they all commented on how he would have As in their classes if he only turned in all the classwork/homework. He’s sitting at the dining room table now doing a late assignment for his English class. I guess it says something that even with a D in English, his English teacher has asked him to volunteer in the school’s writing lab. It’s just so frustrating and he’s my only child so it will be a one and done for me.</p>