<p>Out of curiosity, any other tropical or marine bio parents? I wish I could see my guy’s new scores, but he’s out camping with friends and I’m not privy to his collegeboard password…</p>
<p>5boys - Glad to have another mom with me on this sure to be wild audition ride! I was sitting in the waiting area while my son had his voice lesson yesterday, and was close to tears as I listened to him sing “Maria”. It was an affirming moment that we haven’t all lost our minds, and that my S really is following the right path for him.</p>
<p>Isn’t that the best entertainesmom… that gives me chills. My S can sing too, but just not MT sings good. He did just win a national award with young arts though… that was reaffirming to him as well. He has still not made up his mind 100% on the BFA route, and might do a BA in the end, but wants to have as any doors open to him as possible, so he will do auditioned BFA programs, auditioned BA programs and some LAC’s with known great theater dept’s. His list is loooong!!</p>
<p>Hooray! Ds SAT scores went up by 130 points in math and reading! That could make a world of difference because most of her preferred schools are not easy to get in OOS publics. She was disappointed, hoping for a higher total score. Lots of hugs and assurances that her parents were very pleased and that she should be very happy knowing this is it–the end of college testing (2 SATs and 1 ACT in the books). She also finished with a 3.9 UW GPA this semester! A great last two days. Let summer begin :-).</p>
<p>OK so we checked K2s scores. the M went down 
the CR went up 30 pts 
the W went up 120 pts
the essay went up 3… :)</p>
<p>So SAT superscored K2 is solidly fine for all of the schools on the list (SAT-wise)–except maybe one…</p>
<p>The scores aren’t out of the park CC high–however solidly in the right place for the pool K2 is fishing in</p>
<p>its the GPA which is what it is… :(</p>
<p>Next up the AP scores and the ACT w W score from May/June respectively</p>
<p>Congrats to the great SAT performers! </p>
<p>My S took 3 SAT II test- happy with math - 750 but unhappy with the other two under 700 - I think only one school he is considering requires subject test - but because he is a test taker - he wanted to well take the tests! Doesn’t hurt to include top scores - he may retake English lit. …he did well in May onSAT over 2000 but writing score only average. He wants to retake to improve that score …under 600. Like FogFog said. His GPA is what it is…</p>
<p>I have a question about interviewing - should S interviewing while we are touring schools for first time? Or should we schedule another time. What should he wear? Does anyone have interviewing tips?</p>
<p>^ Interview anywhere he tours now…will save you a second plane/train/auto trip</p>
<p>K2 did interviews at all schools offering them and also met with coach for each one.</p>
<p>Dressed up casual works…ie collared shirt for guys and modest outfit/not lots of flesh hanging out for ladies.
imho I think suits/ties is too much and well groomed (fresh shave)/clean haircut goes a loooong way. Limited piercings showing/tattos if notable etc. I think that can be a stumbling block for some admissions people.</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents</p>
<p>We finally got SAT results… not so good. CR - the one we retested for - went down 60 points (sigh). M stayed the same. W went up 70 points, but that one is just not counted for anything at schools my guy likes. His superscore will be higher by those 70 points, but when it doesn’t count for much it doesn’t help. I wasn’t really worried about admissions - just finances - and most scholarships don’t superscore.</p>
<p>Oh well. We’re done testing. We’ll wait and see about the finances in the spring. Fortunately, he doesn’t want any “top” schools even if he had superb scores. His top schools and US News top schools are not one and the same.</p>
<p>FogFog, </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice - it is easier to get dressed up in the cooler months but summer? I will have to see what fits S. He has a nice pair of black dress pants and could wear a long sleeve shirt but it could be too hot out in July. Does khakis and a polo work or it that too casual. I just can’t picture S touring in long pants and long sleeve shirt in July.
Any advice on how to practice interview?..</p>
<p>Greenland,</p>
<p>I am sorry to hear about the SAT results.- that’s my concern too when S retakes the SAT in Fall. His SAT CR writing and Math scores flip flopped when compared to Fall PSAT - math down 60 points -CR up 60 points. - this was the same thing that happen comparing first time he took PSAT to the second time…
I have a couple of questions - how do you know if the school only considers the first two scores? That would be good news for my S because the W was his lowest score.
How do you know whether a schools looks at super scores for scholarships? If you submit both scores for super scores what scores do they look at for scholarships? How do you find out this information?</p>
<p>For a summer admissions interview, I’d go khakis and a polo or button shirt.</p>
<p>For a scholarship interview at most places I’d have a coat and tie.</p>
<p>And the info I have about schools comes from their specific websites including their net price calculators. Some schools list merit aid based on the SAT/ACT on their websites. For a couple of others, I was able to determine scoring levels based on adjusting scores (10 points each time) on the NPC. For his schools, the NPC said just to put the CR/M score in - hence - that’s what they want. It’s definitely an individual school thing, so you do need to know what schools you are interested in.</p>
<p>My D2014 got her SAT score yesterday. No where near her best ACT composite score. We both agreed to abandon the idea of taking the SAT again and just focus on taking the ACT. She plans on taking the ACT again at least twice this fall. Hopefully she can increase the score to get scholarship money.</p>
<p>Greekland </p>
<p>Thank you for explaining the merit aid/ SAT thing to me! I decided to call one of the schools we are visiting this summer about interview attire. The admissions person at Drew said that they were casual and even nice jeans would be OK. I asked about shorts? She said shorts and a polo are perfectly fine in the summer. The main thing is that “they” look put together and not look disheveled. This works for S mostly. He will balk at the polo but I will make him wear it! He thinks Polos are for preppies …he now has short hair and has a array of plaid shorts - LOl - plaid isn’t preppie! I think I will get him some khakis - I don’t think the ones he has will fit! He is a “mainer” wears shorts almost all year round! Except for dead of winter -he wears athletics pants. He owns one pair of black jeans and one pair of black dress pants for band. He will have to wear one of his Dads Polos! He will love that!</p>
<p>^update - called a couple of other school - yes I am a little neurotic ! Wesleyan said khakis and polo are fine for the summer but she added some kids wear suits - it is a stretch school so no surprise there…Conn coll. - nice shirt and slacks …Khakis are fine - pretty casual…interview with recent grade!</p>
<p>On the subject of dressing for interviews, what about just tours with departmental info sessions? I was thinking since it was summer that shorts (plaid/khaki - not athletic) and a nice shirt (no t-shirt with writing) would be fine - especially in the South where it’s going to be 100 degrees. We are going to three schools next week - one highly selective and two selective state schools. Am I thinking too casual? I sure hope not!!</p>
<p>For tours and general info sessions we did shorts (well, I did capris, but my guys did shorts). We never looked out of place. Some kids were wearing athletic t-shirts and still looked fine. I never saw “grunge” but it could be we weren’t at those types of schools. Those touring in suits and ties (esp kids) looked out of place. Most parents wore casual things that looked nice.</p>
<p>Oh, good! Thanks, Creekland. I was concerned because sometimes the interviews are the same day as the tour. In fact, he tried to set one up at one of the schools that “recommends” interviews, but all the time slots were taken. I think even for those (same day as tour, interviewing with student), I would probably have him go with that attire. Now, meeting with an adult for interview outside of tour day or at another location, I can definitely see the need to dress more business casual or business attire.</p>
<p>My D2014 is in a small private school and has around a 3.8 UW…lots of EC…but struggles with standardized testing. The highest on ACT so far is 24C. Just wondering if there’s another thread for this type of student?</p>
<p>Scsiguru Welcome and you are NOT alone :-)! While it may seem like everyone on CC is “top 10%” or higher student, that’s not the case. My daughter is like yours, high GPA and low test scores (her ACT was lower than your daughter’s score). She did better on the SAT after taking it twice (and done). D’s now exactly where we and her gc expected her to finish–at the 75th percentile both in class rank and SAT scores. I started this thread to welcome the other “90%” who will be considering colleges outside of US News Top 50-type schools. The 3.0 - 3.3 GPA title is really just a guideline.</p>
<p>beadymom - I have seen some boys putting on ties for interviews if they interview on tour day. They wore khakis and a button down shirt otherwise. Mom tended to keep the tie in her purse. This wasn’t universal, but I saw it happening more than once. The only time my guy(s) had an interview on tour day it was for “come casual” schools, so we didn’t worry about it.</p>
<p>scsiguru - we’re in a similar boat - really high GPA, but relatively low test scores. This thread is for both types of students from what I recall. We’re definitely not looking at any Top 50 schools as per USNews. We’re looking at my guy’s “Top 10” (or whatever). We’ll all root for each other.</p>
<p>Creekland: My daughter is interested in some kind of field biology, likely marine biology. She’s not entirely sure what subject area yet but definitely some sort of systems/organismal biology in a school that focuses more on this than on cell/molecular biology.</p>