<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>Dreary, miserable cold, rainy Friday here…dd is working til 10pm. No test prep for the ACT in the am. My cup of angst runneth over!!! The ACT book still sits on the dining room table…untouched…how do I know it hasn’t been touched? It’s still in the Barnes & Noble bag that’s how!!! Can you tell that I’m screaming on the inside? Where is that handy dandy acronym when I need it? One word…unbelievable!!!</p>
<p>I’m looking at d chilling on the couch. Imagine the horror, I had her home by dinner so she could shower, eat and relax. She has practiced a lot for tomorrow so I think just being rested is the answer. She even took a nap before dinner. I’m acting cool and collected, just had her lay out the calculator. She is cool as a cat watching the Carrie diaries. </p>
<p>I suppose shaking her by the shoulders and telling her how this test will impact her college admissions is probably not the way to go. ;)</p>
<p>After 2 attempts, one with self-study and one after a prep class, and EXACTLY the same score, d has announced that she will do no prep for the next attempt in June. Hard to argue with her. But, if that third attempt is the same, or worse, I guess we just conclude that d is not going to be in the running for aid and needs to look at more safety schools,</p>
<p>@eye. At least she is resting. As I type this, DD is STILL working/running herself ragged, as I am busying myself with switching out AAA batteries, sharpening pencils and placing 2 copies of her admission ticket in an envelope. I wonder how she will feel when she has to rise at 6:30am tomorrow. Not so hot I bet. 
Anyone have any wine around? Even the cheap stuff will suffice.</p>
<p>NewHavenCTmom: Do you have a gallon Ziploc bag? This is what I did for my son before the March SAT. I put his admission ticket, several pencils, the TI 84 and extra batteries in it. Then, I also packed a water and something to snack on (he likes protein or energy bars, while his older brother loved pretzels.) I knew my son could remember his phone (to call me when it ended) and his ID. But food is very important. My son likes peppermints. During the test, he leaves one or two in front of him. When he is starting to feel a little drained, he pops in a peppermint. I know this sounds crazy, but the smell seems to wake up the senses. My husband learned about this in a testing seminar when he was teaching years ago. The smell and the slow release of sugar is good for the body. When I introduced this idea years ago to my older son’s friends, they loved it – and by the way, four got into one of the top schools on the East Coast. Many got big scores on the AP exams. To this day, they remember the peppermints.</p>
<p>NH CT Mom–know you have done this before, but don’t forget the ID and granola bar/snack. My son tried telling me that he had never replaced the batteries in his HP calc since he had gotten it two years earlier. My reply was that was all the greater reason to bring extra batteries! </p>
<p>Younger son was happy to borrow the unused sharpened pencils for his CMTs. Older son was able to take SAT twice using mechanical pencils but he happily lent some sharpened pencils to a girl who arrived late w/o any pencil.</p>
<p>Good luck to all taking the ACT. Would love to hear how accurate the concordance charts are for those who have taken both exams.</p>
<p>Good luck to all taking the ACT tomorrow!</p>
<p>good luck to all ACT testers tomorrow…hope they all sleep well</p>
<p>s had a surprise surgical procedure today, after going to doctor in a.m. for a painful cyst which he casually mentioned just yesterday. all okay, grateful to have gotten him in today so he wasn’t in pain over the weekend.</p>
<p>Yes, snacks are packed… Water bottles too.</p>
<p>What is a riot is that she never printed the admission ticket like I told her to WEEKS ago after she uploaded her picture. Our printer suddenly went on the fritz and so I told her to print @ school. Nope, she never did it. So I printed them earlier in the week while at the school doing some PTSO business. I printed 2, just in case. </p>
<p>It’s going to hit her like a bolt of lightening in the a.m. I never mentioned it…can’t wait to see the look of utter horror on her face as we approach the testing site and the realization washes over her… Yes, it’s mean of me not to tell her, but don’t I deserve a little fun? I’m giddy with excitement! Maybe the surge of adrenaline will get her mind in gear as I know she will wake up groggy and dragging.</p>
<p>Good thing I’m such an overbearing buttinsky huh???</p>
<p>And yes, both IDs are in her wallet. Brand new pencils are freshly sharpened. </p>
<p>I was a busy girl this evening!!</p>
<p>Will pick up peppermints on the way. Great tip!! Thanks!</p>
<p>Good luck to every one for ACT tomorrow!!! Love the peppermints idea, D devours them. Never thought of adding them to her snack pack.</p>
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<p>Now that’s what I call CHEAP STUFF! ;)</p>
<p>funny about the peppermints, I took a 4 hr professional licensing exam a few months ago, had a small ziploc bag of peppermints, they absolutely did the trick. It is hard staying focused for so long…harder at our age for sure ;)</p>
<p>Ticket, pencils, erasers, calculator, snacks…everything packed here, alarm set, GOOD LUCK to everyone!</p>
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<p>eyemamom - Thanks for the info! DD will just be overwhelmed when I tell her about the new menu addition!!! 
:D</p>
<p>Good luck to all ACT testers today. </p>
<p>I think it’s the first year in 4 years that I haven’t had an ACT tester today since youngest has firmly decided on the SAT. It’s a good thing as I just picked him up from an all nighter chaperoning middle school kids at the Y. I doubt his brain would be ready for an ACT.</p>
<p>We’ll have our final testing (ever for these types of tests) in June. Time flies!</p>
<p>Well now I blew it! I didn’t read here last night so I didn’t send peppermints. I did however pack water, cheez-its and an orange.</p>
<p>Unfortunately lots of her friends and the boyfriend are taking it too. Last time she was embarrassed to eat snacks in front of him and I think in general got intimidated by everyone being there. I told her this time she needs to do what makes her comfortable, and she agrees it was dumb to get so thrown off by everyone else. </p>
<p>She was a little nervous about it, but after 26 hours of tutoring it should be completely familiar. If she can just focus and remember what she was taught she should hit her goal score. By her last practice test she was consistently, but practice isn’t always reality. </p>
<p>I’m contemplating whether she should take it it June again or wait until the fall.</p>
<p>I missed the peppermint tip too! Panicked this morning as S is eating pancakes and turkey bacon – could not find the calculator. He had no idea where it was. I’m thinking “there goes the math portion”. Then I tried to remember which schools superscore the ACT.</p>
<p>Went upstairs and looked through his room (not for the faint of heart). Then asked him if he’d used it since the March SAT. Nope. Sure enough, it was in the drawstring bag he’d brought with him for that test. Phew!</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone.</p>
<p>Good luck to all the ACT testers today! I’m out if town, so got nervous when I was reading the packing list from some of you! Wish I was home to send the peppermint!! Texted him this morning to make sure he was awake and remind him to take pencils and snacks!</p>
<p>Ugh! D refused to pack extra batteries for the ACT… because when she is nervous, it seems to make her feel better to think that anything I suggest is just “dumb.” So of course, I am now going to worry all morning that her calculator died before she had even gotten to #2 on the math section!</p>
<p>Collegetwins - I’ll worry with you as my D also refused to take extra batteries. I looked last night on the ACT website and realized that the calculator she was planning on taking is prohibited. Fortunately, my 9th grade S had his calculator at home, but I have no idea how old the batteries are.</p>
<p>D was sort of upset that I didn’t let her go to a friend’s house at 8 pm to watch a movie last night. She stayed home and did review a little and went to bed early. </p>
<p>Good luck to all the other kids taking the ACT!</p>