Parents of the HS Class of 2016 (Part 1)

<p>Exactly. We will have to send all scores. I guess she did not practice for this one at all with all those finals.</p>

<p>@seal16 ā€“ ?Do you already know to which schools your daughter will be applying? Put another way, do you know that schools to which sheā€™s applying will want ALL of her scores? . . . She can re-take the Math2. Theoretically schools will look at the better score. </p>

<p>Iā€™m assuming that she has completed enough math to take this test. Did she prep specifically for it? Iā€™d strongly recommend the Barronā€™s Math2 prep book. Really worked well for S14. A number of S16ā€™s classmates took the Math2, but he wanted another year of math under his belt. And even thoā€™ heā€™s a really good math student heā€™ll prep specifically for the test. If she preps, re-takes, and does well, the schools will just think she was having a bad day on the first attempt.</p>

<p>@Mysonsdad ā€“ You might want to consider discontinuing one of your sonā€™s College Board accounts. Obviously thereā€™s room for mischief and screw-ups when it comes time for him to get scores sent out to schools.</p>

<p>I am concerned how schools will look at this score. They might discount her straight As in all honors math classes. This is so unexpected. Her math score is always the lowest of all, but she scored very well on ACT and PSAT this year. She is a science kid. Math is not her favorite.
If she just told me in time to cancel this score! Oh well. Here we have future engineering major.</p>

<p>Now the next scary thing is, ā€œWhat if he bombed his AP tests?ā€ Those come out July 5th. What really bothers me is that he was sure he did really well on the math. FWIW, my school had a student last year who bombed her SAT2 Math score the first time she took it (mid 600ā€™s), studied got a 790 the second time and got accepted to Cornell. So there is still hope. Also @seal16ā€Œ, out here on the West coast UCā€™s donā€™t require SAT subject tests, even though it is a good idea to take the math for engineering, it us not a deal breaker.</p>

<p>@Mysonsdadā€Œ they do. Here it is. <a href=ā€œhttp://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/examination-requirement/SAT-subject-tests/ā€>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/examination-requirement/SAT-subject-tests/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>is it really true that getting mid 600ā€™s on SATā€™s is ā€œbombingā€ them? </p>

<p>Just learned that UCs use score choice for SAT 2, but not for SAT1. @drmom123ā€Œ it is better if you can get mid to high 700. After 770 it does not really makes a difference.</p>

<p>@seal16 ā€“ From the link in your message above:
ā€œRemember, these are recommendations, not mandates. You will not be penalized for failing to take the SAT Subject Tests. On the other hand, submission of these test scores (just like submission of AP and/or IB scores) may add positively to the review of your application.ā€
. . . So although one might read ā€œrecommendationsā€ as the same as ā€œmandatoryā€ in this setting, they are not actually mandatory.</p>

<p>@drmom123 ā€“ Getting a 650 in the Math 2 Subject Test puts one in the 37th percentile. I donā€™t know exactly how youā€™d define ā€œbombingā€ the test, but scoring near the bottom third of college bound seniors is not exactly distinguishing oneself.
<a href=ā€œhttp://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/SAT-Subject-Tests-Percentile-Ranks-2012.pdfā€>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/SAT-Subject-Tests-Percentile-Ranks-2012.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>AHHHH! I did not know such a list existed. Iā€™ve been thinking the scores are like the SATā€™sā€¦okay. </p>

<p>maybe my S should not bother with any of the SAT IIā€™sā€¦I donā€™t think he will ever get near 700 the way he studies-not</p>

<p>@AsleepAtTheWheel and @drmom123 - you are both right. A 650 doesnā€™t show distinguished ability on the SAT II in Math II, but the score is objectively fairly high in terms of questions missed - so the test is a poor metric - I believe that even a 770 is already in the second quartile or something. (Iā€™m not saying this out of sour grapes, my DS16 prepared a lot and did pull the 800.)</p>

<p>As a HS math/science teacher, I would say that you could be a strong math/science student and not have happened to break 700 on the SAT II in Math II, particularly if you did not prepare for that specific type of question, and/or if you have anxiety around that style of exam.</p>

<p>In the college admissions game, it might be necessary to cram for this particular exam or similar, but my guess is that someone could be a good engineering student even scoring in the mid-600s. Such a student, though, would have other markers, like 4s or 5s on calculus/physics/chemistry/CS APs, strong grades in hard classes, good recommendations, good work ethic, etc.</p>

<p>So, would I trust your 650 kid to engineer a bridge down the line? Probably. ;)</p>

<p>I think that some of the whole college application process for parents is coming to an understanding that as the parent, you lose control of what your kid will do, where your kid will end up, who will love your kid as you doā€¦and how the world will ā€œseeā€ and ā€œrecognizeā€ your kidā€¦even though you as the parent know for sure, your kid is and can be GREAT!</p>

<p>@drmom123 he will be fine remember: we need to run our own race; as we are running that race know that there is support cheering you on. </p>

<p>@AsleepAtTheWheelā€Œ - I donā€™t know exactly how youā€™d define ā€œbombingā€ the test, but scoring near the bottom third of college bound seniors is not exactly distinguishing oneself.</p>

<p>Well, that could be true. But remember, most schools donā€™t require the SAT II tests and a large number of the kids donā€™t take them. So, in this case, the bottom third is the bottom third of seniors who opted to take the test - which is a much smaller percentage than all college bound seniors.</p>

<p>These score MIGHT make a difference with the top level schools. I say MIGHT because thereā€™s no way you will know why your kid didnā€™t make it to one of these top schools - and usually it is not just one reason. For the most part, kids that donā€™t do too well with these tests can still do well with admissions and college.</p>

<p>Anecdotal, but D didnā€™t score very well on her SAT II tests at all. I was freaked out, not unlike some of you here. But she took the ACT and did so well that she opted to send the ACT scores to the schools, rather than the SATs.</p>

<p>Love the kid on the couchā€¦love the kid on the couchā€¦</p>

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<p>Sleep deprivation? :D</p>

<p>Based on our older Dā€™s experience, we told her not to apply but she applied and made the cut. At this time, it works well to put down as an honor on a college app. </p>

<p>On SAT II Math 2, one needs to finish precalculus to do well and it works as an indicator of a Math oriented person. So scoring 37% ile does not mean one did badly but more like they are not ready with the level of academic prep needed for that test. Students moving into AP calculus level class usually do well on this test.</p>

<p>Celebrating hereā€“kiddo got off the waiting list for an early college charter school! She could theoretically graduate high school with an associates degree. Iā€™m so happy for her ( and itā€™s free! ) so happy for the budget also. Itā€™s been very stressful waiting, Iā€™m floating on clouds here :-)</p>

<p>@texaspgā€Œ the problem with my S school is that you can test out of PreCalc and go straight into Calculus. The SAT II is based on PreCalc. This really hurt my son.</p>

<p>@classof2020ā€Œ congratulations I wish your D the best of luck</p>

<p>Here is the power of a great teacher: D is taking a physical geography with lab over the summer and now seriously considers environmental engineering. She has a great professor this summer.</p>

<p>Hi. Iā€™m so glad to find this thread. I have Dā€™16 and Sā€™19 We live near Columbus Ohio Dā€™s a smart kid, 3.9 gpa, honors courses, leadership position this year, good ECs and some volunteer work Weā€™ve seen a few colleges and i think we have a plan Dā€™s GC is uncommunicative at best. Looking forward to gleaning wisdom from what seems like a varied and active group.
-K</p>