<p>@Texaspg Agreed! Don’t want to count chickens that haven’t hatched. Thankfully both TAMU and OU offer merit not tied to National Merit that would make them affordable for us. TAMU is our most affordable option but OU hits all her ‘must haves’ and she shouldn’t have a problem getting into either school. </p>
<p>I do think that some of us have an inkling if our kids have a hope of making National Merit or not. D16 has taken the PSAT in 8th and 10th grade and the SAT in 10 grade so based on those scores I do believe that she has a good chance of making the historical cut off for Texas in 11th grade but I’m certainly am not counting on it, just something to keep in mind as a possibility…</p>
<p>yes! @texaspg, that’s our plan, she is also studying out of a few highly recommended SAT books including the blue book. Because she is so close we are going to go the private tutor route once a week for eight weeks for the PSAT. It’s frustrating that she has scored very well on two timed proctored practice tests (220 and 240) but when she took the PAST in 10th grade for real she only made 214. She got hung up on a math problem and ran out of time, we think that in addition to careless math errors, she was over thinking the problems because she is currently taking higher math than is covered on the PSAT. Since it’s a one shot deal I can just hope she doesn’t have a “bad math day” on the day of the test <sigh> National Merit would be great but it is a bit like gambling I’ll pay for a few weeks of tutoring and some prep book but if she makes it - it’s $118K scholarship at OU. If she doesn’t make it at least I’ll know we have given it our all. If she doesn’t make it that doesn’t rule out either OU or TAMU and the extra study will likely boost her SAT scores so it’s all good.</sigh></p>
<p>Who knew? Who knew that there are not only top programs in meteorology, but top programs in severe weather meteorology? Yet another subculture. @3scoutsmom, you continue to expand my horizons. Well, having read many many CC threads about innumerable kids as we went through this with S14, I’m hard-pressed to recall a whole lot of kids who were this well thought-out this early in the process. She is to be commended. I do hope that she applies to MIT. When she gets in, it will totally make you crazy. And maybe getting out of line here, but I do get concerned about kids who base their school choice on such a specific field or area. Many kids who are passionate about their area of study do end there, but many do not. One could argue that a strong math/science/engineering background at a school like MIT (even if they didn’t have a meteorology program) would serve her as better preparation for meteorology grad school than even the ‘best’ meteorology undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you look at the ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ site, but TAMU is ranked #1 of over 1,300 schools in the category of ‘best overall student experience’. Of course we’re all dubious about any sort of college rankings, but I do think that this says something.</p>
<p>@texaspg – I wasn’t counting unhatched chickens, but I figured that if 3scoutsmom’s daughter was that close to the cutoff based on her SAT score, it would be worth pointing out that she might REALLY want to make a push for the PSAT test in October. Obviously she’s already ahead of the game on that front.</p>
<p>Well all the dreams died today. My S took AP Euro this year and actually tutored his fellow classmates who were having trouble understanding it. On the practice tests in class he consistently got the highest scores of everyone in the class. He got a 1 on the actual test, A 1!!!. His scores are right there with the class clowns who took the test!! The kids he tutored that he has talked to so far got 4’s. He is crushed. We will rescore but I can’t imagine the results changing. His AP Calc AB was lower than expected also. Between these AP tests and his poor performance on the SAT Math II last week I don’t know what to think. I know it is not the end of the world but I am so frustrated right now and like I said, he is crushed. He is ranked number 1 in his class at one of the top high schools in the country but these tests are killing him. Sorry for venting but UGH!!!.</p>
<p>I am late on the draw for my normal weekly brunch, so let’s make it a post holiday bbq instead. Let’s forget testing, grades, and scores just for today, relax, take a breath and have some fun.</p>
<p>@mysonsdad take a deep breath; if testing is a struggle right now it maybe time to leave it alone and regroup. You do realize that you may substitute the ACT with writing for SAT 2 test at many universities and colleges?
AP’s do not need to be reported unless you are using them for class placement or credits?
Your S will have MANY choices especially if you are looking at LAC. He is a prize to that group of schools </p>
<p>@Mysonsdad He is just a rising junior. He will pick it up. We can not let them think that we are disappointed in them. Life is not always fair. We know that. They do not. Yet.</p>
<p>@Mysonsdad – Something simply isn’t right here. This isn’t my area of expertise. I’m a physician, and what follows is the way I think when I evaluate clinical problems. So, forgive me in advance for unsolicited advice:</p>
<p>To have such a huge discordance between his classroom/practice test performance and his real test performance bespeaks some sort of problem or issue that needs to be addressed. It simply doesn’t make sense. It demands an explanation. It needs to be evaluated further by someone who knows what they’re doing. I don’t know what sort of professional knows about this stuff, but it would be a shame to miss something fixable here. I’d look for a referral to the right person, ?psychologist ?educator ?tutor (who might have seen this before) ?counselor of some sort. Does this represent an anxiety issue? Cognitive issue? Psychological issue (?is he poisoning the well because of something else going on). Maybe someone at his school (GC, teacher ,administrator) has some ideas for a referral. They must like him, and I’d hope that they’d want to help. But it would be a shame to let the ‘dream die’ for such a smart capable kid because of some undiagnosed issue with taking standardized tests (when they count), especially if it could be fixed.</p>
<p>As @Hoosier96 pointed out, none of the tests he’s taken so far need to be reported to colleges. You’re fortunate to have discovered this issue early enough in the process before there’s anything indelible on his record/applications. Don’t accept this until there are no more stones left unturned.</p>
<p>@mysonsdad sorry to see the 1. This is an odd score since a blank paper with a name on it gets you this score and for a kid who is tutoring others should never get a 1. </p>
<p>What are those AP scores used for anyway? The grade in an AP class is much more important since it boost your GPA, I think. You can probably get college credits for it at some colleges, but not at majority of them. But I agree that it is very difficult to explain this score for a such a bright child. It might be that he shifted his marking on an answer sheet.</p>
<p>@mysonsdad I think a re-score is in order, I agree with the others, something is not right. If he’s looking to get credit for the test and the re-score doesn’t help he can retake the test next year.</p>
<p>I was at a party and discussing oddities of AP scores with someone whose kids are getting PhD/already got one.
He recounted what happened with his son who was tutoring other kids in Physics and he got a 3 while the others got 4s which was shocking. So back then they wrote a letter asking to verify the score and his college got a letter restating his score to 5 and he got an explanation stating that he had a perfect 50/50 or something like that on multiple choice resulting in a 3 while there was a clerical error not adding the second section of the score for long answers which was also almost perfect.</p>
<p>Just wanted to clarify my prior note. It would be wonderful if a re-scoring of @Mysonsdad’s son’s AP test would show some sort of misaligning of multiple choice responses or a clerical snafu. But my memory is that prior to the AP test his scores on the PSAT and SAT II tests were significantly below what one would expect from a kid who’s doing so well in the classroom. That’s why I raised the question as to there being some greater issue here. </p>
<p>We have the opposite situation – my S16 got a 5 on the AP Gov exam, a class he <em>failed</em> last quarter. He and his teacher didn’t agree on when his work should be turned in. Hoping he learned something from the experience – but it might be the wrong thing.</p>
<p>I agree that a 1 is a red flag. Hope it is just a snafu, @mysonsdad. But I also think if he is doing so well in school he has got what it takes to succeed as an adult. Life is not a multiple choice test.</p>
<p>We got AP scores this morning. D is not a good standardised test taker. English has always been something she’s been stellar at, but her AP lang score was a three. S took Music Theory and Calc AB; he got 5s on both. It’s going to be a tightrope walk for the next 24 hours, properly appreciating S’s scores while not making D feel like she’s stupid or less than because of the 3. She’s smart, in some ways much smarter than her brother. But standardised scores? Fuggedaboudit.
I hate this part.</p>
<p>@Mysonsdad - something seems wrong about that score. Do take a closer look to see if the scoring was off or if there is something else at work here. How did your son feel after the test? Don’t let the dreams die quite yet or let your disappointment be known to your son. There’s time for him to do better on the main SAT/ACT test and still do well in admissions.</p>
<p>When D was in high school, our local school allowed only juniors and seniors to take AP classes. She took AP Bio her junior year - did very well in class. Fell sick during the test - I got a call from school and had to go pick her up and take her home. The proctor was able to talk to testing folks - she got to take the next part of the test another day. But overall, a bad experience - she ended up with a 2. She was very upset and disappointed - but it was that one testing day - anything can happen on a given day. These kids are under tremendous pressure from us, folks around us and sometimes, they just can’t live up to it. It’s completely normal - we need to relax and let the kids relax too :)</p>
<p>S was able to login and get his AP scores yesterday - did very well on both his tests. World History is one subject that he just gets - he loves it! What can you do with a history degree? [ that was his question yesterday and I have no good answers yet].</p>
<p>History is a common undergrad for law school. Law is iffy at best now due to the economy. If he wants a graduate degree anyway it is not a bad choice but he should explore all his options for using that degree (gov’t, in-house, firms of all sizes) and choose how much to spend on law school accordingly. </p>
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