@mtrosemom I think you would need to call the National Merit Corporation instead of the College Board to get an answer about the confirming score.
@mtrosemom Funny. I spoke to my Dās Eng Lit teacher who just recently got up to speed with the new ACT Writing rubric. She said that you do NOT need to write a lot. The writing needs to be very formulaic to satisfy the requirements in the rubric. She indicated 5-6 paragraphs is all that is required, although quantity certainly wonāt hurt you. Mind you, she has no āinside informationā on what they are looking for, other than what she read on the CB site. So, YMMV.
We also were not quite prepared for the October test, but have another chance in April as well. I think she scored in the high 20s. It was kind of a shock at the time. I have heard of many low scores, and I think colleges will be understanding.
Oops! @CT1417 - You are exactly right! SAT scores from the āoldā test can be used for confirming scores. I think the cut off for my S16 was 1960, which was pretty easy to achieve.
He signed up to take the SAT right after taking the, 2014 PSAT, because for him it was much easier than the ACT he had recently taken. This was before we even knew his PSAT score. It turned out he scored even higher on the Dec SAT, which surprised us a bit, since itās a longer test, but S was really happy, as he planned to use it for college applications. We didnāt learn the rule about needing a confirming score until after he recād notice he was a NMSF last September/Oct. He was very grateful to have already taken the test 2x and be done. And with the June 2015 test, even tho the booklet was messed up, it helped increase his super score. In the meantime, our HS had everyone in the class of 2016 take the ACT, in April, and he increased that score too, so he ended up submitting both SAT scores and ACT scores. We figured it showed he could do well on both types of tests, and had a pretty broad knowlege base. Now that the SAT is supposed to be more like the ACT, I think the CB is making the SAT irrelevant. We will seeā¦
@2muchquan - I have read on several collegeās websites, that they donāt put very much weight on the Essay score, for either the SAT or the ACT, because it is not necessarily very indicative of a studentās ability to write. Some donāt consider it at all. My S16ās future school only looks at Reading and Math (SAT) or English and Math (ACT), per their āCommon Data Setā statistics. Essay(s) are much more important in evaluating an application. At least at the smaller LACs to which my S16 applied. Which is good because he did NOT do very well on those timed essays. Just not his forte! Iām sure the larger schools have to rely pretty heavily on the straight test results, since there are so many applications.
I did call the National Merit Corporation a few months ago and was told that the old SAT can be used to confirm the new PSAT score as long as the SAT was taken in the last couple of years.
@Ynotgo D will be starting a second language either this summer or in the fall, so that language choice will also be a (minor) factor in her college search. Her goal is to get to the āsuperiorā rating in Arabic and āadvanced-low or -mediumā in the second language by college graduation. The better her languages are, the more opportunities sheāll have for jobs or grad school.
I donāt know where this child came fromā¦
@whereismykindle Is she aware of Ole Missās language goals for a minor? I canāt remember exactly, but I think mid-int is the max goal.
Even most deptās where Russian is offered as a major, many of them only have mid-int as a goal. She contacted one dept and asked if she could achieve superior in French (keep in mind that she is pretty fluent already) and she was told that was an unrealistic goal. (I was surprised that was the response for French.)
Youāre right @Ynotgo I do need to call the NMC, not the college board. I just got through paying them for yet another SAT, and they were on the brain. Iāll do that for my peace of mind even though, from comments above, it looks like he is good to go. @morningside95, I also remember 1960 on the old SAT as being the confirmation cutoff from my D15.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Because of your experience, D says sheād switch to Chinese if she goes to Ole Miss. Apparently some students in Croft are able to study both Arabic and Chinese if they enter with a decent background. It takes delicate scheduling and many non-language credits (AP, DE, CLEP) upon entering to make that happen.
The Chinese department here is v strong. D says she doesnāt want to start it here because (1) dh studies Chinese and (2) she knows half the dept already because we socialize with them! She says some treat her like sheās still a little girl.
RE: Post #1976
I think poorly worded is an understatement considering the context it was in. Oh well, thanks for your correction, that is what makes CC so great.
RE: Post #1968
According to my D, the key to maximizing points on the essay is not writing a good essay , but knowing the scoring rubric and tailoring the essay to collection points. i.e. Does the rubric say points are awarded for a having a conclusion? If not, then there is no need to write a conclusion, just continue siting examples or whatever you believe will add points. Demonstrate critical thinking, not the ability to write prose.
Now my D has never taken an SAT essay before this one, but she got this tip from one of her teachers that is an AP essay grader. I will let you know in May how well this strategy actually worked. 
@whereismykindle I hope she can achieve her goals. Dd has just been very deflated by some deptsā responses to her goals. Ironically, it always seems like if she gets an affirmative from one dept, she gets pooh-poohed by the other. For example, Ole Missās French dept was awesome! Very encouraging. Our next visit had an encouraging Russian dept, but the French dept came right out and told her they had nothing to offer her!
Her recent email exchange had a much more positive Russian response than French. She has yet to find a school where she gets an equal response from both. Sigh. I have told her she is going to have to pick one as her major determinant bc it is doubtful she is going to get all she wants.
@eandesmom wrote āI have one of those, my S19. He improved dramatically in HS as it āmatteredā but if he isnāt engaged in the subject itās a nightmare and kills you to watch. Nothing like seeing your kid kill their GPA by not turning assignments inā¦in Health. Unfortunately sometimes the right thing to do isā¦let them fail. My S17 told me yesterday we couldnāt talk about college again until after his April visits.ā
You so hit the nail on the head Iām glad Iām not alone here with being so frustrated that kids can be so shortsighted.
Right now with D17 weāre trying to figure out if her current date of April 9 for the ACT should be bumped out to later because sheās swamped with stuff right now. I canāt seem to find the fall dates, but June 11 seems like a better choice-sheāll be done with school and have had time to go full potato for a a few weeks, and her camp and/or internship and/or job wonāt have started yet.
On the other hand, she could just wait until the fall (when sheās going to take the SAT anyway), and just do both with a much easier course schedule (and her boyfriend will have left for college 
) Iām not sure what the right course of action is-not having the fall ACT dates makes me a little leery.
All this language discussion is making me think of looking for a school on the list where D could minor in Chinese (many I would think?). After all, sheās been taking it for a long time, may as well. Weāve not talked about that, but yaāll are making me think. (And apparently type in Southern accent?)
@MotherOfDragons
http://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/taking-the-test.html#In%20the%20US%202016-2017
Well, the link doesnāt take you directly there. On that page there is a tab for 2016-2017.
@eandersmom
It was not fair for me to say we were not looking for merit aid. Florida dropped affordable tuition plus Bright Futures in our lap so my D decided to stay in-state and shoot for honors programs. So the merit aid search was quick and now completed.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek How frustrating for your dd 
And thatās why my dd needs to do more in-person visits asap. The emails have been helpful but she needs to sit down with these dept people to see what truly can be done.
Her visits so far have been to IR-focused schools. The next visit will be to one with more to offer in terms of language opportunities.
She knows compromises will have to be made. She has decide just where the compromises will fall.
(I donāt deal well with uncertainty!)
Visiting University of Virginia, Washington & Lee, and Duke in the next weekā¦ Hoping my ds has a great experience. It seems every time we schedule the UVA visit - it snowsā¦ Cancelled once already and now calling for snow againā¦ hmmmm wonder if this is a sign?
Our test prep advised all our 17ās to either take the old SAT, or focus on the ACT until the kinks were worked out with the new SAT. Diagnostically ACT was a better fit for S17 so that has worked well for us. Iāve thought of having him take the SAT in the fall, just to see how he will do but it is not needed from an application standpoint for him. At this point with his list, upping the ACT is just an exercise in hopefully a bit more merit aid and less of an admission concern,
@morningside95 CalPoly is a great school but yes, fringes is somewhat accurate. SLO is a great town but a total pain to get to. Be careful, kids fall in love with the school though, the location is stunning. D15 is very lucky it worked out for her program wise, once she saw the campus we were doomed.
@MotherOfDragons at a certain point all you can do is be there to support and help. I did find with both my younger ones, one I let got and let them fail on their own, if nothing else, the stress level for all went down. They both upped their game in HS and itās improved annually (though S17ās oversleeping today might indicate otherwise). S19 is paying a price for that attitude. His ānot caringā in MS because it ādidnāt matterā means that we cannot carry over his language grades from MS (bās) and one of the math grades (A-) and that is really unfortunate. He will have to speak to the fact that he did take 4 years of language despite the transcript showing 2 (though one would hope the course names would be sufficient). The math matters less, though since we are unweighted, the extra Aās wouldnātā have hurt him either.
We are doing June for the ACT. April has spring break, the spring musical which absolutely eats up all of S17ās time and studying for the AP tests in May. S17 will have missed almost 2 weeks of school in march for a school trip and I didnāt want anything else added to his load. All of his friends are doing the same. Hoping this is the last time.
@2muchquan U of WA has a strong Chinese program though to your point, I would suspect many do. My sister got her masters in IR there at the Jackson School, had a great experience.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek how frustrating for your D
@CaucAsianDad thatās wonderful, I would be thrilled. At the moment it looks like 3 of S17ās schools should be equal to in-state thanks to the WUE and a lower base tuition than WA so I am grateful for that. Others, while the WUE will reduce it, definitely could use some merit help! And really, any merit off of the rest would be good. Of course with my luck he will fall in love with the priciest option and if thatās the caseā¦he will really need to focus on the ACT score coming up. Heaven forbid none of these are the right fit as then itās down the LAC rabbit holeā¦
I just wish either of our boys would be interested in an in-state school, it would be so much easier! But we have saved and can afford, with their own contribution, to make a reasonably priced out of state school within the realm of possibility, so we have to let them go their own way, within reason of course! But, NO falling in love with any one school, esp a LAC, since weāll have to see how any merit aid shakes out. Have fun on your trip @eandesmom! I loved the time I got to spend one on one w/ my very quiet S16, during our college trips last summer.
I know a number of people are unhappy with the College Board and I have had my own problems in a different area.
I got her registered. She has a few accommodations and those transferred from PSAT with no problem. Then I printed out her admission ticket and it says āTesting Site: see belowā and below it says āSee your coordinator for the date, time, and location to report to for testing.ā
What? Whoās her coordinator. I called her sped case manager to find out if she knew anything. No, her school only gives the ACT and has no information about the SAT even for kids from her school who are taking it.
So I call the College Board. I explained the situation and about the accommodations that may be causing the issue. This woman tells me I need to call her home school and they will have the info. No, no they donāt! She suggests that I call the schools in my area that are giving the SAT. Not satisfactory to me ā shouldnāt the CB know this stuff!? She tells me she will get it resolved and call me back. Next day there is a message on my machine from her telling me I need to arrange it through her home school!
So I call Dās school again, talking to anyone who might know anything, but no luck. I call the nearest testing sites and they donāt know anything and suggest I call the CB.
Call back CB and this time am told I need to speak to the Accommodations office. Well, I had told the last lady about the accommodations and she did not seem to know that. Maybe it will all be fine now that I have the right person! Guess what? Talk to her home schoolā¦ I HAVE TALKED TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE! We go back and forth a bit andā¦ wait for itā¦ She suggests that I google my city name and SAT accommodations! No, that is not satisfactory. I registered my daughter for this test and paid for it. I want to get the simple information of where and when she should show up. Does the CB not use computers? She tells me that she will escalate the case and call me back with an answer.
And then, to my great surprise at this point, a counselor from a near-by school district calls me and we get everything set up with no problem.
Seriously, I felt like my daughter was the first student in the history of the test to take the SAT with accommodations when it is not offered at her home school.
Okay, I feel better now just from sharing! And most importantly, thank goodness we got everything set up in time.