Congrats to all those who got great news this morning!!
On our end, S scored much better than what was predicted based on his PSAT’s, but ACT score is significantly better so we are done with SAT. Oddly, D15 was the opposite - she scored much higher on SAT than ACT. He’ll retake the ACT in June to try to nudge up his score if possible, but I’m trying to let go and stop stressing. Except for all those essays…
Hey, I was looking at Lehigh’s website and it seems that they don’t offer tours in the summer. All of the calendar dates just say “No Tours Summer Session” or something to that effect. Anyone familiar with this? I can see shutting down around graduation then in August to prepare for the start of the fall semester, but all summer doesn’t make sense to me.
If you are on the east coast, enjoy this weather! Yesterday was the first lacrosse game in over a week that didn’t require a down coat, hat, gloves and an umbrella.
@CaucAsianDad Are the test scores posted minimums for applying or posted averages? Our experience is that if they are avgs, admissions are more holistic and having that avg score is not a necessity.
D17’s SAT scores are in. Score went up a little bit from PSAT, so she should be comfortably above the confirming score needed for NMF. It was interesting to me to compare her PSAT results with the SAT. On her PSAT, D missed 4 on Reading, missed 0 on Writing & Language, and missed 7 on the Math. On her SAT, she missed 0 on Reading, missed 4 on Writing & Language, and missed 6 on Math. According to the concordance table though, her ACT is still higher by a point (2 points if they superscore), so for those schools that give her the option, I think she should submit the ACT only.
Congrats on the SAT scores everyone! What a relief to be done with testing.
How annoying that they don’t post the scores the same day. I guess we’re second class citizens out here in the west?
I second the post by @Mom2aphysicsgeek. Good friend of D’s was accepted to USC with a 27 ACT and a 3.9 gpa. He chose the selective LAC where they both attend. He received a ton of $ and he’s a white kid from the burbs.
And as stated above, test scores are not an indication of how well a student can handle the work. Spygirl had a 30 ACT, 1970 SAT, 3.89 gpa. Her physics major began 2 years ago with 50 students. 8 standing so far, including her. Many of those students had boasted far higher scores than hers. But math is her super power and I knew she could handle the rigor. Test scores are simply one (not very accurate IMO) predictor of college success.
Thanks everyone for the SAT explanations. Think I’ve got it now.
Congrats to all of the SAT takers with their score. I hope S does as well in June. Matching his PSAT score would be great in my eyes.
@jmek15, I would call Lehigh admissions and ask if they really don’t do summer tours or if their tour schedule hasn’t been posted yet. It never hurts.
FWIW, D15s adult checking and savings account (Wells Fargo here) is still linked to our account, so I can move money around as needed. It has been very helpful as she is at a school ~2,500 miles away. We will do the same for S when he heads away. D’s college credit card she got (through WF) however, is not linked to our accounts. I have viewing privileges, but cannot transfer to pay online. We got her that card so she can start establishing credit in her own name.
~X( …razzel frazzle… my DS SAT march scores are still not available. The had testing “challenges” that day, gave out the booklet for SAT/NO Essay to all of the students taking it with the essay, much confusion was had…
He’s schedule to take it again, anyway in June (since we can’t trust the March score), but a score would be nice.
Congratulations to everyone whose kids got the SAT scores they were hoping for! Anxiously awaiting April 19 school-administered ACT w/writing scores here (DS has not yet taken SAT because of schedule conflicts in March and May; will take SAT2 tests in June and regular SAT in fall if he gets NMSF).
@Agentninetynine USC, you mean U of South Carolina? <-- Who knows, I may be saying this a lot in my future. Wow, 8 of 50?! That’s, like 16% retention! I hope they switched majors, and didn’t drop out!
@RightCoaster Yours may be the situation where I would enlist some help with essays, since you’re borderline with a student who sometimes just can’t kick it into gear. It may be enough to put him over the top with little effort. I don’t normally suggest essay help, but I think it makes sense in some circumstances.
@Gator88NE Sorry about your test score holdup! That is frustrating. While you’re here, I was looking at the IS/OOS percentages for UofFlorida. 3% OOS kids! Holy crap, that is teeny. I heard they may be starting to court OOS kids with merit (not sure if there is any truth to this), but that percentage is so out-of-whack! We were going to wait and see what happened with merit, but I’m not sure anymore. Bummer.
@262mom We’re waiting on our score too. We are at the bottom of the Testmaster’s NMSF range for our state, 2 points below the projected state cutoff. We aren’t planning on having to take the SAT at all.
No. University of Spoiled Children, um I mean, Southern California @2muchquan. :)) I was raised a Bruin fan but since USC is on Spykid’s list, I need to buck up in the off chance he’s admitted.
Spykid’s gc sends out announcements of visiting schools weekly. Georgetown is high on his list (as a reach) and they will be hosting an information night at a downtown hotel. Imagine my shock when I went to register him and discover that it’s a joint venture with 4 other top schools : Duke, Harvard, Penn & Stanford. Why on earth do they need to market themselves? This only compounds the issue of kids applying to only the top 20. I almost didn’t register him because those are not schools he is considering due to being on Planet Earth. So far I’ve done a good job steering him to matches and safeties and I’m worried this will slightly derail my reality train.
For the record, Georgetown is only on his list because he’s interested their foreign service officer program and knows that it is a lottery school. Am I overreacting? Max and I often joke that Spykid has Family Ties Syndrome. He’s a lot like the character Alex P. Keaton in that he’s attracted to the good life.
SAT scores for the honors program are reported as middle 50%. I would feel better if she could get in the middle 50%, or at least close. Admissions are holistic and test grades are fourth on the priority list so I am sure it is not a make-or-break type thing, but if she could add 40 points she would be golden. Considering her math score and her lack of studying, a 40 point gain is possible. And since the university super scores so at least she is done with EBRW.
@Agentninetynine I went to that USC for graduate school, long, long ago. I remember parking my rusty (from IL) Delta 88 right next to a Maserati in the school parking lot. Right. Next. To. It. Yes, they called it U of Spoiled Children even back then (my company paid for me to attend shortly after UG).
I forgot to mention that the 42 dropped the major, not dropped out. Spygirl says that there are 2 or 3 on the fence right now. She says classwork is very difficult and teared up when she got an A- on a test Her gpa is the lowest ever. They warn STEM kids about this but like most things in life, you just have to learn it on your own.
@2muchquan On our USC tour last December, we were walking through a narrow path when out of nowhere comes a red Ferrari. The woman was driving on a pedestrian walkway on Campus! The tour guide ( who was a lovely young woman ) was speechless and embarrassed. She had just been talking about how inclusive the campus is blah, blah, blah, (subtext we’re not just for rich kids anymore) and this happened. It was awkward. But didn’t dissuade Spyboy. If anything it probably cemented his love for USC.
@Agentninetynine My ds experienced a first in his life this yr. He said that learning quantum this yr felt like looking up at something trying to comprehend it vs. looking down on something going, ok,now I get why it is that way. I shared that with a physics professor friend and she said that is normal. She said it can take working with quantum research for a couple of yrs when all of sudden you get hit with the “aha” moment. That made him feel a lot better. He made high grades, but he says they were through a fog rather than with complete confidence.
I just listen to him and nod my head bc I am lost at the first word.
@2muchquan Currently about 8% of the undergraduates are OOS, and another 4% are international. What drives down OOS enrollment is cost ($28K a year for OOS tuition VS $6K a year for in-state).
They do offer three levels of OOS scholarships ($8K, $16K, and $20K a year). From what I can tell, they offer up a few hundred a year (with about 20% taking the scholarships and enrolling).
UF is looking to increase OOS enrollment, by hiring more regional recruiters and such. I would expect they would also increase the number of scholarships being offered.
Add UF to the list of schools no longer requiring the optional SAT/ACT essay…
Everyone is just winging it. I’m pretty sure the professor is too.
With QM, I learned how to do problems first before understanding them.
Understanding comes years later; it may not come at all.
@payn4ward Thank you for posting that! I think not being able to actually comprehend it shook his confidence a little. I’m going to share your post with him!!
