D has her PSAT scores, which she knew she would not do Insanely Well on due to her dyscalculia , but her math scores went up by 100 points 
compared to last year. She had two incorrect answers in the with calculator section and 8 incorrect/9 correct in the without calculator section. (!)
Sheâs going to use the Khan Academy review to get ready for a retake of the ACT (in June).
Congrats,@OrangeFish - that is huge!
@OrangeFish , thatâs awesome about the PSAT! I had to look up what dyscalculia is - now that I see itâs a math disability, that is even more fantastic to see how well she improved on her math score!
I think I mentioned when I first posted in this thread that my son seems to have test anxiety and has never done well on standardized tests. His PSAT last year was below 1000 which had me freaked out for the SAT/ACT. While I have not seen his score, he mentioned in passing the other day what it was - it went up over 100 points so heâs now over 1000 tho I canât remember what he said the actual score was. He did take an SAT prep course right before school started this year, so I think perhaps some of the strategies he learned may have helped. He took the SAT two weeks ago mostly for us to get an idea where he is going to fall so we can look for more individualized help. That is the one piece Iâm most worried about for him when it comes to applications.
Thank you @ninakatarina and @4kids4us !
D was worried about how she would do on the PSAT, especially due to the no calculator portion of the math, but we planned for her to take the ACT in September intentionally so she would have some of the pressure off. (She has ADHD and anxiety.) We had spent lots of time talking through the PSAT as a âthrowawayâ test. So I did the VPN through California thing to see her scores two days early and was thrilled about her math score!
She scored a 30 on the ACT in September and we figure it doesnât hurt to give it one more try in June. So now sheâll have the Khan Academy prep to work through on the math section. Her PSAT math score improvement is a big confidence boost!
Congrats on the 100+ point rise and best wishes on the SAT score, @4kids4us!
@orangefish a 30 on the ACT is very good
Thatâs huge for your D! @OrangeFish
I wish I had the time/tech savvy to figure out how to use a CA server and get the scores today! I did figure out that CB seems to think Iâm in DC if I try to access scores using data, so hopefully I can get them tomorrow instead of Wednesday.
Ok, I figured out the VPN and the score was almost the same as last year. (20 points higher on math). Fortunately his SAT was quite a bit better and the ACT practice test seemed promising.
I told S19 and he just gave me a thumbs up so I guess he doesnât care. He will definitely ridicule me for the VPN thing if he finds out, haha.
D got a 1220 which is another 50 points higher. Sheâs gone up 50 points every time she sits for one of these.
â whether PSAT8/9, 10, regular SAT or now this. I guess this shows progress. Itâs better than her official SAT.
But sheâs now wanting to try at least one more SAT, when I thought I had her focused on the ACT, where she has done better!
Sigh.
DD PSAT scores were terrible. She was approved for SAT extended time. Her ACT score was 24 with extended. Iâm thinking one more ACT, skip SAT
@longhaul donât despair. Iâd do one or maybe 2 more ACTâs and focus on schools that superscore. My 2017 kid (who also fell in this threadâs gpa range) had a 26 superscored, got into every school he applied to, with merit.
D19 PSAT scores rose above 1000! Despite her 3.6 GPA, Iâm still most comfortable on this thread. It will be interesting to get her actual SAT scores on Friday.
For anyone thatâs been following our journey we met with the schoolâs college advisor today.
To keep it short:
I learned so much from this meeting!
@OrangeFish How will D start the common app? Will she open an account and start entering activities, grades, etc? Or are you thinking she will work on the essay? I guess I thought we would wait until summer and work on the essay. I think the AP Lang kids work on their essay a bit in the spring and S19 will be asking his teacher if he can help him over the summer. I didnât think entering all of the other stuff really takes that long. Iâve seen websites that show the best way to enter activities (like how to get the most out of the limited characters allowed in the small space) but it doesnât seem like something that we would start now.
And your meeting sounds AMAZING! Seriously, you are so far ahead of the game and your counselor sounds super helpful.
D is a junior at public HS in MD. Maintains a 3.4-3.5 unweighted GPA with a few Honors and 1 AP class. No extracurricular activities that stand out. She was never in advanced math so just now taking Algebra 2.
PSAT in 10th grade was 960. We did a mock ACT in the summer (16) and mock SAT in June (960). We started with a tutor in August in preparation for the December SAT. She took two mock tests in Sep (1030) and Oct (1070). The 11th grade PSAT (1060).
We should have the December SAT score in the next few days put I expect to be in the same range.
Do you think it makes any sense to continue with the tutoring? We have seen a 100 point gain but not certain how much more upside there may be. DD is also not very enthusiastic about spending 2 hours per week with the tutor plus homework from tutor. I donât want to force her if she is not going to put in the effort
What state schools is she realistically a lock to get into? I know UMD-College Park is out, but what about the other state schools? UMBC? Towson? St. Maryâs?
Any out of state schools that would be locks? She is interested in primarily large state public schools in the south, such as Alabama, Auburn, etc.
Iâd like to have a discussion with her and lay out to her that based on her current scores that certain schools are locks. Iâd like also give her other options or âreachâ schools should she want to work a little harder on getting her scores up and improving grades.
Major is undecided at this point but thinking something to do with kids, maybe teaching.
@homerdog â our school has a handout on how to complete the Common App. This handout was completed by the college counselor in conjunction with the school counselors. She is supposed to start populating it now (things like donât list your cell phone number and list a landline or parentsâ cell phone # instead; list your senior courses in this specific order, etc.) and include all the colleges on her âColleges I am Thinking Aboutâ list from Naviance. This way she knows a rough amount of supplementals, what the topics are, etc. D has a notebook started with possible essay topic ideas. She has no plans (that I know of) to start working on the essay yet. We are simply going to follow the college advisorâs advice.
Whatever works for you, of course, works for you. No one says you absolutely have to start now.
St Maryâs is supposedly the honors college, @DCNatFan , so I wouldnât consider that a lock. Towson sounds about right. Have you looked at Frostburg, or is that too far away and too rural? A friendâs daughter went there and absolutely loved it. Itâs about as far as you can go from the city areas and still be in-state so it could feel isolated for a city kid, but she says they have a wonderful community and it could be comfortable if sheâs a suburban or rural kid.
Towson seems like a good suggestion @DCNatFan. Not sure about OOS southern schools.
Your D will probably see a natural increase in the math portion of the test as she progresses through Algebra 2. Has she done any Khan Academy practice? Itâs free, is easy for a busy junior to do in short increments of time, and identifies weaknesses from your PSAT/SATs.
Iâm jealous of your college counselor @orangefish! I wonder how many of the schools in our overly-large district have one?
S19 is taking his re-scheduled ACT this weekend - really hoping that he gets the same score he got on his sole practice test so he can be done and them maybe start working on an actual list. He seems to want to be done testing before he even thinks about it. He still wonât admit to wanting to study anything in particular or having any preferences about college at all, but does confirm that he expects to go.
I feel like heâs behind but then I remember that D16 didnât even get a decent test score until June of junior year and I feel silly!
Good luck to your son on the re-scheduled ACT, @eh1234! Sounds like he is motivated to do well â plus once it is over he can enjoy his two-week holiday break.
I wish we could take the rescheduled ACT this weekend, but getting my husband to agree to committing to this concert was like pulling teeth.
The 22nd is the last day of school for the year. The kids are already mentally on vacation and the teachers are sounding a bit ragged themselves. Weâve got just over a week and then back to the grindstone.
@DCNatFan , I donât know the stats for St. Maryâs but it certainly does not fit the âlarge state schoolâ mold - it is really pretty far from everything, so far down in southern MD. It is 2 hours from me and Iâm in the DC/Baltimore region. It does have a 79% acceptance rate, but as someone mentioned it is referred to as the Honors College of MD. I once heard it described as the best private liberal arts college education at a public university price.
Another state school in MD that has not been mentioned yet is Salisbury.
For southern OOS schools, Alabama and GA are both universities very popular in my area of MD. South Carolina is a another. My kids are in a small private high school, but these three schools seem to draw a lot of kids. My oldest graduated h.s. last year and five kids from her class of about 115 are freshmen at GA this year. Another few at Alabama and So. Carolina.