@mommdc he did take the PSAT last year during school and scored a 970 - there was no prep, they offered it to all sophomores during the school day. My son is not a good test taker. Honestly, I think he chokes. He said he did not run out of time on the ACT, and actually did pretty well on most sections except reading. He bombed it. But, he is not an avid reader. Never has been. He reads what he has to for school, but is not an outside reader at all, and I can’t help but wonder if that played a role in his low reading score. He is continuing with his prep class, and the tutor/teacher has assured him that he simply “misfired” on the reading. He did study very hard for it and my fear is that now, with school back in session, he will not devote adequate time to ACT prep because of all the HW. :0
@OrangeFish Thanks for the UNM suggestion - I will add it to the list.
@eh1234 My D17 was totally undecided and completely overwhelmed with the college search and didn’t want to meet with anyone on the tours either. I strongly suggested that she walk up from near the student tour guide on the tours and ask at least 3 questions. She didn’t enjoy it but did it for me and admitted it was helpful and easier to talk to a student. She asked things like “what other schools did you apply to? what is a typical Thursday night like? Where do you like to hang out on campus/off campus? what are your teachers like?” …and more. She got better the more tours we went on.
@5050100 your son sounds very much like mine. He is a decent students with grades (think he has a 3.5) but had a pretty similar score on the PSAT. He hasn’t taken the SAT or ACT yet. I mentioned in my own intro in this thread that I think he suffers from test anxiety. And like your son, he NEVER reads. I’ve tried and tried for years, but he just.won’t.read. I’m a huge reader, so I just don’t understand it but dh isn’t a big reader either. I’ve noticed that dh is a very very slow reader, so I wonder if my son is the same and that might be part of the problem.
I was just talking with some 2018 moms today and both were raving about Providence - they had gone on tours and were really impressed. I know a little about Fairfield as I went to Fordham and spent a few weekends at Fairfield in my college years (some of my roommates grew up in that area). D17, who is now a freshman in college at a Catholic school on the West Coast, applied to Loyola MD but it’s only 45 minutes from home and she wanted to be further away. We went to the accepted students day and dh and I really liked it. She got a lot of merit aid from there (high GPA, average SAT). If it hadn’t been so close to home, and if not for the fact that 6 of her classmates including two of her good friends, were going, I think she might have considered it more seriously but she really wanted a change. In talking with my 2018 friends today, both were saying they had heard that Loyola was under enrolled last year, so that might be why they were generous this year with merit.
@4kids4us. I am a huge reader as well, so the reading thing really surprises me! I liked Providence very much when we went to visit last year. S thought it was a bit too small (maybe) but it is a strong possibility. We went to Loyola over the summer. Stayed in Fells Point, saw the sights, and then toured the next day. He loved it. I went to American (100 years ago) and remember only great things about Loyola, even back then. It is a beautiful campus - they were not giving tours that day so we didn’t get to go inside the dorms (which I have heard are really nice). They were very upfront in saying that they really are test optional. I like that approach, but as I said in my earlier post, I hope that it is truly the case with these schools. Honestly, part of me just wants to tell my S to forget about the standardized testing altogether and take our chances - really test the “test optional” policy. But, I am scared to do that. 
We also have Fordham on our list to visit in November, but I do not think it test optional and it is only about 45 minutes from us. Our HS is a big feeder school I think - very popular and many students go there each year, so I’m not sure he wants that. I know I am early in my worrying - a lot can change this year, but sadly, I do not think the test anxiety will be one of them. Thanks for your post.
5050100, Loyola would be the perfect school for S19 but he really wants to go somewhere with a football team. Even though he has played club lacrosse for years, he has no desire to play in college and the fact that Loyola has a ranked team every year does not make up for the fact that they don’t have football. And I didn’t realize they are test optional! Hmm, I may have to lean on him again once he really starts putting together his list. I don’t think he cares as much as my daughter that it’s close to home.
Fordham is tough to get into these days. I don’t know if D’s average SAT/ACT scores were what harmed her b/c she got deferred from EA which kind of annoyed me as an alum. She eventually got in, but with very little merit. The cost was just ridiculous and with three other kids in private school, prohibitive w/o taking out serious loans. It was her #1, but when she saw how much it was going to cost, even had we been willing to foot the cost, she had already said that it wasn’t worth the cost. I grew up in MD and when I went there, there were maybe 10 of us from the whole state (and DC) in my class. Now just from our parish and school, there seem to be a handful who go each year. I don’t think anyone went this year from her h.s, but I know at least a couple from our area who are going. When we went up for the tour, I couldn’t believe how much the campus has changed. I was sad D wasn’t going, but she is very happy where she is thankfully!
@4kids4us — The one thing my son didn’t like about Loyola was the lack of “sports”…he would rather be in a place where there is a more vibrant sports scene, but liked it enough (I think) to maybe let that go. Fordham is tough…I don’t think it is a realistic choice for my S, especially after reading what you wrote about legacy status - that would have annoyed me too.
I’m kind of surprised that people on this thread are seriously considering Fordham and Providence. Both schools are popular where we live for higher stats kids. I just check our Naviance. For Fordham, the average accepted kid from our high school had a 4.4 weighted GPA and 1380 SAT. For Providence it was 4.35 and 1330. Neither is in range for my kid. Maybe its easier to get in if you are from farther away.
I just checked Naviance for our school for Providence, and GPA ranges were from 3.2 to 4.5 and SAT scores ranged from 1060-1600 (the majority were in the 1230-1450 range). There were a few outliers with 3.0 and lower, but their SAT scores were all above 1450, so it would seem a high SAT could help with a lower GPA.
For Fordham, the GPA range was 3.01-4.65 and SAT 1250-1600 (the 1600 was all by its lonesome though; most were lower than 1490.) Fordham showed higher stats overall than Providence, but that makes sense because the overall acceptance rate is lower at Fordham.
Ours is a Catholic school so not sure if that skews the results.
5050100
I agree, thanks to this forum, I don’t drive the GC crazy with my questions! And, I have a place to have a little support group when it fits in my schedule!
Anyhow, a 22 on the ACT isn’t all that bad? I know if he is too low on the math or English; however, the university may ask him to do a remedial course once they accept him. He is still just a junior and so there is still time to focus on that section.
There are nonimpacted state schools that would be ok with that score.
By the way, I speak from my own research since both times my S was a 22 on the ACT. We just found out YESTERDAY his score stayed the same! He did slightly better on SAT (1220).
He is a lot better on the math.
@5050100 Your kid sounds similar to my D19. A junior taking APES and Honors Spanish 3 and the rest is CP. Her GPA is 3.4 and she just got a 22 on the October ACT. We’re thinking the SAT might be better, as she scored a 1070 PSAT as a soph. Her advisor said she could move up 100 points a year, which I find very rosy. She’d be happy with a 1200, with tutoring and superscoring.
She went to public school as freshman (made all A’s) then was academic ‘redshirt’ and repeated 9th grade as her current private school. (She always was the youngest in her class, with Sept birthday. For some reason, private school was happy for her to do 9th grade again). At her public school literally anyone could request Honors, and literally C students could get AP. (What my oldest D did, as she only applied to public schools in NC, and a jacked-up weighted average really helps).But at private school, my D19 is limited in her course options, and is smack in the middle of her class, third quintile.
Her top choices are BMC, Smith and Dickinson, all of which are real reaches RD. She has visited all 3, and would be applying ED and would be full-pay, if that helps. She also visited and liked MoHo, F&M, Santa Clara. We have also looked into Muhlenberg, St Olaf, Denison, Lawrence, Lewis and Clark, U of San Diego, Wheaton (Mass)----all fine schools. Her current plan (which could change!) is BMC ED1, then Dickinson ED2, then a bunch RD if she is denied/deferred from those 2. Most of them are test-optional at least. We live in NC and she has no interest in any school here or the South.
Again @eandesmom thanks for starting this thread. Everybody is so helpful and polite! And there is a range of kids (the 3.4 and 22, the 3.1 and 1350, the families who need some merit or lots of merit or none), and yet the info shared is helpful to all.
5050100
So many boys I see are not outside readers, it seems. Mine is not either. The tutor claims he “misfired” but the way to know this is by looking at his practice mock tests. If he had this tutor before she should know.
For us, Naviance has Fordham, GPA range UW 3.28-3.88 and SAT 1140-1440; There was not any info for Providence, but we are a small school in GA.
I have a boy who rarely reads, too. He’s able to do the multiple choice reading/writing stuff on the SAT pretty well (except for the literature part), but I did not bother signing him up for the essay portion of the test (hopefully he won’t need it). I’m already regretting encouraging him to take honors English and he hasn’t even started to read The Scarlet Letter yet.
@Themathaw ----This may be a really stupid question, but what is a “nonimpacted state school” ?
5050100
“The only stupid question is the one never asked!” Ha -remember a teacher saying that?
We have impacted state schools here in California “CSUs”. It just means there are not enough slots for everyone applying that meets the min. requirement, and so it becomes more difficult to get in. And, some are impacted in every major. Then, we have a few that aren’t in certain majors. So, I imagine its sort of the same in your state. But, then I noticed that you are looking more at the privates, which are a different sort of system than what my S and I have been applying.
eh1234
I have the same with my boy? Are you concerned about next year’s English class as a college freshman?
@Themathaw-----Thank you!
@themathaw I started to get a little concerned about writing, which is why I made him take honors English this year (regular English is really easy at his school). However, I don’t think your average freshman composition class is nearly as difficult as AP Lit or Lang. I hope he’ll be adequately prepared with a year or two of honors in HS. He definitely won’t be choosing a writing intensive major.
eh1234
He is lucky to have a very involved mom!
@Themathaw - I don’t know, if I were “very involved” I would probably have the influence to get him to study for tests and do his homework before midnight on a regular basis! 