As a follow up to my post #217. I am more calm today. Had a good honest conversation with S20 this morning, where I asked him if he wanted to retake the SAT for a better score or if he wanted to just plan on CC for 2 years followed by a transfer to a Cal State. He replied that he absolutely wants to retake it and do better. And he requested to do the Kaplan prep course in July at his school. It only costs us $5 so we have nothing to lose and he is committed to attending and getting the most out of it. Itās only 8 days for 3 hours per day and includes 2 full length practice tests.
So we have a plan that we both feel good about 
My D went down for this SAT. Her highest was in April at her school at 1140. She actually thought the May test felt manageable but the score did not reflect that. We were hoping to break into 1200 range. Third time taking it, so not sure if she should try one more timeā¦she does want to, so we will let her but its a bit frustrating. We thought about having her take the ACT but she is not very good at science, and all 3 of my other kids took it and the range of scores always matched the SAT score they received.
An interesting observation for me is that her highest score was at her school during the school day, where she is in familiar surroundings. I wonder if her social anxiety has anything to do with the scores for the times she took it at a local high school where the surroundings and people were not familiar at all.
It did seem like a lot of students who took the May test received lower than what they expected for their scores.
@cakeisgreat it does seem like all the kids here didnāt do as well as expected. His R&W score was what we expected but math was 100 points lower. I think what disappointed him the most was that he felt it was easy. After the test he said reading was ok but he only didnāt know how to do two of the math problems. He ended up getting 15 incorrect though. Luckily the schools on his list all superscore so hopefully heāll do better on math in two weeks.
Maybe it has something to do with the curve? @cakeisgreat I was wondering about how the SAT does the curve for the school tests? Must be a different population of test takers? Not sure, our school doesnāt give the test so I donāt know
Something Iāve been thinking about is how much more to invest in tutoring. I got some math tutoring with D18 that resulted in a huge return on the investment. Itās not going to turn out that way for D20 even in a best case scenario. But because of her special needs, I wanted to try to at least get her to have the option of one of our nicer in-state public unis. I think there is a fair shot at that now, but for her to get an SAT score to get a scholarship for a decent ROI might be unrealistic.
@MACmiracle I wish I had the answer for you on that. After extensive private tutoring and a 3-day SAT math class, D20 went up 20 points from her PSAT. Argh.
Tutoring and bootcamp really helped my D15, but she did the work at home too. S20 wonāt do the book or the practice test and I think his ACT in June is going to be a waste of time. He only needs to work on reading and English but I am not feeling hopefulā¦
@murray93 The 120 point drop after private tutoring is a little painful.
In fact, thereās a session scheduled today that I already paid for and sheās already giving me grief about going. I wanted her to go over the ones she go wrong.
@MACmiracle does the tutoring company or person make any guarantees? Depending on starting point, my sonās guarantees a 140 point increase over PSAT score. He got a 1230 on the PSAT so theyāre guaranteeing a 1370. He got a 1280 and will retake in June. If he doesnāt achieve that score, theyāll provide additional tutoring. Now the last thing heāll want to do is more tutoring and prep over the summer so hopefully will do better in June.
@Marcie123 No, this is a private tutor so there are no guarantees. She was very helpful for D18, but D20ās performance is never as reliable.
Like @ITBgirl mentioned, I think doing the work at home is what makes a difference and D20 isnāt as motivated with that.
I guess when this is all over, Iād like to know I did my part to help D20 be successful. But I canāt do it for her. If sheās going to get a higher score on the next round, it will be because she put the time in.
I agree with you guys. We can only do so much. Mine wants to do better, and will set aside time to study, but then when it comes down to it he doesnāt really get the work done. I think all the pressure stresses him out and makes him shut down mentally.
@Marcie123 @MACmiracle I splashed out some $$$$ for tutoring that guaranteed a 1500, provided my son did all of the homework. He didnāt complete it all, nor did he get anywhere near a 1500! Sighā¦
@1stTimeThruMom wow! I canāt believe theyād guarantee such a high score! My sonās is also contingent upon him doing his homework and so far he has. If he doesnāt get a 1370 on the June test, Iām not sure if Iāll make him do more tutoring and take the test a third time. I really want him focusing on essays this summer. Heās my third and last to go through the process and I know how easily kids can burn out. Trying to avoid that with him.
Her score went up 20 points, not down 120, thank goodness! She works hard at school. She works hard on her ECs. She is just adamantly against the testing and honestly, I canāt entirely blame her. School list has been narrowed down based on her one and done SAT to almost entirely TO schools: Puget Sound, Lawrence, St. Olaf, DU, Loyola New Orleans. Plus some in-state, sure thing, safeties.
Yep we did a guarantee for a 1240 provided she did all they homework and she missed the last homework UGHhhh.
@murray93 my D18 hates college board so much that she wrote about that in her ACT essay. She refused to even take the SAT because of college board.
@NYC2018nyc sounds just like my son.
Question for you guys - S20 is definitely struggling this semester. His GPA just dipped below 3.0 and he is so bummed. He has always maintained a 3.6-3.7 through all of high school, except for this semester. The new girlfriend (his first) has been a major distraction, and I also think heās just reacting to the pressure of the college stuff.
So my question is, how much will a downward trend in GPA hurt? Heās targeting mostly Cal States along with University of Nevada Reno, Oregon State, Arizona State, Northern Arizona and maybe UC Merced. They mostly seem to admit based on stats and Iām not sure how much they will look at the GPA trend over time. His overall GPA should still be over a 3.5 and I am hoping his final projects and exams will pull this semesterās GPA back up over a 3.0.
Weāve laid out our expectations for the next 3 weeks left in school and that includes limiting time with the girlfriend during the week. But we can only push so far and donāt want a total rebellion.
@thedreamydaisy my son is in a similar boat. 3.67 for freshman and sophomore years. This year both semesters are 3.16 which puts him around 3.5 overall. He is taking two APs and has solid Bs in both.
I think your son will be fine with a 3.5 with the schools on his list. Itās a good list!
@Marcie123 Yas! Iām sure that essay topic generated some passion!! ?