Parents of the HS Class of 2020 (Part 1)

@2manycollegequestions4me same. Stalking ACTStudent site for school given 2/20 exam and nothing yet. It will show up eventually!

We just got the great news that D20 got into Governorā€™s School. We are all over the moon!

Congrats @chb088 ! What great news!

our spring break starts too but itā€™s not sping-y we have several feet of snow outside.

S20 has been prepping for his state ACT test. He keeps doing really well on the practice tests, which makes me feel slightly . ā€¦ . uneasy! We need merit for our kids. (Plus, getting a nice score would give him a little PR boost. Heā€™s just slightly scattered and scrappy, but congenial). We all want this test to be over!

any correlation between practice tests and the real thing? what have you guys seen?

@chb088
Congratulations!

@bgbg4us if your DS is doing the (official!) practice tests under the test conditions (one sitting/same time allotment), then it is a good sign that he is well prepared. At least that was our experience for SAT. Good luck!

@chb088 Congrats to your D20! Not sure what Governorā€™s School is all about, but a quick Google gave me a little info.

@bgbg4us I agree with @makemesmart about practicing under test conditions, but I think ANY amount of prep is going to help. My D17 practiced a lot, section by section (she sometimes did not have enough time to sit for a continuous practice test), still under time constraints. I think itā€™s helpful, especially if you are only trying to improve in a certain section.

Does anyone have experience with colleges offering unsolicited free applications to high stats kids? Iā€™m wondering how common or widespread this is. By that I mean do many schools offer it but only to a select few or are there a just a few schools that commonly offer it to top candidates? I looked for a thread on this but didnā€™t know what keyword to search for.

Practice tests imho are the best indicator of the actual score. My S19 grinded out many practice tests and I knew he was ready when he consistently scored between 34-36 on practice tests. D20 initially did not heed my advice but eventually came around. You should be able to find at least eight tests online (pm me for the site). My S19 would do a few sections here and there during the week and full tests on the weekend. D20 was more of a challenge as she is away at boarding school.

@lkg4answers Which college(s)? Some colleges, like Tulane, have a free application for everyone, but market to high-stat students to make it look like a special benefit just for them.

@lkg4answers As I recall some schools emailed codes you can use to waive the application fee (UMinn may have been oneā€¦but I seem to recall others). Itā€™s sometimes hard to determine the target audience (high stat vs. all vs. geographical). If you can frame your question in anymore context, it would be helpful.

Hooray, @chb088!

I suppose what I am trying to find out is exactly how legitimate all of this marketing is. If a school waives the application fee for a high stat student, are they doing it to boost their own application stats?

The Tulane answer is exactly what I am looking for. It comes across to the student as if they are being wooed but, in reality, it is nothing special.

@chb088 Congratulations to you DD! Governor schools are great summer experience!

@bgbg4us Both D17 and S20 got better scores than their practice tests. I think they focus more on the real thing.

@lkg4answers I donā€™t think high stat kids get specially targeted application fee waivers. D17 had perfect old SAT scores in her earlier junior year and had not received any meaningful fee waivers. If any school wanted to target her with fee waivers, they would have a long lead time to find her.

Congrats @chb088 My S20 also found out today he made the cut-off for the next round of a prestigious math competition (AIME).

Good luck to all the kids taking SAT tomorrow. D20 is taking with essay. We are hoping for one and done. She has studied exactly -5 minutes. So hope is all I got!

Good luck to your D @VickiSoCal. My D will be taking it w/o essay.

My D20 is also taking the SAT tomorrow. She signed up for the essay but I think she is planning on changing it to W/O essay tomorrow.

D20 is taking the SAT tomorrow morning, too. She will be taking the essay portion, as well. Good luck to all of tomorrowā€™s test takers!

Congrats to your DS @Octagon It is very cool to be AIME qualified!

Best of luck to all the SAT test takers tomorrow!!!

Good luck to the SAT takers, essay or not!