Is anyone using the 4 free score reports? I did for a couple of the schools we are visiting over spring break. Figured it might show interest?
Received below email from University of Oklahoma. Itâll be so nice if our state flagship offer something similar!
Hello,
S20 is picking his classes for next year and I wanted to ask your opinion. He wants to go to Business school, and he is stronger at english/history type classes. This year he has APush and AP Lang.
Next year he is signing up for:
AP Lit, Ap Macroeconomics, AP Calc ab, âcollege Spanishâ which is the non AP version of spanish 5, He is wondering if he should take AP Enviro or a non AP science class such as anatomy or forensics. Heâs afraid of being overwhelmed with too many APs, but he heard enviro is easy. Have you heard that? He has not done particularly well in Bio, Chem or Physics (none of which were AP) He is also debating AP Gov, but since he wants business school and he hasnât had any economics he thinks that might be more important for him, even though Gov would be something he would love.
Any input is appreciated. He hasnât taken any AP tests yet, but the workload this year has been hard for him.
@VickiSoCal the problem is that the scores arenât available to view until after the deadline so hoping the results are high achieving.
@whataboutcollege OU is our state flagship. They do offer a nice merit package for NMFs. My S20 will likely just miss the cutoff. With his 4.0 and 33 ACT, he would need to pay ~8k/year for tuition at OU. Unless things change drastically, tuition at Bama as an OOS student would be 4k with his stats. There are many other state flagships that would likely offer S a better deal than OU. I know a lot of happy kids there and Iâm not trying to badmouth the school, itâs just a bit frustrating.
@NYC2018nyc We donât have any real experience with AP ES, or the other 2 courses you mentioned. D17 mentioned her friends took AP ES and said it was pretty easy. Not sure if there are any variations due to HS or teachers though.
@ShrimpBurrito OU seems to rank a lot higher than Bama and, maybe higher than those other state flagships?
@VickiSoCal D20 was pre-bubbling for her April SAT at her HS. She was texting me to ask about the 4 free scores, which I missed). She ended up adding the 3-4 schools that are not high on her list. I think if you look at the 4 schools you and your D are considering, and see what they say about either superscoring, or if they donât do that, see what they say about multiple test scores being received. If they say âwe take the highestâ, then I would believe them, and not worry about it. Yes, I assume, especially this early, that it may count for âinterestâ.
Just a caution about OU. DD is a current NMF there and it has been great fit for her, but please do the math on actual costs. Tuition isnât bad but those âfeesâ are killer! They can be equal to or even greater than tuition!
Dd and I visited OU a couple of yrs ago. After our visit, she wouldnât even consider it. Why? Lack of trees. No joke. We had never been to that part of the country before and she kept saying she felt trapped between the sky and the ground. (I understand what she is describing bc we have spent most of her life living in the mountains surrounded by 100s of trees!)
@ShrimpBurrito I get your frustration, but chasing merit is our profile so we are used to the craziness that is college costs. When OOS options are more affordable, it does make you wonder. But, Bama is a great option. (And rankings are not the obsession of all, especially grad schools and most employers.)
@VickiSoCal
Many colleges now accept self-reported standardized test scores, we will just do the self-reporting now and then send the official one once admitted and decide to go. DS20 did use the four free slots for schools that he ârandomlyâ chose.
Iâm with you on the rankings, @Mom2aphysicsgeek . I imagine the product you get at OU is comparable to the product at Bama, or UofSC, or FSU (all on my Sâs apply list). He will apply to a few schools he likes and see which offers him the best overall package.
We donât pre-send any scores. We donât want to risk CB sending all scores instead of just those that we request. It will cost us $40/school to send scores and transcripts (SAT = $11.25, Subject Tests = $12/test, official transcript = $5). Fortunately the UCs and CSUs only require one set of scores for each system.
I expect her to do well. The only other score she has is 790 on Math2 and we want to broadcast that one!
I plan on using the 4 freebies for D20 and S20âs safety schools. Since we can only use the freebies before knowing the scores this makes us feel more comfortable.
@NYC2018nyc, just saw your post. I donât know if youâd agree with me, but just sharing my opinion. College classes are usually so much more in-depth than the APâs, I think for those that you plan to major in, itâs worth taking in college rather than in school. D plans to major in Econ, and I suggested she takes no Micro/Macro in HS and instead takes them in college. As for science, she was not a big fan of bio/chem/Physics, either, took regular classes of each, but for her senior year she plans taking AP Bio (if and only if the same easy teacher for AP Bio stays next year), just to show rigor. Until recently she was also thinking of trying the AP test as well to fulfill life sciences GE at
USC if she gets in, does well on the test, and ends up going there. But now, in light of everything going on there, she is not even sure sheâlll apply. Anyway, many people told me that for her, a humanities kid with lots of AP in âherâ subjects, like Composition, Government, IE, etc., it would be totally ok to take a regular non-ap science like anatomy or forensics, but our school offers none. They have their own non-ap version of Enviro, something about green technologies, but I think itâs heavier on engineering, which D doesnât want.
@NYC2018nyc
DSâ school does IB, but I guess the rigorous level of IB and AP is compatible. The courses considered to be of less rigor are: IB ES, IB Geo, IB Macro/Micro, AP statistics, AP Psych. I agree with @typiCAmom, I think studentsâ interests should be the first consideration, if he/she has lots of environmental-related ECs, then even if AP ES is considered not as rigorous as AP European history, it tells a better story about the student, imo. Many colleges we have visited actually donât really place students out of classes where stuendts received 4/5 on the conrresponding AP courses, because I really donât think AP classes (or IB for that matter) really has the same depth of college ones.
DD sent freebie scores to our state flagship as a safety school and to a local university in case she decides to do some dual enrollment there and they need the scores. Otherwise, weâll wait until a later SAT or just pay the $12 for each of the schools where she applies.
It seems like RD decisions had started coming in fast and furious⊠Next year will be our turn 
@whataboutcollege By this time next year I think D20 will have made a decision, paid a deposit, found a roommate, and bought her books. =))