@homerdog, do you think those four points could be a fluke? That if your D took that ACT again tomorrow she could have a very different score? This is so difficult…
I know with DS, he has always done a fair bit better at home than in the actual test/competition. Not sure what it is, I guess the stress/excitement/pressure. Good luck!!!
@inthegarden D took the ACT again last weekend. We will see how it goes. In between the test two tests, she focused on English and Math. We figured she could deal with Science on another test if she had to. Plus, English and Math were the two sections that really dipped from her practice scores. She was really nailing English this week at home and the last two practice sections were 34s. Math still holding steady at 31. These are WAY above what she got on the last test.
This was the strategy for Saturday. English is first. Just sit down and do what you’ve been doing. Math is second. You’re very consistent at home so just focus and pretend it’s practice. After that, Reading is her strongest section and Science, well, just do what you can.
She has no idea how it went which I think is odd but I’m not about to tell her that. She said English didn’t test commas have as much as most tests and there was a reading section that was very science-y which is also uncommon. She thought math was ok - hard but not as hard as the last one. As usual, she said if she had more time, she would do better. Some problems took her a while to figure out but she did figure them out. She had to then rush through others when she knew how to do them but said she easily could have made errors because of rushing. Reading seemed typical and Science was awful. Two passages were physics which she hasn’t had yet and, even though that section doesn’t test science and tests reading graphs and experiments, it really helps to have some background in the science being tested.
So, I’m trying to read the tea leaves and see what those comments mean when it comes to a score and i don’t come up with much! Scores come out the 24th. If she doesn’t clear 30 on English and Math then she agreed to take a practice SAT and see what she thinks.
Curious to know how the math SAT sections go today for your D. Fingers crossed!!
@BingeWatcher Similarly bummed out here. DS just needed to boost his Reading scores a bit to be in NMF range - and he did! - but then he missed one more in Writing and 1.5 in Math (how do you miss half a problem?) and so ended up with a score that was actually slightly lower than last year, since you lose twice the points for math errors. And of course I feel guilty about being disappointed b/c it’s a great score overall, just not quite over the threshold… He was shooting for USC’s automatic 1/2-tuition scholarship for NMF students and that’s out of the picture now. Oh, well.
@Curiosa sorry it didn’t work out but I can tell you that, at least in our neck of the woods, none of the NMF got accepted to USC. Others with strong stats did I strongly suspect USC doesn’t want to give out many of those 1/2 tuition scholarships and that it hurt the NMFs here.
@homerdog You’re kind to try to cheer me up, but I can’t really console myself with that because DD was NMF and got accepted to USC. So it was definitely within the realm of possibility. But when I’m looking for silver linings, I remind myself that I’m not convinced a giant school is the best fit for him anyway. If he’d had that kind of incentive to go there (assuming he got in, which I agree was not a given), he might have chosen it over something else that’s a better fit.
@curiosa I have seen the same pattern at my kid’s HS that @homerdog describes - the non NMF students tended to get in to USC more than NMF applicants with similar stats.
Wanted to pass along a great podcast somebody shared with me. It was mentioned in a Facebook group I follow. It’s called Borrowed Future. Very eye opening.
@mamaedefamilia @homerdog Huh. Okay, I stand corrected. Two silver linings, then!
Many of DS senior friends have just started getting acceptances and so far at least one was accepted to MIT and another to Caltech. It is an exciting time of year and hard to believe that we will be at the end of this process in 12 months.
@Curiosa im sorry about this NMF and my son is in the same situation too. But guess what, if he is aiming for USC, still he can get half tuition or even more than that without being NMF. They have presidential scholarship (which pays half tuition) full scholarship (forgot its name) and deans scholarship (which gives quarter tuition deduction). So he can still qualify for one of the above ?
Well, my D is laboring away at the ACT practice math test at this moment. We woke to a pretty snow, no school, and I hoped she would start the test by noon. Somehow the snow didn’t prevent D’s BF from coming over so it was an afternnoon watching movies beside the Christmas tree (eating cookies I made) and all-in-all a pleasant day. So the testing was pushed off until now but I can say she IS well-rested!
Thanks, all of you for weighing in on your kids’ results of testing practice vs. the real thing. So, the jury’s out whether any particular student would do the same, better or worse on the practice as compared to the real thing, but at least D will have some basis for deciding whether she likes the SAT or ACT.
Remaining cautiously optimistic (trying not to get too excited)!
D finished the (practice) math section with more than 3 minutes to spare, and the science section with almost five minutes left. Said there were a few math questions she had to guess on, but time was not a factor (hard math review this winter should help with that). Said she thought the English/Reading felt exactly the same as the PSAT but the math did seem a little more straightforward. The science section was OK, just a new thing to get used to (and I think she could easily get up to speed in the graphs and charts).
Predictably, math was her lowest section (but still a good bit higher than her PSAT math scores), then science, English and reading. Composite of 29.5 (rounding to 30). Even if she lost four points on the real ACT (as @homerdog’s D did), her math (and composite) would convert to be a little higher than her PSAT. And, with a few months of steady prep, I really think she can get her scores up a good bit more, enough to offset losses going from home tests to the real test (as I’d be satisfied if her official composite is 30…she should be able to get into at least a couple of the mid-tier LACs on her radar with her strong GPA and decent rigor.
So, no difficulty with the speed issue, the math section is only one fourth of the composite, and the ACT allows single-section re-testing. So unless her SAT score (to be released this coming Friday) shoots up dramatically, I THINK WE MAY HAVE FOUND HER TEST! 
I’m going to have to restrain myself from ordering ACT prep guides before Friday.
@homerdog, I’ve been reading your other thread, and I’ll put in a little plug here: I know what you’ve said your daughter and husband said about the PA schools , but to me, everything you say about your daughter screams “LAFAYETTE!” Really! And it seems to be getting more and more selective and popular. I don’t think there will be issues with job placement, either. If your DH and DD tour it, I give it a good chance they’d be won over.
It’s full of smart, on-the-go, sporty, social (yet quite academic) kids. Most of them looked fit, energetic, mainstream-to-preppy (without being necessarily conservative). Huge football rivalry with Lehigh. The campus is classic and pretty. The law/history library (if your daughter might have an interest in that) is to die for. The dining hall (great-looking food and big windows) is also to die for. Really, all the buildings (historic to modern) looked great. The biggest drawback to me is the somewhat-run-down town of Easton, if your D can live with that. I don’t think your D would feel out of place with the NE kids…and the school has students from everywhere. I don’t know, but I’d think a Chicago girl could find her place there more easily than in some of the Southern schools you mentioned (I grew up in the South, and have lived near Chicago).
@inthegarden Thanks! I just have to figure out how one gets to Lafayette from here. Lehigh Valley Airport? Looks like United and American fly there.
Just be careful with this - while most schools superscore the SAT, it’s hit or miss on superscoring the ACT. I don’t think anyone truly knows what schools are going to do with those single section scores. If they superscore already, it’s probably safe to say they will take the single section scores, but if not . . . who knows.
I think the schools on her radar at this point allow superscoring but I’ll double-check about ACT superscoring. If need be I’ll call the schools to find out what they think about the single-score tests. Thanks, for the heads-up, @3kids2dogs!
I think the single section ACT tests don’t start until fall 2020. Anyone know if that’s true?
Oh, that’s a little disappointing. But could still be useful in a last-ditch effort to pull up a lagging score if all the others scores are fine. Really feels like a nice thing for those of us whose kids have very disporportionate scores. It would feel a lot less stressful to prep hard in the summer in just one subject, and not have to face the ordeal of a full test in September/October.
@homerdog Lehigh Valley Airport is maybe 15 min from Lafayette (and Lehigh). Philly is maybe 1.5 hours - maybe less on a good day. Newark would also be about an hour or so - straight shot down route 78.
D21 (also psych right now) loved Colgate. Lafayette may be too close to home, but I think we’re going to look. Lehigh is Greek heavy, don’t think she’d go for it, but everyone I know says Lehigh is stunning.