@NJWrestlingmom Thanks. I think the only option would be to fly out of Lehigh Valley. Those longer bus rides to Newark and Philly just make the trip too grueling, or at least more grueling than she will want to deal with.
@homerdog, after pushing Lafayette for your daughter, I see it doesnāt seem to offer any kind of dance at all. Itās not even enfolded into the theater department (which is unusualā¦it seems to me that many LACs include at least some nominal dance offerings). Maybe some kind of dance group/club? Didnāt see evidence of that though maybe it;s there. Kind of disappointing to me, too. Would that be a deal-breaker?
@homerdog regarding the ACT section retakes, as long as the student has taken the full ACT test within the last 5 years, you may take the section retakes starting in September 2020. Hereās the language on the ACT website:
āStarting in September 2020, section retests will be available to all students who have completed the full ACT battery (English, reading, math and science) either through national (weekend), state or district (school day) within the last five years (September 2016).ā
Dear Standardized Test Math Section,
InfiniteWaves here. I dealt with you back in the late 1980s. You were āthe thingā that guidance counselors told me would keep me from getting into a ādecent collegeā if I didnāt āget it together.ā
We all know the stereotype. Honors English student. Loves writing. Must be bad at math. I wasnāt really. It just took me a while to get the concepts down. And by the time trig rolled around for me, I was exhausted from all the trying.
I did my best. Scored great on the reading part. But you got the better of me. And while I didnāt get into my first choice, I was admitted to a few other ādecent colleges,ā including the one I attended as a journalism major. The one that is now test optional. The one my S21 has decided is his first choice.
Well, you got the best of him this time around even though he did well on the reading part. But he has resources I didnāt have. And options. Heāll see you again this spring. Better. Stronger.
Oh, and his older brother is exactly like us as well. And he got into Penn State main campus as an English major. So you can totally suck it.
~ InfiniteWaves
This heartfelt note is brought to you by the October 2019 PSAT.
@InfiniteWaves At least you have PSAT scores back from October. Weāre still waiting, not that it really matters anyway. More curious at this point to see SAT scores which I believe are scheduled to arrive later this week.
My son had a similar issue with Math. His Algebra2 teacher unexpectedly passed away 2 weeks into the school year and they had a not so good sub the rest of the yr. He is missing a lot of knowledge from that year. He goes to Mathnasium and that has really help him.
@eb23282 Just like his older brother and mother before him, S21 is in honors/AP/DE humanities and āregularā math/science. So he is holding off on taking the SAT until the spring. Only because he will have more math completed by then. Heās doing trig now.
Fortunately, all three of us have managed to do okay in the actual regular track math classes. Just like I did 30 years ago, my kids opted to balance out their course work levels to keep their grades high. Which is smart. Itās the darn standardized tests that trip people like us up sometimes.
We are targeting schools that offer merit for kids like mine. And PA in-state options. This approach worked really well for S19.
I just wanted to chime in here on the thread and give a shout out to those of us out here whose kids are not making a run for NMSF and have yet to take the SAT for the first time. 
Itās all good. My S19 took the SAT for the first time in June right after junior year ended. Because he needed to finish that year of, you guessed it, math. LOL!
Yep, weāre not in the NMSF boat and are also chasing merit. S21 more interested in getting as much money as possible instead of name brand recognition. Trying to find a happy medium of decent school with good job prospects + strong merit.
Hi, @InfiniteWaves. the only problem with waiting to take the test (as Iām sure you know from your S19) is that there is very little pre-calc/trig in the SAT, and a year after Algebra 2 (and two years after geometry) is a lot of time to forget the math most prevalent on the test.
My daughter, herself, the other day said that since she doesnāt really like math, she studies it well enough to do well on her school tests but moves on to the next chapter without retaining a lot in her long-term memory. Out of sight and out of mind. So now sheās having to review, review, review to get it back while doing pre-calc.
She only started to realize the need to prep when she got PSAT results and took her first SAT and saw how hard this was going to be for her. She wouldnāt have come to this realization without dipping into the tests. For your son it may be different, (or he may be too busy with heavy ECs and school to prep now) but I would be worried about beginning the process in summer before senior year. Thereās no way my D could have done heavy prep in the fall with her marching band season, but now thereās a lull and a good time to start.
I hate all this pressure, and Iām not trying to push D into a more elite school for the sake of it. Itās just that weāve visited a number of schoolsā¦ and she hasnāt fallen āin likeā with any of the ālikelyā colleges I had hopes for. 
In fact, the ones she liked the most were the reachier schools we saw (even though Iām not sure she was aware of the rankings/selectivity when she visited them). Still looking for that great-fit ālikelyā or low-match school (that will still be challenging in her areas of strength) to take some of the pressure off.
@inthegarden but most juniors who are on-level for math are taking Algebra 2. My S17 was like that; thatās why he didnāt take the SAT until June of junior year. D21 took Algebra 2 sophomore year, but sheās a year ahead in math, even though she doesnāt take the honors/AP level. Algebra 2 junior year is still the normal math progression, at least at all the schools by us.
Yes, thatās true @NJWrestlingmom! Itās just that @InfiniteWaves said her son was tking trig.
@inthegarden yeah. Iām always jealous of the parents who have kids who love (or even really like) their safeties. Not sure what the secret is to getting kids to like safeties but I havenāt found it.
D is in precalc now so, yeah, geometry was a long time ago. And sheās unfamiliar with any stats questions. Our curriculum just doesnāt cover that. Sheās pretty good with the hardest questions on both the PSAT and the ACT, itās some of the questions in the middle of the ACT that can stump her.
We donāt even have trig! We go from Alg2 to pre-calc so Iām not even sure what trig is anymore! D21 dropped pre-calc for Stats. I guess weāll see Friday if that helped her SAT math score!
@inthegarden Actually, now is the perfect time for him to prep. He doesnāt do a winter sport (XC fall and Track spring) and wants to heads-down it for the March SAT.
S21ās (small, Catholic) school switched the course sequence between S19 and S21. So S21 is in Alg III / Trig junior year. S19 was in Alg II / Intro to Trig junior year. S19 had to wait until June to take the SAT because he had not yet taken all of the math he needed. S21 has.
(So, @NJWrestlingmom you are right too! You are both right. Ugh.)
So wow, thank you so much! Youāre making realize that S21 probably just has to brush back up on Alg II. And heās my kid who will totally do that.
THERE IS HOPE.
Math progression in our district for honors student usually goes:
8th grade- Alg 1 for HS credit
9th Geometry
10th- Alg 2
11th Pre Cal
12th AP Cal or AP Statistics
Our district doesnāt even have a separate trig class
My S21 wasnāt on the honors matth fast track, he started 9Th grade with algebra 1, had pre AP geometry (Our version of honors classes) in 10th and then decided to double up on math and take pre Ap algebra 2 spring semester of 10th gradeā¦since weāre on accelerated block schedules and only have 4 classes a semester, he just dropped an elective to take an extra math. This year in 11th he has Pre AP Pre Cal in the Spring. 12th grade heāll probably take AP Calc AB
We have two tracks starting in middle school. One is one year advanced. One is two years advanced. Both of our kids were two years advanced meaning algebra I in seventh, geometry honors in eighth. Then, the student can choose one of two tracks going into high school.
S19 continued on the two year advanced track and took Alg 2/trig honors, then pre calc honors, then BC Calc, then Multivariable Calc.
D decided to slow down and take the other option which is a class called Integrated Algebra/Geometry Honors and it reviews Algebra 1 and Geometry but faster in an high school honors type of speed. Then she took Algebra 2/ Trig H and had the worst teacher in the history of math teachers. She did not know her stuff. Answer keys would be wrong. Kids had to teach each other. We got one month into the school year and I had a meeting with the math chair to say he is moving D out. And then I find out Iām something like the fifth parent to complain and he canāt move anyone. The only other option was for D to move down to the non-honors level. While I pouted and said thatās BS because he himself taught a section of this class and kids were rocking their grades in there, he just shook his head and said no space in his class. Sorry.
We decided to take the option to move into non-honors. The kids learn the same material but the tests are a bit easier. So now sheās in regular pre-calc with a high A and sheāll take AB Calc next year. Taking non-honors math has been a good idea for her. She will still get to AB Calc and non-honors has been easy for her so she can focus on her other classes that are all honors or AP.
They switched our math curriculum recently and now the kids take Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, then Pre-Calc AB or BC. Kids who take Algebra 1 in 8th grade take Calc AB or BC senior year. When is the best time to take the SAT then, after Geometry?
@flyawax2, students should finish Algebra 2 before taking the SAT. If youād like your child to get a feel for the test, the PSAT can be taken in 10th grade (or even before) and then repeated. The PSAT has fewer advanced math questions (though probably a lot of Algebra 2 material) but since PSAT scores are never sent to colleges, thereās no lasting penalty if a student gets a low score. Itās a practice test for the real thing.
Oh, sorry, I didnāt read your post carefully enough. Yes, your child could take it after geometry. There are a few trig questions on it, I believe, but not many. Many students retake the test two or three times, so it might be good to also take it after pre-calc (if trig is worked into that class, as it is in my Dās pre-calc class).
Itās finals week at Dās high school. Does everyone have finals before or after winter break? D has taken her freshman brother under her wing - helping him create a study schedule and encouraging him all the way. They spent yesterday in the library together from after school until 10:00pm - our town library really takes care of the HS kids this week - providing dinner, extra tables, therapy dogs, etc.
Plans are to go to the library tonight and tomorrow too. Fingers crossed exams go well for everyone.