@AlmostThere2018 and @AlwaysMoving My D also thought Math was hard. It’s the main section she needs to improve and she had worked so hard and was only missing 1 or 2 in all her practice tests and said this test was so much harder- that the first 40 were easy, except one that just took too long, the next 10 were also more time consuming than she was expecting and the last 10 were some of the hardest she had seen, and she had less time at that point. Fingers crossed for a good curve. She also looked at Redit and said that the general consensus was that math was a beast.
She already has a great SAT, but her tutor thought she had a chance at a 36 so we signed up and prepped for the June test. When the June test was cancelled we signed up for the July test locally and prepped. When the July test site was closed we booked a hotel and prepped.
Why did we do this? At each step it seemed reasonable to do a little bit more work. If I would have known back in April all of the hoops we would have to jump through I never would have signed her up for the June test.
Was it worth it? Sure. The only extra cost was driving 8 hours round trip, some hotel loyalty points, and pizza. There was some stress, but it wasn’t that bad or unusual for a test taker. Also, it’s not like she had something else to do, and I enjoyed hanging out with her.
I need to add that I don’t want my actions to cause other parents on here stress. You don’t have to drive 8 hours and get a hotel room just to get another test score. It’s what we did because we had the time to do it. Focus on what you can control.
@AlwaysMoving I think it made sense for your family. Your D is a strong test taker with a good score under her belt and, honestly, I don’t know if a 36 if going to make a difference if she already has a strong score. It’s different for us. D21 doesn’t have a score she wants to use and, when I bring up revving up for the SAT again, it’s stressful. My husband also thinks she should bag the whole testing idea and just go to a school that wants her for what she can already offer on her app. I’m split down the middle since none of us know how a TO policy will really work.
This thread has a very Race to Nowhere vibe, though unintentional I’m sure.
This is where we are. S21 has not tested at all yet. He is not applying to super selective schools. His top choice private schools (one being the Jesuit university that his dad and I attended) are ones that have been TO for years. And his in-state options are now TO as well.
He’s registered for the August and September SAT. After prepping for the canceled March, May, and June, does he go through that whole process again to 1) have the August test get canceled or 2) get a mediocre math score when he is going for an English/writing/art major.
I’m inclined at this point to say that if the August test is canceled that’s it. He will go with the school that wants him for all that he offers without the standardized test score.
I am just catching up on the weekends posts, sounds like the testing is so inconsistent and they need to find a way to notify test takers of cancellations a few days before the test date. In most cases I am sure the decisions to cancel have been made or could be made a few days in advance.
@nichols51 have you looked for test sites in private schools in Atlanta? D21 is signed up for the August SAT subject test at Marist. They do offer accommodations of extended time, not sure if they have other accommodations as well. Private schools might be to open to testing when the public schools are closed.
D21 school sent out their re-opening plan, 4 phases, 1. at home learning, 2. at school Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday -Friday at home, they would utilize the middle school building so classes would be smaller and allow for more than 6 feet distancing. The middle school has the opposite schedule they are at home 2 day and at school 3 days. 3. school 5 days week and distancing of 4 feet. 4. school 5 days week back to normal. All phase require mask for students and staff. They did not say what phase we would open with but I am guessing it will be the 2 phase, two days a week in class. Also, they are covid testing the whole school the on the Monday and Tuesday before school starts.
This post above is a little old but I just read it. This is an odd suggestion. Many colleges have mission statements that don’t revolve around GPAs and test scores and that’s why we have holistic admissions. Colleges want a wide range of students so that kids meet other students who have different life circumstances than they do. That is learning in and of itself. Colleges also want a vibrant community of musicians, athletes, journalists, and on and on and that’s not dependent on GPA or test score. And they want to welcome students who didn’t have the chance to take multiple standardized tests and come from a place where they would be first in their family to go to college. If anyone wants to apply to UK or Canadian schools, that’s an option if you don’t want to write essays or present yourself to the AOs as a whole person.
Agree with this. Even in the US there are plenty of schools that guarantee admission for applicants who meet certain stats, they are mostly public schools…U Iowa, Iowa State, ASU, Kansas, Kansas State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, UT Austin, even Tulane for Louisiana students, to name a few.
Based on what happened in our city, I’d say the best chance for getting in a test is a private school. Every other test site here was cancelled yesterday except our kids’ private school. S said there were at least 100 kids there.
His telling of the whole situation had me in stitches, from the gathering on a football field for 40 min in the boiling heat (necessitating drinking way too much Gatorade) while kids were questioned and arguments made over temps being high bc they were standing outside in the boiling heat!, marching around buildings to all enter in one door, needing someone to accompany you to the bathroom during the test but that person having gone missing, getting dizzy during the reading section so he couldn’t finish, and having unknown earth science questions on the science section because his 9th grade earth science teacher showed them movies instead of teaching (nice guy, I remember S used to ask him for topics that would be on his tests and then use khan academy (yes, at a private school)).
So, he’s signing up for the next test when registration opens. (And I suggested he wear a diaper, lol!). He’s a math kid, so he didn’t say math was hard (though all he could think about during the last 20 q was trying not to pee himself!), but was hoping reading was hard so there’d be a good curve, though it doesn’t sound like it?
If there is another test, he’s hoping they at least gather them in the shade.
@havenoidea Good grief. I have no words. This is what it’s come to??
@havenoidea @homerdog This is outrageous! I don’t even know the value of the test if so few people in the country can even take it. And taking the test under these conditions!
There was only one test site open in our city and there were hundreds of kids lined up (someone posted a video on social media). The kids were all lined up and were never allowed into the building to take the test. The test center never received the materials and the kids didn’t know until the morning when they showed up.
Again, I’m so over these tests! It is outrageous what people have to go through just to try to take a test or to find out it was cancelled. Let’s just cancel it for everyone this year and call it a day!
@havenoidea Good for you (and your S) for having a sense of humor about the situation! Unbelievable!
We were just talking about changing the admissions system, and were not very serious about it.
I definitely think it would help the overall process is colleges were more transparent about what it takes to get in.
ETA: I believe that almost every college does a first cut of the applicant pool. I think it would be advantageous if that cut was made before students put forth all of the effort and stress.
But it doesn’t take anything particular. If you’re talking about top schools, they are building a class and one year a student might get in but, had she applied a different year, then maybe not. AOs aren’t checking off boxes and then letting kids in if they have a list of things on their apps.
Oh boy - so we are at a private catholic school that was going back in person, but the CA governor just shut most of the state schools down. Our county is on the “watch list” and will need to get off for 14 days in order to go hybrid or in person ft. If that happens, we are hoping our small school could pivot back to in person faster than a public school. I requested that our school start hosting the ACT but I’m not sure if that is even legal now. There will be nowhere to take it without driving a full day. I’ll have to consider traveling now. I have decided that I’m not making him start practicing unless I think it’s going to happen.
Congrats to those who got an ACT in. I don’t think there is any excuse for not getting at least 24-48 hours notice of a canceled test site. That’s nuts.
@socaldad2002 re junior high foreign language: how did you report the years taken at junior high? Did you get them onto the high school transcript or is there a place in the common app form for that? My son’s high school doesn’t offer latin. He has only the H Latin III college course on his high school transcript. Thanks.
@AlmostThere2018 Great idea about thanking the school that hosted. I signed D21 to test at a local private school and was disappointed that the school in our district was full for July. I would have preferred her to get a seat at a school she is familiar with to lessen any stress in finding the school/knowing where to go, etc. The in-district public cancelled and private site hosted. The schools are in the same town.
In general, it depends on the type of college applications. For example the UC application has a section to put down 7th & 8th grade math and foreign language classes.
The Common Application (CA) has a section for “Other Courses” not earned in high school such as middle school and dual enrollment.
If your are applying to CSUs, they use Cal State Apply application that gives you an opportunity to list 7th and 8th grade classes.
Also, any classes earned in middle school, that satisfy high school requirement (ex. a-g core requirements) should be on your high school transcript.
With that said, I’m not an expert in how to fill out college applications so I would carefully review the instructions for each application so you enter the information correctly.
He only has 1 year of foreign language on his transcript but took a few years more in middle school? I’d talk to your counselor and make sure they cover that in their recommendation.
I really don’t know if I would drive several hours and get a hotel for a chance at a test that may or may not happen. I am so sick of the whole competitive thing and just wish there was a nice nearby safety school my D was excited about, which is why I haven’t participated lately.
But honestly, if families decide to make that effort for a test for which their kids have prepped hard and long for, I don’t see why that is any more excessive than driving and flying around the country and staying at hotels to visit schools that may or may not have the right vibes or attributes and may or may not accept the student in the end.
Going TO when your kid goes to a famously wealthy and competitive high school with no grade inflation and superior teachers and students, whose dedicated college counselors have longstanding relationships with T-20 schools, whose teachers know just how to teach to the rubric of APs, whose students all have broadband for their 8-3 zoom classes… is a very different prospect than it is for those of us with our average schools in struggling communities, with no broadband, NO Zoom classes, a school for which a normal year sees zero or maybe one student at a T-20 school.
So, if we were to drive four hours and get a hotel so that our D could have a chance to corroborate her top grades and rank (within the context of her mediocre environment) with a decent test score so that she’d have a CHANCE at a nice school (that many of you would not consider selective) within a half-days drive (Because we don’t live near an airport) I would consider that time and money well-spent.