@kanfly That’s crazy! I’m so sorry that happened. The testing system is nuts at this point!
@coffeeat3 Thanks for the suggestion on the daytripper site. It’s fantastic! I wish I had known about it earlier. I’ll use it for S23 if/when we will be able to go visit schools.
I love hearing a little bit of your TO thinking @homerdog and @socaldad2002 I honestly have been trying to think through what D21 should do and it’s helpful to hear your ideas around this.
I hadn’t seriously considered D21 applying TO to a reach. Anymore or anyone else have thoughts about kids doing this? Pros/Cons?
@Meddy I think I read on this thread that we should be looking at TO like this - will the score help or hurt your app? Look at the whole app and try to fess out if the score will be a neutral addition, a bump, or a detriment.
This is the year kids with good rigor and high GPAs from well-known competitive high schools to apply TO if they aren’t great test takers or literally cannot get a seat. D21 doesn’t have a score to use. All of her SATs have been cancelled so we only have practice test scores to go on. Her practice test scores would be good for her matches and her high-matches (I know these categories are somewhat arbitrary). But, from our school, the reach on her list would require a 1500 to just even get waitlisted. Now, she could post a 1500 but that’s unlikely especially now that she hasn’t been practicing and Aug test was cancelled and I’m just not willing to ask her to keep herself prepped up all fall hoping for a test. Also, if she got in a reach, it would seriously just be a bonus. We aren’t expecting it. This school accepted a lot more kids than usual last year so I think it’s worth the app fee.
As for her matches/high-matches, does she really need a score that puts her right at the 75th percentile to get in? Well, we might find out. The question is (1) whether she actually gets to test and (2) if she even takes that seat or just bags it. I really, really don’t want her prepping and getting cancelled on. She’s did that for her first ACT (when she got really ill the night before the test and didn’t go) and then again before the March SAT when she spent 10-12 hours a week for three stupid months getting ready and it was cancelled.
I think we will have a better gauge of the Sept SAT soon since school starts mid-Aug at that school. We should also know about Oct SAT by early Sept since it’s the all school test on a weekday and we will know how school is going since we will be four weeks in.
I’m not giving up quite yet but we are pretty close.
@Meddy S21 jokes around about applying to Harvard TO.
If your D21 wants to write the essays and apply to a reach TO, I don’t see why not.
Ugh. Our HS district just went to full remote from 8/17 - 9/8. Allegedly hybrid will begin after that. We’ll see. I hope they see the inside of a classroom before January…
We’re in the opposite camp. Son has a decent SAT from sophomore year, but had definitely expected to bump it up in Junior year testing. We were relying on the April school test. Right now his school is saying SAT will happen in August - we’ll see. He’s a solid test taker, and I expect his testing to be stronger than his ok GPA . He has the rigor, but a few too many Bs to make some of his reaches excited. TO definitely doesn’t do anything for him.
@socaldad2002 very very good advise. Please make sure your child applies to enough schools that you have SURE admits.
I mistakenly relied on Naviance and other similar type of sites which indicated high degree of acceptance only to come to learn that high test scores and straight A’s don’t mean anything with the top schools. Over 75% percentile in test scores at that those types of schools mean basically nothing. All of those schools are totally lottery picks even if over 75% on test scores.
Make sure your child applies to a few schools that are literally guaranteed admits and that they would be happy to attend. Even better if those schools have rolling admissions. That way the stress is incredibly lessened when your child has been accepted someplace they are comfortable attending. Because as we learned the hard way with D18 those may be the only places they get admitted.
Re ACT: The best I could get locally was to October. S21 was kind of bummed to wait, so I also grabbed the closest September, almost 3 hours away. We will think about it, and I’ll certainly call the school the day before heading up to a hotel to make sure it is on.
nooooooooooo! This seems to be a trend in the Chicago suburbs. So far, we are still set to start hybrid two weeks from today.
Missed a week following thread while in the midst of changes for D19s return to college but you all have been busy!
Was in the ACT queue for 2.5 hours this morning and got a spot an hour away for 9/13. I didn’t realize D21 couldn’t submit the CA without knowing whether or not she would send those scores so thanks for sharing that.
D19 ACT scores are extremely lopsided with low math/sci and decent eng/reading from her one test score in Feb. I told her not to think twice if she didn’t get a spot for Fall, but she did, and just hopes to improve math/sci a little bit. Highly unlikely she’ll submit scores for her reach schools no matter what…they are all newly TO. At those schools, I don’t think a 33 or under on any component would pull her academic profile up above what her 3.9 unweighted with a few honors/AP classes, top 25% of the class profile already demonstrates…which is a very solid one, not a stellar one.
It seems to me that ACT scores in 34+ range have benefit if they either 1) confirm one’s academic profile for those top 40-ish school applications where the typical admitted student seems to have 10+ AP/IB classes with 3.9 or higher unweighted GPA and top 5-10% of the class or 2) bump the academic profile up a bit for the next tier of schools. Those scores are not attainable for D, But still, I think if D can increase math/sci scores so they are within 2 or even 3 points of the english/reading scores, it will be beneficial for TO schools for which her GPA/rigor seem to match, but where they probably don’t admit all of the applicants with her academic profile …thinking schools like Gonzaga. Thoughts?
Just FYI, if your DS/DD took the July 18 ACT, scores might be posted today. We got ours by checking just now. D21 fell short of her goal by 1 point, so looks like we are back on the merry-go-round for September. Ugh!
@2ndthreekids I think that makes sense. D21 would be in the same situation if I wasn’t so bitter about testing and she hadn’t studied so much for cancelled tests. If we knew she would definitely get a test, one she could plan for and take for SURE, then she would be getting ready for that. She’d love to be able to give a score that is reflective of her practice scores. They’d be right at 75th percentile for almost all of her list. But I’m tired of the stress and the jumping through hoops and she’s busy with applications and school is starting soon with a tough schedule.
If your D is cool with studying and trying again with the chance that the test will be cancelled, then go for it!
@DOTexe i just checked ACT scores and only see D21 Feb scores. I wonder if scores come out on different days based on where taken.
Still waiting on D AP Psych score. She took it in the regularly assigned day with no glitches…printed off “Congratulations!” Screen, other 5 scores came in on regular day but she shows “code 96” for her AP Psych and a message to wait until 8/7 to contact if scores have not been received by then. She contacted her teacher/AP coordinator and didn’t get any more info except wait until 8/7…still no results so I emailed teacher/AP coordinator last night to find out if they at least received her answers as I thought AP teachers were supposed to get a copy of the answers. I am hoping it is not lost somehow…if she received a 4 or 5 she will be a National AP scholar…otherwise distinction and honor, I think. I think I will try to call today to see if delayed or possibly lost. What could be the hold up? If lost, I wonder if she could resubmit her answer if saved on google drive? I would like some answers from AP.
Just had a funny thought that it would be a potentially great essay for a student to write an essay on The Meaning of The Word ‘Optional’, or What Does ‘Optional‘ Really Mean.
Lol.
I can just log onto ACT and send scores to all the schools she’s applying to in one transaction, right? I don’t need to do it simultaneously with each application submission? What about transcripts - can she request that those be sent early, too?
@3kids2dogs that’s correct about scores.
We have to request transcripts through our guidance office. I don’t think we can request until they are back in school.
@homerdog Yes, transcripts will have to wait until “closer to the end of August” is what my daughter heard from guidance (usually it shows the coursework planned for this semester, so they likely wait until after the first week or two of school because sometimes kids switch courses even after school has started). But can you just request them all and send them without a submitted application - seems like it would be easier on everyone to get one request for several schools instead of one at a time if the applications are going to go out over several weeks. But I don’t know…
I could really use some advise regarding Counselor recommendation.
My D21 had a very good relationship with her counselor for the past couple of years. She could go to her for any and all issues she had and her GC was there. But for some untold reason, she has a new counselor and the old GC is no longer at the school. We found out about this last Friday, D21 is totally distraught, she is really upset. She is scared that the new GC does not know her personally and the LOR that she will give will be very generic. Can we request the old GC to for a LOR? I know that it will not replace the current GC’s LOR, but would we be able to send it as supplemental material?