3rd day of school here and only complaint is she has no friends in her classes, my response, good you’ll pay attention ?. Going to be a busy year, between her dance classes and ones she is teaching she will be at the studio 25 hours a week. Good thing though no more Sunday classes so she’ll have that day for school work.
D21 never took August SAT, was too lazy to register. PSAT are on our homecoming and she is class secretary and doesn’t want to miss the parade, so decided to take SAT in Oct, going in cold to get a baseline and then take them in December after studying.
Just trying to get things done for her sweet and then we focus on college stuff.
3 days in here too. All S21 has to say is it’s “fine” (he’s not very communicative). He didn’t take a summer SAT but is starting an SAT class at his high school a week from tomorrow aiming for the December test date.
S21 has asked to skip PSAT this year “I didn’t know I would have to take it in 10th and 11th grade!”. Our first thought was to make him take it, but after thinking it over (and some CC advice), we decided he can skip it. He’s not interested in applying to reach schools and we’re pretty confident his SAT score will be good enough for where he’s looking. And if he does poorly, he can always retake, but I doubt it will come to that. He’s already asking about taking a lighter load next year “I’ve earned that right”. Hard to argue with that. Biggest thing we’re dealing with now is an injury that’s put him on the 7-10 day DL. Man is he grumpy!
Well…things that make you go hmmmm… D prepped this summer for the PSAT/SAT: D read cover to cover Erica Meltzer’s reading prep book and practiced on official SAT material. She took the Aug SAT and missed 4 reading questions. After not missing reading questions (and not studying from any prep books) March SAT, missing 2 last years PSAT, and missing 2 in Oct 2018 SAT. So she did worse with official prep…Don’t know what to make of that.
@BingeWatcher who knows? I know some high scoring kids who also did less well on the Aug test. Didn’t your D already get a really high score? I thought she already has a 1580 or something like that.
I’ve read on other forums that the math curve in particular was harsh this go round. I wish mine had done better on the essay, we’d probably be one and done here aside from the in school test everyone takes at her school in the spring. But her essay score is in a possible red flag zone compared to her other scores. So we will have to try again. Hopefully AP Lang will help with that one. Now onto the PSAT and crossing my fingers for national merit. It’s within sight here but who knows.
@homerdog The August and October SATs are just part of our PSAT for NMF prep. She uses those as official practice test. Hoping it was just a bad day. Yes the math curve was brutal. We are only concerned with reading as that is her weakest area. Just further proves that “the stars were aligned” when she made the 1590 and not able to be replicated. And I know you have been following that other merit thread, where his D just barely missed NMF, with similar financial limitations /income as us. That is why NMF is so important to us.
@mm5678 do the schools on the list require the essay? Most schools do not now. Also, I’m not sure what you’re considering the red zone but I’ve read that anything over a 17 is ok no matter how high the other parts of the test were. Even for the schools that ask for them, it’s not a super important stat.
@BingeWatcher - what are the exact rules for the corroborating test for NMF? Does it have to be after the October PSAT? I’m not that tuned in because my daughter (based upon her PSAT 10) isn’t a candidate.
@3kids2dogs No. I believe that test can be any time starting sophomore year. Our S19 was NMF and his corroborating score was the Aug test his junior year but I remember reading it could have even been earlier. Also, the score doesn’t have to be all that high. I think kids only need maybe mid-1400s. There are threads on this if you search CC.
A friend’s son went from a 1400 in June to a 1270 in August- down 90 points in Math. And he said the August test was much easier and was expecting to have a higher school this round!
D21 was correct in her prediction- she did great on verbal (700), math needs work (570). But after reading about the harsh curve, hoping she can get that math up a bit for a good super score.
NMF in NJ requires over a 1500 so she won’t bother with the PSAT this fall.
@NJWrestlingmom how did you hear about that confirming score in NJ? I really thought confirming scores were done nationally, not by state.
And these “easier” SATs are almost testing something different. Kids need to not make any dumb mistakes. I think kids who think these tests feel “easy” get excited along the way and then rush because the questions seem easy. These types of tests are not good for the highest scoring kids since they don’t even test the harder material that they will get correct. And, on this test, if a student like that had two brain farts on the math section, they found themselves down to a 740.
@homerdog I wish it were a 17! But it’s several points below that (she didn’t prep at all for the essay and I think she was exhausted by the end) and her verbal is a 720. So there’s a big difference there. She is very interested in applying to a couple UC schools, and they all require it. Unfortunately, you can’t “hide” the essay score and just submit the verbal and math either if she gave up the UC schools. She’ll practice and get there and then hopefully we’ll be able to optimize the superscore.
@homerdog the qualifying score for NJ has been a 223 the last 3 years, which I think loosely correlates to a 1490-1500. Other states are lower. I know they can change every year, but NJ has been consistently high so D most likely wouldn’t be in range. Our school doesn’t do any testing in school, so we’d have to pay and take it on a Saturday morning. Not worth it for us.
Reading all this, it’s hard to keep my anxiety from rising. I know this thread is for everyone, and that those of you with super-high-performing students should be able to discuss (and celebrate) successes and woes. And I’m happy to celebrate with you. But please, also be sensitive to the fact that many of us with hard-working kids (that are pretty bright, though not gifted) will be thrilled if they achieve mid-1300s by senior year despite their good grades and work ethic. I’m happy hearing about high scores, and I know many of you are chasing merit and/or your kids have worked extremely hard in their free time. And I do think the SAT should do a better job differentiating scores at the high end of the bell curve, as the old SAT did. But it’s also a little hard to post after learning about about kids having a couple of brain farts going down to a 740.
That’s the kind of thing that had me proposing (a few month ago) an additional thread for parents of “average very good” students (as differing from “average-excellent”). In the last two years I’ve seen a lot of parents joining the 3.0-3.4 threads whose children have significantly higher stats than that because they said they didn’t feel they belong on the regular thread, which tended to discuss the highest academic echelons. I’ve wondered how the parents of true 3.0-3.4 felt about that, when the average stats on that thread crept up a good bit higher. If we want to stay as one big happy group, and retain a large range of parents, maybe just a little more sensitivity in how things are worded? Or am I being oversensitive?
@inthegarden your point is very valid, but unfortunately I don’ think you’ll be able to change the behavior of the CC masses. My kid is not one of those overachievers who whines about getting a B+ so I can’t relate with many posters either. As such, I choose to ignore many of the posts/posters who aren’t in my similar situation.
@inthegarden you’re not being oversensitive! I’m in the same boat. My S21 is a great kid, hardworking…hovering around 17% percentile in his VERY large graduating class of 1180 students in a very competitive district…he’s in all AP or DC courses…3.7’ish unweighted GPA, 4.25 weighted…BUT, he’s not a good standardized text taker. He’s got bad test taking anxiety. We’ve shelled out $$ for private SAT tutoring, online SAT prep, you name it…he’s lucky if he makes it to 1300. His highest practice score thus far has been 1180 or something. I’m over it. I won’t let this score define him. And if it keeps him from getting admission at his #1 choice of Texas A&M as a freshman then we’ll figure out another way to get him there, like transferring after Freshman year somewhere else. Don’t let CC get you down! You’re kid is great and will do great things!!!
Like you said, I celebrate the high scoring kiddos and their parents who post here as well, I just won’t let it make me feel bad about my own kid who is perfect in his own way <3
@NJWrestlingmom you’re not understanding. Yes, you need a 223 on the PSAT, but one also needs a supporting SAT (not psat) to be NMF. That’s a separate regular SAT. That’s the score that needs to be mid-1400s. @3dogs3kids was asking what SAT score kids need after they hit the needed PSAT score.