300 is super-steep. If they had a very efficient plan, perhaps it might be worthwhile but golly, I’d keep looking. Word of mouth seems to be the best way. We shall see what happens with ours, who is around a third of that price.
Going over the answers after a practice test, understanding why the right answer is right and the wrong answers are wrong, seems to be an important key for prep. Practice by itself isn’t enough without that piece.
D21 looks over every wrong answer. Then she reworks the problems. She even went back right before the test and re-did every question she got wrong on all eight tests she took. Didn’t help. I think it’s all a timing issue. She can’t go that fast. She needs strategy help and a confidence boost. I think she just questions her ability while she’s taking the test and that takes brain space and makes her move slower.
The tutor is $300 just for the in-person time. D21 would do work in between the sessions that she assigns. We did find her via word of mouth. I know the moms very well who have used her and they all say she’s worth it.
For timing issues, SAT may be a better fit than ACT.
With awesome word-of-mouth reviews, maybe she’s worth it - fingers crossed for you.
@homerdog has she tried the SAT? My D did a practice ACT right after the PSAT last year and they were neck in neck. When she took the actual ACT in Oct, she only went up 1 point vs. 200 points from her PSAT. Maybe SAT would work better?
Yes we’ve thought about the SAT. She did not do well on the PSAT10 last year and, when she tried an SAT in June at home, she did not like the tricky wording on the math section. We decided to go with the ACT because, without time constraints, she could get a super high score and it seemed it should be easier to just learn how to go faster on that test. It’s proven harder than she thought. I’m going to ask the tutor what she thinks.
@nichols51 Our impressions of Denison, Wooster, and Kenyon lined up almost exactly with yours. Three different schools located pretty close to one another but with somewhat different campus vibes and locations. My D17 ended up applying to Wooster. Their merit scholarships are pretty generous.
@homerdog Good luck to your daughter moving forward. Standardized tests can be demoralizing!
I think it’s much easier to learn how the SAT words questions than to change a student’s pace. Also just an FYI, my S21 went up over 100 points between the PSAT 10 and SAT in June later that year - almost exclusively from Erica Metzer’s problem a day for a few months. He struggled with the English section primarily as he needed more familiarity with how they worded things. He felt after a few months he was getting a much better feel for how they were trying to “trick” him. And it was a pretty low stress prep - they emailed him once a day and the question just took a few minutes. I know your daughter’s issue is math, @homerdog but I bet a bit more familiarity with those tricky questions would gain her tons of confidence. I just think the ACT’s so reliant on speed, best of luck to you both!
@Darcy123 She will seriously kill me if I suggest switching tests. I’ll pay the tutor to do that just to save our relationship!!!
Come to think of it, one of my kids ended up with a superscore senior year that was 230 pts higher than fall sophomore psat. My guess is that’s not unusual.
For one of mine, it’s unclear which test will work best - close call - so prepping (with tutor) and taking both. And then at least one of the tests will likely get a second try, probably in summer.
I think we have issues beyond the actual test. (1) Her expectation that she would study in the summer, take fall tests and be done is now not a thing and she’ll have to accept that. (2) Her homework and ECs take a ton of time and are also important. Not sure she can even find time during the week to do prep. (3) She’s tired of feeling “less than” her peers in her honors classes on standardized tests and I’m sure this just upped her anxiety. No idea how to handle that.
I know this is the reality for tons of kids. Just not the kids she knows well or her brother so it’s hard. But there will be no better score unless she can figure out how to remain positive.
@nichols51, thanks for reporting back on your visits! Ours were a little different as they were sports related, and DS21 met with coaches at both Wooster and Kenyon. We did the tour and info session at Kenyon also and a camp at Wooster, as well as a thorough tour with a coach, but we didn’t get the benefit of an info session or admissions presentation. And we just walked around Denison on our own. Although I am leaving DS alone for the time being to focus on finals and am not bugging him about college stuff, I think Wooster remains his front runner. There was definitely a “just right” feel about it, and he liked the current students he met (“smart kids”) as well as the coaches. I’m trying to figure out a time for him to go back and visit this winter/spring to go to some
Classes and do a more academic-focused visit.
I would still like to visit Denison also; DS has a school-mate going next year, and everyone had good things to say about it.
@homerdog its so hard to watch them struggle with anxiety my D21 suffers also. I am finally getting my D to realize that there are 100’s of great schools that you don’t need perfect grades and scores for. It’s not easy. I just keep suggesting schools that I see as a good fit for her to what I think she wants (which honestly I don’t think she does). Thankfully the kids she talks to on a daily basis that she considers friends are a grade below her so we don’t have that competitiveness when it comes to school. Good luck to your daughter I’m sure she is working hard and will get to where she wants to be. They still have time.
So, I talked to the tutor. I swear that even that ten min talk made me feel better. (Because this is about me too. lol!!)
First, she said D21 should never have been taking any sections where she gave herself even a minute more time. That gives kids the sense that they can score higher than they can once time limits are strict. She told me to get her an ACT watch. Second, she said the grammar section just really isn’t that hard and that D21 probably has not really done the prep needed to know those rules cold. She doesn’t have any space to see her until Jan but suggested she still take the Dec test since it’s one of the few where you get your test back.
So, I think she will take more full practice tests with the watch. Review wrong answers. And spend time focusing on learning the grammar rules and increasing English score. There’s not much time so I think focusing on English and timing for the overall test will have to be the plan. Test is in four weeks.
@homerdog, great to hear concrete simple solutions just from talking to the tutor. I think I would pay the 300.00, It really sounds like a great investment and most importantly will help your D’s confidence.
@homerdog I’m so glad you feel better after talking with the tutor. Sounds like a solid plan for the December test and then take it from there. And it is also about us because we clearly all want what’s best for our children and want them to succeed.
@BingeWatcher Yes. It’s a concrete plan for the next three weeks at least. She can’t really diagnose all of the issues without speaking to D21 directly. I totally understand that. I’m betting there’s stuff that D21 will tell the tutor that she won’t tell me and, hopefully, that will help the tutor guide her and give her more confidence.
I think tutors can just take all of the emotion out. She said flat out that ACT is all about time. Kids need to know how the test tries to trick the kids and recognize the tricks on test day. They need to study the right content and they practice, practice. We all know that but even the tone in her voice is way better than when I tell D21 that. A tutor can be matter of fact. I think D sometimes thinks I’m judging her even though I try really hard to keep my worry in check.
@homerdog That sounds like a great conversation and a great plan for your daughter. I love that the tutor gave strong, concrete advice even though she can’t actually work with your daughter until the new year.
So, a bit of a random question, but is there any reliable way to determine whether a the spirit of a school is competitive vs. collaborative?
@3kids2dogs can you find some kids from your high school at the college? We had S19 text kids he didn’t even know while in high school to get their take on stuff like that. Someone from your high school knows where you’re coming from and it’s nice to get info from someone local.
It took until Friday evening to figure it out, but S21 finally decided on Lafayette for a Saturday campus tour. He was very impressed and liked it much more than his Swarthmore tour this summer. I think seeing the school, and hearing the admissions officer presentation finally has hit home why his GPA is important. Hopefully that means less struggle with him for the rest of the year. He’s in the target range with a lot of rigor, but he needs to keep it up ideally increase it a bit (harder to do now as a junior).
That Lafayette is not need blind might hurt should he decide to apply but the visit was worth it for sure. He also grasped the slim odds of getting into a school like Lafayette, so fully understands that it’s a reach. I just hope that he keeps grounded and doesn’t tune out other schools that will be easier to get into.
This is the 3rd time he’s met the admission officer (also a high school visit and a college fair) so he’s certainly working on the demonstrated interest part of things.
That’s likely our only tour this fall, we’ll pick up again in the new year.