Asking for D24 after getting PSAT10 results today. D22 took SAT and studied for it on Khan Academy. Thinking that D24 will do better with ACT. What did your DCs use to self study for ACT?
Yay another ACT. My daugther felt the same way, when she looked at her PSAT scores. Self prepped ACT with black book, Erica Melzer and official ACT tests, used some SAT material for reading. She got a 35 incase that helps.
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@advitha , thank you so much for the suggestions! Interesting about SAT reading prep. We have plenty of those left from D22.
Thatās good. But just focus on the timing though. Mine went overtime initially and she had to apply some tehniques to bring it down. When she went for the actual ACT, she said she had 3 mins for reading and more than half for math and was just simply sitting. More timed practice sessions do help. Go for it!!!
Yes. Second semester senior grades donāt matter that much unless they really tank. Schools can take the offer back if they do, but it would have to be a major drop.
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They matter if youāre on a waitlist and really want to get off. Many schools with waitlists will ask for final transcripts.
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S22 did best on the ACT. We mainly used practice tests. He did a section at a time and quickly realized Reading was hard to finish. He used tips from the Black Book which I think is for SAT. That really helped the reading overall, for correctness. And we did a variety of exercises to help speed up his reading - bubbling a passage at a time until the last passage, doing passages that we easier first, skimming first, etc. He is not good at skimming, lol. But he did end up bubbling answers a passage at a time until the last passage.
For math, he just did a lot of practice tests and then going through to understand his mistakes and what he forgot. Writing and Science didnāt need much, so he just did a couple practices and was fine. He only took the test once for real and improved to a 35 composite with a 36 science and 35 in the rest.
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Exciting news: S22 received an email from Fordham saying heās such an outstanding candidate that they wanted to let him know ahead of the general decision release that heās been admitted. We were confident heād get in there, but itās still a relief to know for sure and a nice distinction that they let him know in advance. Still holding out for NYU ED, but this all makes us feel even better about Fordham if that doesnāt work out. So proud of him!
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Congratulations! Great news indeed!
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Talk about a ālikely letterā! Itās get no more likely than that. Congrats to your son!
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My kid didnāt apply to NYU, but I just went and checked out that threadā¦lots and lots about different indicators! You said the āusualā speculation. Does this happen at lots of schools?
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Usual for NYU, LOL. The thread last year was all about the housing indicator and the checklist indicator and the no-applications indicator and the Stern email indicator. Seems like the same this year, although no one really knows if the same things will hold true this year or if admissions has gotten wise and fixed its systems.
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I saw a post on redditās A2C about portal indicators at different schools, i.e. signs you might have been accepted. Kids referred to it as āportal astrologyā.
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Last year on the UCB discussion thread, there were pages and pages of SPAM due these portal indicators. Mods had to temporarily close down the discussion.
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Love that! Portal astrology it is, with the same inscrutable signs and supposed experts.
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@Luanne , thank you for sharing. Very helpful to learn from your sonās experience.
I donāt know much about Fordham, but it looks like your S22 have an impressive portfolio. Way to go, Iām sure heāll bag NYU as well!!!
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@Gumbymom Goodness, I remember that!! I bet you see it every year! I think in the decision update for S21 for Cal and UCLA, I added if my kid got X or Y in his portal just to confirm or deny the conspiracy theories! These kids are clever, Iām telling you!
Ha! Ha! 
Portal Astrology. Love it!
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Hi - D22 applied to UCs couple of weeks back. Got acknowledgement from a few but yet to receive " we received your app" message from UCLA, Davis, SantaBarbara, though all campuses were forwarded the app on the day according to the dashboard. Any pointers on the UC process with these campuses? Are we supposed to follow up or are these campuses take a few weeks to acknowledge they received the app? Thanks in advance.