I would say if you’re that worried about her getting in and out of the school safely, you could drive her there, and then just go do something nearby during the test. It’s not something I would personally be concerned about (plenty of experience in various Chicago neighborhoods), but you could drive her if you’re concerned and I would be shocked if anything goes wrong.
I just looked up the school on Niche. That community is really struggling.
Take this with a grain of salt, as I don’t get freaked out about traveling to rough neighborhoods, but I would have no problem taking a kid to an SAT test in any of them. I think it will be totally fine! I certainly wouldn’t skip the test just because of it.
2 Likes
I appreciate you saying that. The last digital study SAT was in the same small city but in an area I know better because I have another kid going to college down the street. I was still a little nervous about the parking, etc., but we dropped her off and it was fine. It was more of a downtown area.
I agree. My nephew graduated from High Point this past May. He had no motivation for high school but found his footing at HPU and graduated with a job he’s really excited about at a big company in Dallas. It’s not for everyone, but it worked for him.
3 Likes
I am starting to doubt our DS23 counselor guidance on SAT/ACT and would love some feedback. DS is not a good test taker, 1060 practice SAT, 22 practice ACT, the guidance from his counselor was to not bother taking these tests because the odds of him bringing his score up enough to actually submit, considering most schools are test optional, would be slim. His GPA is around 3.2, I feel like if he were to actually study and get these scores up some it may actually help, thoughts? I know we would be totally under the gun and may just actually be too late.
DH2,
Are there openings for your student to register for the next ACT or SAT test date? If so and if your student received the practice test score, what would your student gain? Would it increase admission chance, assist with initial class placement at the colleges under consideration, increase financial aid, etc.?
If he earned a slightly higher score than the practice test, what would be gained? With what test score would there be a benefit for the colleges under consideration?
If there’s little real benefit, I wouldn’t pressure your student unless he wants to take it “just to see what happens.”
2 Likes
To what schools is your S23 planning to apply? Assuming from his GPA that he’s not primarily targeting T50 or T75 schools, he may not need a high test score to be admitted to his true target schools.
Also, what score do you think your S23 could reach - or asked another way, what is the minimal score you think he should attain? If that was your son’s first attempt, have him take it again. Without tutoring, and with much less self-study than I would have preferred, my son improved 150-200 points between his first and second test.
1 Like
My nephew goes to Xavier and loves it.
Same boat here. And we went the ACT route and he didn’t do any better… just not his strength so we’ve decided to do test optional. We’re worried too bc his GPA suffered with remote learning. Take that off his record and he’s a 3.2 student. With remote he’s 2.1. And it barely moves the further along you get. I’m just hoping to get him interviews etc so people see his potential. Stressful though!
2 Likes
One of the schools I think my son should look at is Stetson. I believe they said in an info session that students can sign up for an interview vs writing a supplement.
4 Likes
S23 isn’t taking the SAT or ACT. He’s not a strong test taker. PSAT score was ok but not awesome. I’m sure he’d do ok but nothing that would improve his chances anywhere. Every school he’s applying to is test blind or test optional. Just wasn’t worth the extra stress for something that would have little, if any, benefit.
5 Likes
Not having the stress of ACTs has been huge. DS forgot (or insists we never told him) that he was signed up to take them last April and was plucked off the bus that was just about to leave for a baseball game to take them. He was sick and hadn’t really slept well the night before. Needless to say, he did terribly. We decided to just forget about it and I’m glad we did. All of the schools he is looking at are test optional. The only thing a higher (and I mean like 10 points higher) ACT score would have done for him is a few thousand dollars in merit, but it was so unlikely that it just wasn’t worth it.
Without studying for and stressing about retaking the ACT the application process has been relatively painless. And we could focus on schools earlier as we weren’t waiting on scores to come back to see if certain schools were suddenly
contenders.
4 Likes
I’m just venting here. I had high hopes that applications would be in or near in by now. That was the goal of the summer. S23 is working on the statements but progress is far slower than I had hoped. A bit here, a bit there. Lots of edits. Personal statement should be done by now but it’s not. Close just not yet. The supplementals shouldn’t take long but now I know they will. I just want these all in before school starts at the end of the month. It’s his path and he needs to walk it. I just wish he had more urgency behind him.
1 Like
@dh2 - same here. I don’t include D23’s guidance counselor as a resource. She told D23 she didn’t need to take math at all senior year without ever asking her about her college plans. For the SAT’s - to date D23 has only taken the PSAT and her score was just under 1000. She’s taking the SAT at the end of August and I have her regular math tutor coming once per week this month just because she tends to freeze up with math unless she’s in a groove. I bought her a book of practice tests and asked her to take one test per week before the tutor comes so they can work on what she doesn’t know. She’s a good kid and putting some time into each week.
I don’t have big expectations. I’d like her to break 1000. I’m pretty sure she will be test optional almost everywhere she applies and if her score doesn’t improve from the PSAT she definitely will not submit them. But I agree with you - I don’t think it hurts to TRY and see what the result is before walking away from the SAT entirely.
3 Likes
If its any help, my son doesnt even have a college list yet. His pediatrician gave my child permission to not discuss or do anything college related until August 1st. And now he has been at his dads all week.
With my help he put in 1 app that didnt require any essays (NAU. I entered in info, he reviewed and clicked submit.)
And football is in full swing 5 plus days a week plus he is working. I try and I get the “Im tired.”
3 Likes
I hear you. D23 is in the same boat. We thought she’d have done both the Common App and the essay, and she hasn’t done either. On the bright side, S21 was ahead of the game and submitted all of her apps early, but in retrospect, it didn’t really make any difference! She could have applied in November or January or whatever and very likely gotten the same results. I know she won’t have as much time but wonder if it will help our D23 to be around kids at school who are all talking about submitting apps, hearing back, etc. Positive peer pressure, I guess. Right now she and her friends are just in summer mode, and if they’re doing work on apps, they’re not talking about it!
1 Like
Peer pressure is my hope once school starts. Sons dating a college girl now. And hoping now that football is in full swing and after school starts that peers will be talking more.
We live in a very good school district for our area but its just not very competitive. Most kids attend midwest publics.
3 Likes
I love this group! D23 does technically have slightly higher stats but she has a medical situation that compromises her schooling and made her miss her entire Junior year. (you might have seen us around this board already). Anyway she is applying to similar schools listed here and mainly safeties. Plus, besides her compromised transcript and course rigor (no AP’s or IB’s or honors etc) she is going to need a college that is less stressful.
Anyway, with regards to the kids being “behind” on apps I think the peer pressure approach and the excitement of going through this with friends will be huge. So many kids respond best to outside pressure like peer pressure and the pressure of an imminent deadline. And they do just fine. These kiddos are already well ahead of the game just by having parents on this board.
3 Likes
I know it’s hard to watch, but I know plenty of kids that sent things in hours before the deadline and they did just fine.
1 Like