<p>My dreams were crushed at 8:45 AM this morning when I checked D?s March 10th SAT I scores. I am still in the state of total shock. D is an excellent student (stat posted before) and I just can?t believe this could ever happen.</p>
<p>However, life must go on and we need to work on plan B. </p>
<p>D?s first response is ?I will take SAT again in May? and ?BTW, I still will not study for it?. I was angry at that first. But then, it is her life all we could do is to offer love and guidance. </p>
<p>Here is my plan B and please offer your inputs/advices. She has 4 AP exams in May and has signed up SAT II in June 2nd. Based our visits to WashU and UChicago, we know the transcript is the number 1 item they look at. So, I would like for D to concentrate on AP exams first. May be sign up ACT which will be on June 9th. Hopefully all AP, ACT, and SAT II scores will give her her confidence back. Then we take SAT I in October 6th. </p>
<p>Will the October test date be too late? Should we forget about SAT II and take SAT I again in June? Also, will a poor SAT ruin her chance at NMF?</p>
<p>I do not think the Oct SAT I is too late. Also, if her schools require SAT IIs, I think it's best to take them while the subjects are fresh in her mind.</p>
<p>I am assuming she's a junior. Applying early admission/early action? If not, don't push the tests right now! She's got enough on her plate and overloading is just going to add stress that's not conducive for success. Just because she didn't fare well on the SAT's makes her less a person. My daughter has awesome GPA, in the most rigorous courses her school offers. Great EC's, etc, just not the greatest in SAT's. Life does go on. </p>
<p>And one last tidbit of advice....It's not WE taking the tests, signing up, etc. It's She. You are the parent. The focus in on her.</p>
<p>October is not too late. Get the score report and see what sort of questions she missed on the March test. If erasures were the problem as mentioned in another post see if you can get a handscoring. Otherwise see if you can troubleshoot the problem areas before she takes the test again.</p>
<p>I'd also agree with momray. Lighten up a bit for now. She might also consider trying the ACT, too. I've seen lots of people on here who are able to "compensate" from less that stellar SATs with everything else. As far as I've been able to see, there is NO school who will automatically eliminate someone with lower SAT scores without looking at everything else.</p>
<p>how about taking the ACT Plus w/writing instead for now. she or you can contact the colleges and see if the ACT or the ACT Plus w/writing is accepted. She could take ACT multiple times and just send the best score. Some students may fare better on the ACT. There are threads on cc about the differences. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, will a poor SAT ruin her chance at NMF?
[/quote]
It depends on how poor. I don't know how high the SAT has to be for finalist status, but I know it doesn't have to be as high as the equivalent to the original PSAT qualifying score. I think that under the old scoring system a 1300 or 1350 was good enough; I don't know what might be required now. </p>
<p>You might try calling National Merit and asking what the minimum score is. I don't know if they would tell you or not, but it's worth a try. You can just say that you want to know whether your daughter should retake the SAT.</p>
<p>laserbrother - I think you need to take a long walk and think about your priorities and your outlook. If you're willing to post all this angst for all the world to read, what signals (pressure, disappointment) are you sending to her?</p>
<p>My older son took the old SAT I 3 times -- March, May and then November of senior year. His best score on both verbal and math was the senior year score, without any further studying or prep over the summer. I think that there's a natural improvement over time, and that even bright kids will do best as seniors. I would suggest taking a low key approach -- this was just a chance to get her feet wet, there's plenty of time etc. I'm sure she's not happy with her scores, based on what you've said, but applying more pressure really won't help.</p>
<p>"Based our visits to WashU and UChicago, we know the transcript is the number 1 item they look at. So, I would like for D to concentrate on AP exams first. "</p>
<p>I agree it is important to prepare and do one's best on AP tests, but I am not sure of what you mean by the above. AP scores do not usually appear on the transcript, in my experience, and are officially reported only after to the student a college decides to attend, after admission. Students can self-report the scores as part of their application.</p>
<p>Also, you did not say what your daughter's scores were, but, in any case, please do not make her feel bad about her scores and your expectations. I have two kids and the older one was a very high scorer. The younger one did not do as well on SATs and was very upset about it, at the time. If a student is applying herself and doing as well as she can, it does not help the situation to create stress and possibly poor self-image problems, etc. There are worse things in life than not getting astronomical SAT scores.</p>
<p>By the way, in the end, both of my kids attended excellent schools. Don't obsess so much - I am sure your daughter will do fine in her college search.</p>
<p>Laserbrother,
I read your other post that you would be crying if you were not in your office. I know you want the best success for your child, but there seems to be a lot of stress. If I were your daughter, I'd enter each test situation with so much anxiety it would hinder my performance. I also suspect that what you call "awful" is well above the norm. I also don't think that one needs a top 10 college to succeed in life.</p>
<p>lb, If the scores are truly out of line you might want to ask for hand scoring, and I would just let her take them again - yes, without studying. If the scores are that far out of whack she might have had things lined up improperly or as she said, maybe didn't erase some changed answers well enough for the scanners. Also, keep an eye on the SAT forum to see if any or many others had shockingly off the chart scores.</p>
<p>Oh, and add some SAT optional schools to your D's list!! (LOL) Hang in there!</p>
<p>MOT, may be I did not understand it correctly. </p>
<p>I was thinking about letting her take care of AP exam which will give her a 5 and which will bring up her GPA. That will help her in class ranking etc, right?</p>
<p>Scores on the AP tests aren't reported until July at the earliest. Most schools do not consider the AP score in either the final grade (since they come out so late), or in the GPA. Check with your d's high school to see if the AP tests have any effect on GPA or grades.</p>
<p>I dont know from WUSTL but Uchicago looks at whole package</p>
<p>it also seems pretty dissimilar from WUSTL - more self selected students</p>
<p>example
friend of Ds bailed on his private prep school, after one year of high school,he attended a public alternative program at a community college where he could take high school/college classes at same time. After he completed his college entrance requirements ( but not high school graduation requirements), he applied to Uchicago and was accepted as a junior where he recieved an environmental science degree and is currently in law school.</p>
<p>I know he never took any AP courses or tests, although I am not privy to his SAT/ACT scores, I expect the important criteria was his coursework.</p>
<p>It hasn't been my impression that either of those schools are so competitive that a strong student doesn't have a good chance of acceptance- worry doesn't increase test scores- but it does increase cortisol which isn't a good thing.</p>
<p>Find something else to think about for a while.
Its spring here!
I always find working in the yard to be terribly theraputic.
:)</p>
<p>SAT scores aren't everything. My son was an NMF, and had a much HIGHER SAT score than we ever expected. Gave him the thought that he could get into some top schools and he went ahead and applied to a couple - and was rejected at his top two choices (we're not talking HYP here either). Some of the kids in his class with lower SATs were accepted. All of these kids had high GPAs with tough (mostly AP) classes.<br>
Try to take some of the pressure off. Even if you're tied up in knots, I would suggest hiding it from your d. It doesn't help her. There are lots of good schools out there...and you're just getting started with the process.</p>