@dad2020 very strange as I don’t know how a state can make it mandatory. Perhaps being “sick” the day of cures the problem!
It’s mandatory in 17 states and DC. It’s free in Illinois.
@LvMyKids2 SAT is mandatory in IL since this year 2017. It used to be ACT till 2016. So, it’s a freebie any how :-). Unless he gets a perfect score in SAT I won’t bother spending any money to College board to send the scores!
Yes, SAT is mandatory to take in Illinois for graduation. I’ve already asked what happens if you call in sick. Can’t get out of it. There are two make up dates. The score is official but you don’t have to send it. It is a bummer, though, if you have colleges on your list that require students to send all scores. Can’t just blow off the test.
ok to make you all feel better, my son is the dummy of this thread. His SI is a 205 . scored a 1400, but R/W went down from last year from 670 to 650, even though Math went up. Dont have his Dec SAT scores yet. Now even sure he should apply to college now (wink). I do need to stay off CC threads like though in all honesty as it makes me more critical of him, versus the fact that I should be somewhat proud.
364. Odds are though you would take the test anyways. I know our school takes it in April.
365. On this thread you may be right. Though in reality not ever high school kid takes this test. You have to be qualified to take it. The average SAT is not even 1000
Honestly, you should all not be too concerned with the scores. A lot of the top students who become NM semifinalists apply to Ivy League and top tier colleges which do not even give NM scholarship $ because they don’t need to. Getting admitted to an Ivy depends so much more on extra curricular dedication and passion and of course on having a hook like first generation or underrepresented minority. My son had a 1580 SAT and some great ECs ( but not enough) and got rejected by the 3 Ivys that he applied to last year. He did, however, get into other colleges which all offered him merit scholarships based on his GPA and test scores. He ended up where he should be and is extremely happy. It is a long stressful process. My daughter is now a Junior and just got her PSAT score, an 1170, which is pretty good for her, but hoping her SAT from December is at least a 1200. Fingers crossed.
@Dad2020 S19 studied this summer for his 1540 August score. For him to take the test again is a bummer. I’ve gone all the way to the superintendent but no luck. It’s a law in Illinois that the kids have to take the state-mandated test in March to graduate. It’s the test now used to look for overall progress in Illinois. It’s also given so that every student has a chance to take one free test.
This score also goes on the kids’ final transcripts, so kids who like the ACT better will still have this SAT score show up there. Some parents on the North shore of Chicago went bonkers about that and got their state rep to write a bill stating that these SAT scores won’t go on transcripts until they are final…so they aren’t put there until the end of senior year now and don’t affect college admissions.
I think the SAT testing is a benefit to many people. Some can’t afford to take the test. I know its affordable for people from the North Shore but some people even in the Northwest Suburbs where I’m from can’t. I think it’s difficult to make a law with exceptions. As to protesting I believe if I remember correctly many North Shore parents, and some in my area, wanted to eliminate PARCC testing because their kids didn’t get exceeds on the testing as they had in the past. PARCC testing is still being done though.
I live in Illinois…another ridiculous law. Our state is so broke it can’t afford to properly fund public schools. Yet it requires and pays for every student, regardless of post-graduation plans, to take the SAT in the spring of junior year as a graduation requirement.
There is one high school here in FL that had 49 NMSF for 2018…49!!
371 ^^ "Mandatory" for the students or "mandatory" for the schools to administer? Many confuse the latter for the former.
Here in MN, public schools are required to administer a free ACT to the junior class. But my daughter was not required to take that administration as long as she had a reasonable comparable (ie another ACT or an SAT) by some deadline in senior year that showed she met the grad standard. This is all per state law. There was some head-butting over this with her home-room advisor (why wouldn’t she take advantage of a free exam yada yada yada) but I held firm in supporting her decision not to take the ACT and her GC backed me up. Not sure what IL law is on this particular issue, but if it mandates that public students take that particular exam that day, that seems a bit heavy-handed. Especially because these tests could well affect college admissions. In fact, these exams were admissions exams long before they were mandated for state grad standards - ACT/SAT only got into the latter market for $$$. My niece is in private school in IL and stuck to the ACT. Guessing that the public schools are perfectly capable of using the concordance tables for anyone who really doesn’t want to sit the SAT. Sure it’s a headache for them, but they are there to serve the families, not the other way around. FWIW.
@moscott What school in FL? Sounds like FL number needs to go up…
Also (anyone), do you think certain schools, with so many high scorers are spending time at school doing PSAT prep?
My son’s school (about 130 per class) has roughly 20 NMSFs per year (give or take a few on any given year) and no prep that I know of. They do have all the kids sit for the PSAT their sophomore year, so perhaps that gives the students a window into what they can expect…
20 NMSF is a LOT for a class of 130. Private school? State?
373. #369 Homerdog would know better than me but it appears you have to take the test. Many kids at daughter's school do both. Someone she knows got a 36 ACT and got recognized by the school district just this week. In formation is still posted on schools website about ACT info.
@moscott wow! Which high school in Florida would that be?
@sunnyschool American Heritage has 49…Pine View school for the gifted 28. There is no doubt they prep the kids for PSAT.
I would be willing to bet there are plenty of schools in Florida that may have none.