Sad, sad SAT scores

<p>brandon_ruse:</p>

<p>Hats off to you my friend! Thanks for sharing your story. You say you had some good hooks and that is wonderful. But you and I both know that even the best hook in the world will NOT get you into an Ivy if you have not shown your demonstrated ability to do the work. You obviously proved you were capable of succeeding!! I admire you and I appreciate your post. Had you posted the same post on the Harvard board, they would have ripped you apart. Thank you SO MUCH for your post. </p>

<p>I too am a prime example of what an SAT score does not measure. On any other board, the cc community would say that my grades were inflated and/or I am just a dumb *ss. Like everything I have posted before; I truly believe my resume will clearly demonstrate commitment, passion, maturity, risk taker, creativity and overall a VERY interesting person. Also, I know of no other 17 year old who has gone to a third world country on their own (no exchange student, no group, no connection to a religous affiliation or anything). If I can survive on my own in a third world country, I can survive at the most demanding college. Nothing is going to compare to the things I have seen and endured, nothing! I remember hearing the words, "If you take that bus, there is a 100% chance you will be hurt" as in robbed, raped held at gunpoint. I am prepared to hear the words "this will be the most intellectually challenging time of your life, here at college X if you attend. Hey, bring it on! Just give me the opportunity.</p>

<p>Well, those people are stupid. I believe that the schools that care about someones success will nuture and guide them. They can try to rip me apart, but hey... they have no basis, because I will have the same degree they will. Plus 3 associates degrees to back it up (Phi Beta Kappa, mind you)</p>

<p>O.B..... I've experienced the frustration of many parents such as yourself. We have a cookie-cutter..every one fits one mold education system that really hinders what you do with kids who "don't fit the mold". One thing to keep in mind is that professionals outside of the school system don't have to play by the same rules. They can say "learning disability" even though the test results that the state gives you as a guideline doesn't come close to showing it. Seems like your child's IQ score was depressed by the ADD (not supposed to happen but it does) and as a result he did not demostrate a significant discrepency between ability / achievement which is required for a school to formally classify him LD. If the ADD is deemed by the school as "substantially limiting" his ability to learn..then he should have gotten a 504 plan which would have given him extended time. I guess my question to you is...don't you think he ended up in the right place for him? Could getting 1250 on the SAT & thus getting into a much more competetive school put him into a situation where he may have been in over his head? You said getting him to achieve as well as he did in the public school setting took a toll....the more competetive colleges are basically set up the same way.? Our school does a tremendous job getting LD kids through school. We have great software, teachers, programs, etc. I can't speak for other schools.</p>

<p>csdad ~ You are very perceptive. </p>

<p>(1) Our son received 3 comprehensive evaluations. The one from a specialized team at the Medical College of VA said that because of his severe ADD, it was highly probable that his IQ was not properly measured and that it could be more than 40 points higher (but that fact seems to have been ignored by most who have worked with DS and assessed his documentation).</p>

<p>(2) Many of my family, friends, and acquaintances have urged me to have DS apply to schools where his reportable SAT scores would put him nearer to the 25th-%ile of admitted students, because they know he is smarter than that. I, on the other hand, agree with you. DS's disability is significant and has lead to some frustration with school and some loss of confidence. The last thing I want to do is aim too high and get him over his head. While I strongly believe that his abilities are higher than measured, I feel an obligation to deal with the total package he currently presents...and that total package right now needs some additional support, understanding, and nurturing. </p>

<p>As you may have noted from my broad array of earlier posts, DS has come a long way. He's a high school senior now. Since we planned ahead carefully, DS has already been admitted to a nice southern LAC that has agreed to extend disability services to him. The school is also known to be supportive of all its students. And, happily, the school has offered him a nice chunk of academic money. It is a wonderful fit for who he is right now. DS has a couple of other schools in mind that he'd like to explore. Although we both are happy with school #1, I encouraged him to consider the other options just so he'll be certain that he's made the right choice.</p>

<p>Csdad, thank you so much for writing. Would you mind my asking which school you are a part of? If you prefer not to post this, do PM me. I'm always looking to help others in my area whose children are similar to my DS. Best wishes. OB</p>

<p>OB,</p>

<p>Thanks for your kind comments. I feel that although we don't particulary like some of the SAT stuff...it does in many instances serve a purpose to get kids into situations where they have a greater chance for success. My wife is also a school psychologist & has really helped me see this. When I began "freaking out" over my D not being able to get into some schools with her SAT score she would always remind me "she'll get in where she belongs" & she is right. I see this clearly with 2 students from our school who are in their third year of collegte. The students were both in the top 10 & had SAT scores within 10 points of each other. Both students are majoring in engineering ..Student A went to a school with an average SAT around 130 points lower than his. Student B went to a school with an average 50 points higher than hers. Student B seems to have struggled more and isn't as confident of her performance as Student A.</p>

<p>I know someone who got a 500 on the old SAT-
His is a very sad story however. His mother took drugs while pregnant. </p>

<p>Don't do drugs!</p>

<p>i know someone who got a 112 psat, and someone else who got a 1290 sat</p>

<p>And I know a couple of applicants who will not be getting into their school of choice due to lack of maturity & arrogance. They think they will get in because they have high SAT scores and make fun of anyone who scores less than a 1500 (math & verbal). But their real personalities have already shown themselves and their gc recs and teacher recs will be poor. This is exactly the type of student Ivies DON'T want - high SATs or not. There is a thing called emotional IQ and without it, you cannot succeed even with high SAT scores. But don't take my word for it - wait until your letters come in.</p>

<p>1290 a bad score?</p>

<p>Some of you need to get off whatever you are taking. I know there are some people around here out of touch with reality, but come on. A 1290 would get you into a very good school.</p>

<p>Besides, just because you may have an extremely narrow, irrational view of things in that you believe a high SAT score gets you anywhere in life, doesn't make it so. When you are interviewing for jobs, nobody will give a damn what your score on the SAT was.</p>

<p>i mean 1290 new sat hahaha</p>

<p>in response to the people who post their middle school scores- of course if you get over 1000 (old) in 7th grade thats good, dont even ask. I was thrilled with my 1140 in 7th grade and with my 1160 in 8th, didnt have to come on a board and ask people how good it was just to make people who didnt get that in 12th grade feel bad.</p>

<p>man... I only scored a 38000 on my SAT in 2nd grade. Do you think colleges will understand that I just couldn't do as well that day because I was like mega sick with the chicken pox? Man I like won't even get into my state U!!!</p>

<p>That's what really bugs me about this board sometimes.</p>

<p>You have people posting 2300 SAT, 4.5 GPAs, inventor of a synthetic rocket shell, etc. and asking if they have a chance. You KNOW people will tell you how good your stats are, but you are either insecure enough or narcissistic enough to still post them.</p>

<p>Orangeblossom:</p>

<p>I'm not sure what your question is. </p>

<p>What school district are you in? Fairfax? Arlington? Alexandria? Loudon?</p>

<p>"You have people posting 2300 SAT, 4.5 GPAs, inventor of a synthetic rocket shell, etc. and asking if they have a chance. You KNOW people will tell you how good your stats are, but you are either insecure enough or narcissistic enough to still post them. "</p>

<p>They're just "fishing" for compliments.</p>

<p>precisely.</p>

<p>I agree with uvajoe! I would really dread going to school with these types of people! </p>

<p>And YES, adcoms can pick up on stuff like this (either through teacher recs, essays and/or interviews). These are the students they do NOT want! </p>

<p>High SAT scores, national this or that - cannot replace character and maturity. One can have high SATS, high IQ; but if they don't have the other qualities to go along with it - they will become nothing.</p>

<p>And while I am on a roll....</p>

<p>I can just see a lot of essays beginning with "my entire life, all I wanted to do was get in to Harvard..." It seems that alot of these peoples goals are short term. Colleges not only want you to be successful at their school, but AFTER you graduate. Having high SAT scores does not make one successful, nor does it contribute anything to society. It is character, drive, passion, ethics and service that will make you successful in life...AFTER your college years. I am not going to dispute the fact that colleges place a lot of weight on SAT scores; however, I strongly believe it is the total package that counts. What would be amazing is if people posted on these boards what they've accomplished in their past that will in the future serve others and make a difference in society instead of "what have they accomplished to better themselves (i.e. SAT scores)". Furthermore, winning a national merit contest serves what purpose? How does winning a contest based on smarts help our society and serve others? Or are you someone with drive and smarts and using your intelligence to solve problems in our world? That is the difference.</p>

<p>Worldshopper....here is an article that you may find of interest......</p>

<p><a href="http://www.visionhelp.com/testscores.htmer%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.visionhelp.com/testscores.htmer&lt;/a&gt;...&lt;/p>

<p>Worldshopper....the information was given to me...very short and sweet but made a huge impact on the direction I took with my d.... </p>

<p>There can be a lot of overlap between issues associated with giftedness, test anxiety, perfectionism, learning differences (such as processing speed), etc. Bear with me as I try to describe this, but I often feel that really bright kids, when they are formulating answers in their head, have a lot more "file drawers" of information in their head to sift through. They have a lot of thoughts, knowledge, information, ideas, etc. and it takes time to wade through all this in their heads. They may think of multiple ways to answer a question or to go about calculating a math problem. Is this a processing speed issue? Sure can be. It has to do with the automaticity of processing. The buzz words in the field these days are cognitive fluency and cognitive efficiency. This was stated by a person who is in the field of neuropsychology.....</p>