She should take if for scholarships. Also, there is no guarantee that next year colleges won’t require testing. We’ve encountered several that have said that through this year no test required but they didn’t know about next year yet.
If she wouldn’t be taking the SAT until spring make sure she prepares for the DIGITAL SAT. The format is completely different for the DSAT.
I think unless you’re looking at engineering or a few selective schools, the SAT can only help. Might as well take it and see what happens.
Yes. Depending on the degree, there is perhaps a higher need for a SAT/ACT score. My kid is looking at Engineering, so taking one of the two tests was an important data point if need be. We haven’t used testing tutors, but increasingly, many families do.
Some of the schools my kid is planning to apply to don’t take scores. Some want them.
There is peace of mind in having a score to use if you need to.
By the way, re: the counselor. Their advice may be either good, bad or somewhere in between. I am triggered by another adult giving advice that may have a kid struggling versus their peers, especially in the crap shoot that is the application process. When another adult says, “hey, you don’t need this!” what kid isn’t going to respond to that. It makes being the parent even harder.
Much better to lay out the pros/cons of a decision. Then you can make a more educated choice (I suppose that’s a pun).
What’s more important is knowing what other students are doing. Many are still testing for more competitive schools. If you know your kid is aiming high, testing is another data point that can help the application. And yes, tests can help with merit aid/better scholarship access.
Take a look at this post for the thoughts of several class of '23 folks about this question, after the admission season was over:
To Submit or Not to Submit test scores - lessons for class of '24 - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums
We also think she should take it. We touched base with her, she seems to be a bit more accepting. And I do believe she’s a strong student, proven by how consistent her grades have been, it’s only that she needs to be well motivated to succeed in this test.
Thank you for the links and articles, these are very helpful, I will share with her.
I went back to your first note - the counselor says you don’t need it. I’d agree but is the counselor paying the bills?
Do you have a pre list of schools. While she agrees now to take or is leaning that way, having a little story to share in the background via data or possible scholarship amounts can be helpful if you run into a roadblock.
Here is the catch. My youngest also dragged her foot. It was COVID, everything was optional. Nobody took it seriously. None of the friends were interested…
Then suddenly all around started to prep and take SAT and ACT (many with tutors and expensive prep programs). DD was taking DE classes, exams and test times were too close. She got sick, the timing was bad. She took the very first one in June after 11th grade. It was a disaster. She run out of time…
However, out of the blue appeared an idea of BS/DO. (She was interested in pre-med, but we had no idea about BS/DO programs. She was not BS/MD material - very competitive…) BS/DO programs required SAT score. DD decided to try. She had to improve about 150 points to be a competitive candidate. She studied on her own with my guidance in math (I figured out her weak spots, and picked material and problems to plug holes.) We used just good prep books and she did some sample tests. The second attempt in August was 60-point jump - very moderate… Then we had a death in the family. She was not interested in taking test in October. I insisted - no harm. She pretty much failed the reading section (could not even concentrate), but somehow got 730 in Math and shocked everyone… That fueled last attempt in November - she needed good score in one sitting. She did it.
She got into 2 BS/DO programs. In addition, she got bunch of automatic scholarships that helped to negotiate her final merit award. However, she applied test optional to most schools and was accepted with many scholarships too (in 16 schools out of 20).
So do you need it? Who knows? Can it help? Definitely…
BTW - she was not really “prepping” between August and November. Score improvement came mostly from familiarity with the test and how to approach it.
That is a cool happy story, thanks for sharing and congratulations, everyone must be very pleased and DD must have gotten a wonderful confident boost!
Exactly! Math score in October definetely provided confidence boost in November! Also acceptances to good even non-affordable in the end schools help students to see themselves worthy and also give some bragging rights among peers (some kids that go to top schools with a lot of means can be sometimes cruel…)