<p>January SAT scores came out today and I am worried about DS's scores. He got a 540 on verbal, 560 math, and a 610 in writing. He needs a 1210 to get an honors diploma from his high school. More importantly he needs a 1300 to get into a pharmacy school with early assurance. </p>
<p>I do have to say he did not really do any prep for this. He did read a book called Hack the SAT but I am not sure how many practice tests he did.</p>
<p>He took the ACT last weekend and spent about 2 weeks preparing. He actually took practice tests this time. I also signed him up for an ACT review class through The College Review before he takes the June 12th ACT. He won't be able to take an SAT review class until the summer.</p>
<p>I think I am taking this harder than he is! I thought he was a good student. He has a 3.8 unweighted gpa, takes honors classes including honors pre-calc (thought he'd do better on math), is in the top 20% of his class. He is very involved in the band and other E.C.s. </p>
<p>So, what happens now? We can only hope he scores higher on the ACT. I was looking on CC and so many kids were bummed with a 2100! I wish my son would care a little bit more. I don't know what this will do to his college prospects especially for getting into pharmacy school or an engineering program. </p>
<p>mominwestlake, my advice is to hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.</p>
<p>Your son’s SAT scores will include the information about how students with his scores do on a retake. The bottom line is - he may do much better, but he may do about the same.</p>
<p>So I suggest you find some schools that will accept him with his grades and the scores he has now. In any case it is better to have a high GPA and lower SATs than the reverse.</p>
<p>This approach will give you peace of mind, whether his scores improve significantly or not.</p>
<p>“He has a 3.8 unweighted gpa, takes honors classes including honors pre-calc (thought he’d do better on math), is in the top 20% of his class.”</p>
<p>Your kid is fine. LOTS of kids can’t test their way out of a paperbag, and the reasons for this are as varied as the students themselves. Lots of kids do well on the hyper-tricky SAT but wipe out on the more practical ACT, and lots of kids who ace the ACT wipe out on the SAT. For some fun reading on standardized testing in general, visit [The</a> National Center for Fair & Open Testing | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org%5DThe”>http://www.fairtest.org) For good advice on options for your not-so-good-at-standardized tests son, make an appointment with his guidance counselor who certainly has dealt with students like this before.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to double check the rules about SAT score needed for guaranteed admission to the program your son wants, chances are there is an ACT score that could guarantee that admission as well. If he’s grown up in ACT territory, your state school exams probably follow an ACT-type model and he is more likely to do well on the ACT. If he can use that score, send it instead and forget revisiting the SAT.</p>
<p>Think of those scores as the “before” version. With studying and lots of practice, he could show a huge gain. But he has to be committed to making that happen. My son achieved his amazing scores by going back over the reasons why he picked wrong. It takes extra work, I won’t hide that, but it was so worth it.</p>
<p>The advantage of being in a class is that he may be motivated by his peers and his teachers. To put this into the realm of reality, you’ll need to sit down with him and show him what he’d get into now vs later after studying. It’s every kid’s (and parent’s) nightmare, but I don’t doubt he can impress us all. After all, his grades are terrific.</p>
<p>You didn’t say what year he is. If he’s a sophomore perhaps one more year will give hiim a natural boost to the point you mention. Definitely have him try the ACT. My kids did about the same on each, but some students do have higher scores with ACT since the ACT is so predicated on what is taught/learned in classes. The ACT is a shorter amount of time and moves quicker so helps student that suffer from test fatigue. My kids like the ACT and dislike the SAT which just drains them because of the amount of time. The GPA scores are so hard to interpret because schools have such variations on how they grade and award GPA but anecdotally it appears advantageous to have the higher GPA/lower standardized test scores. Also you have plenty of time to begin searching for pharm schools that accept students that are in your son’s current range. If he does improve statistically, then you will have just asssembled your “safety schools” after you vet the finances so the “search” for those schools have value no matter what. Do not fret, he’s college material and these forums can be intimidating with all the super-scorers that post.</p>
<p>tk, we noticed that many of the test optional colleges still ask for the standardized test scores for consideration of merit scholarships. I don’t like to make broad generalizations, but it was our anecdotal experience.</p>
<p>You have very specific score results in mind for your son, which makes me think he’s a junior. The scores you need are not unreasonable given where he is now. </p>
<p>Do a search on the Xiggi Method of improving the SAT scores (described here on CC). It works. Then your son needs to spend an hour a week studying for the SAT. He should start with looking at his errors, then start working on practice tests, vocabulary, etc. It will make a huge difference.</p>
<p>There is a good chance he will have a better outcome on the ACT; they are quite different and some kids just do better on one than the other. Even if he doesn’t–those are not “bad” scores by ANY means. CC is not a fair place to put scores in perspective. I also think that it can be a mistake for parents to spend a lot of energy/worry (especially if kid is not invested in the process) because it is just bad for our health. We can inform and encourage them and then have to let it be what it is. You can make your self crazy and your kid miserable if you get set on micromanaging a linear path to a certain career for an adolescent. Odds are extremely high that they will change course on you after all that and do something different. It does matter that they do their best and that they get it that scores wlll make a difference in where they can go and what funding they can get. But beyond that, we have to just put on the duct tape and accept the process. Hang in there.</p>
<p>I like the idea of prepare and hope for the best but plan for the worst. My son was one of those 2100+ with a lot of not so great grades in HS. His sister is more in the 1800 range with a great GPA. Son got lots of merit aid offers, based on the high SAT and is struggling in college. Daughter will probably get less merit aid but I have no worries about her doing well in college.</p>
<p>College Board has on-line test prep, US$69 for 10 (not sure) test, they will score your essay. I found it’s very helpful and reasonable price.
<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■%5B/url%5D”>www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■</a> is free, they have session practice almost every weekend.<br>
Do the practice as many as he can and maybe retake the test June or maybe Oct. Actually this is what I’m doing right now.</p>
<p>I think it can be very tempting for parents to over-focus on the SAT/ACT–simply because it is a concrete, very specific thing we believe kids (or we) can “do” something about in this complex, anxiety-inducing process. </p>
<p>Preparation and practice can and do help (some) but they are not a guarantee of anything and they will not get the process “under control”. Overfocus can in fact escalate some kid’s anxiety and parental stress/conflict to truly unproductive levels. You really have to pay attention to what is going to work for you and your kid and the partnership you both have about this process. And kids must have some commitment/investment in it or it will become grounds for an unproductive power-struggle that doesn’t bode well for anyone. </p>
<p>If the kid picks up the ball and runs with it great. If you have to chase them, though, it is questionable. Some dogs like to retrieve, some prefer tug of war, some could care less. Breeds and mileage differ. For many kids, time spent on essays or grades or distinguishing interests will be the ticket to a great college experience way more than test performance.</p>
<p>Your kid’s stats are very close to my D’s and she got in almost everywhere as a young woman. Your S will have some nice options even if those scores don’t come up. I like petersons.com SAT prep and found it very effective with my daughters. It is online can be done whenever and it helped both of my girls improve their scores</p>
<p>When the test detail is released, take a look at what your S got right, wrong and what he ommitted. It could be a timing problem, a specific area of content where he needs to learn more, anxiety, or just that his version of intelligence isn’t captured well on a test.</p>
<p>My S’s experience demonstrates this a bit. He took the Literature SAT2, didn’t understand the timing, and ran out of time. He didn’t “study” Literature before taking the SAT2 again, but did do a few practise tests to understand the test’s pace. His score increased by 110 points. </p>
<p>For the SAT-W component, he had also trouble with the timing and realized that there were a few grammatical rules that he was shakey with. He took a bunch of SAT-W practise tests and we reviewed tricky subject-verb agreement (and a few other grammar rules). His score SAT -W also increased by 110 points. Again, this was NOT with a lot of studying or time devoted to the SATs (S definately was not interested in doing this). The key thing was that (1) we identified where he most needed help and (2) we limited his work to just those components. Good luck.</p>
<p>Definitely look at the score breakdown… while it was a long time ago, when I was prepping for one of these standardized tests, I found that I completely blew one section - missing something like 19 of 20 questions on the section. By focusing my prep on that area, I was able to figure out where my logic was breaking down - and turn that section into a strength.</p>
<p>Taking SAT / ACT without prep. is a waste of time. Not much prep is needed, but it is absolute must. The best one is self-prep which uses personal strategy customized to need of specific student. D. spent one week, about 1 hour / day to self-prep for ACT, got desired score on a first try which was enough to get accepted to very selective bs/md program. I personally know exceptionally intelligent girl with straight A’s who refused to prep. for ACT. Her ACT was not impressive at all and would not be enough for selective programs.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the good advice here. Hopefully my son will look at what he scored- compare it to what he needs to score- and take it from there. I know I can’t make him prep. He has to want to. Up until now he hasn’t wanted to. Maybe the peer pressure of his friends scoring better will also make a difference. He responds well to peer motivation and works hard to keep his grades up. I know it will bother him when he doesn’t receive the honors diploma at graduation. He isn’t able to take the SAT until next October due to a Saturday morning commitment that can’t be missed. The schools he is looking at will also take the ACT score so hopefully he will do better on that test. It’s really all up to him. I wish that he’d see that! How are some kids so self-motivated while others aren’t?</p>