<p>S who is a junior and wants to be a college athlete in XC and track just got his first set of SAT scores. <em>I</em> don't like them at all, but I am wondering if the coaches won't like them either... particularly D3 schools (but any division/league). </p>
<p>I believe that with D3 schools that the student has to be able to get in on their own merit with no (?) leeway for being an athlete, when it comes to scores, GPA, etc. (Please correct me if I am wrong.)</p>
<p>S will be taking the ACT in February, at which time we will see which test is better for him and have him retake (at least once) the test he does better on.</p>
<p>But anyway, could I get some feedback on these scores (in regards to NESCAC, not Ivys, other programs (in all divisions):
Overall 1700
CR + M = 1170</p>
<p>S is athletically strong, but not outstanding, so this is not an issue of a school budging in order to get the star quarterback. </p>
<p>Crazy: My nephew just receieved his SAT scores this AM. He is a senior LAX midfielder from here back East. His score was 100 points total higher than the score you posted; which opens the doors for him to the schools he’s interested in; which are not at the academic level of NESCAC, NEWMAC,; more like Centennial Conference, Empire 8.</p>
<p>I believe a 1700 is too low for a NESCAC. But some NESCACS are test optional so if the rest of S’s record is strong it may not matter. There is definitely leeway for athletes who are good enough at NESCACs. My older S, who is not an athlete, but had much better test scores and grades than younger S, did not get into a particular school that is now heavily recruiting younger S because of his athletics. And he has passed all pre-reads at this point. Money is the only issue.</p>
<p>My experience with NESCACs is that there is SOME leeway for athletes. However, this leeway depends on the sport, your ability, and the school. Helmet sports (football, hockey, and i think lacrosse) get more leeway than the other sports. From what I’ve seen on the forums and heard from coaches in my own sport, which usually has the same standards as XC, your scores are too low. Usually 2000 is benchmark that coaches look for the athlete to surpass. I not saying thats the end all be all of recruiting, (I know a girl that went to Midd with a high 1800) but its a good place to be around. Usually Williams and Amherst have higher standards on both academics and athlete quality, but it can change depending on the sport.</p>
<p>@swimmer - Yeah, I was kind of figuring that 2000 would be a good benchmark. I don’t know if S will make it there. It really depends on if he wants to or not.</p>
<p>My experience (with D1 & D3) is that there can be significant flexibility on test scores. It will depend if the coach wants to help you through admissions or not. The situation at each school varies in terms of what they are in need of and recruiting for, so no harm in contacting the coach and sharing info. There are only a handful of stellar kids each year and once those are commited to a school, coaches have to expand their focus to field a full team. Also some kids do better on the ACT than the SAT so if the schools he wants will take either test do that before retaking the SAT.</p>
<p>If that is the first time he took them, then have him get some tutoring and take again. The schools all super score. Don’t expect them to raise too much, maybe 100 points.</p>
<p>For Ivies, it is looking like 2000 SAT is the cutoff for athletes in general - higher is better and lower means everything else - GPA and subject tests - must be outstanding, let alone an outstanding player.</p>
<p>That being said, I would look at average SAT scores for the colleges your son is targeting and see if he is in the 25th->75th percentile range, or within 100 of the average score.</p>
<p>What is his feeling about his scores? Did he sleep right and eat right for the testing? Did he study or get tutoring? We found a tutoring course for $300 after a school discount, which seems very reasonable for 10 3-hour sessions. We are not sure if it will help, but his PSAT score as a sophomore was about 13 points lower than he expected and he needed to focus.</p>
<p>PS - Kaplan is having a free “which test should I take?” program:</p>
<p>(look for: “SAT vs. ACT - Which Test Should You Take?”)
where they give students practice questions from each exam and make a recommendation based on their results. My son is attending a free session next week.</p>
<p>Try the ACT as that may be a better test for him. My S did a low 1900 first go round on the SAT, without studying to see where he was. He took a prep class and tried the ACT, scored 32 then 34. He didn’t take the SAT again. My S likes the ACT so much better than SAT. Have him take both to see which fits him better. I also recommend a prep course as that did help my son especially on the math where he went from a 26 to 32.</p>
<p>Also a GPA of 3.6 appears to be the minimum for most IL schools. Two IL schools told S this in an email. One coach told my S by email that a 28 ACT is minimum but that probably is on the low side. A 30 seems to be more accurate.</p>
<p>Crazy: There are a few very very academic schools in the Centennial Conference - matriculation rates are very low.</p>
<p>I worked with the DD (softball & field hockey) on Naviance to put together a spreadsheet of the schools she’s interested in; 25%-75% SAT/ACT scores & GPA ranges submitted from her schhol which permitted accepatance and the number of applications/admissions rate from her school. She knows where she needs to score for Swarthmore, Haverford, Washington College, etc. to make the academic grade at each institution. Her athletic skill set will need to speak for itself. If the skill set isn’t there athletically she can still gain admissions academically - after all almost no one “goes pro” in softball or field hockey.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the feedback. It confirms my suspicions. </p>
<p>S “studied” over the summer, but not much at all once school began. He felt fine, ate well, slept well, etc for the test. </p>
<p>S has poor working memory and so-so motivation for things academic. </p>
<p>S is getting the reply emails from coaches that say they are looking for XYZ scores or XYZ times. So it is really up to him as to what he does with that information.</p>
<p>I will have to let S be in the driver’s seat, while I continue to be a back seat driver. Mostly I have been driving. </p>
<p>I do feel that a test prep would be helpful, IF he was able to take the test promptly at the completion of the program. I think most programs are during the summer however.</p>
<p>There are a lot of programs that based themselves around popular test dates. Usually the classes are one night a week or a weekend afternoon, for a couple hours.</p>
<p>My S did his prep class Weds nights online from 7 to 10, brutal but worth it. He finished in time to take the early June SAT/ACT. He ended up not being able to take the June SAT b/c it conflicted with the state meet but was still able to take the June ACT. I think the advantage of the June test date is that they are preparing for their AP exams, finishing up Junior year and are at their “prime” academically. The June test date was his 2nd time taking it so that helped too as he was familiar with the test and had just finished up test prep. We tried to have him finish everything so that it didn’t interfere with XC meets in the fall of his senior year.</p>
<p>I have three boys so I feel your pain. While my oldest S, the runner, is a good student, he is the absent minded professor. Good luck!</p>
<p>What are some recommended test prep courses? We do not have $1000+ to spend. Although ultimately it MAY be worth it if the results can get him into a school that will meet his financial aid needs.</p>
<p>My kid is pretty self-motivated, so for test prep we went on line and bought previous edition test prep books from the College Board and a couple other test prep companies (read reviews for the ones that best covered our kid’s weaker areas). Also check out Silverturtle’s Guide here on CC. Then, bought a $100 gift card to the local coffee shop because that’s where my kid studies best, and that was it. Time also helped. His math SAT went up 90 points from winter to spring simply because of stuff they covered in class in the interim.</p>
<p>The recommended prep courses are College Board Blue book that has 10 real tests and Real ACT book (Reddish/White) that has 5 real tests. On CB website you can buy additional services that include automatic essay grader and online real test. Your son has to be self-motivated to go over the tests himself (some in timed fashion, esp. ACT), highlight every question that he is unclear about and find somebody to explain the solution. If you do not have anyone in your family who can help you may want to hire external help (e.g. current college or even HS student that had very high scores himself) just to go over batches of questions that he does not understand.</p>
<p>If you want to enroll him into prep-course - make him talk to the current seniors in his school and on his team, while you can ask their parents. You may want to find out where Asian kids in your area do test prep - they take this stuff seriously. See if you can find a place where they spend every Saturday taking timed test and then review it in the afternoon. Money spent on test prep may be the best investment that you can make but you have to invest wisely. General well known places (Kaplan, PRN review, etc) that hire random people to teach is a hit or miss. Find a local outfit with good reputation.</p>
<p>A private SAT/ACT tutor may be another option. Find someone who charges reasonable rates and has a good track record. A good place to start is to talk to parents of National Merit Finalists and see who they use.</p>
<p>My son did the same thing, test is tomorrow. It was 3 hours once per week, with the last class this past week expecting students to take tomorrow’s SAT. The instructors were shocked that only two of twenty students were taking the SAT tomorrow, and they recommended those taking the December SAT (the rest of the class) keep up their studying and sample test taking until then.</p>
<p>The course we found had a discount for local HS students, so it was about $300 for 8 3-hour sessions. They also broke the class down into regular and advanced, which he very much appreciated.</p>