<p>My junior D is scheduled to take the ACT on April 4. She took the SAT on March 14 (for the first time). These were the #1 recommended dates for these tests by the college counselor at her private high school.</p>
<p>She is a very strong student who take rigorous courses, and will take an even tougher load next year. She just made the "high" academic honor roll for the second trimester at her school (all A's and A minuses). </p>
<p>However, she does not test as well with the PSAT/SAT type of standardized test as she does academically. She decided to take the ACT, and has been prepping a bit on her own, and the plan was for her to take a free practice test offered locally tomorrow, and squeeze in a few sessions with a tutor (she took a prep class before the SAT, although she missed a bit of that when she got "walking" pneumonia). </p>
<p>Now, the girls varsity softball coach has scheduled a team bonding trip for April 3 to 5. I only found out about this via e-mail yesterday morning. D cannot take the ACT on June 13 because that is the day of her brother's high school graduation ceremony. This is my daughter's best sport (she is not an athletic star who will be recruited by colleges). She's now getting to start (unlike the past two years, where she often sat on the bench).</p>
<p>This is my D's decision, but I don't want her to miss the trip. I just think that it will affect her experience on the team for the entire season. Because this is a small school and softball is not as popular as some other sports, there are a lot of new players on the team this year, and I think the bonding is important.</p>
<p>However, this would mean that she cannot take the ACT until the fall of senior year. </p>
<p>I would imagine that a lot of girls on the team is in the same dilemma as your daughter? Speak to the coach/school about possibly rescheduling the trip – I know that its a policy in all of my kids schools not to schedule activities like this during the standardized tests weekends</p>
<p>It is a shame the coach scheduled the bonding with this conflict. Is there a possibility for her to join the trip after the ACT? Also, as mhmm said, there are probably other Jr girls on the team in the same situation, can you or your D ask around and see what others plan to do? Although the trip would have great benefits, I think the ACT is much more important in this situation. The only reason I can think to change this plan is if the SAT scores from March come back with great results so that the ACT is not as crucial.</p>
<p>Have her take the test. It seems to me that in the grand scheme of things, since she can’t take the test in June, this is more important than the trip. If she doesn’t take the April test, she’ll have only the one chance to do so in the fall. And if it does turn out that the ACT is a better test for her than the SAT, being able to take it twice, rather than only once, might be a real benefit.</p>
<p>I agree with all the other posters, let your D take the test. Coaches know (or should know) that junior year, is academically a busy year for students.</p>
<p>Is this an either/or dilemma? If the ACT is in the am will it conflict with her brother’s graduation ceremony? Even so I think most brother’s would understand her choice to take the test.</p>
<p>Re the s’ball trip, I noticed that it is a three day trip. If her coach would permit would it be possible to duck out for 4 hrs to take the test? If it is in a distant city she could register at a local site and you could provide transport and supervision during that time. I know on an out of state band trip the director allowed jrs to schedule a local site for taking a spring SAT and chaperones provided transport and supervision.</p>
<p>I suggest that she talk to her brother and coach to determine what is best all.</p>
<p>Although I would definitely miss the softball trip, I’m not sure I would miss the graduation. If the times would work out to do both, consider that. Our school is very similar to the OP, including conflicting graduation, I had to look at her other posts to convince myself we are not at the same school! :)</p>
<p>Go on the trip!! She can take the test twice in the fall if she needs to…(and if the June early am won’t work around graduation…) Practice tests do help…but standardized testing as a junior is not something to de-rail other areas of life interest/value that truly matter to her, especially given her strong record in other areas. I say let her have some say in the matter as well; her values should have some weight in relation to general advice from the guidance office. She can take practice tests through the summer, test in September and re-take if not satisfied.</p>
<p>D is in 10th grade. This season the drill team scheduled mandatory all day choreography workshops for every single highly recommended SAT and ACT date. I already sent her a pdf of next years dates with a little note about it being so difficlut to keep up with so many important dates…so when D is a junior, if the dates confilct, we’ll know the coach just disregarded the dates.</p>
<p>taking the test twice in the fall? Sept isn’t offered everywhere, so I assume you are talking about Oct and Dec. I do agree with giving D some stake in the decision, but just as with my school the school suggests starting this testing stuff in Mar/Apr which IMHO is way too late because of conflicts like this which are sure to arise. And if you delay until the fall, there might be a conflict you don’t know about now with those dates. </p>
<p>fyi- the dates are up now through the spring of 2011! :eek:</p>
<p>I’d have her play softball - she made a commitment to the team and the ACT can be done on another day. I would double check and see if she could take the ACT while on the trip - e.g. ask the coach if that would be possible.</p>
<p>but this isn’t a softball game, this is a team bonding weekend. And while agree that team commitments are important, OP says the D is not a strong test taker and has not received her SAT scores back yet. If the scores are great, I’d lean towards the trip. If it can be arranged to do both, or on the graduation date, I’d look at any creative ways to fit it in. If the ACT ends up being the better test for her, I think waiting until Oct for the first try (if Sept is not avail in your area) is taking quite a chance over a team bonding weekend.</p>
<p>I should have read it more carefully - around here a weekend trip like this would be for a tournament - e.g. perhaps as many as 6 games in 3 days. If there is no softball involved, then I would take it up with the coach.</p>
<p>The last time this question was asked, I posted our story as did several others of the dates/times that just didn’t work out and in the end our kids not ending up having enough test dates for optimal scores. You can anticipate further out dates but stuff happens. I’d have her take the test if she’s looking at any reach colleges. And maybe others are in this predicament too and the coach can reschedule?</p>
<p>I don’t see anywhere in the OP that says there will be no softball during that weekend. There are many schools from the Chicago area that come down to Southern Illinois not just to play ball, but for “team bonding.”</p>
<p>Take the test – can you drive her to the bonding location afterwards? Maybe find some other kids in the same boat so that they can be together?</p>
<p>Fall of senior year is incredibly busy. She may have subject tests to take, and the ACT isn’t offered all that early in the year. Our school wanted college lists by late-October, and doing that without having a baseline ACT score is a challenge, particularly if the SAT score wasn’t in line with her grades/class rank/college aspirations.</p>
<p>You know your daughter best and what her situation is regarding colleges. Personally, I would have my kid go on the trip if that was what he wanted to do. I would also have him go to the graduation.</p>
<p>I would have my son take the practice ACt as your daughter is scheduled to do and instead of squeezing in a few tutoring sessions, he could make a long range plan with his tutor to be better prepared for the Fall.</p>
<p>Good news – can reschedule ACT for June after all!</p>
<p>Thank you all for taking the time to give me your advice. For whatever reason, I was wrong about the date of my son’s graduation ceremony (he and D are not at the same high school – he goes to a tiny school (about 60 students total in all 4 grades) – and they have either changed the graduation ceremony date, or I wrote it down wrong in the first place. His ceremony is on the afternoon of Friday, June 12.</p>
<p>So, D will take the ACT on June 13. My apologies – but again, I appreciate the advice very much. </p>
<p>Just to let you know – there are no softball games involved in the trip, and the team will be traveling about 3 or 4 hours from the school. There is a game Friday afternoon, April 3, and then the team departs for the trip – returning Sunday afternoon, the 5th. There are 3 other juniors on the team, and I don’t know their exact circumstances, but at least one has taken the ACT at least once. It happens that there are a lot of freshmen on the team – every year is different, and the school isn’t able to field a JV team this year, because it’s fairly small (about 75 to 95 students per high school grade), and softball doesn’t seem to be as popular as some other sports.</p>