<p>Please help! Son is not a good standardized test taker. We've hit it from all angles -- tutors, courses, etc. He's gifted and high achieving -- GPA 4.5 weighted, 4.0 / 4.0 unweighted, top student at a nationally ranked very rigorous prep school, mostly honors and AP courses throughout H.S., great ECs that show passion and drive, a few national achievements in his sport, excellent recs., and lots of community service. The problem? An average ACT score (mid 20s). Took the SAT, and only went up slightly. Has an extra time accommodation with both testing agencies BUT HE WON'T USE IT! Says he doesn't think it's fair -- feels like he's cheating. I'm glad he's got a lot of integrity, but he's 17 and doesn't have a clue about how competitive it is to get into (and get merit aid) at colleges these days. Many arguments and sleepless nights here. School wants to nominate him for full rides at several colleges but his score is not on par with getting admitted, let alone earning the scholarship. Any ideas out there about how to persuade him to take the accommodation? Any great schools out there you could recommend?</p>
<p>If he is not going to use accommodations in college, it may not make sense to him to use accommodations on test.
Many schools go on more than GPA and test scores.
My kids didnt have the highest numbers but they were admitted to all their schools.</p>
<p>Consider schools that make test scores optional.</p>
<p>I’d try to get a quick read on how he does on the SAT IIs. Also, how has he done on any AP tests? Scores matching his grades there could mitigate the SAT/ACT problem. </p>
<p>Its a little curious that he does so well and qualifies for a test accommodation. I’m not sure I’d mention that to anyone.</p>
<p>In any case, if the colleges can get comfortable from the counselors and teachers recommendations that he can do the work without needing 36 hours in the day, I would think that problem might go away. It is an unusual case though. Pointing this out to the writers of you letters of recommendation might be constructive.</p>
<p>Consider schools which dont value test scores as much as gpa, rigor, etc.
Check the college board profile of each college. Under the applying tab, it will rank admission factors under v.imp, imp, and considered. U want colleges where gpa is v.imp and test scores are eithrr imp or considered</p>
<p>[SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>He sounds like the perfect person for the test optional colleges.</p>
<p>A 4.0 at a rigorous school, and still qualifies for accommodation is certainly unusual. How did he manage the in-class exams without extra time? (or did the school allow extra time for his disability?)
There are good schools that don’t require standardized tests for admission. You might explore those. My feeling, though, is that your son could do very well on the SAT if he practiced in a timed setting. There are a few tricks, and a good tutoring service can evaluate where your son has trouble and help him improve his scores. He also could take practice tests at home in a timed setting so he gets very comfortable with the format. The information on these tests is not hard for A students like your son- it’s the format and timed situation that often throws them. (The math is actually easy for kids who have had Algebra II and received As. ) Students become much more comfortable with the tests with practice. Good luck to him!</p>
<p>(My daughter is a SAT tutor, and I can assure you that scores can be raised for students who actually know the material but don’t test well. You need a better tutoring service.)</p>
<p>Good luck to your S. I had the opposite problem. My S1 got a 29 on the ACT ice cold and a 1320 M+R on the SAT. He took the ACT again and got a 30, but his overall GPA was about a 3.10. He did get a West Virginia PROMISE scholarship and had gotten several departmental scholarships throughout college, but he really could have done so much better for himself.</p>
<p>“Took the SAT, and only went up slightly. Has an extra time accommodation with both testing agencies BUT HE WON’T USE IT! Says he doesn’t think it’s fair – feels like he’s cheating.”</p>
<p>Ask him, as a favor to you, to take one of the exams ONE TIME using his full accommodations. When my sister asked my niece to use her accommodations just once on her state HS exams, the results were so much better, that she never again questioned her need for those accommodations, and she understood why it would be necessary to request them once she arrived at college.</p>
<p>The whole point of an accommodation is to try to make the playing field more fair. Life isn’t fair and sometimes people have advantages and sometimes they don’t. You work with what you have as long as it isn’t breaking rules. Try that one on him. </p>
<p>Also tell him that he is going to have limited choices with such a low score and that it is going to cost the family more money. In that way, he should do what he can to make his best effort.</p>
<p>You are parents, so you can only motivate your child. Help him with his [SAT</a> prep](<a href=“https://plus.google.com/108183226179691657670/]SAT”>https://plus.google.com/108183226179691657670/) and also consult some tutors.</p>
<p>Extra time levels the playing field. If your son is finishing the tests, the extra time really might not help him. Honestly, this is something I’d let him control. </p>
<p>As for the score, mid 20s is not “average.” The average ACT is around 21 and the mid-twenties range is 74th %ile (24) to 87th %ile (27). These are not bad scores. </p>
<p>CC puts TONS of emphasis on test scores. And yes, when all the student applicants look alike, test scores can help sort them out. BUT, and this is an important but, test scores alone DO NOT PREDICT college success. In fact, if one has rely on just one indicator of success, the student’s transcript, which shows four years of effort, is a much better predictor of success than a standardized test. </p>
<p>You also haven’t said where he wants to go to school. If his current scores are in the middle 50% range for accepted students, his stellar grades will speak for themselves at admissions decision time.</p>
<p>My younger son qualified for extra time in high school but refused to take it - hated being singled out and felt that in real life no boss was going to give him extra time. (Not necessarily true for every job.) It cost him grades and a lower SAT math score - somewhat mitigated I think by his recommendations (including one from his pre-calc teacher). Since he didn’t use accomodations in high school we didn’t pursue getting more time for the SAT, though it would probably have helped his math score. I do get where your kid is coming from and sometimes there is little one can do. I did ask his counselor to mention that he had a 504 plan he wasn’t using. Don’t know if she did though.</p>
<p>If your kid won’t budge, the fairtest schools are probably his best bet, but he’s got good enough scores for merit scholarships at many schools, even if it’s not the one you aspire for.</p>
<p>One analogy that worked with my own kid and others goes like this: Your extra time accommodation is like a pair of prescription eye glasses or contact lenses. Your brain works differently than other kids, just as their eyes “work” differently. A kid wearing his prescriptive eyeglasses does not have an unfair advantage over the kids who DON’T need glasses. You do not have an unfair advantage over kids that read and process info faster. That is your disability; the extra time is your pair of eye glasses. </p>
<p>Extra time won’t help most kids but it probably will help you. To not use it, is like someone leaving their reading glasses at home. </p>
<p>The analogy isn’t perfect, I know, (most kids would love not to have the time stress for the ACT in particular, but multiply that stress x 3, or 4 or 5 for the kid with a processing disorder or dyslexia who takes the test without extra time…) but something about it finally made sense for my kid.</p>
<p>BrownParent gave you great advice, above, also, I believe.</p>
<p>Maybe accept what you wrote in the first line. He’s not a good standardized test-taker. Accept in, and move on.</p>
<p>(My younger d. spent all kinds of energy trying to improve her score - never got better than the first time around. Your son’s sense of fairness is far, far more important than any particular college he might - or might not - get into.)</p>
<p>There are a few large automatic scholarships that he may be able to get, depending on what “mid 20s” ACT score actually is.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-19.html#post16145676[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-19.html#post16145676</a></p>
<p>Would the extra time actually matter? I.e. does he not do well due to running out of time? Does he know some of the usual test taking methods (e.g. within a given section, do the easier/quicker questions first, then work on the harder/slower questions)?</p>
<p>Bowdoin College. Great LAC, one of the best, with good FA, test optional. Beautiful campus in a lovely college town, half an hour to Portland–a great little city with a lively music and art scene, also a foodie destination–and a couple of hours to Boston by train or bus.</p>
<p>Some of the other top test optional schools–Middlebury, for example–require AP/IB results or SAT IIs if not submitting SAT or ACT, so if he has good results there he could consider them.</p>
<p>Questions: what are his academic interests, how much FA/merit do you need?</p>