<p>Yes, first time.</p>
<p>We have scattergrams and I find them very helpful. You can clearly see the outliers and I assume they are the recruited athletes, legacy and $ admits. But they have every acceptance, rejection and WL for the last 3 years plotted on the graph, with a color code for each. My D’s GPA and SAT score is then plotted and identified with a red circle. You can assess right away whether she has a decent chance of being admitted at that school. I think this tool is extremely helpful in managing expectations.</p>
<p>She took SAT for first time in January, received results yesterday online and we are done!! So now onto SATII’s and AP test for June. Really, I feel sorry for these kids! My child is feeling a bit stressed.</p>
<p>3girls – I agree that there are too many variables missing for the scattergrams to tell us much. Furthermore, coming from a small prep school, there just isn’t much data there. When I compare it to public school scattergrams (with over 500 kids per grade), it looks really empty. You can guess/discern much more from those scattergrams since there are so many more data points on them.</p>
<p>7Dad – We are the opposite – I can see the scattergrams but not the application history.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your D HarvestMoon! It’s a big relief, isn’t it? I’m hopeful that the SAT subject tests and APs won’t carry the same sort of stress with them…but I’m probably kidding myself. :)</p>
<p>Regarding the test thresholds…isn’t it really just a matter of EITHER crushing it objectively (to me, this is 2300+) OR being in a range that kid/counselor/parents feel is “good enough”?</p>
<p>The latter really comes down to each kid. For example, my younger daughter, despite having better middle school grades than her older sister, is a weaker standardized test taker. So her SAT “good enough” score (when her time comes) is most likely going to be lower than 7D1’s. Unless you can crush it, then it’s all relative. Right?</p>
<p>Here’s a question for the group:
Assuming scoring as high as you can is desirable, when it comes to deciding if a score is “good enough”, do you take into account the kids’ PSAT? For example, if they got a 210 PSAT, is a 2100 SAT good enough for you/child/counselor?</p>
<p>7Dad, I am completely with you on the individuality of the scores. My second daughter is not a test taker. She worked as hard as she could to familiarize herself with the SAT and really, that’s all I’d ever ask. She took it twice and was absolutely thrilled with her scores, as were we. They were great, competent scores and really represented the best she could hope to achieve. </p>
<p>Third daughter is a natural test taker, more than either of her two older sisters. She just seems to be able to get into the head of the test creator and know what’s wanted. So when she took the SAT and crushed it but didn’t CRUSH it, she insisted she wanted to take it again. I thought it was a mistake but her counselor actually told her he thought she could do better. This was well before the PSAT results had come in. I was incredulous. I guess he knew her well enough to know that the errors were a result of the stress of the test setting and were easily fixed if she relaxed. ** He also felt there was no downside at all to a retake, that schools would only look at the best scores. ** I bolded that because I trust his knowledge and I think that’s a critical piece of knowledge.</p>
<p>It turns out they were right. She took it again and got the scores she wanted. For her, it was a function of less stress and greater familiarity with the test center. She went in knowing she had great scores and it took the pressure off in a big way.</p>
<p>Thanks 3girls3cats, yes she is relieved she is done with the SAT. The SAT ll’s are so much shorter and taken in a student’s area of strength, so I am hoping there will be less stress. The AP’s, well that’s a different story. Congrats to your D as well!</p>
<p>My d will be retaking SAT because she wants to CRUSH crush it as well. Her jan score is likely good enough but she has a pretty high personal target. I figure, why not? She will be taking it knowing that any improvement is just gravy. She only has one AP in May and its unlikely she’ll study for it. (You either know it or you don’t has been her attitude thus far and it’s served her well. It’ll be her 7th AP so it’s kind of old hat at this point. ) My question is, is it inadvisable to wait until fall for subject tests? She will be out of the country in June so that only leaves May and October really if she wants to make the priority deadline for some merit scholarships.</p>
<p>College counseling meetings in full swing now, SOMEHOW the college counselor has lit a spark in my D and I am hearing about practice test scores, new colleges added to the potential list (and they are schools that fit her VERY well that I would not have initially thought of), and advice on strategy. My D has not only had two group and two individual meetings with her counselor, but drops in and asks her counselor about activities, discusses summer plans, early applications, received an intriguing suggestion for possible dual degree programs, the whole works. It’s going well, and I am very thankful for her college counselor’s expertise - she’s clearly gone through this process with kids similar to my D. Really invaluable specific advice that seems very trustworthy. I am taking a deep breath, becoming more of an observer (not my usual style), and often say “what does your college counselor think about that?” </p>
<p>In contrast to my older D’s experience at our excellent local public school last year, the boarding school college counseling process feels like a much more informed, comprehensive and individualized form of advising that relies a lot less on parental footwork and seems to center more on the student-counselor relationship. </p>
<p>@Neato - it’s hard to take three subject tests on the same day, especially with no back-up date available if you choose October. Can she manage one SATII in May? And some of them are quirky and do benefit from reading the SATII subject test practice book by College Board (with answers explained).</p>
<p>SATII and SATI also cannot be on same day, so you may be facing limited options if she is not able to test in June.</p>
<p>Two of the subject tests she wont need to review, foreign lang and eng lit. The history one would benefit from some review, which she could do in the summer. Only one school requires three subject tests. But i agree that it doesn’t leave much wiggle room. </p>
<p>@neato, I love your green monster 
</p>
<p>Try <a href=“University Rankings and League Tables 2024”>http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings</a>. It also has by subject rankings.</p>
<p>Wondering if anyone has any insight on communication between your child’s college counselor and the AO at the colleges where your child is applying. I know most BS’s have 1 or 2 particular colleges where they send a high percentage of applicants, and I would assume there is a lot of back and forth between the reader and the BS college counselor. But what about schools where there is no special relationship? Do they talk to the AO’s about each and every applicant or does the app go in and that is it unless they get a call from the college for more information?</p>
<p>It is my understanding that there is a designated “reader” for each BS at most colleges. So just wondering how that all plays out once the app is in.</p>
<p>Junior year was a grind for most of the students at my child’s BS. The work load had increased and there was the added pressure of SAT II, SAT, and ACT testing. You have to look towards your child’s guidance counselor at the school for support.</p>
<p>HarvestMoon1: There was a thread a while back on Prep School College Advocacy that discussed how BS advocate for their students that might shed some light: <a href=“Prep School College Advocacy? - Prep School Parents - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1455019-prep-school-college-advocacy-p1.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks Choatie, that was actually a very helpful thread. Took me a while to wade through it but it certainly gave me some insight. </p>
<p>Has anyone else had their spring break college visits “snowed out”? DS & his uncle are stuck in New York, and can’t get out. It was a limited window of time that they had to see a few campuses in North Carolina (Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Davidson), and now it is looking like it won’t happen at all. Really disappointing.</p>
<p>@RuralMama: NYC hardly got any snow this time around, though…is it the southern airports that are closed? I would try the train if they can get refunds on air tix.</p>
<p>I feel bad for ds. We are cramming college and doctor visits into his all-too-short Spring break. Eye doctor, dentist, check up, and a follow up with the orthodontist- he will thank me for it one day, right? </p>