Because of a learning disability, my son will most likely do rather poorly on the standardized tests, even with tutoring and accommodations (he already had a practice PSAT and will take a practice ACT in the spring). Other than applying to test optional schools, what would be your advice?
Right now he’s in 10th grade so we have a little bit of time, but I’d like to think ahead and be proactive. I told him to do well in school, make sure he takes more than the minimum requirements for the different academic areas (science, history, language, etc.), and participate in EC’s to make up for the lack of strong test scores. I also told him to make sure he shows interest when looking at colleges. Do you have any other suggestions?
Also, do you know if the schools will even look at his application if his scores are so bad, or will they just toss the application in the “no” pile right away? I know they do that for some of the top schools, but he’ll be looking at schools for a student with a B+ average.
If you feel that standardize testing does not accurately reflect your child’s ability I would recommend looking at test optional schools. You can get the list from www.fairtest.org
Of course it depends on how the scores ultimately fall out. If the scores are still very low with tutoring and accommodations, then I agree that test-optional colleges would probably be the best bet.
I guess it depends what “terrible” is and what colleges he winds up wanting to attend. On CC you’d think anything below 30 is awful but the national average is like 20 so…
It also really depends on how one defines bad. The CC community is not reflective of the larger student population and the scores represented here are definitely not representative of the larger student population. So it really depends on overall GPA and what type of school your child might do best in for college as to whether or not the test scores will actually in fact be bad.
Without knowing anything about your students GPA, rigor, and test scores it’s hard to make recommendations as to what schools might be a good fit.
I would never advise a student to participate in EC’s for the sake of simply filling up the college application. Colleges can see through that, a student should participate in activities that there truly interested in and that will go far further than checking some mythical list of boxes. Colleges can tell if a student is participating in something they are truly interested in and have a passion for and have continued to do consistently over time and that goes much much further just showing the student did more than study. Same thing with course load. Yes, meet or exceed requirements to the best of their ability but also do it in a way that shows the students interests.
Colleges really do want individuals, not just stats.
We have four children, all of whom have a large variety of interests, grades and test scores/ rigor. All of whom who have done quite well in the application process so far and have found schools that suit them…or seem to suit them in the case of the current senior, not great test taker, who has not made his final selection yet. There are schools out there for everyone.
Make sure that all the documentation is in place for extra time on the tests if that will make a difference. There was a poster who used to post here, who had two daughters one got perfect scores and the other one really terrible ones. She went to a somewhat less selective school because of her scores, but was a stellar student there, making the most of her opportunities. I believe she got an award for her thesis. She had to take the GRE for grad school and got terrible scores again. The grad school had to waive their score requirements in order to accept her. Last I heard she was thriving.
I would only have him do an EC if he’s interested in it. As far as testing, wait to see how he does, then you can figure out the best course of action. There are more and more test optional schools each year.
In my experience, smaller schools that have the ability to take a longer look at the application and are more likely to see the whole picture. My brother was lopsided - an A/A+ GPA and good ECs and recs but a 1500 SAT out of 2400. He applied to some huge schools like URI and UConn and was rejected. In retrospect they probably did not have the time, manpower, or desire to really sit there and ponder his whole profile when they have tens of thousands of applications to deal with and plenty of high scoring kids. He ended up pretty successful at small <5k schools where the process is a bit more holistic. He also got some nice scholarships at test optional schools.
Depending on the nature of his learning disability, if it has been diagnosed/documented , there are many possible accommodations. Does he get any currently in school? Sounds like you are doing a good job of addressing this now, for if he gets the right accommodations, depending on his disability, and continues with tutoring, maybe his scores wont be as bad as you anticipate.
Thanks for all the advice! I do think that a smaller school would be better for him because he’ll need more individualized attention, regardless of whether he uses the college’s resources for kids with LD, and also because he’ll be less distracted and lost in smaller classes. The fact that they’ll look at his application more holistically than a large university is a bonus.
By bad scores I mean the lowest I’ve ever seen. Really awful. I’m glad that his grades are much better. He will not be taking a lot of honors or AP’s, but he will take a few. Right now he has 1 honors class in history, and next year, he’ll have 1 AP. He’s in a good prep school so that will help as well.
I don’t expect him to do EC’s in things he’s not interested in, and he’s really not doing that much, but I do push him a bit to participate a little more. He’d rather sit on the couch and lounge so a little nudge from mom isn’t such a bad thing.
My son auditioned for the music department at the University of Oklahoma last month and they said something very interesting in the opening information meeting.
In Oklahoma, they are required to take 8% of those that apply that don’t meet the qualifications for admission. They said for you to let them know if for some reason you didn’t quality for admission, because of scores or whatever reason, and they would try to help. The man speaking said that it doesn’t happen very often, but he’s never been unsuccessful getting someone in.
You might want to check out some Oklahoma schools.
I would echo the advice to look into accommodations for the testing. If the disability is not strictly cognitive, they can often find a way to add time or something to help your child fairly assess his chances of success.
Given the considerably lower investment, you may want to consider him attempting Community or Junior college for the 1st year. It can be a good way to transition from HS for kids with LDs and most of the 1st year is going to be knocking out required core classes anyway. After that first semester you can better evaluate if a traditional college makes sense or not.
Kudos to you as a parent, raising him to be a normal kid - he sounds like most kids today, not wanting to get off the couch. I agree that a nudge from mom never hurts.
You mentioned he is in a good prep school - I would suggest then that you contact the GC there for his/her thoughts. If they don’t have experience themselves, they may know others in their profession at other schools who will be able to help. It sounds to me as though your kid is a good example of someone they WANT to help, because as a B+ student with a LD, he is a success story. Similarly, the GC dept at your local public high school may have some idea as to options for a high-achieving special needs kid. Since you don’t have to send him to the prep school, the public school should be able to help you out with some advice.
Is there a geographic preference? Do you expect to material needed financial or merit aid ?
As I understand it, the accommodations for testing may be state specific. But you mentioned even with accommodations, he still does poorly on tests. Based on grades alone, then, where have other kids from his HS gone? It might not hurt to contact the admissions office - starting in April or May, after they are done with this year’s cycle, to ask how they go about making exceptions to their testing requirement for a documented LD.
This probably isn’t the first time you are advocating for your child. Does his LD present any material communication issues that would prevent him from speaking to an admissions officer about a given school. Remember, Like most HS sophomores, he may not have a great idea where he wants to go yet - this is expected at his age.
My son had a weighted 3.2 with a SAT of 1370/2400, so I know your pain and worry you feel. He has a LD, too, but is a very hard worker that is well aware of his limitations. He was accepted into all the directional schools in the state, plus a mid size state school ad urban campus of our flagship. He started at the urban campus, then was accepted to the main campus. He has a 3.4 GPA. He’s doing better in college than he did in H.S.
If he wants to go to the main campus of the flagship, look at others ways to get there. You’ll have to keep for him, keep his spirits up. Let him. Know that sometimes the road isn’t A to B, but a stop inbetween. Good luck.
^^I think that is good advice commama. College ready ACT used to be around 21, not sure if that’s true anymore. in our state anyway a 21 will get you into one of the directionals and you can go from there. The smaller private colleges are fairly easy to understand from the Common Data Sets. The OP will probably know between now and next spring where on the standardized tests her kiddo will land. Only then can they begin to filter through possibilities.
My daughter had crap test scores by CC standards, and she’s already been accepted to some great schools. Obviously test scores matter, but they’re not everything. We did apply to some test optional schools, the three that already accepted her test optional also gave her generous merit, so it doesn’t seem going test optional hurt her. She’s been accepted to several very good publics too, with bad test scores.
