Saturday ACT Waiting Thread!

abasket · 12-13-2008, 08:01 AM

Thought I'd start a thread for anyone who has a child taking the ACT this morning - especially for the 1st time to report any thoughts, phone calls we get from the testing students, etc. as the morning -early afternoon goes on.

My son (see another thread - he lost his ID yesterday

) is off and checked in - he texted my husband who was waiting in the parking lot for the "ok". Husband said it's hilarious watching kids come in barely scuffing along in their pajama pants or speeding into the parking lot cause they are later than they planned!

DS was pumped up this morning - up and raring to go - hopefully he doesn't fade away mid-morning! I made him a nice breakfast including some rich hot chocolate for a bit of a caffine boost and he took 2 Advil to ward off any stress headache that might develop.

If he gets a break he may text or call with a quickie update.

How did your kids fare waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning?

LIMOMOF2 · 12-13-2008, 08:38 AM

Sent D in to take the test without her phone - this testing center said NO PHONES, and we didn't want a problem. Hopefully, she'll find her friend whose mom is picking them up without any trouble.

Good luck to your S, abasket. D won't be home until close to midnight - has a school thing that she has to go to immediately after the exam, and so I won't see her until it's all over - between 11:30 and midnight :\ - oh, well - that's just how it is. You'll have to fill us in and let us know what your S thought of it when you hear from him. I asked D to call when she gets picked up, just so I know she's ok, but she probably won't want to say much about the test since she'll be with her friend and her friend's mom.

abasket · 12-13-2008, 08:48 AM

Yeah, saw that about the phones, but he will just keep his in his coat pocket - he took a watch to check time.

jackief · 12-13-2008, 09:04 AM

D has her phone turned off in her pocket. She also has a cold and took some tissues, hope that will not be a problem. I told her to put them on her desk from the beginning. Is your D all recovered LIMOM?

D has a dress code at school, and last week when she took the SAT she asked if she could wear sweats, I told her yes. She was happy she was comfy and not in jeans like the other kids. If it were warmer, she might be in pajama pants also abasket.

I also made her a nice breakfast this morning and she got a good night's sleep after yesterday's snow (ice) day.

BengalMom · 12-13-2008, 10:21 AM

S may be driving home from his test in a snow storm. We are further west than most of you, so I'll be looking for your reports on how it went. That is, if you can get more than a one-word answer, which is probably all I will get.
Me: "how did the test go?" S: "ok"

LIMOMOF2 · 12-13-2008, 10:30 AM

Jackief - I hope your D feels better and that the cold doesn't interfere with her test-taking. I can't imagine that the tissues will present a problem. My D's a lot better than she was last week, but she still has a little cold - thanks for asking.

I forgot to send D with a watch - so now she's without a watch and without a phone! What were we thinking? Maybe she thought to bring one on her own, but I doubt it.

I didn't make D a good breakfast this morning, but that's because she doesn't eat a normal breakfast. She decided to have some leftover homemade vegetable soup and crackers, and then grabbed a handful of cheerios. So, I think she had a pretty healthy, if unusual, breakfast - and she got it herself.

D is taking the ACT at a different h.s. from where she took the SAT (neither was offered at her school this month). The school where she took the SAT was very lax in the rules -D said it seemed like the proctor wasn't paying any attention, and her friend said kids kept answering questions after time was called on different sections (they weren't in the same room). D also said her proctor smelled and that every time the woman walked by, she felt like throwing up. Not sure - does that count as a distraction...........lol.

As far as the school where she's taking the ACT - none of her friends has ever taken a test there before, so we weren't sure what to do about water bottles and phones - both are prohibited in the test room. She risked the water bottle (label removed) because it wouldn't be horrible if they made her throw it away.

Oh, and I think she wore jeans, tee & sweatshirt. She has to go to a school event directly from the test, so I think that was the outfit she needed to be wear because she wasn't coming home to change.

mom2010grad · 12-13-2008, 10:34 AM

Good Morning Moms ~ you are all so nice to make breakfast for your kids this morning. I didn't want to mess up his routine so he had his normal bowl of Captain Crunch (not real nutritious but it seems to get him through until lunch time on school days). I sent him with a granola bar for the break so hopefully that will fortify him for reading/science and the writing section.

Sorry to hear about all of your bad weather ~ it is sunny and fairly warm (20's) here today, but we are supposed to get some very cold weather during the next week (highs in the single digits).

I'll let you know what son says when he calls after the test (I told him to leave his phone in his car so he wouldn't get in trouble).

Have a good morning!

BengalMom · 12-13-2008, 10:40 AM

LIMOMOF2, eewww on the smell. Sounds like an awful distraction.
S's admission ticket said he could have water and snacks with him. They just could only be opened and consumed outside the testing room during the break. I sent him with a Clif bar and a gatorade. With the way he eats (and he is still thin as a rail), that won't get him to 1:00pm.
Good luck to your D!
jackief, I'm sure the tissues will be fine. Better than the alternative.

I hope she gets through it without feeling too poorly. My D once took an AP test when she was very sick. She went through the entire small pack of tissues by the time the test was about half over. Not pretty.

LIMOMOF2 · 12-13-2008, 11:12 AM

BengalMom - Thanks for the good luck wishes - to your S too!

I know the body odor smell would have been a distraction to me too - but I'm not sure it's one you could complain to Collegeboard about.

Hope your S makes it through the test without starving! Our ticket/testing site info had conflicting info - for the test site, it said no food or drinks, but the admissions ticket said you could bring it, but that it had to be consumed outside the testing room during breaks - so D only brought the water. Her friend got nervous and left her sandwich and water bottle in my car.

mom2010grad - we're not having bad weather here, believe it or not. It's sunny and cold, but no snow, rain, or ice - and for that I am very grateful. You're lucky your son has a car with him. Here, the kids can take driver's ed when they're 16, but they can't drive on their own until they're 17 - so I had to drive D to the test this morning, and so leaving the phone in our car wouldn't have done any good.

mom2010grad · 12-13-2008, 11:20 AM

LIMOMOF2 ~ Unfortunately kids can drive (alone) at 14 in South Dakota. It is actually quite ridiculous especially in the city we live in (SD had 700,000 people of which 150,000 live in our city). I think it started back when kids were having to drive from the farms to town to go to school. Our son actually started driving alone just before his 15th birthday (and knock on wood - we are two years accident free). S2 is 14 1/2 and we haven't allowed him to take drivers education yet (we figured since we weren't buying our sons more than one car he could just ride along with S1).

2 1/2 - 3 more hours until their home (in the central time zone).

LIMOMOF2 · 12-13-2008, 01:13 PM

mom2010grad - I have to agree that 14 is just too young to drive alone - especially in a city, even a small city. I'm glad your son has a good driving record - that's great. My S (he's 12) show a remarkable lack of common sense compared to my D at the same age, so the thought of him getting behind the wheel in less than two years would scare me to death! Be glad we don't live in South Dakota........lol.

D called about 15 minutes ago to say she was finished and she had found her ride. I asked her about the test, and she said it was "fine." I really didn't expect her to say anything else around her friend and her friend's mom...........lol. She's off to do a school thing, and I won't be seeing her until close to midnight

.

Hope your S has more to say than "fine."

mom2010grad · 12-13-2008, 02:11 PM

My S got home a little bit ago. Here is his summation - math good except for 1 question he was confused on, English - good (no issues), reading - good (no issues), science - really hard (had to randomly fill in last 7 questions). Hopefully the curve on science will be forgiving. One girl he talked to had 20 questions left with 10 minutes left. He also said the writing section went well. So I guess we'll see how his summation translates into scores. He was pretty bummed about science because he has done really well on the practice tests.

mom2010grad · 12-13-2008, 02:25 PM

FYI ~ if your S or D says they got killed on science - please see some of the threads the students have posted in the ACT/SAT section. Sounds like the curve will be generous.

jackief · 12-13-2008, 02:36 PM

D also said she "failed" science, she had done ok on a practice science section, but she ran out to time today and randomly filled in the remainder. Other than that, it went well.

For the essay, She said the student is responsible for his/her success, not the teacher

LIMOMOF2 · 12-13-2008, 02:40 PM

As you know, I haven't received such a detailed report from D - but I will take a look at the threads in the ACT/SAT section, just to hear what others thought of it.

It sounds like your S should be fine, especially if the curve is generous on the science section.

D's pretty much incommunicado for the next 8 1/2 hours, and when she gets home, she'll probably be too exhausted to discuss. Poor girl keeps very long hours and never gets a day off. Even her Sundays are busy - church in the morning, and then driver's ed for 3 hours! At least we have a fun afternoon planned for after the class.