Colleges for the Jewish "B" student (Part 1)

<p>^^</p>

<p>This is a chart that indicates a college’s policy on Score Choice which is different than superscoring.</p>

<p>A college that asks to see all scores may still decide to superscore them. Others may not.</p>

<p>Just because we mentioned Elon tees earlier, just saw on Facebook a 2 for 20 special!</p>

<p>i’m not jewish but isnt brandies outside a boston a jewish university.</p>

<p>uskoolfish,</p>

<p>See the chart on page 4 with practice descriptions.</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<p>"Highest Section Scores Across Test Dates — Version 2
(Highest M, CR, W)</p>

<p><university x=“”> has indicated that it considers your highest section
scores across all SAT test dates that you submit. Only your highest
section scores will be considered as part of the final admissions
decision. Each time you submit scores, <university x=“”> will update your
record with any new high scores.</university></university></p>

<p><university x=“”> strongly encourages you to submit your scores each
time you take the SAT. Sending your scores each time you take the
SAT can benefit you by allowing <university x=“”> to consider you for all
available enrollment-related opportunities"</university></university></p>

<p>I have to say that I find it all quite confusing - as each college has a different policy - you can’t always find it on their website - and they change it periodically anyway. I think in the majority of cases - sending both is the way to go - if you have a SAT and an ACT that each have a stronger section - or if you have 2 ACTs where each one has a stronger section. Every college I have ever spoken with on this topic says to send them all and they will give you the most favorable treatment possible. (Obviously I would not send a horrible sitting). I have never heard a college say that this approach would hurt you in admissions.</p>

<p>Folks, I didn’t make the chart. I just posted the link so you can consult it if you want. :slight_smile: Others I know have found it useful in the past. My daughter took the SAT once so there wasn’t a whole lot of question there, lol.</p>

<p>rvm – worth noting – that chart on page 4 has one category which is for schools where “All SAT Scores Required for Review”.</p>

<p>Unfortunately I thought I’d share this info. with you I just discovered…</p>

<p>[Worcester</a> Wired](<a href=“http://www.worcesterwired.com/2011/04/21/anti-semitic-graffiti-found-in-wpi-elevator/]Worcester”>http://www.worcesterwired.com/2011/04/21/anti-semitic-graffiti-found-in-wpi-elevator/)</p>

<p>chocchip - how sad and how odd that they were found at 2 schools? Maybe it was not a student? Very confusing.</p>

<p>Deborah T - here’s the question I have with that - how would the college ever know? Say you take the SAT three times and send 2 scores. How would the college know that you had actually taken it 3 times? They wouldn’t. Say you take the SAT once and the ACT once and do much better on the ACT - so that’s all you send. How would the school ever know that you had also taken a SAT? They wouldn’t. I’m not advocating dishonesty - but I do feel that every applicant has the right to present themselves in the best possible light. There is also a cost factor in having to send all scores. I think people really have to use their best judgment on this one.</p>

<p>Just as a sample - this is from the JMU website:</p>

<pre><code>

</code></pre>

<p>I just find this problematic. Would all of you send ALL scores?</p>

<p>been there done that…and sorry we did with my older daughter (but things were diff back then; all tests were on the SAT report)…</p>

<p>I would think the student whould send the best scores either ACT or SAT but not both…glad mine are done and don’t have to decide…!!</p>

<p>RVM: I don’t know for sure about if score choice is reflected in what SAT sends to the school. I’ve seen it enough times, that schools want to see all the SAT scores that I have assumed that if you use score choice this will show up on the documentation so I would question that before selecting specific scores to send. I don’t see how a school would know if you took both tests unless the HS forwards that information. If the test information isn’t reported to the HS then they won’t have the information to forward or I suppose that if you have a school that automatically forwards this information you can request that it isn’t forwarded.</p>

<p>College1: Good Luck with the decison process. As I recall it took my S1 until 4/28 to give his final answer and then it was time to celebrate. Whatever the decision you are in the homestretch.</p>

<p>Congratulations to all of you who are now in the prep for college phase. I guess it is T shirt time for all of you!</p>

<p>Thank you all for the informative college visit reports.</p>

<p>Sam: Congrats to your S on the strong ACT first run… </p>

<p>On SAT vs ACT:
For us not so much. Many of you have given me lots of good feedback to approach these two tests but now that I have scores for each… It seems that my S should buckle down and work on 1 test. For whatever reason he won’t even hear about approaching the possibility of time accommodations so for the moment that is out. Fortunately testing is less critical for for him if he chooses to go to an in-state school (which at the moment he has) provided he maintains his ranking through the end of this semester.</p>

<p>So here is what we have:
SAT M:600 V: 560 W:540 ACT:Eng 25 M30 S20 Reading 20 (Note that he guessed on more than 40 questions on those last 2 section due to running out of time)</p>

<p>The question now is which test to focus on:
SAT pros: Overall starting score is better; HS has arrangements for a one week course over the summer that focuses on strategies. Apparently less time constraints. Brother may be able to assist with review. Already registered for the June test. </p>

<p>SAT cons: More of a reasoning test and therefore less consistent from one test to the next.</p>

<p>ACT pros: (as I understand it) A more straightforward test that is similar from one test to the next and therefore easier to prep for. Probably easier to review for from review text. I’m guessing easier to make improvements on with practice.</p>

<p>ACT cons: More time pressure. Getting to a class within the confines of summer schedule will be difficult. Difficulty with time pressure is a major obsticle. </p>

<p>We have been flipflopping in both directions long enough. I think S needs to choose where his focus will be. Does my summation seem on target? I know we/he has to make this choice but let me know if you have any other thoughts to add to our considerations.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>spectrum: I would go with the SAT if I were you. For all the pros you stated.</p>

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<p>Most parents/students are NOT on CC and dont know all this nuance, unless it is explicitly stated by the college on the app. So I’m sure this happens all the time. I didn’t know to even ask this question when DD was applying (even though I was on here - newbie) and just sent ACT scores (she took ACT 2x and SAT 2x).</p>

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<p>I had to laugh at this one. DS is a sophomore, just started visiting colleges, and his entire wardrobe is already college t-shirts and sweatshirts. Maybe he can get a feel of the schools through osmosis somehow! At least I can be pretty sure that by the time he picks a college two years from now, he will have outgrown all these clothes (at the rate he is going) so it won’t be a waste!</p>

<p>Spectrum: I agree with LI that your son should focus on the SAT for the reasons you mentioned. I have found that the kids who are strong, fast readers have an edge on the ACT, while kids who think things through carefully do better on the SAT. I aso think that your son is better off with the SAT because math is his strongest area, and it’s 1/3 rather than 1/4 of the score. </p>

<p>Like LI’s son, my daughters wore a lot of college apparel sophomore and junior years. The test of whether they liked a school was whether they wanted to visit the bookstore and buy something. It’s a good thing that D2 got into BU, because she bought a lot of BU clothing last summer. We would have had to burn it if she got rejected.</p>

<p>spectrum - the SAT score is better and you already have some prep lined up - I would stick with that. The key to the ACT is the timing issue - so it sounds like it might not be the better option.</p>

<p>Here’s some info from VT for you all. Was just catching up with a friend whose son is a freshman there (ME major). She said he was looking for a friends group and ended up being recruited by the Jewish fraternity (AEPi? yes, she thinks that’s it - she’s not obsessive about everything like I am). She said it changed his life there. They are from a very Jewish area on LI, but they are not religious at all. He wasn’t into BBYO or anything; they didn’t even belong to a temple. She said that AEPi does a lot with the Jewish sorority, and her DS is running parties, etc. She hears more about the fraternity and his mountain climbing/outdoor adventures than she does about classes (but he says he is doing fine!). I was so surprised to hear all of this and couldn’t wait to tell you all!</p>

<p>She also said the engineering facilities there impressed her more than Lehigh and many others. Maybe I should check it out for DS…</p>

<p>Although we did not contact Hillel or AEPi at VT - I was aware that the Jewish population is about 2000 students - quite impressive! Good to hear anecdotal info about AEPi. One of my VT concerns is housing - but I guess pledging and living at AEPi’s off campus house would be an option. We liked much of VT - but it is a very big population.</p>

<p>Here’s a topic I never considered. It seems to be more common nowadays for students to stay on campus for part of the summer and take a class or two. This is, of course, an additional expense. S1 is taking one class at Wake this summer - $800 per credit hour - so it is costing $2400 for one class - not thrilled - but it helps him to accomplish his desired major/minor without undue stress. I just noticed in the Elon Pendulum an article on the same topic - cost is $400 per credit hour. Elon’s classes are typically 4 credit - but still - that’s only $1600. So - just suggesting that this is yet one more item you might want to take note of as you investigate colleges.</p>

<p>So I’ve been totally out of the loop but wondered where everyone’s kids are going?! S decided on UMASS and informed me(after all the touring etc. that he’s known for months that this was where he belonged…OY!! So we got a fairly decent Financial Aid package(after I resubmitted our FAFSA…messed the first one up) and he is all set! He tells me that the Hillel is conservative there but he wants to go on Birthright so he’s going to get involved…after 4 years in NFTY and being on Regional Board for th elast year he is ready for a Judaism break!</p>

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<p>Congratulations Rakenjake! Also, congratulations to all of the other rising college freshmen!</p>

<p>rockvillemom, I had to laugh. My neighbor recently complained to me about how she had to pay for one summer at a private U so her son could just get his diploma. She is still talking about that expense and it was over 30 years ago! I am sure in those days, the cost was far less than it is now!</p>