coping with a low SAT score

lovestotravel
Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:37:18 +0000

Interesting answers.
I have a dd who does very well in school, is in a college prep HS taking rigorous courses without grade inflation and does very well on standardized tests since she was in 1-8 grade. She will be entering a good LAC in the fall.

On the otherhand, I have a ds who will be entering hs in the fall. He goes to the same small gammer schools as his sister did, really no grade inflation and very few home projects to boost scores (which I see from his friends schools, since I’m friends with the moms). Anyway, he just doesn’t do well on the standardized tests and although I am his mom, he is intelligent. His math and science scores are good and his tests and class work seem difficult enough for 8th grade but he does not test extremely well on the ITBS and now the TACHS for HS placement.

I have already started to worry about when it is time for him to take the SAT. I work in a small LAC where he can go for free (my dd is not going there but did get the tuition exchange scolarship for her school) and probably will go and it is SAT optional. I am not sure what that means since it wasn’t an option for my good test taker dd but I do have to explore what exactly a school needs to see when it is optional. I have always told my ds that he would be a wonderful teacher and again worry about that too if he ever decided to go into the field (which would be tuition free) since he would have to pass his teaching standardized test (whatever it is called).

Different strokes I guess and I do agree that the SAT does make it a level playing field and it worked very well for my dd but having a son that I see hasn’t tested great on standardized tests, just average, doesn’t give me much promise for the next 4 years.