@yearstogo Thanks! I’ve told her, especially for the questions she reads and immediately knows how to do, to take a breath and make sure she’s being very deliberate in her calculations. I know S19 used to tell us that he would talk to himself in his head as he did work like this just to keep him focused.
And, yes, she kind of knows it’s normal. First, we picked the wrong test (ACT) and she took two of those after studying on and off for five months. We initially didn’t choose the SAT because, when I gave her both tests at the beginning of last summer, she thought ACT was easier and her score was a bit better but it just didn’t improve enough and she hated the timing. In Dec, I had her try an SAT and the score was higher than her two official ACTs and now she’s focused on that. Like most kids, she also has a slate of hard classes and a lot of ECs and she just wants this part done. Many of her friends have already hit high scores so she’s dealing with that.
I think she’s reacting to all of the stress and pressure of junior year. My advice is to have her take a break for a few days, remind her about test optional schools, and make sure she has a safety school picked out that makes her happy. It may be time to lay off the practice tests, college visit talks, etc for a little bit (not easy I know).
I agree 100% that if she gets a 1400 on a practice test, there is going to be a range of possible scores.
@twogirls well safety schools are an issue as she’s got her sight set on some matches. I don’t know. My kids just don’t like schools that are safe for them. I’ve tried. It’s the pressure at school and how kids in D’s classes would normally have UIUC as a safety and none of them even want to go there. I honestly do not understand how parents get their kids to love safeties!
If her scores don’t hit what we think she might need, she’s got Wake that’s TO and she could ED there. If that ends up being the case, the rest of the list will have to change and she will have to start looking closely at safer schools. If that’s the case after spring, I will start taking her to safe schools this summer.
“My kids just don’t like schools that are safe for them.” Does she understand that if she doesn’t find at least one safe school that she can learn to like, she might end up with no options that she does like? ED isn’t a guarantee, so I would make it clear to her that having no safety that she likes isn’t an option.
Most kids don’t like safety schools. She needs realistic options. Personally, I would not wait until summer because all campuses are better when students are there. At least visit in the fall, if you leave it until later. My son chose the school he never thought he would end up at, AND it was his safety. He chose it because he felt he could be friends with the kids there. That’s what mattered to him at the end of the day. Given that your D seems to want a place where she knows people, that could be the case for her too.
@Lindagaf well lol. She wants to know the right people from her school, though, not the ones at the safety schools who she never has class with. That’s the kicker. However, I feel like she’s coming around bit by bit. She’s friends with one senior who is crazy bright but maybe doesn’t have the best ECs and did have one C in APCalc one semester. She had personal stuff going on. She was denied her ED and just decided to chuck the idea of stretching herself anymore and is going to a big southern school where she’s getting merit. This was a big old surprise to D and I think it’s a good example of how it would be just fine if her list has to shift.
I can talk to her about safeties but we won’t even have a chance to get to any more schools this spring anyway. After spring break, the rest of visits will have to be summer (or fall).
Guess we should move away from all of this talk, though, since it’s off topic for this thread!
@homerdog Don’t let her forget that she already has an ACT score that is pretty good and would fall in the 25-75 range for a bunch of schools on her list.
And with regard to Wake, maybe don’t talk it up so much to her before you go. You don’t want her to feel forced into it because it’s TO, because then the actual visit may have too much riding on it. Maybe better to downplay it so the visit expectations will be lower. Reverse psychology!
I regret D studying so incredibly hard right up till she took the PSAT. In hindsight I wished I would have had her do NO studying and try to destress for 2 weeks preceding the PSAT. I am confidant test anxiety/nerves had a part in her unusual performance that day.
I like the idea of taking the next two weeks prep free. She very clearly has the foundation needed, test taking techniques needed , it has got to be the anxiety. Two weeks with no talk, and no prep could be just the ticket needed.
It seems that her scores are already within range, at least, for her targets. Not a slam dunk, but within spitting distance! We also absolutely understand about wanting to be done with testing (and are trying as well!), but maybe hearing that she can take the next sitting as a step, maybe on the way to the one after that, maybe final, will help? Our D went into the ACT assuming that she’d be taking it again, and I think it did help alleviate stress.
Most kids don’t want their safety. One of my D’s safety schools was the school that Lindagaf’s son currently attends. Despite it being a safety for her, I have no doubt in my mind that had she attended, she would have done just fine. Lots of success stories and very smart kids really do emerge from safeties.
That being said…I certainly don’t want to jinx your D LOL.
As I mentioned earlier, I think your D needs a break. It’s possible that she has reached her test prep saturation point (at least for now) and can use a rest from the stress.
My D took both the SAT and ACT in December of her junior year. Despite getting 2 scores that were very high …and in retrospect she should have been “one and done” for each…I had this bug in my head that nobody takes these tests just once. I made her take them again…and she went down. She warned me she would take the tests again if I wanted her to…but in her mind there was no reason to do so and she was putting no more effort into the process (and she didn’t).
I am telling you this because I sincerely believe that there comes a time when they need a break from the chaos…and I think a few days off may do your D some good.
I agree that she might need a break. I can tell when kids have done too much prep. I usually tell them to skip the next session, or, as I did yesterday, just tell them they are done with prep. I do think silly mistakes are more likely to occur with over prepping.
As a person who has recently taken the SAT for the second time, I highly suggest taking it twice, the reason is not just so you are used to the test, buy you actually just get smarter with age. I will use myself as an example, I took the SAT in 11th grade and spent several hours studying, and that got me a 1290. A year later, I took in yet again with barely any prep and acquired a 1390, it is important to take it the second time in you senior year, to achieve the highest possible score you can.
Also, try not to be nervous, just remember that today is a great day, and no matter what happens I will be happy. This will help keep you calm hopefully!!
Check out Case Western…at 1400ish score should put her in the range, and they have great programs.
As for silly mistakes, in the math section, I made myself justify every single question I put down and avoided most errors on test day.
Make sure that on test day, she reads a book (10-20 pages) in the morning before driving to the center. This will ensure that the first thing she thinks about/reads isn’t an SAT English Passage.
As a student who’s had a lot of test anxiety, laying off her might be the best thing you can do. I understand that as a parent you want to do everything you can to help, but telling her to study as much as she thinks she needs to, allowing her to register herself for her own tests, and being there as a passive support may build her confidence, take the pressure off, and allow her to take ownership of her score. High 1300s is by no means a bad score and for most schools it is adequate, especially when combined with higher grades/ECs. My parents gave me complete control over my testing experience, including test dates and what I did to study. I wouldn’t consider myself particularly self motivated, but I think relying on myself for test prep and planning, as opposed to my parents, built my confidence and motivated me to do better. So yeah, I would just lay off her for a while, worst case scenario she ends up with an SAT score that’s still pretty good.
