<p>Poor thing, idad. I hope S2 is feeling better.</p>
<p>The test scores are supposed to be released on-line February 12th.</p>
<p>āKid question here: I just took the SAT today and listed National Merit Corp to receive my scores. Iām a junior with qualifying PSAT score (way above WI cutoff). Will I have to resend the scores to them when Iām notified that Iām a semifinalist next school year, or do they keep a file?ā</p>
<p>S also included National Merit Corp as a score recipient ~ hopefully we donāt need to re-send them.</p>
<p>Another mom of kid who took SAT today. Not for real yet (an 8th grader). I feel sorry for
idadās son :(<br>
We had to drive in torrential rain to the U about 40 miles away - we live in the ACT area and SAT sites are few in between. Anyway, just wanted to say that my heart was with you today, parents of the class of 2010 :)</p>
<p>idad - sorry about your son getting sick today - itās a long, long test to suffer through, especially when someone isnāt feeling well.</p>
<p>My D was sick during the Dec. test, so we can relate. Today, the batteries on her calculator died. No luck!</p>
<p>I am so sorry for the kids who had trouble today. I guess thatās why CB allows multiple testings. I hope your kids do better on the next test.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>momof3sons: No kidding? I mentioned this to D2 and she insisted that even the GCās were suggested that kids might want to hold off until March due, at least in part, to the score choice issue. A misunderstanding, perhaps, on either the studentsā or the GCās part. Although, to be honest, Iām not really too concerned about it, myself, since, from what I recall from D1ās college applications, the colleges were generally pretty good about focusing on the highest test scores.</p>
<p>According to D2 today, the exam was about what she expected. She did think that the writing prompt was a little trickier than those on the PSATs that she had taken, but sheās a good writer, so hopefully she was able to provide what the writing evaluators are looking for. The CR portion was as challenging as the corresponding portion on the PSAT. Math is always her potential Achillesā Heel, but hopefully her winter break test prep will help her score here.</p>
<p>idad, your poor sonāhope he feels better soon. LIMOMOF2, according to D, she has heard about at least one kid per exam sitting having his/her calculator battery go during the exam. Hopefully it didnāt adversely impact your Dās score.</p>
<p>Also, I just want to make sure that I understand this correctly: If your child has been notified that (s)he is likely to be commended, if not a semi-finalist, then the test scores should be sent to National Merit, in addition to any schools?</p>
<p>momonthehill, this is āliftedā directly from the Collegeboard site:</p>
<p>"New SAT Score-Reporting Policy</p>
<p>Designed to reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience, the College Board has approved Score Choice, an important change to the current SAT score-reporting policy. This new policy will give students the option to choose the SAT scores by sitting (test date) and SAT Subject Test scores by individual test that they send to colleges, at no additional cost. This will allow students to put their best foot forward on test day by giving them more flexibility and control over their scores. Score Choice is optional, and if students choose not to use it, all scores will be sent automatically. The new score-reporting feature will launch in spring 2009, and will be first available to students in the class of 2010 participating in the March 2009 test administration.</p>
<p>After implementation, students will have the ability to send scores from tests taken prior to the launch. For example, a student who took a Biology Subject Test and a World History Subject Test as a sophomore in June 2008āand who then takes the SAT in spring 2009ācan choose whether or not to include the Biology and World History Subject Test scores and/or SAT score on the score report."</p>
<p>Trying to catch up here ā¦</p>
<p>Ds thinks he did OK. He feels like he did really well on the writing prompt. However, he didnāt answer two math questions, one of which he swears didnāt have an answer as he plugged in all the given choices into the equation and none worked. Iām sure heās wrong! The CR section, usually his weakest, at least had topics of interest to him, so maybe that helped. Surprisingly, he didnāt get too tired as the proctor gave them more breaks than I did at home. :)</p>
<p>I think people were confused about the Score Choice because when it was first announced it wasnāt clear that tests taken before March 2009 would be grandfathered in. </p>
<p>I have the same question as momonthehill. Ds should be commended and Natl Hispanic Scholar; was he supposed to send his scores somewhere? Wonāt the school just fill that out on the paper work?</p>
<p>momof3sons, thank you for the direct clarification. I can only guess that maybe the GCās in our school were cautioning about taking the January test and choosing to have the results sent to colleges before the March '09 implementation of the policyā¦?</p>
<p>Youdonātsay - my D said she liked this essay better than the one in Dec., but she did really well on the one in December, so Iām not sure if thatāll help much. It would be nice if her score stayed the same though. D left out one math question - she said that she kept coming up with the wrong answer, and she thought that maybe it was because she didnāt have her calculator - but maybe itās the question your S said had no right answers. Iāll have to ask her if it was an equation where none of the answers worked.</p>
<p>momonthehill - remember that some schools have said they will not honor score choice - Cornell is one of them, but I know there are a few others, plus some schools said they havenāt made a decision yet.</p>
<p>Also, thereās no essay on the PSAT, so no writing prompts - maybe your D meant the essay prompt was harder than on the practices?</p>
<p>youdonātsay, your son may well be right. The college board has made mistakes before. I always feel sorry for kids who spend too much time doing impossible or ambiguous problems.</p>
<p>I once took an exam where one of the real questions was the same as the sample questions in the directions. I canāt tell you how many times I reread that question trying to make sure it really was the same and that the sample answer was indeed correct!</p>
<p>Well, heās been known to swear a problem is wrong, but he just misread it. But the idea of just plugging in all the answers when his didnāt match any of them seemed like a good strategy. Also, he said he used the solve function on his TI89, and that didnāt give him an answer either (well, actually, it did, but it was the same āwrongā answer he got on his own and that wasnāt listed). Iām telling you, he probably just read it wrong, or wouldnāt there be a thread about it on cc by now?? :D</p>
<p>I should ask him whether it was on the experimental section. That might be the answer. He did say his exp. section was math.</p>
<p>Oh, and ds took two graphing calculators to the SAT! Is that usual? He just likes one more for one kind of question and one more for other types of questions. And it helps avoid the whole dead-battery issue.</p>
<p>Well, D only owns one graphing calculator, so that wasnāt an option. Next test, extra batteries for sure, even if the batteries are new! Guess I could buy her another calculator, or she could borrow Sās, just in case. Iāve never heard of anyone else bringing 2, but that could be something that is done in your area.</p>
<p>I donāt think my D had an experimental math section this time - she said she had 4 math sections, while last time she had 5 - in a row!</p>
<p>My S announced at dinner that heās thinking of not taking AP English Lit next year (he is taking AP English Language this year and doing well), since reading lit not of his choosing is not his thing. Weāll have to see what other options are available, and I can understand his thinking. If thereās a class that has plenty of writing, he should be fine as long as his GC says it wonāt affect his schedule being marked as most rigorous. Heās still planning on taking AP (or, in math, a college level class ā multivariable calculus) and he says more kids āavoidā taking AP sciences of the difficulty. For him, he says he wants to take another English class because heās not fond of the subject.</p>
<p>Any thoughts from the group?</p>
<p>FindAPlace, my son just had this conversation with his GC. My son is also currently taking AP English Language. In our hs if you are doing well in that AP they recommend that you take AP English Literature. My son was a bit nervous about taking the AP English Lit class, but his GC talked him into taking it. My son feels that he is a stronger writer than he is a reader, but the GC told him that there isnāt really more reading in the AP English Lit class than our senior Honors English class. My son is just a solid B student (probably running between a B+ and A- in AP English this quarter) . He is also going to take either an AP or college level history class. He will take a college level elective class as well. The rest will just be high school regular and honors classes. I hope that the GC knows sonās English/reading skills well enough to help him make the right decision.</p>
<p>At Dās high school, TI-89ās are not allowed in Math, since they are not allowed in the IB exam. Anyone else have that school rule?</p>
<p>findaPlaceāif your son is clearly math/science oriented (and taking multivariable says he is!) then I wouldnāt bother taking the AP English class and would concentrate on what he loves. And nobody would care that he only took one AP lang class and not the AP lit! </p>
<p>Our school only offers AP English (not sure if itās lit or lang) and my son is not taking it because he is clearly a math/sci person. Next year:</p>
<p>AP Physics
Multivariable Calc
AP Bio
AP stats? or another Latin class
(but CB cut out the 2nd AP level of Latin)
AP Gov
Advanced Topics in CS
Engl 12 honors</p>
<p>So yeah, ārigorous curriculumā but nobody at the colleges he will be applying to gives a ratās patootie if he doesnāt take Engl. AP.</p>
<p>mommusic, thatās true. Sorry, I didnāt realize from the post that findingaplaceās son is a math/science person. My son is not a math/science personā¦big difference.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2āYouāre rightāmy errorāFor the SAT writing prompts, D was referring to the practice exams.</p>
<p>FindAPlace, just my own opinion, but I wouldnāt think that a college would hold it against your son for taking an alternative class to AP Lit, especially if the rest of his curriculum is challenging, which it sounds like itās going to be.
Regarding AP classes for senior year, we have the opposite dilemma. Math is definitely not Dās strength, yet sheās been doing very well in (non-honors) pre-calc. At one time, she was thinking about skipping a math class, altogether, during her senior year. (sheāll have enough math credits to graduate due to a computer class she took as a freshman) However, some of the schools that sheās interested in are rather selective, and Dās concerned that they might hold it against her if she took no math class as a senior. As an alternative, she considered possibly taking AP Statistics, although sheās now hearing from some friends currently taking it that the instructor and the workload are really tough. So now sheās considering taking AP āABā (as opposed to BC?) Calculus. Weāll see.</p>