<p>Thanks you two.
I don’t know if I’ll try again though, I want the college search to be fun for the both of us, not stressful, which happens whenever I bring up such schools. I told her to make a CC account, so maybe reading other posts will change her mind. As to another trusted adult, there’s no one. Myself being the only one besides my mom who will actually go to college, the other adults (family, friends) dont understand. They’d let their child go to CA without even knowing what school they’re going to. The schools around here aren’t so bad, they’re just the “good” schools that are a little bit more difficult to get into - good ol new England schools.
I’ll try again in a couple of months, this time with an execution plan and see how it goes.
Thanks for all of your ideas.</p>
<p>Hi all who have already taken SATs-- did you use the four free scores? I love saving money and if the SATs come out about where the PSATs did they’d be fine…but suppose they drop? Is it worth $40 to send them ahead?</p>
<p>We did not use the four free scores for the January test, since DS insisted on taking it cold (no prep) and I knew it would be sub par of his abilities. We are using the freebies on the June test (for the four instate schools that are all either matches or safeties for him).</p>
<p>That’s a really good idea seiclan. I wish I had thought of that for S1.</p>
<p>My daughter didn’t use her four free schools. She’s still trying to get a focused list together (it’s ~20 schools long at this point), so it seemed rather random to pick 4 of them.</p>
<p>My daughter took the December 2010 SAT and at first we were not going to use the 4 free score reports, thinking that she might not do all that well. But, there are a few schools that my daughter is considering that require that all scores be sent. So, since we were going to have to report all scores to these schools anyway, we decided to send the free reports to these schools. There did not seem to be any reason not to send them and I thought that sending the scores to these schools might indicate an interest (I don’t know if this is true or not) in the schools and a couple of them appear to consider an applicants interest when making admission decisions.</p>
<p>Based on the schools on S list, we sent the latest 4 free reports to the state schools and two of his safety (but favorite) schools. At several of the Midwestern LACs that he doesn’t always have to submit the scores from the source if they are on the hs transcript, so we focused on the safeties that still require results sent directly. he will be taking his tests at least once more (ACT in June and SAT in the fall). He had been determined not to take the SAT any more, but he is hoping to improve his score enough for scholarship opportunities that don’t use SAT scores (local stuff).</p>
<p>Good thinking Seiclan! We too didn’t dare send the January scores before knowing them --but I think the next sitting (March) will be her last --so why not get 4 free ones?!</p>
<p>Question --does college board send SAT IIs along with the SATs (for the free option)? If yes, we may want to wait for those scores come in (and use the freebies for the schools that don’t require SAT IIs).</p>
<p>BTW: The PSAT-driven snail mail college letters arrived today in one large batch (~12) …wonder if CollegeBoard provides the mailing service.</p>
<p>thanks for the SAT thoughts, everyone. I think maybe I won’t send yet-- basically because I’m still too confused. </p>
<p>Those college letters seem to have a primal purpose-- like whatever signals salmon to start upstream. Suddenly college is the only subject D and friends are discussing. Ah, nature!</p>
<p>DD used the four free reports for in-state flagship and four match to low reach schools. Did not use it for No. 1 choice. Very happy that we did that. It will save us some money.</p>
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<p>My immediate reaction, Why not? I am a simpleton in this.</p>
<p>When you send the score reports for the SAT, free or not, all the SAT tests that your child has taken, including SAT 2’s are on it. However,they give you the opportunity to select/unselect any scores that you do not wish to be including in the report. Since my son’s score reports to his more local schools will go out with the June test, his January SAT and all past SAT 2s (including the ones he takes in May) will be on it, UNLESS WE CHOOSE TO UNSELECT THEM FROM THE FORM. It seems pretty straightforward. The schools that DS is sending the free reports to do not require SAT 2’s, so unless they are that horrible, I see no reason to bother to remove them from the report.</p>
<p>Thank you for the detailed description. I had no idea how it worked. </p>
<p>If anyone is sitting on the fence as to whether your kid will make the PSAT semifinal, someone posted a link to the newest data from PSAT/NMAQT by state. Here’s URL.</p>
<p>[College-Bound</a> Juniors 2010 - PSAT/NMSQT](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/psat/cb-jr-soph/juniors]College-Bound”>SAT Suite of Assessments – Reports | College Board)</p>
<p>Its usefulness is limited. It doesn’t list 99% for each state. The list is only for each section not the combined score. I looked at my state. They were down in every catagory compared to last year. I am assuming the cutoff will either remain the same or go down.</p>
<p>I continue totally confused about SAT score reporting, though thank you for the good counsel. Can’t wait till FAFSA…</p>
<p>Gwen - If you use score choice (what seiclan described above) you get charged. You get 4 free reports to colleges of your choice when you take the SAT. I did not use the free submits for my oldest because he did well on the ACT. We submitted ACT scores to his schools and then did score choice to send the SAT II scores. I didn’t have S2 put any schools down for his first SAT, but may use Seiclans plan for the next sitting. His current SAT scores are fine for his safeties. It is confusing.</p>
<p>If college’s superscore, then why the reason not to include all scores?</p>
<p>cherryhillmom - the reason not to include all scores is that your child may have a SAT sitting which is lower than all the rest and you wish that no college knew about it. Most times, the kids have a mix (higher one sitting on one test but maybe not improve on a different section) so you want the schools to see every test date. Sometimes one date has a lower score in every section and you just don’t want the colleges to see that. If my son does better in all three sections on the June test, we will opt to not send his January report to his more selective colleges.</p>
<p>On another note. I spoke briefly to one of DS’s friends today who had retaken the ACT (he had taken the December test and had done better on it than his comparable SAT score). The friend told me that he thought that yesterday’s ACT was much tougher than the December ACT. Hoping that my CC friends kids didn’t have the same conclusion. </p>
<p>I am rethinking if I should put my son’s high school code on his SAT admission’s ticket (we had deleted it on purpose because our school puts SAT scores on the transcripts). I learned today that our school only puts the highest scores on the transcipt, not all the scores so I don’t think that there is any problem with them getting his scores. If anything, it may be advantagious. What do you guys think? Should I go back and reput his high school code in so that his school will get his scores in June?</p>
<p>seiclan^ if that’s what his school does, i think you should. i’m doing that for ACT
(i know i’m not a parent, but hey)</p>
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<p>Can anyone confirm if that still is the case if your last test is a SAT II?</p>