<p>Good vibes to all the ACT testers!</p>
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<p>Agreed - 100%</p>
<p>Good luck to all test takers today.</p>
<p>My kid took the car out on free way for the first time last night. It was the longest hour in my life. She’s been driving herself to school more than a month. She loved it and I got used to it. That’s 15 minute away on 35 speed limit road. An hour on 65 mile limit was nerve wrecking. We both survived.</p>
<p>Mihcal1, interesting to see data in support of what I always suspected was a high correlation between studying Latin and high verbal SAT scores. My S takes Latin and Hebrew, another high correlate according to the table.</p>
<p>Interesting story: we went to an high school admissions open house years ago for D and an over-anxious parent asked the school official what kids could do to do well on the SATs (these were parents of 8th graders at the time, mind you.) The official had a good sense of humor and/or a lot of experience with such parents because her answer was: “I recommend two things. One, go to high school (this, said with a smile, got a nice laugh from the audience). And two, in all seriousness, take Latin.”</p>
<p>E–</p>
<p>Collegequery: what quiz did your S take to find out if he would be better on act or sat?? I would like my D to take that. At this point she has 2 more chances in the fall and I really want her to buckle down and focus on one test this summer. </p>
<p>Just spoke with her regarding act and first half of math she “knew everything” and the second part was very hard. Said English was very easy but that she was running out of time for the last prompt and thinks she messed it up. 
that is worrisome because reading comp is supposed to be her savior! Said 75% of science was easy, 25% extremely difficult. And writing was very easy for her. </p>
<p>So, I am going to be like a teenager and predict her scores right now, in writing and see how accurate I am. Reading: 32 English: 32 science: 25 math: 20 writing essay: 4 or 5. Composite: whatever this averages! I was accurate within 50 points of predicting her sat so. We will see about this one. Hopefully the math is at least a 20!</p>
<p>I am getting very obsessive and dreamed we received her sat scores from June and her combined m and r were 823. 
her math had gone up 30 points but English had plummeted. Ok, I would seriously hope she does not get an 823!! And I really hope her math score improved more than 30 points! </p>
<p>Her best friend who also wants to attend osu is in the predicament of lower gpa but 27 act, first try. Her words to D on the phone last night " if I can’t get my score up Ohio state is a big ball of sketch."</p>
<p>I think that pretty much sums it up. A big ball of sketch.</p>
<p>And I just talked to another of D friends today who is a star basketball player and kenyon has been contacting her. She has taken the act twice and received a 22 and 21. She probably has a 3.5 gpa. It makes me sad to know how hard my D is working to get into college, and here her best friend could walk into kenyon because of basketball. And my friend from work, her S is a star swimmer and has been contacted by Denison! He is a typical boy with so so grades. Ugh. This makes me a little sad/anxious. Maybe we should have gone the sports route instead of the dancing. Unfortunately, I really like her to follow her passion, not what gets her into a school. I don’t know if it is my sleep deprivation, or hearing how she struggled with @$$monkey math AGAIN, or watching kids walk into her dream schools without stress, or maybe just a combo of everything. </p>
<p>And included in my dream was a poster on here who ripped me apart over too frequent use of the ellipsis. Sorry for being a post sucker. Dot dot dot.</p>
<p>Igloo: My DD’12 took the Engl. Subject Matter test last Saturday. When she was finished, I gave her a high-five and said, “that is your last standardized test for college application. We should do something to celebrate. What do you want to do?” She looked at me sheepishly and said, “is it too late to go visit USC?” So we drove six hours to L.A. - and she got one hour of highway driving each way! That is her first real highway driving! Oh - and she loved Southern Cal.</p>
<p>Well this is the last ACT test for DS. He said he thinks he only missed 1 or 2 on math, and he ran out of time on reading and science, so he guessed again. Since he feels better about the SAT, this is done. Funny, when he was a sophomore, he felt the SAT was too complex. Oh well, we will find out later this month. I will cancel the score reports to most schools, though. </p>
<p>Now it is off to graduation parties. I just don’t get our town’s tradition of every kid having a huge party throughout the summer. In my day, it was just a quick family party before we all ran off to the gravel pit for the graduation kegger. I have started to plan our party a year in advance. I am not the hostess with the mostess, but DS isn’t taking any of the traditional bribes like a trip somewhere with friends.</p>
<p>Glido, I am so jealous you can get in a car and in 6 hours be in southern California! I have frequent cardiovascular events when she is driving for long distances on the highway without me being there. She is at that overconfident stage. She got her license on her 16th birthday and is always the driver whenever she goes on jaunts with her friends. She even drove to NIAGARA FALLS in December with her then boyfriend for the day. She told me they were going to Cleveland and would text me periodically throughout the day so I just believed her…I just found out about Niagara about a month ago.</p>
<p>Hang in there, I think it gets easier in the sense you recognize they may actually be maturing. Each trip where she returns safely will make it easier, kind of, the next time. I will be thinking of you!</p>
<p>Well D didn’t take the ACT today, she’s sick…I made the decision to let her sleep. Her first try was pretty good (32), if she doesn’t retake it, we will just go with it. She tried to do a couple of practice sections yesterday and it was a mess. I just hope I don’t regret this decision later. But it wasn’t going in a good direction, and she still has a Biology project, English essay and test, and a few other odds and ends to finish up.</p>
<p>Mom2M - sorry to hear that. September is only three months away though.</p>
<p>Mom: a 32 kicks @$$! No worries. Congrats to your brilliant offspring. :)</p>
<p>mspearl, thanks so much, she’s an only child, we have a hard time getting perspective on what’s “good”.</p>
<p>texaspg, she’s perking up a bit, so that’s good…and we may aim for October (Sept is family wedding).</p>
<p>Latin definitely helped with the SAT. I silently thanked my Latin teacher. </p>
<p>I wish they would stress in 9th grade that colleges look at WHAT courses you took instead of GPA alone. </p>
<p>I think standardized tests are bologna, anyway.</p>
<p>D came home from the ACT depressed. She took the ACT once in middle school for talent search and twice in high school. Last time, in spring '09 she scored a 32 composite. She’s been dreaming of getting a 36 composite - something that should be easier for her than a SAT 2400 because she’s more verbal than mathematical. Unfortunately, she just isn’t fast enough. She studied and practiced all week but she still could not not complete all the sections with time to check her answers. I’m predicting a 33 because she said the science was hard and that she didn’t have time to calculate four of the math problems. She’ll be mad if she scores under 34 because her less motivated Irish twin brother walked into the ACT in September without studying and got a 34 composite. (Didn’t do him any good because the only school he wanted to attend didn’t offer him any merit aid so he’s heading to IU in the fall). Hope your kids feel better about their experience and get the scores they need and want.</p>
<p>Mom2: Good call. 32 is a sweet number. There is little to gain by w retake while sick.</p>
<p>Mspearl: Thanks for the good vibes. Our DD is gaining confidence each time she drives, but she is no where near a legit roadtrip without mom or dad navigating. 75 mph on the interstate was a big step.</p>
<p>Paid the first college application fee this morning! $65 to Georgetown with the submission of the prelim. DD downloaded the main app. to take a look at the essays and start thinking about them. OMG - this is getting real!</p>
<p>Thanks to you all for the help on this ride of ours.</p>
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<p>Oh - and I meant to comment earlier CPU - boo hiss to your GC for uselessly bringing that up every time! Wow - how absolutely non productive. </p>
<p>glido - I love that you spontaneously drove the 6 hours to USC! That’s the kind of thing your daughter will think of when people ask what her mom is like!</p>
<p>Mom2 - I agree with everyone else - 32 is a great score on the ACT! Too bad about your D being sick though - I’m sure she expected to bump it up a notch. </p>
<p>Apollo6 - You never know how those scores will turn out - she may be surprised, even with running out of time! I’ll have to ask you how IU is going for your S next year - my son is looking at it seriously. </p>
<p>We are having a nice break in the weather this weekend - it’s been in the 90’s and today reached the high 70’s. I hope it lasts a while!</p>
<p>Mspearl, to be honest, I don’t remember exactly what the quiz was my son took to see whether he’d potentially do better on the SAT or ACT. I think it was possibly a book from our local library, and I just did a catalog search, and found one by Josh Bornstein called ACT or SAT?: Choosing the Right Exam for You. But it might not have been.</p>
<p>I did an internet search and found some hits:
[Test</a> Prep: Choosing the ACT or SAT](<a href=“http://www.petersons.com/college-search/test-prep-act-sat.aspx]Test”>http://www.petersons.com/college-search/test-prep-act-sat.aspx)
[SAT</a> or ACT: Which One to Take | Kaplan Test Prep](<a href=“http://www.kaptest.com/College/Getting-into-College/About-the-Tests/SAT/sat-vs-act.html]SAT”>404 File not Found | Kaplan Test Prep)
[ACT</a> SparkNotes Test Prep: The ACT versus the SAT](<a href=“SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides”>SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides)</p>
<p>Sorry I can’t be more precise. Of course, the “quiz” might say one thing but actual results could vary!</p>
<p>Just signed D up for the October 1 SAT. It will be her second shot. She decided to go for it, although she did not have to. She also is taking a prep course starting in August (again) although not as intense as last years. </p>
<p>Older D is back from UCLA, although for only a week and a half, then off to summer session and Oxford for the second summer session.</p>
<p>Just got back from my niece’s H.S. graduation. It was hard on younger D because she has a week to go in her Jr. year. And it was tough for me because my niece is NOT excited about college. She really does not like where she is going. Classic example of making sure you have enough good choices you can live with… I’m worried.</p>
<p>Hello Everyone,</p>
<p>Wanted to know how do you build a college list. We have not gotten chance to visit any capmpuses yet. With S starting his summer internship the next day after his school ends, we may end up visiting 2 or 3…</p>
<p>S aspires to go to ivys and he is inclined towards some thing to do with biomedical/biophysics/biostatistics/bioXXXX…He has all the big names in his head rightnow. He took SAT (2300 first trial) and ACT (35 composite) and SAT-II (800/800/770). But his GPA is a bit low (~3.7)…</p>
<p>His ECs are mainly towards research and academic competitions where he has gotten to national level (ISEF)</p>
<p>Need some pointers to start building the college list</p>
<p>TIA</p>
<p>YayCO - You may want to start with a safety first.</p>
<p>You find a college that your son can get automatically in with the current stats and has no problem going to. Texas, Florida and California have state schools that accomplish that goal. So if all else fails, that is the choice. This may be more than one college and usually recommended safeties are three at least.</p>
<p>Then you start matches. Using the numbers you have you should aim for SAT numbers of schools that reach over the middle 50% that the schools provide. with a 35 ACT, you should be in that range for most schools outside of top 15 schools. You also need to compare your class rank to make sure it matches the above top 75% number they provide although here you may need to make some assumptions.</p>
<p>All Ivies/top 10-15 schools should be considered a reach. So any applications to them can easily get turned down although based on the numbers, your son may be able to get into non-ivy top 20 schools if his rank is good. The ivies have really been a crapshoot and look for a lot more outside of just numbers.</p>