<p>You’re living the dream, IJD. What did D do to prepare?</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter IJustDrive… My DS is taking it on Saturday… he would LOVE to have good luck and be done too. I’m a little nervous and curious to see how he will do. He has taken it before in 7th and 8th grade so he is not nervous at all. I kind of wish he had his PSAT scores back so we would have a little bit of an idea, but oh well… here goes nothing!!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter, Ijustdrive. I am very envious! I am quite sure that my son will not be done until June. I believe that my son’s PSAT scores will clearly show prove to him that he should in fact, study for the SAT.</p>
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<p>What every parent on this thread wishes/hopes for. Congrats, IJD!</p>
<p>I just had a heart to heart talk with D2’s college counselor…It went like this, “If D2 doesn’t get over score XXX this Sat, I am not paying your fee.” I figured if D2 is stressed out, then someone else needs to be stressed too.</p>
<p>Seriously, good luck to every kid who is taking SAT this Sat. Congratulations to every family (notice I didn’t say kid) who is happy with their kid’s score.</p>
<p>The good news is D2 could take the test at her school, not 6 hours away (we pleaded and begged the test lady). After this weekend, we are going home (US) to visit family and friends, then it’s Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I’ve been stressing over the scores not showing up. It’s nice to have that worry over with. </p>
<p>Oldfort, that’s seriously good news about your D getting to test at her school. The situation is stressful enough without adding serious travel to the situation. </p>
<p>Good luck to all who are testing this weekend!</p>
<p>Very cool IJD! Now D can make other plans for all those hours she would have had to practice for the 2nd SAT. The gift of time - very cool</p>
<p>PinotNoir - Glad you had a good time at the rally. I watched some of it on TV. It certainly looked like a good time.</p>
<p>My son has not visited any of the reps at school yet, but I also don’t think there has been any of interest to him yet either.</p>
<p>geogirl - What terrific work and dedication by your son!</p>
<p>IJustDrive - Yay on one and done! My son is taking the SAT tomorrow. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be one and done.</p>
<p>What great news, IJD! :)</p>
<p>Congrats everyone who is “one and done.” My D is also taking it tomorrow. Probably not going to be one and done. </p>
<p>My D’s school had a college rep come out from the other coast, too. She didn’t go. She was sure it was for seniors and no way she would mix with seniors at this point.</p>
<p>That’s interesting Igloo. I think that phenomena is very school dependent. My junior son is dating a senior. My DD likes the juniors she knows much more than the sophomores in her own grade. It’s a small school (870 kids?), so there is a lot of mixing. I think it is kind of nice!</p>
<p>IJD - congrats. My son just took the October ACT test. We’re hoping for a great score. But I’m thinking, can you really be one and done with a score from early on in Junior Year? I would think selective colleges would expect a score near the end of Junior year or the beginning of senior year.</p>
<p>Anybody use this strategy successfully - one and done early in Junior year.</p>
<p>Good morning everyone!</p>
<p>geogirl - I’m glad your son had such a great experience, and that he was able to contribute so much! Beyond the front row view of the nitty gritty experience with how democracy works, it’s so good for a kid or teen to work side by side with adults - doing almost anything! It’s so good for development, encouragement, confidence, and motivation to be somewhere where the adults around you are treating you as part of the group. My older son, who is a college freshman now, volunteered full time for an organization he believed in for 4 or 5 summers, and by the end he was really just part of the group, not “the high school kid”. He always had a hard time transitioning in the fall from doing real work that mattered and going out to lunch every day with adults to heading back to school where he had to get a hall pass to use the bathroom.</p>
<p>Good luck to all test takers tomorrow -we’re in that camp! My son is taking the SAT tomorrow, and I’m hoping for one and done. He has set a goal that is pretty high (higher than i think is necessary), so I hope he makes it, because I’d rather he be done with it. He’ll still have the ACT, subject tests, AP tests, etc. to do this year. And I wouldn’t be surprised if our school throws in some standardized testing in the spring as well. He took one practice test at home a month or two ago, and writing was his lowest section. I’ve read that some people think that’s a section where studying can really help, so if he doesn’t score what he wants, I’ll probably pay for a 2nd test as long as he’s actually studied something to actively try to improve his score. I paid for my oldest to retake an AP test, and was kicking myself when he didn’t lift a finger to study for it, and then moved from a 2 to a 3. $86 down the drain!</p>
<p>kleibo - I’m no expert, but i would imagine that colleges don’t really care when a kid takes the test, so i guess if a student is satisfied with his/her score, one and done is fine, no matter when the test is taken.</p>
<p>Selective colleges don’t care when you take the SAT. If you scored a 2400 as a high school freshman you are one and done for any school in the United States.</p>
<p>I see your point on a 2400 hundred score but those are few and far between. I guess it depends on the score that makes the applicant comfortable. I did, though, see this on the Notre Dame site.</p>
<p>“We suggest to our applicants to take the SAT or the ACT test at least twice because we tend to see a jump in the score, especially between the Spring of junior year and the Fall of senior year.”</p>
<p>geogirl, I think it is because seniors are so stressed out about college at this point. I don’t think my D minds mixing with seniors in other settings. She doesn’t want to be the relaxed junior in a college rep meeting.</p>
<p>The tension meter in my household is going up. Hopefully, nothing will explode.</p>
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<p>What in the world has college admissions done to our kids?</p>
<p>When S1 went through the process last year, it had never occurred to us that he should consider taking the ACT in addition to the SAT, even before we received his good PSAT result. I’ve always been living in an SAT dominant area and had, until recently, never considered ACT to be an equivalent alternative. I can’t imagine what the added pressure of preparing and taking the ACT would do to him with his already jam-packed schedule. He was very close to burning out (or may have burned out without us knowing it).</p>
<p>Now that D1 is on deck, we are seriously considering taking the ACT in addition to the SAT, which she will take for the first time in January. I really hope for a good PSAT result in December, because I know she’d be very happy to eliminate one major test from her schedule. It is already hard enough to carve out any time to study for her SAT!</p>
<p>PaperChaserPop - we are in a ACT dominate area. my oldest d was nmf and chose not to take subject tests period. she was more than ready to be done with testing after taking PSAT, SAT, ACT all at least twice throughout high school. interestingly, oldest d did not do any test prep.
with ds, he takes SAT this weekend, then ACT in December. maybe some subject tests next spring, maybe ACT, SAT again. with the second child, i feel like we are a little better prepped for the whole test scheduling scenarios. with oldest d, we were new to all that. i didn’t find CC until summer before d’s senior year.</p>
<p>it’s definitely a plus to get more of the testing done prior to senior year as that senior year is such a busy time for the kids.</p>
<p>One and done is fine if you get the number you want (It does not need tobe a 2400, there are plenty of students admitted to the top schools with SATs below 2300). The SAT is only part of the picture. Colleges do not care when you take it. ND only posts that info about taking the SAT twice because statistically, most kids do better the second time they take it.</p>
<p>I agree it is nice to get as much testing out of the way before senior year as is practical, but every kid is different. Some kids shold wait until fall of senior year (but, not most kids on CC). Senior year is filled with anxiety re college apps anyway. If you can get some testing out of the way. . . great.</p>
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<p>Exactly. I don’t see any added values of the tests (SAT/ACT) to a student’s record. Why don’t colleges put the pressure on themselves to develop their own 30-min supplement tests that students don’t need any preps? Any student who wants to apply to more colleges can take more tests, but with no preparation.</p>
<p>As for this Saturday’s test, my kid wants it to be “one and done”. I’m fine with that and any colleges should be as well, I hope.</p>