<p>This chem teacher is an anomaly and a strange guy but it’s still inexcusable. Teachers should be encouraging students to seek help! At the big sisters’ school, the head of school used to say that the most successful students at the school were the ones who sought the most help. Youngest D’s math teacher used to run a weekly meeting for all who were interested and every other teacher was available either during a free period, during a lunch period or after school. Physics extra help was a popular meeting because even when there were no questions the teacher was helpful and interesting. There’s also peer tutoring available in all subjects and a math and writing center. I think the problem is that a stray personality crops up from time to time.</p>
<p>We are very fortunate to have teachers who are very generous with their time as well. They have extra help before ( 6:30 am) and after school and my daughter takes full advantage of this. She goes all the time to show outlines, papers, lab reports and simply to ask a question.</p>
<p>Hi, I’ve been lurking a bit and can see there’s a lot of good information here. I have a question for twogirls or anyone else who’s used a private ACT/SAT tutor. Is it better than doing the commercial prep course, and how did you find the tutor? I have a jr d whose math scores on the practice tests (and on last year’s PLAN and PSAT) are really low compared to her other scores. She did math tutoring 2x/wk over the summer, but her scores haven’t improved much. Math isn’t her strength, but the biggest problem is that she can’t finish the math sections in the allotted time. The math tutors haven’t been able to help with that.</p>
<p>Hi and welcome KAMom! My eldest was like yours in that math did not come as easily to her as the verbal parts of the SAT. What she found was that the single thing that helped to increase her speed and results was practice. Tutoring can be helpful if there are concepts or tricks to learn but beyond that it really comes down to taking practice tests under test conditions and checking the answers to see what went wrong. Does she find a difference between the ACT and the SAT? My D1 found there was a dramatic difference between the two tests with the ACT being much higher than the SAT.</p>
<p>Shoboemom, count us in on the anti-crowd group. We went to an open house and info session/tour at Swarthmore years ago and it was so crowded with so little available parking that I turned to the girls and said, “you’re not going to this school.” OK, that was a bit of an extreme reaction but at the moment all I wanted was to escape. I don’t think I’d go to a crowded college fair. I’ve never been to one so I can’t say whether they are worthwhile though. </p>
<p>I am considering the regional open houses for specific schools. I’ll let you know if they seem good even if crowded. If the regional rep is giving a presentation to everyone at once then at least there’s the possibility of getting a good first glimpse of the place and seeing if it’s a place to pursue.</p>
<p>Hi KAMmom- welcome!! We found our tutors ( one for math and one for CR/ writing ) through word of mouth. They are very popular in our community. Many people also use classes given through the school, and some go to a tutoring center.</p>
<p>We used these tutors with my older one for two reasons: we needed flexibility because of sports, and I was not sure if my kid would focus during a three hour class given through the school. The tutoring center that is popular here did not work for our schedule- we wanted Sunday and they were closed. My daughter did much better on the ACT and ultimately scored 7 points higher than on her PLAN. I think the tutor was worth it, although my daughter did not study as much as she should have. She went up four points from ACT #1 to ACT # 2.</p>
<p>We are using the same two tutors with my junior. I asked about the classes and was told that they are geared towards the " average" student. If you are above or below average you might not get as much out of these classes. The tutor told me this and I tend to agree with him, despite the fact that I realize he works privately. It makes sense to me that these classes would have to cater to " average" students and " teach to the middle." </p>
<p>So far my daughter has had two sessions with each tutor, and things are going well. Each one gave her a baseline SAT section. She gets homework to do and vocabulary to study. I think she is learning some techniques, but things just started. The math tutor told me that she does not need a math tutor for the ACT- he will tell her how to self study. He is focusing on the math for the SAT. Next week I will ask him about self studying for the math ACT. The CR/writing tutor is really emphasizing vocabulary because as he puts it, " even kids accepted to Harvard need work on vocabulary." While my older kid clearly did better on the ACT, I think this one will do about the same on both. Some people in my town get a tutor specifically for the science part of the ACT, but my daughter did well on the PLAN and the current tutor can do it with her.</p>
<p>Thanks, 3girls! She took 4 practice ACTs over the summer (including going over the answers) and didn’t really improve on the math, which was disappointing. The biggest problem is that she isn’t fast enough, so she doesn’t get to the last 8 to 10 questions. Ir she rushes to get through the whole thing, her accuracy goes down and she ends up with a worse score than if she just guesses on the last questions. Her math scores on the PSAT were worse than on the ACT, and ACT math counts only 25%, so I’ve been thinking we should maybe focus on the ACT instead of the SAT. I’m hoping the tutoring will help her learn some speed tricks that can help, but not sure whether to go with the regular class or hire someone separately.</p>
<p>Thanks, twogirls–that is very helpful. I will ask around. We are going to start working with a private counselor, so she may know someone. I can see how the classes would be geared to the average, so maybe she would get more out of someone focusing on her specific problem. I am hoping there are some speed tricks that someone can show d to help her get faster on the math. Very encouraging to hear that your d improved so much with the tutor!</p>
<p>I assume that the tutor helped because like I said, her independent studying was minimal. Would she have gotten the same score increase had she gone to the class instead? Who knows… I like the fact that a private tutor can tweak things and make them specific to your kid. KAM did your daughter take a practice SAT as a comparison? I am sorry if this was already mentioned.</p>
<p>She hasn’t taken a practice SAT yet, but her math score on the PSAT was worse than on the PLAN test last year. I’m going to ask her to do some practice SATs before the PSAT next month and then see what her math score looks like on that. But my sense is she will do better on the ACT overall since the math counts for less. She has read the red book sections and done 4 practice ACTs, and her school is doing a practice ACT for juniors in about ten days. She also did math tutoring over the summer, but it didn’t help with the testing (although I think it will help with class this year).</p>
<p>It sounds like you need to pick the ACT and just focus on that, but I would also take one practice SAT just to be certain. I would get hold of as many ACT practice tests as possible and keep practicing. Make sure she reviews all of her answers and understands why they are right and why they are wrong. Remember she can take the actual test more than once, although the ACT is not super scored.</p>
<p>That makes sense–I will make sure she practices whether she takes the class or does a tutor. She is not in precalc this year (Algebra II), so I’ve been thinking that waiting until later in the year for the ACT might be a good strategy too. She didn’t have a great math teacher last year, but the one she has this year is supposed to be very good, and d has decided to take honors math, for better or worse. So maybe giving her more time to work on Algebra II will work too. Anyway, thanks for the help!</p>
<p>My D scored a 31 ACT composite sophomore year, but will not mention her SAT as I do not wish to embarrass her–grin. She plans to sit the ACT again this school year. I cobbled together the following actual ACT tests. We plan to begin with the older ACT books listed, then move on to the practice tests that the ACT gives free to students, then the current ACT book of 5 released tests. We also did the answer/question service the past 2 years and have those administered tests and answers as well.</p>
<p>For the ACT, many state the Princeton Review book is pretty close. </p>
<p>Here yuh go:</p>
<p>ACT official Practice books oldest to newest:</p>
<p>[The</a> Real ACT, 3rd Edition (Real ACT Prep Guide): Inc. ACT: 9780768934328: Amazon.com: Books<a href=“DO%20NOT%20buy%20the%202nd%20edition%20as%20it%20is%20the%20same%20as%20this%20one%20with%202%20fewer%20tests.”>/url</a> </p>
<p>PDFs of official ACT Tests–keep in mind, ACT only releases a new test booklet every other year; thus, many of these may be duplicates of the same test. I’m thinking the list below only consists of 4 different tests. If I recall correctly 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 are identical:</p>
<p>twogirls - D is taking one this coming Saturday. She finished her last practice test yesterday and I think she is ready to give it a shot. I am just glad she is taking it before her school work gets crazy. </p>
<p>BHM - thanks for the links. As you noted, RB 3rd edition has the same tests as in RB 2nd edition. </p>
<p>KAMmom - 3girls post 4544 is what I recommend - practice, practice, and more practice. I also recommend tracking your D’s practice test results - correct/wrong (simple errors vs. really don’t know) to better understand what problems your D is having. Make sure to have her redo the problems she is unsure of (even the ones she “guessed” correct but really doesn’t get the concept), and the wrongs. Good luck.</p>
<p>Wow BunHeadMom, that is a fantastic list. Thank you!!</p>
<p>Our weekend at Villanova was very successful. A girl from our town is a freshman there and we brought her a care package from her mom and she and a friend gave us an informal freshmen tour on Saturday. I say freshmen tour bc these two girls were bubbly, excited, full of energy and hilarious!! They were not your normal trained tour guides and it was so much better that way. We got to see the freshmen dorms on south campus including the bathroom and the dining hall just opened for dinner. They showed us where the central mail room was for all of campus. They called their friend in another dorm with a different layout and we got to see that room too. They knocked on every door on their floor and all the girls came out to talk to my D. If you can do a tour that way I would highly recommend it!!</p>
<p>Sunday we attended the business school open house. It was very informative and since H and I were business majors, we liked what we saw very much. We heard presentations by the Business School Dean, the assistant Dean and a Study Abroad person. Each freshman is required to take a Business Dynamics course which covers each area/major and gives them an overview of what each one is about so they can see what they like early, before they have to declare a major. They spoke about a selective study abroad program for 2nd semester freshman year. They had a sophomore girl speak who had been to Singapore with that program. They had a senior guy speak about his internships and said he and his friends already had job offers for after graduation. Both students were poised and impressive in front of such a large group of people. The admissions and financial aid people gave presentations also. After that they broke the group up for tours. We had seen a lot already but a 2nd look around campus made us feel like we knew the place already. The official tour showed a sophomore dorm which is on main campus and was much bigger than the freshman dorm we saw. After that they had an info session at the business school with students from each major. We chatted with a few kids who explained what their experiences have been.</p>
<p>What we observed during the weekend…everyone there is very very nice! It’s hard to explain but I’ve never seen so many friendly people. We were walking to the bookstore after the open house and this girl walking on the path said “oh are you here for a tour? You should come here…” and she chatted with us the whole way to the bookstore. When we first got to the building for the open house, H took a different path into the student center and we were trying to get his attention and this guy stopped and asked us if we needed help. Sooo friendly!!!</p>
<p>If you are looking for diversity this is probably not the place. What I observed from the HS kids at the open house and the students on campus…I didn’t see any boys with long hair or earrings. I didn’t see any tattoos and I didn’t see any girls with nose studs or even cartilage piercings. It was extremely clean cut and boy did that make my H happy!! D is ok with that bc she is a pretty clean cut kid herself. Someone on this board asked me to find out if most kids were from suburban Catholic schools…I asked a couple of people and they said there are city kids and the majority are public school kids. These are not official stats but just observations from students there. Oh and the freshmen girls also showed us the dorm where the girl died last month…clean cut but just as much trouble as anywhere else :(.</p>
<p>The Pros in no particular order:
– D felt very comfortable there and felt like she could fit in. She felt that from the moment we stepped on campus in July which is why we took her back for the open house.
– This is a great match school for her. No official test scores yet but she should get in.
– It’s only 2 1/2 to 3 hours from home.
– There is a train on campus that goes into Philly. The freshmen said they used it a few times already.
– There is a bus that goes to a beautiful mall.
– There are delivery places that take the meal plan card.
– The food we saw in the dining hall looked and smelled pretty good!!
– The business school is highly ranked, their starting salary and employment stats were very good. They spoke about parents’ return on investment.
– Villanova basketball covers the ESPN requirement lol.
– Lots and lots of club sports and intramurals. In the 2 days this weekend we saw a guys ultimate frisbee practice, a co-ed flag football game and a girls flag football game. Plus kids playing KanJam outside.
– The official tour guide told us the top floors of the library are for serious studying, like don’t sneeze or cough up there. There was also a great lounge in the dorm on south that can be used for studying.
–They have a tech center where you can go if your computer/electronics break.
– The campus is really beautiful and like I said, the people are so nice!!</p>
<p>The Cons:
– The freshmen dorm rooms are tiny. The ceilings are very low which gives it a boxed-in type of feel. D was not bothered by it so this is my Con only. The girl from our town told us she had 50 pairs of shoes in that room so they make it work.
– H is a Georgetown guy so the basketball rivalry could get heated. He says he’s ok with her going to Villanova though. He told all 3 kids he will not pay tuition for Syracuse. I don’t think he’s kidding :o.</p>
<p>So that’s our review. We really enjoyed it. S18 kept getting treated like he was a prospective student. He may be 13 but he’s almost 6 feet tall so that was funny. S20 got bored with so much walking and was walking on the sides of his feet and fell and cut up his knee. So we’ve already bled at Villanova…it felt like home lol!!!</p>
<p>I am trying to sign D up for the ACT and am being asking a bazillion questions about courses she has taken, grades, etc. It seems like this is mandatory. Is that the case? I’m hoping I’m missing a way to skip this. It’s way too much info I think just to get her signed up for a test.</p>
<p>Bunheadmom, Thank you so much for posting that info! I copy/pasted it and emailed it to myself and to my D…so she can roll her eyes at me. lol But I will still have it if/when she is ready to study.</p>
<p>OK, ignore my post about the ACT. I just winged it.</p>
<p>keepmecruisin, thanks so much for the detailed report on the Villanova visit. It’s on the list! </p>
<p>Also, just an update - I’ve got a meeting set with D’s counselor on Wednesday to discuss a range of issues, including the difficult English teacher. We’ll see what she says. Thanks for all of the support here - it’s very helpful just to know I’m not crazy.</p>
<p>suzy - I think D signed up without filling out the profile info but I don’t know how to do it. ACT sent her a reminder to fill out the profile info last week saying colleges “Colleges and scholarship organizations rely on the information you provide to help them make decisions about student preparedness, admissions, and financial aid. We strongly encourage you to provide as much information as possible.”</p>