<p>3girls3cats – I have no firsthand knowledge of what schools outside our district report on their transcripts. Judging from what I read on CC, it seems to vary a lot!</p>
<p>Apollo6 – do you have a Trader Joe’s near you? Their peanut butter cups come in both dark and milk chocolate, and are way better than Reese’s. </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a risk to take a test and score badly. You can always retake. I doubt that even schools that want to see all scores would disqualify a kid for a single bad score, provided that it’s followed by a better score. I bet they just assume that the kid had one bad day (perhaps due to illness or test-day distraction). I think the kids that get disqualified are the ones with a weak GPA, a low SAT, and then an incongruously high SAT – that sort of thing might raise suspicion there was some sort of cheating or impropriety.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if a kid really isn’t prepared – and will be better prepared later – then it’s a waste of time to sit the test. Better to reschedule (you get a small credit toward a future test date) and take the test when truly ready.</p>
<p>I hope all parents of kids about to take the SAT tomorrow are either relaxing with a glass of wine or booking massage appointments for tomorrow morning. Good luck to the kids! Try not to stress over it because even with schools that require all tests, they really won’t hold a low score against them if there are better ones in the mix.</p>
<p>Mittentigger, the essay is the sticking point for my D too. I’m sure your daughter will be fine as long as she remembers to keep it clear and simple. Mine makes it into more than it is.</p>
<p>So I woke up and my daughter says to me " ignore the text message that I sent you." Ok… I looked at my phone and the text says " I am hysterically crying. I lost my English notes and we have a test Monday." Ok… This is taking place at 7:00 am. The text was sent at midnight. Good morning to me!!</p>
<p>Turns out she probably left her English folder in one of her classes. Not that big a deal because she can get the notes from her friend in the class and she also emailed the teacher asking her to please put the notes up. Her teacher always responds. The biggest issue is that she lost all of her notes since school started. Ugh- but at least she can get the notes needed for the test and eventually get the remaining handouts. Most of the previous work was review. </p>
<p>She is actually not upset now- weird - I guess her meltdown occurred while I was sleeping!! She just told me that there is a positive to this happening. Her folder was a mess and now she can start fresh with a binder. </p>
<p>Yesterday I asked her if she would be completing her SAT work on Sunday, and I mentioned that starting next week she will do one ACT section each weekend. Well her response was… I don’t know when I am doing my SAT work. Maybe I will set my alarm for 3 am because that is the only time I have, I have way too much to do this weekend blah blah blah… She said this in her shrieking voice that goes about 100 MPH while she is scurrying about the kitchen with her arms flying. Then she calmed down and said she will do the work Sunday. </p>
<p>She just said she is happy that she chose AP physics because " the class helps with tests that are 3 or more letters ( ie SATetc) and teaches you problem solving." Ok… One minute she seems mature while the next minute she is crying and flinging her arms. It’s like a minefield in my house.</p>
<p>Sending out good thoughts right now to the kids taking the SAT - including my own! </p>
<p>D was super crabby this morning. I tried to coax her out of it a bit but was not all that successful. It does not bode well, but nothing to be done.</p>
<p>I WISH that I had bought pre-sharpened pencils! The ones I bought (and sharpened this morning) were crummy, lead kept breaking off, etc. Hopefully they will let her use the mechanical ones she also packed. </p>
<p>Suzy good luck to you and your daughter!! The best thing to do is to just tell them to do their best and remind them that this test is not a big deal ( LoL). They can take it again if necessary, and colleges look at the whole package.</p>
<p>So my SIL just pointed out her kid to me on Naviance. I figured it was him because everyone knew his GPA ( another ugh). He graduated from our HS very recently and was in the top 2%. He got just over a 2000 on the SAT and a 35 on the ACT. Perfect example as to how kids can do better on one test than on another. He started the testing in December and got his 35 in June as a last minute decision to take it one more time. Got into some very high level schools with merit money.</p>
<p>Good luck to everybody today and remember that it’s just one test. </p>
<p>The SAT tutor ( English) told me this week that in his 11 years of tutoring kids in NY and NJ, his experience is that kids in the top 2% taking the SAT for the very first time do not quite break through the 700 mark. Scores are typically 650 to just under 700 for first time takers. He has a friend who also tutors and reports the same. The tutor told me that these kids generally get into the 700’s when they take the test a second time. He also said that there will always be exceptions to this observation. This guy is very much in demand throughout the NY and NJ area and he gets booked 6 months in advance ( crazy crazy). </p>
<p>So to all you test takers out there- Good Luck!! Do not look at these perfect scores that some on CC report for the first time and think this is " normal." !!! Everybody will be fine.</p>
<p>The math tutor told me yesterday that the SAT math is trickier and the ACT is more straight forward. I know I am repeating myself LOL - that’s what happens at my age!</p>
<p>Mine is off sitting the SAT too. She seemed fine. We laugh, my eldest read somewhere that many of the kids that scored 2400 on the SAT ate fish the night before. So, our routine now ( tongue in cheek) is that d2 eats fish the night before a big test. Last night we ate sushi, wonder if fried shrimp counts? She had a couple of boiled eggs for protein this morning and packed some peanut butter and apples for a snack.</p>
<p>I think she is looking forward to seeing how she scores after completing a SAT prep class. I was reminding her to take extra batteries etc, she already had everything covered. She had an extra class on Wed and they went over the practicalities of the test. </p>
<p>Hope the kiddos heading to homecoming dances have fun. Our kids get together pre dinner at " picture parties". Both H and I commented on the difference on the boys from last year. They were so comfortable around their " dates" The guys were checking in with the girls if they needed water etc. Many drove their dates. It is fun to watch this group grow up. The awkward kids from last year are now young men. Softball girl has many cute " guy friends".</p>
<p>Interesting Sally. I think I will bring in sushi for dinner before the PSAT and we will eat it while I throw vocabulary words at her. The night before the PSAT she has her game, followed by the tutor, followed by a FB game. I guess we will eat sushi at 9:00 and I will just rattle off words while she chews ( we will be careful of loud chewing). It will be a very pleasant evening…</p>
<p>Thanks Sally for the excuse to have sushi night! </p>
<p>D’s taking the ACT later this month and the November SAT the following weekend. Never mind breaking 700, I just want her to reach 650 in math - that would be fantastic for D. I never knew people could be so lopsided with CR being higher than Math, but I’m Chinese (and my father was a mathematician).</p>
<p>D picked colleges based on her current SAT/ACT scores (she took them in June with little studying) and grades, so improved scores would obviously be better but the big pressure is off. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. She is motivated by ego (“I thought I would do a lot better than this” ) to improve but not by college selection. </p>
<p>She has friends who are borderline panicking because if they don’t get higher scores, they are shut out of their dream schools. I wanted to avoid that pressure situation with D.</p>
<p>D prefers the ACT. More straightforward. Fewer if any trick questions. One test and you’re done with the subject. The science portion tested graph and chart reading ability with logic thrown in. The actual topic of the problem was irrelevant.</p>
<p>I suspect mine will do better on the ACT. She has no dream school ( thankfully) and I am really not making an issue out of her scores because whatever it is, it is. My goal is to keep her emotionally balanced throughout this year. Many kids want to apply to reach schools and frantically wait for scores to come in. I prefer the reverse- wait for scores to come in and then decide where to apply.</p>
<p>I haven’t even introduced the idea of the ACT to my D. If there were no essay on the ACT that would be a different matter. It does vary from kid to kid. It was a much better test for my eldest though and pretty neutral for my middle D. </p>
<p>Slackermom, my eldest was having difficulty with the SAT math but had two perfect verbal scores. I had her take the ACT and she got a 35 on math without preparation. </p>
<p>Sally, I used to love those picture parties. Some parents had bountiful spreads for parents and kids and it was fun to watch the kids. I will take any excuse at all for sushi night! Yum.</p>
<p>Suzy, crabby is normal especially when it means waking up early for a 4 hour long test. It doesn’t mean anything for the test. I’m sure I’d be really crabby too.</p>
<p>Ok this time there was no accident. She came out of test looking happy. She has seen many seniors taking multiple SAT subjects. Hopefully she’ll take SAT II in December. Our local high schools don’t give SATs in November because of homecoming. We don’t feel like going to a different place to do it. So it’ll be December.</p>
<p>@herandhis, that’s great! I think being able to move forward and still do well after one fall is actually a great skill to have and gain from these tests. </p>
<p>My D. said right before they got into the test, one girl asked a history question and a group of them reviewed what they learned in AP last year. Among them she was the only one who was going to take the history test. When she got the test, that question was on the test!</p>
<p>Talked to son in UK. DS15 said there were a couple tough math questions and he was running out of time on the essay but other than that it went well. He had his first test in HL math and said he was only able to figure out 1 1/2 of the 6 questions. He thinks the teacher deliberately chose the hardest questions to weed out students and encourage them to go down to SL math. I’m feeling resentful because this kid likes math but has never had a good math teacher so he is less prepared for this course than other students. He was a kid who read speed limit signs from his toddler car seat and admonished me for speeding. He could tell how many minutes he’d have to wait until an anticipated activity at 4 and entered k understanding square roots. But he had to teach himself math through precal because he never had a good teacher. It makes me mad and sad.</p>
<p>D2 is home from the SAT and feels pretty good about it. She’s hopeful that she improved her score at least somewhat, but we’re just happy that she’s feeling positive about the whole thing. The 2 1/2 week wait for scores won’t be as painful as the upcoming 2 month wait for PSAT scores, but unfortunately these are the necessary evils of the college process. Hope everyone else’s experiences today are mostly positive…or better!! :)</p>
<p>Softball girl was happy too! She said it wasn’t as tiring as before, and she really got into her grove as the test progressed… she is now fast asleep on the couch!</p>
<p>Region play offs start Monday. They are ranked #1. If they win all games we should be done by Wed. If they lose we will have to play games on Thursday. It’s gonna be a long weeeeeek! State play offs are the following week, we are guaranteed a slot in the first round. Goal is to progress to the 2nd round, we’ll see.</p>
<p>D2 made the same comment about not feeling so “wrung out” this time. I wonder if it’s a function of familiarity maybe lessening the stress of the whole thing a little. In any case…we’ll take the good mood and run with it!!</p>
<p>Sally22…GL to your D in the upcoming playoffs!!</p>
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