<p>OHMomof2, glad you had a good trip. 15 minutes of driving today was more than enough for me but at least it wasn’t snow.</p>
<p>I <em>love</em> Columbia and we’re just an hour’s drive away but I don’t think D is even interested, not that she’d have much of a shot anyway . . . sigh :-(</p>
<p>Seconding the no-meltdown wishes!</p>
<p>OHmom l am glad you made it!. We managed our long trip well too.</p>
<p>Twogirls, I am glad you posted about scores… we thought D was done but her counselor thinks she should take the test again. I think it is silly because chances are against her doing as well the next time!</p>
<p>It’s 11:00 pm and my D has one more math section to do before she is done for the evening ( her idea to do the test now). The only " problem" is that she is running around the house acting goofy with her sister who just got home yesterday. I will not stop them to have her finish her test- it’s way more important to see them laughing and having fun together. </p>
<p>3girls will she be taking the test again or are you still thinking about it?</p>
<p>She thinks she will but I am against it. She only had 2 errors on the section she wants to boost and they were stupid errors. The curve is not forgiving! She says she always makes at least one mistake like that. It just seems excessive to me.</p>
<p>It sounds like she should not re-take if she is only concerned with 2 errors on one section. The GC thinks it’s a good idea? </p>
<p>The tutor told me that he had one kid who got an 800 in CR but he wanted to raise his math score so he took it again. His CR went down to 760 after he took it again ( still amazing). Its really just a matter of one or two questions. </p>
<p>My D made two stupid errors last week on a practice math: 6+3=10 and “11” is an even number. She is not usually that careless, but it happens. Her score was very good despite those two errors but if she did not make them she would have gone up considerably. It was quite shocking to see the difference.</p>
<p>Glad to see that those traveling made it to their destinations safely!</p>
<p>3g3c, my D thought she would definitely retake the SAT until she analyzed her scores and realized, as twogirls has said, that just one or two questions can really change your score. I think it spooked her. 
We’re going to see how she does on the ACT and then she can decide what she wants to do.</p>
<p>OK, here is what spooked her I think. If you go into the analysis portion of the score on CB, you can click links that will help you understand each section more. When we were looking at her writing score, we found this:</p>
<p>Will Retaking the SAT Improve Your Writing Score?</p>
<p>Students who took the SAT for the first time as juniors and got the same writing score you did had a change, on average, of -23 points when they retook the test as seniors:</p>
<pre><code>32 percent scored higher.
62 percent scored lower.
7 percent got the same.
</code></pre>
<p>3g3c, has your daughter looked at that? It may change her mind. Just something to look into.</p>
<p>I am sitting around with nothing to do because my H is out and my kids are at a " Turkey Trot." I suppose I could clean… </p>
<p>Suzy100 is your D taking the December 14 ACT?</p>
<p>My feeling is that by Jan 1 we should have scores from both tests and then we could decide if she should re-take them. If she attains a certain score she may be done after one because it’s just not worth it to keep going. </p>
<p>I thought about UConn honors but I am not sure if the school is too much in the middle of nowhere for my kid. She may need the ability to walk off campus and go to a restaurant etc.</p>
<p>There is no question in my mind that the other sections will go down. But what if the section she wants to boost goes down too?</p>
<p>3girls is she applying to schools that super score? If yes, and if you are not seeking merit, then I suppose there is no harm in re-taking. </p>
<p>If the schools do not super score I would think about it carefully. Also in terms of merit- does the school super score or are they looking at one complete test? Is she taking the ACT?</p>
<p>Oops I am on my phone and my reply ended up in a weird place.<br>
I think it is entirely likely rhat a retake would result in the other sections going down. But what if rhe section she wants to boost also goes down or even stays the same? Isn’t that worse?</p>
<p>Oh and she made the same number of errors on two sections with a 70 point differential between the two. Yeesh.</p>
<p>Yes that’s what I mean when I say that 2 dumb mistakes can cost 70 points. At that level it’s really based on your level of alertness, the environment, the particular test- let’s face the fact that one test can have one or two more vocabulary words that you just happen to know. My D took a math practice test and on this particular test she knew the answers to two questions just because of her physics class. No guarantee that will happen again. </p>
<p>I suspect that after two tests the scores pretty much stabilize. There are always exceptions.</p>
<p>*Oh and she made the same number of errors on two sections with a 70 point differential between the two. Yeesh. *</p>
<p>Same with my D. It’s crazy.</p>
<p>twogirls, she is taking the ACT in February. Once we see those scores, we will figure out where to go from there. I’m hoping she knocks that one out of the park so she can use that score and not bother with SAT subject tests and be done!</p>
<p>Mine is taking the Dec ACT but is also signed up for Feb because it is not offered in NYS and I did not want her to be closed out. If she gets a certain score then I will not make her re-take and I will consider it a donation. </p>
<p>She is taking the SAT next weekend and I also signed her up for Jan 25. The reason why I signed her up is because the last day to sign up is the day before the SAT scores come out and once again I did not want to be closed out of a testing center. She wants to do all the testing now because she is in the groove now. </p>
<p>If we decide that she is one and done then I will call CB and ask about transferring the Jan test to June and she will take a third subject test. They will charge a fee but I think it’s cheaper than losing the Jan money and then signing on again in June.</p>
<p>Suzy - the stats part of CB that tell you the percentage of kids improving is EXACTLY why my d13 did not retake. She was one and done. You have to be careful if your kid scores high ( I would say 33 and above or 2100 or above) to not have them get down on themselves if they score lower. You don’t want them to think the first one was a fluke. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>I agree. Also on the SAT keep in mind that a lot of schools disregard the writing section entirely, so if that is the weak spot I wouldn’t worry about it.</p>
<p>My D12 took the ACT twice and went up 4 points the second time, but she had a lower starting point so going up was easier. Once you begin with a high score it is harder to improve.</p>
<p>Exactly- not all 2100 test scores are created equal, especially for merit. A 1450 cr/m and a 700 W is better than a 780 W and a 1370 cr/m although I feel the need to stress that both scenarios are good.</p>
<p>Ohmomof2, SO glad you made it safely! My elevator avoiding D would not appreciate that view at Columbia in quite the same way. 
Since it’s just a 6% admit, maybe she can pick out things she liked about the school that might exist in others if she is looking for it.</p>
<p>Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah everyone!</p>