@TateSpielberg around here most kids take their SAT in 11th grade, usually the only ones taking the SAT in Oct or Nov of 12th grade are the kids trying to improve their scores from 11th grade or the kids that were only going to take the ACT until they learned that they were NMSF and needed the SAT. As much as I dislike giving money to the College Board I really don’t think the testing dates are “rigged”
@3scoutsmom regardless of when SATS were begun, I was responding to ballerinas post about judging the October scores in order to take the next test in Nov which the system doesn’t allow. That’s all.
@TateSpielberg The score release date for the October 3, test is October 22nd, which is a week earlier than last year. Did you mean registration for November (October 9) is before the score release date? We aren’t playing either, just one more SAT test date and let the chips fall where they may. I wish Colllegeboard would give a test in late August or early September so kids could study over summer and be done at the beginning of the school year.
@AsleepAtTheWheel, you (and several others) once said that students should try to be done with all SAT’s by the beginning of Senior year, all my seniors agree and I tell all my underclassmen that? Just to let you know that the sage advice is being spread.
@Mom2jl and @Ballerina2016 congrats to your kids.
@Mysonsdad yes I suppose that’s what is decyphered–about taking the Nov test. But I was under the impression that the scores don’t come out for 5-6 weeks making it impossible to know until after the next actual test date a month later. I hadn’t read that Oct 22 date.,is that universal for an Oct 3 test date?
I’ve discouraged our son from retaking the SAT this fall. His scores are enough to get him in anywhere he’d want to go with merit aid. A higher score would just make the contrast between SATs and GPA that much more stark.
This whole applying to a specific college within a school thing is hard. DS wants to do computer science, which at some schools is in the engineering school. But apart from that, he has no interest in engineering, which means if he changes majors he’ll have to change specific colleges. Just another thing to add to the decision tree list if he’s lucky enough to have options next April.
@TateSpielberg, From what I have read, yes that is the universal date. In my years of dealing with CB I have never seen separate release dates for the reasoning test and subject tests. If you go back and read through this thread over the past three years you will see many of us are frustrated with collegeboard.
Regarding SAT. I fully agree that testing should be done end of Junior year. These kids have way too much to do the beginning of senior year to worry about this stuff. That said, my D will be taking subject tests in October… and praying for good scores.
SAT registration for the US November test.
Regular registration is October 9th.
Late registration (with a very hefty fee – I speak from experience here) is October 27 if you call or register online.
@Almondjoy1 I have a similar situation. My D is interested in a few sections of Engineering and comp sci. She can’t seem to narrow it down. Some of her schools make it very hard to switch from one to the other because they are in different ‘schools’. I am trying to convince her to go to a school where she is accepted to the whole school and can move around all she wants. Personally, I changed my major junior year (yes, it added a semester to my schedule). I started school a year later than she will. How can I expect her to be sure about something I wasn’t comfortable with until 4 years later? My husband picked his major because it was one of the hardest in his college. He hasn’t worked a single day in that field. You never know where these kids are going to go once they learn to fly. I just want to make sure they have all the options available to then when they’re ready.
I’m going to open a new can of worms. What do you guys think of the USNWR rankings? Did they make you look at schools you hadn’t considered? Change your mind about some schools? I’m just curious. There seems to be a lot of chit chat about schools that went down in the rankings a few points. Some people put tons of stock into these things. I was just wondering what your take was on it. Feel free to chime in.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges?int=b25b09
@MuggleMom I read the new ranking and it does not change anything regarding college application.
@mugglemom It is not going to change our list. I did think a few were surprising. I seen a new list yesterday by Princeton Review that made me ponder our list - not sure anything will change, but I like it. It is the colleges that create futures. Some of her colleges are on there. http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/colleges-that-create-futures (have to log in or sign up).
I did see the ratings. Most of the schools DS16 is applying to are different than many of the students on CC,( all instate, no Ivies) It was very nice to see that our instate options were ranked fairly high and that some of our LACs in our state were ranked comprable to many of the LACs that are mentioned in the Midwest and Northeast. I don’t put a lot of emphasis on rankings, but it was nice to know that our choices ranked well
Thanks @Sophmore1 . That was an interesting list. There were a few surprises. Thanks for passing it along.
I actually paid for a USNWR subscription, last summer - looked through it once or twice, then; and haven’t looked at it since last fall. As far as I know, my D is not even aware of the USNWR rankings.
I mainly used the site to discover schools we didn’t know about before.
As far as reputation goes - We know, personally, alumni from three of the schools she’s applying to, and heard about their experiences with those schools. And I know where those people all work now, and how they’ve fared in life… They seem to have done alright, so…
All of D’s schools on her final list are what they call “second-tier” (and maybe even “third-tier”?) public universities. The LACs in the maybe pile are also accordingly ranked, I’m sure…
I don’t see how comparing their USNWR ranking to other schools is going to help her with anything at this point, except to deflate her self-esteem. It’s not like she has the stats to get into the top 50 - and if she does, we’d likely be full-pay. The rankings may be more useful for the top schools, I don’t know…
For my D’s purposes, however, USNWR rankings were not necessary to consider.
Hopefully, her future employers will think the same…
@BeeDAre I often wonder if those rankings are there just to make people feel bad. There are thousands of school in the US and each one has its niche and its own personality. Schools can ‘play’ the rankings game. Look at Northeastern. While at an info session they discussed this. They have clearly played the game and are doing great. They improve on what the rankings are looking for and their ranking goes up. Its costly, but the value to a college of a higher ranking is worth that many times over. Yet, that doesn’t necessarily mean the quality of the education has improved. I know quite a few NEU current students and alum and they all love their school and are happy with what they learned. Have the ones that are there when the rankings are higher getting a better education than the ones that graduated when the rankings were lower? I doubt it. All got jobs in their majors that they felt prepared for. For these people it was a great fit and no one felt that their education was in any way compromised. In the end, I think that’s what really matters.
@Mom2jl @Ballerina2016 How exciting, Congratulations to your daughters!
My DS and I just got back from our California college trip. Another successful trip with 2 schools on the list and 2 schools off. His list is down to 10 schools with another 3 as possibles. Two non-common app applications are in, his common app is done, transcript, recommendation requests and ACT scores are all in–but he is struggling with the common app essay. He is really stuck trying to figure out what to write about.
Anyone have any ideas or resources that I can suggest to him. He spoke with his English teacher who read his first draft and gave some recommendations but I don’t think it helped much. In trying to brainstorm with him he doesn’t feel he has had any life changing events or had any monumental revelations about himself that would be strong enough a topic for his highly selective schools.
I have a question on NMSF process. Will only the first choice school be notified that they are in fact a first choice? Will schools that do not offer anything to NMF also have this list?
@collegemom2boys a book that helped my son when he was stuck was “on writing the college application essay” by Bauld. It was fairly funny and short. I also tried just having him write about anything - things that irritated him or made him laugh just to get past the angst and uptightness he seemed to feel about sending off his thoughts to a room of people he never met so that they can decide whether he is worthy. Once he had written for a while on various topics with no intention of polishing to submit anywhere he seemed to be able to finally settle down and produce an essay. That said, my daughter has yet to write a singel college essay. She now has so much homework I am wondering how she will get everything in on time.
On the subject of the rankings, my DD is also not applying to ivies and the like. Her major is only offered by large land grant type schools so no high USNWR ranked schools on her list list of one school or my list of 4 schools. I try to avoid looking at the rankings but they draw my attention like a car accident.
S is applying to a couple of schools on the USNWR list. I don’t know where they were ranked last year so I don’t know if this year is an improvement or a fall. He’s happy with his list, so if someplace is at 2 or 22 is all the same to him. Well, except that rising in the rankings might mean more people competing for the same number of spaces, which would kind of bite…
My understanding is that when specific schools move up a rankings list (like USNWR or Forbes) the biggest effect is not an increase in applications, but an increase in yield. More kids who get accepted choose to go to a school that they now perceive as more prestigious.
But given that a move upward may result in more applications I’m hoping my kid’s schools go down, not up, in rank.