@labegg love your post! I’m amazed schools do this. Boy have I learned a lot here.
@RoonilWazlib99 - Can you submit a Cal State Apply Application Change Form? D also applied to SLO and as soon as she hit submit she realized she made an error in her CASSID. We submitted the change form and called the SLO admissions office to alert them. They said it would take up to 3 weeks to process and didn’t give any indication there would be a problem amending her app. I know it’s a bit simpler issue than you’re facing, but it’s worth a try.
Good luck. I’m just sick for you. [-O<
People! Have your kids check their portals for missing items esp. when a deadline is looming. D discovered one school with an 11/1 deadline still has not received her transcript although GC insists she sent it 3 weeks ago. I had ordered a few official copies at the start of the school year just in case so we mailed it off ourselves today just to cover our bases. Ugh this process is going to drive me to drink …even more than I already do. LOL.
@1822mom - that IS big news! Congrats on the submission by your D. Now that she’s over the hump, I’m sure the others will fall in line. So exciting!!
@labegg - I’m so intrigued that you’re getting phone calls from schools. That’s so cool. We are definitely not getting any love here!
@veronica02 - it is intriguing what prompts the calls…I was not as surprised about the call from Marquette, the mid sized private, as I am about the call from Texas State, the large public. Frankly, it is the only love we have seen in the whole process, lol.
@Veronica02 - Nope. Calls to the admissions counselor confirmed they absolutely do NOT make changes to course information on the application once submitted.
We are just going to ride it out and hope for the best. At least he has 11 other schools to hear from.
I’m so sorry, @RoonilWazlib99 - that just seems silly and punitive. Hopefully he gets in anyhow and it’s not an issue.
wishing your DS the very best with Cal Poly @RoonilWazlib99 . That is so frustrating.
Good luck, @RoonilWazlib99 . I disagree with that policy! It should not be left to computers on a technicality!
I need some positive vibes. D took her first SAT last month and thought she aced it and she did not. She scored about 150 points lower than she thought she did and has a full ride riding on her ability to attain a certain score. (National Merit Semifinalist). She needs a 211 Selection Index. She had a 221 Selection Index on the PSAT without really preparing, so we never saw this coming!
Problem is: she has no time! All of the EA deadlines are fast approaching and her school list has changed (new schools added). Add to this that the teachers seem to have no concept that loading the seniors with work right now just might not be good timing and I’m very concerned. She only has the Nov and Dec SAT sittings to be eligible.
We don’t know if there was a bubbling issue, a scoring issue, or if D really did bomb the SAT. But the end result is that her confidence is completely rattled and she now must sit for the Nov 4th SAT without time to prep and with her confidence gone. She doesn’t know where she went wrong so she doesn’t know what to correct. This was a kid with a 35 ACT on the first try and who thought the SAT was “so easy” only to find out she bombed it, so we really are at a loss. Oh my nerves. 
Thanks for listening to my vent!
@Kayak24 What part did she score lower on? My D refuses to study for any standard testing. So, I can not suggest studying vs just telling your D just to relax and you have a plan B if it doesn’t happen. I will say we took SAT this Oct for the first time only because one of her schools would not take her ACT and her score was a lower than we thought it should of been too.
@Kayak24 - Have her go into her SAT score area and see how many she got wrong in which areas (they break it down even by type of mathematics). She can also order a copy of the actual questions and answers so she can see where she made mistakes and learn from it.
I think Khan Academy you can also input your subscores and it will give you the best study guide based on where you need to bolster. The first SAT test our S took in high school was through his PTA at school as a “fear free” test and he scored lower on that than the time he took it to qualify for CTY in middle school! We were flabbergasted. He also took the ACT the same way (fear free) and scored a 33 on that without prep. So weird. Tell her that he went from an 1160 on that first SAT attempt to a 1550 on his real one he took this month. Don’t worry - it will happen!
Editing to add - he didn’t study for this SAT and told us he would take it for the National Merit stuff, but he wasn’t focused on it. It was the best he did on any of his standardized tests and he said he thought that was because he was totally relaxed and didn’t spend any time worrying about it. He actually forgot he was even taking it until I reminded him a couple days before to tell his XC coach he wouldn’t be taking the team bus to the meet that day, but rather would get a ride from us because of the SAT.
@kayak24, order the answer sheet so she can see what she got wrong. And maybe move the SAT to December, that way she can ask the English or math teacher about the wrong answers if necessary.
Also, from what I understand, the SAT score just has to confirm the PSAT score, not repeat it.
In past years I think the score had to be at the commended range or something.
Post in the NMF forum and ask the knowledgeable folks there
Thanks, everyone. I ordered the questions/answers but they won’t arrive for five weeks (which is no help for the Nov sitting). I’m too afraid to push it til Dec. You never know when someone could be ill, etc.
I checked the scores online and it looks like she got nine wrong in the Reading section (but only one wrong in the Reading section when she took the PSAT). She was definitely stunned bc she said the Reading section was really easy. Either she was tricked or she made a gridding error. Yes, @mommdc , she only needs a Commended Selection Index (211). She got a 210 on this first SAT and NMSC won’t give confirmation that it will be sufficient.
I’m really bummed about the timing and that she’s only one point shy of being “safe.” We had to cancel a trip to Boston (where we were going to see two colleges) and I don’t see a reschedule happening on that.
Poor D cannot come up for air with all of these application supplemental essays looming. She doesn’t need the added pressure of having to score well on a four hour test that she thought was accomplished already. I will try Khan but wish there was more time. Four AP classes in one day isn’t helping matters.
@Kayak24 , you are right you do not have much time so all she can do is make the best of it. I would have her take as many practice tests as she can handle between now and Nov 4. Maybe one Sat and one Sunday, and even a third midweek. That way, she may gain back some of her confidence and see what error she was making on the reading section. Good luck!
@kayak24, I’m so sorry for your D. I saw your posts in the NMF thread and to me, it sounds as if she is probably safe with her 210 but NMSC is being cagier than usual about the confirming score cutoff. Of course that’s no real consolation to your poor D who is looking at the full ride NMF schools and now anxious about her SAT score. The good news is that she still has two chances to increase her score.
Something to consider: she’s a few months into senior year, and maybe she’s a little more focused on where she might like to go. Given this new score info, perhaps you could revisit her list and her priorities. If she really wants to attend one of the big NMF schools, is there perhaps a non-NMF school or two that can come off her application list to give her room to prep for the SAT? Or is there an EC that she doesn’t love that she can drop for a month or two? I agree with others who suggested that she should practice for the November SAT, but I think it’s important to look for things she can drop to reduce her stress level. If she’s already anxious about the SAT it’s not going to help if something else can’t give.
@traveler98 , that is great advice. We’ll have to take a hard look at things and decide what has to give.
@kayak24, I am so sorry. 9 wrong in reading might be because she made most mistakes in one of the reading passages. It might be a one-time thing. The answering service is useless as it won’t arrive in time. I like traveler98’s advice.
Let he retake the Nov SAT with some khan academy practice. I am sure she will get that comfirming score.
@Kayak24 your D is a great test taker. It really sounds like this was a gridding error. Now that your D knows how much money is riding on this next SAT, though, she could freak herself out and do poorly on the next go-round. So I think the focus is on getting the confidence back, staying calm, and going into the test with plenty of energy.
Although it’s a bummer that you had to cancel your Boston trip, I think it’s great that you did because she saved a lot of energy. What schools were you going to look at? We visited BU, BC, Harvard, and Tufts and would be happy to share our experiences as I’m sure anyone else here would. Sure, our experiences aren’t yours, but sometimes you hear enough to decide if it’s worth applying, and then you can go visit Spring semester to verify. And you can get the “demonstrated interest” in other ways.
@Kayak24 As another alternative, but it’s definitely not free, how about 1-2 sessions between now and 11/4 with a paid private (not a class) SAT prep tutor? Should clean things up in that reading section. Totally correctable from what I understand. Obviously depends on where you live and what resources are available.
Roughly 10 days to go. They’ll have her take a couple practice tests and go over them with her. And hopefully give her some pointers.
@Kayak24 Get Erica Meltzer’s The Critical Reader and pop for next day delivery? I’m so sorry your D is having to go through this.