A year or two ago I thought DS was heading this direction too (running in college). He ran a 5:04 1600m and 2:15 800m as an 8th grader. Then ran a 18:30PR for the CC team as a freshman. I imagined his times gradually getting better each year, but it hasn’t worked out that way. 9th grade PR was another 5:04 mile. He ended up with a stress fracture half way through the cross country season this year as a 10th grader and had to drop out. He doesn’t seem to be having fun with it anymore, especially the training aspect (vs. competing). Like your son he enjoyed the team, but several teammates are graduating or doing other things. So I don’t know where it goes from here.
Yes, I have read that before. I also ran D1 XC, indoor/outdoor track, so I have a sense of what is needed at that level. The good thing is that his times have improved by a minute each year since 8th grade in XC (mid 19s 8th grade to low 18s freshman year to low 17s sophomore year) and now that he is trying track, we’re crossing our fingers that it helps him work on the speed part.
He doesn’t know how to pace himself well so in XC he’ll run a 5:15 first mile, a 6:00 second mile, and then a 5:30 third mile and try to sprint that last .1 miles. We’re hoping that track gets him used to running a consistent pace and getting his muscles to understand what that feels like.
We tried to tell him if he could settle down and do a 5:25 pace for each mile, he could run in the 16s. It’s not unreasonable. His off season coach said his personal goal of running a sub-4:30 mile and a sub 16:30 XC 5k junior year were right on target and not at all unattainable. He just needs to put in the practice this spring and summer.
Hello all. I’m also doing track this spring as well. Track season officially starts, for those running less than 500 meters, on Thursday with an interest meeting tomorrow. My fastest time for the 400-meter was 1:08. That was two years ago, and I have not done track since. I’ve been practicing over the last two weeks and getting back on track (pun unintended). So far my fastest time right now, as I have gained weight over the last few years, is 1:28 for the 400-meter. Since today was a nice day outside, I decided to exercise and I walked back and forth from my house to the end of the street, which are about 8 houses apart, for about a little over an hour. I’ve been training over at my old middle school’s track field (I can literally walk there as I live less than a mile away). My goal is to try to get my time under a minute, or at least under 1:10, by the end of the season. Any advice? Also, hope your DSs and DDs have a wonderful spring sports season.
Yippee! Got the ACT results back and he did muuuuuuch better on this practice test than the SAT. He ended up with a 33, which we were quite pleased with given that he hadn’t done any prep and had literally never seen the ACT before!
They went over each of the questions he got wrong as there aren’t that many and they had an hour to go over his scores. Looking at them the second time, he knew the correct answers to everything he got wrong on the English test and could see his errors on the math test.
We’re thinking about having him do some targeted prep for the next month and then just knocking out the ACT in April. He feels confident that he can get his score to a 35 with just a bit of math and test taking strategy. The woman going over his report said that the difference between a 33 and a 35 would be about four to five more questions correct which is quite doable.
At any rate, we are quite happy with the results!!
Our S16 has decided where he’s going, so I’m guessing his S18 brother will start looking around for colleges by next year. Both have similar academic profiles- so-so grades and good test scores (in the case of S16, he was a NMSF but his grades kept him from advancing). Both have classes they like, but overall neither one likes school very much. Finally, for S16’s final semester, the two have a class together. It’s a film class, which they both are very interested in. S16 has already been accepted into the film/media program at Temple, and his brother is thinking of going in a similar direction (but he’s more interested in the technical side than his older brother).
Here is my cautionary tale about SAT/ACT prep classes/tests -
We sent D16 to a SAT test prep class over Christmas break of her junior year. She had just taken the PSAT and done ok, no studying, but it was clear that she needed to pop her score up 150 pts or so. She took a practice test the first day of class and scored just about where she had on been projected to score from the PSAT. Took another practice test mid class and scored the 200 points higher than we were hoping for, yay making progress. Took the final practice test at the end of the class and did fantastic. So we took away from the class the hope that she would end up with an SAT score somewhere between the mid practice test and the final practice test but certainly with the 150 point increase that she needed.
D16 went off to the real SAT in January she scored very near the first practice test score. Definitely short the score she needed. (I will concede that her head may not have been in the game for that test, Her boyfriend of 1.5 years broke up with her the night before the test…). Took the SAT again in May and scored around 100 pts higher, still shy of the score she was shooting for. Took SAT again in June and score worse. I am not sure what the issue was, but she never did score on the SAT anywhere near what the SAT prep class indicated that she was “capable” of doing.
She took the ACT cold after the 2nd SAT and received an solid score (roughly the score that we had hoped from the SAT). Took the ACT one more time and bumped up just 1 point. So she definitely tested better on the ACT vs. SAT.
Curious as to why the SAT prep class test scores were so off the actual test scores I conducted a very unscientific test on my own. I had my D18 take a portion of the 1st practice test, she did pretty bad. Then I had D18 take the final SAT practice test. She rocked it, not quite as well as D18 but pretty great. (D18 took PSAT in October and did not score anywhere near the score on that final practice SAT test) D16 have parallel tracked GPA and PSAT test scores, they are nearly identical. D18 does seem to take a test better but overall they are very similar in intellectual capability. I have concluded, unscientifically, after reviewing the tests…the SAT prep class intentionally used a harder version of the practice test for the initial test and used an easier version for the final practice test, simply to inflate the perception that the course was effective.
I will be the first to own that D16 certainly did not put in the work to improve her real world SAT scores and she got exactly the score that one would expect for the amount of work that she put in. But I have walked away from our experience with the SAT prep class with a very negative perception. The only benefit for us was that it forced D16 to actually take a few practice tests but definitely didn’t justify the expense of the class.
We’re not thinking about doing the class, just some very focused tutoring for ~6-8 hours over the next month to bring up the math score a bit and get some test taking strategies.
The ACT score was more in line with what we were thinking his score should be and is definitely more in line with where his PSAT was. We hope that with some targeted work on the math area that was his lowest score (trig - which he still hasn’t taken in school), he will be able to just take the ACT now, get a 34-35, and be done with it! With IB and everything else that comes along with junior year, it would be nice not to have to think about taking tests, too!
@labegg I believe your unscientific theory to be correct for certain prep companies especially large national ones. Look for ones that only use the material released from the College Board to avoid this problem. We used a local prep company with great success and are also using Khan. Things are so up in the air with the test changes, if it weren’t for National Merit we’d stay away from the SAT altogether! I’m crossing my fingers that things go well for S on Saturday but it’s going to be a long wait for those scores…
@RoonilWazlib99 - not sure where your son is in his math sequence, but my two cents is to try to time the ACT/SAT with when he is in the second semester of Pre-Calculus. There is no math beyond algebra, geometry and trig, so this seems to me to be the optimal time. I think most of trig gets covered in Pre-Calculus typically.
Some data points for you. DS18 has taken the ACT 3 times now. 7th grade (Duke TIP) - 24 composite, 20 Math. 9th grade - 30 composite, 30 Math. 10th grade (Feb) - 34 composite, 33 Math. He did take the Oct 15 PSAT - 1430 total, 710 on Math, 215 SI. He has not done any test prep. His math sequence was 7th grade Algebra I, 8th grade Geometry, 9th Grade Algebra II, and 10th grade Pre-Calculus. AP Calc AB (11th) & BC (12th) are next.
Based on the above, my conclusion is that a smart kid like your son can avoid a lot of unnecessary heavy lifting and prep if they just wait and hit it at the right time. Assuming they take a practice test or two just to get familiar with the format and pacing. In son’s case the scores have come up naturally as he is exposed to and masters the material when it is covered in class. Now that DS has the 34 composite, the only prep I anticipate he will do will be for PSAT next year. He will have to take the ACT one more time as a junior since it is mandatory in our state. Adding another point or two wouldn’t hurt, but not going to stress about it.
@ak2018 - I am sure you are training hard. The only thing I would add is don’t neglect focusing on your diet also. Make sure you are putting the right things into your body, proper hydration, etc. Skip the 4th meal at McDonald’s. Do as I say not as I do!
I agree self prep with a bit of targeted tutoring is the probably the best route. Our school district also offers access to Khan. In fact they have a study plan that offers a few questions a day that take no more than 15/20 minutes to prep and then the practice test available. I can’t seem to get my D18 to understand that she could easily give up 15 minutes of social media surfing to spend prepping. The trick is getting her to think it was her idea and not me pushing it
@LOUKYDAD - Thanks for the insight! This was the first time our son had seen the ACT and both my husband and I grew up in “SAT states” where the ACT was just “some midwestern test” that you heard about in passing - obviously that was maaaaany years ago, but we still were very unfamiliar with the test. Our son had taken the SAT in 8th for CTY, similar to yours taking the ACT for Tip and scored better on that than he did on the practice SAT he took last month! It was the old test, though, in 8th grade and the practice one was the newer version, so I guess it really has changed a lot!
He scored a 730 reading and 670 math on his PSAT, which was also much higher than what he scored on the practice SAT last month through his school. We were surprised at the SAT results given that we thought the PSAT and SAT were supposed to be pretty similar.
It’s going to be a balance for us between what he thinks is best and what we think. He really wants to take the ACT next month because he is worried that as he learns the newer math next year, he might not be so sharp on all the sections that were easy for him right now. His scaled score on the math section was a 32 with 90% correct. Because he is so dead set on taking the ACT next month, we figure why not? He’s not planning on applying to any schools that require all your ACT scores to be submitted, so if it doesn’t go his way, he can always take it again next December once he’s had more math in the fall and submit that score on his applications.
Reading was section that tripped up DS18 in his 9thG attempt. I don’t think he is a particularly slow reader, but I have read that the ACT Reading section is known for requiring a pretty brisk pace. He ran out of time and had to just bubble in some of the final responses. Result was a 27.
When he retook this year, my wife suggested he should read the questions first before reading the passage. Then when reading the passage he would know what he is looking for. Reading the passage first, then the question, and then going back to the passage slows you down. This, plus knowing he had to move faster, seemed to help a lot. Reading improved from 27 to 34.
Wow, getting 33 on ACT is really great! I was told by a parent with upperclassmen that ACT reflect how much you know and learn from school, and SAT scores reflect how much you prepare and practice for the exam… Her son is in UCLA EE now, he got lower than 2000 in SAT which they didn’t even submit, and he got 35 in ACT. He has always been a good student, busy with robotics program and Boy Scout activities and didn’t have time to prepare for SAT.
D18 just finished her Algebra II project that involved researching 3 colleges she is interested in attending. She picked NYU, Loyola - Chicago, Clemson.
Thank you Algebra II teacher - this was a fantastic project! She now completely understands why NYU is not financially feasible, even if she is capable of gaining admission. And you made her focus on a potential major - psychology.
@labegg, so nice to hear that even Math teacher can help your DD to do college research. My DD’18 just told me she wants to go to a good college and live in the dorm or apartment… but she has no idea which school, how much, how hard to get admission, what is she going to major yet… I wish some teachers from her school can assign the same project that your DD just completed… We are going to start registering for 11th grade next couple weeks, she insists to take in 4 AP and 1honor class plus PE (Varsity Golf)…I’m worried…
@jjkmom - That sounds like a good schedule, so I wouldn’t be worried! I think a good timeline for thinking about where to go would be to have a list of 30 or so colleges by January of junior year. Research during the spring and try to narrow it down to 12-15 by the beginning of that summer. Then, depending on finances and visits, apply to ~7-8 in the fall.
Obviously, there are more factors, but that’s a simplified timeline. Your daughter has plenty of time!
We are doing a week of college visits this April so our son can get an idea of some of the options in terms of size, location, campus feel, etc. We’re hopeful that doing it now will make it less stressful and help him to narrow down choices later. For example, if he visits a college right in the middle of a city and really doesn’t like it, that will help him make choices later.
We are making a similar trip during spring break this year. Just a kicking the tires kind of trip to get a better sense of preferences (campus, city, big, small, etc.)
DD met with her counselor two days ago to consider schools. She has a good selection on her list, several of which we have already visited. We will do the big tour on next year’s spring break trip although we do have a couple of places in the midwest that we will likely visit this summer when we also happen to be in Chicago.
This year’s spring break will be spent on a lovely beach in Mexico, umbrella drink in hand. It snowed here last night and I am ready for warm weather!
@RoonilWazlib99 Congrats to your DS’s practice ACT score. I feel like I would get a high score on the ACT as well, even without prep. My first choice college actually superscores the ACT with the SAT to make the scores you send to them the best possible scores they can be. I was planning to take the SAT for the reading section, and the ACT for the math section. Both of which I’ll be taking next February. I’ll be doing all sections of both tests, but I’ll probably do better on the reading section of the SAT and the math section of ACT. I will likely do so prep this summer, as in using Khan Academy and using ACT prep books.
