My D19 took the ACT with extended time so I had no idea what time she would be done. D left her phone at home and I showed up in the parking lot when the normal release time would be, and was listening to podcasts while I waited.
@payn4ward : can you please help explain why 800 SAT Math 2 is only 80 percentile? Itās the maximum score, isnāt it?
@Trekko10 ā hereās a link to the percentile ranks table from the 2017 graduating class:
https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/sat/pdf/sat-subject-tests-percentile-ranks.pdf
" The percentile rank shows students what percentage of college-bound seniors earned a lower score than they did. A student with a Literature score of 600, for example, can see that 38% of test takers scored lower."
Yes, itās the maximum score in which 20% of the test takers achieve.
Itās because of self-selectionāthe test is only taken by those who are likely to do very well on it, and ~20% get a perfect score.
When D took the SAT a few weeks ago they just had the kids put their phones on a table in the front of the room.
D got her SAT scores, she got a 1300 - just about what we thought according to her 1 1/2 practice tests. She wasnāt too happy but I was OK with it. Now she knows she needs to actually practice more if she wants to do better! She will probably try the ACT in December then we will go from there. She is much worse at math - like over 100 points worse - so maybe the ACT will work better for her.
She started her new volunteering position last week. She is going once a week after school to work at a pre school for children of lower income families. Right now she is in the 4 year old room but they said she can move around if she wants. She stayed for about 2 hours last week and loved it, today is her second day. The only thing that would be better is if she had her license and a car so I didnāt have to drive her there and back as well as doing carpool for my other two kids. :)) Oh well, she will get there someday!
A cautionary cellphone SAT story here. When D16 took the SAT I told her to bring her phone so she could text us for a pick up. This worked fine for D15 where, much like many of you said, the students were able to leave them at the front of the room. For D16 however, she got stopped at the door, yelled at (her term) and told she had to go to another room to drop it off and given lousy directions on how to get to that room. It took her awhile to find the room and then re-find her testing room. As a result she started the test in an anxious state and according to her, it was all my fault (so much of the world is you know).
So now, for all future testing we are doing the make your best guess at the ending time and sit in the parking lot to wait.
@momtogkc , my kid has finally admitted he wants a drivers license, two months from his 17th birthday. It would have been nice if he decided it this past summer so he could drive himself to rehearsals this week. This week is tech week for one of the two plays heās involved in. Rehearsal every night until 11. Hubby and I are trading off driving duties. I plan to nap in the car after tonight, unless they come up with sewing tasks for me to do.
Meh, even if he could drive I donāt think Iād feel comfortable about him driving late at night through downtown Big City, so maybe this is better. Letās see if I can convince myself of that when I try to roll out of bed at 5 AM tomorrow.
@momtogkc 1300 is good! But I also know what itās like to have a kid who was disappointed and wanted better.
@ninakatarina my d will be 17 in early December and isnāt likely to go for her license until next summer. Another one of those things that differentiate her from me. I got my permit and then license as soon as possible.
@mom23travelers that would be my dās nightmare scenario and definitely reinforces that she wonāt ever bring hers in.
Kids these days donāt seem nearly as gung ho about getting their license. I went to the DMV on my 16th birthday . . . . only to find out my eyeglass prescription wasnāt good enough and I didnāt pass the vision test.
D19 turned 16 in August and has yet to learn how to parallel park. Unfortunately, Iām not a very good role model for her because I donāt know how to parallel park either. I told her that Iāve parallel parked once in my lifeāon my driverās test. Since Iāve lived in the suburbs most of my life, Iāve never needed to parallel park.
Hopefully, my wife will be able to practice with her. D19 plans to get her license during winter break.
S19 took his phone to the recent SAT and left it turned off in his bag. I reminded him several times not to take it out during the breaks and it was fine. Who knew he could go multiple hours without his phone?
Looks like he will take the December ACT despite reaching the pseudo target SAT score (which seems to equate to a 33). ACT doesnāt refund the registration fee. Iām not sure how heāll react to the time crunch, but the reading and English look a little easier on the ACT.
So Iāve been perusing some of the āchance meā posts and itās making me pretty nervous. Everyone looks the same. These AOs must see so many kids with an ACT above 33 or SAT above 1500 who play a sport, volunteer, do some sort of academic competitions, have a job, blah, blah, blah. Iām starting to think, at least for LACs, that the essays and recommendations must play a decent size role in all of this. I am definitely making S19 submit an art supplement from his AP Studio Art class. Seems like anything (ANYTHING) that is just a little bit different has got to help. Maybe I should get him to enter some disc golf competitions. Heās got a crazy knack for that too but just does it for fun. :-S
@mom23travelers, I have always been early (by 30 mins) and just sit in the car and wait. No phone going into SAT on kid. Phone left in the car.
I am sorry to hear about D16ās experience @mom23travelers.
At the two schools S17 took tests, they let the kids turn the phones off and leave them under their seats.
It is important not to touch the phone during the entire time. Keeping it in a pocket, etc, is big no no.
S17 only got his license nearly three years after he got his permit. Thus we had to pick him up from all the graduation parties and sleepovers he went to after graduation.
S19 has no desire to drive (so no permit) and is waiting for a self-driving car.
I tend to avoid the chance me posts. Why? 1. The responses are sometimes mean. I think people need to remember that these are predominantly kids who are asking and to be more constructive in responding. 2. It seems to be the same colleges again and again. There are other great schools besides the top whatever. 3. Some of the answers given are just wrong. 4. Many of them could just look at the CDS & chance themselves. 5. @homerdog is correctā¦the applicants all look the same. I donāt know kids in RL like the ones in the chance me threads. Makes me wonder to the authenticity of their ECās & APs &'internships & published research papers. Did they participate because they genuinely cared, were interested or was it just because they were looking for a leg up? Seems like many are trying to play a systemā¦Anywhoo thatās my 2 cents about the chance me threads 
for all those 2cents are worth.
My favorite right now are chance me posts placed on a different college thread than the one they are asking about.
I agree with @4MyKidz about the Chance Me threads, especially the ones with a 35 ACT, 8 or 10 APs, 4.8 GPA. And a listing of 20 ECs. Can you just go to a brag thread? (And that 35 is driving them nuts: āShould I take the ACT again?ā I want to respond, 'No, but you might take a few minutes and look up the CDS and chance yourself, as 4MyKidz suggests.
Once in a while I see someone with a 29 or 1220, and wondering about which Ivy might be worth a toss. Thatās when CC parents can pop in and recommend some other fine schools the applicant will have a chance at, and always consider how to pay for it. Because maybe that kid goes to a school with little college counseling and her parents are uninformed/uninterested, and we can do some good.
My D16 still doesnāt have a license. She learned to drive and then just didnāt go for the license. Now she is rusty. S19 also has no interest in driving whatsoever. Lots of my friendsā kids learned, but my kidsā¦no.
Chance me threads? Yipes, I stay away from those. Stresses me out and I become a bad parent who obsesses over my kidās āresumeā and ābrandingā. Bleah.
Funny with D16, I was a bit prestige-stuck. I tried to fight it, I really did, but I was. We toured all over the east coast (we are in the west). With S19, I want him to stay local or stay on the west coast (same time zone). I want him to stay local for purely selfish reasons, just cause I like seeing my kids weekly. Fortunately he is not opposed to California, though anywhere there will cost us plenty I expect. Well, I shall soon be able to amuse myself by seeing what schools he adds to Naviance. I really have no idea what he is thinking at this point.
My kiddo is my one an only, and I admit to being more than a bit prestige-struck though Iām trying to tone it down. Two years ago at a family reunion I went to my dad and my cousin and my sister in law and told them to talk up Yale to my kid. I had read about the no-loans policy in the Ivies, the kid was a hard worker, I figured it was worth a shot.
Since then he has developed a bit of a Yale obsession, though we havenāt set foot on campus yet.
First night of tech week done and I didnāt fall asleep on the drive home though I was yawning fit to crack my jaw. Tonight is my husbandās responsibility. I plan to fall asleep the moment theyāre out the door.
DS19 just began his driving training . Heās son what nervous behind the wheel, but weāre working on itā¦