Congratulations @gusmahler for being done! <:-P
I too am more obsessed so checked before S19 did.
His ACT score is the equivalent of his SAT superscore. So on a single test, he did better on ACT.
We were going to call it done with March SAT but we could call it done now.
His math score is the lowest though, so he may want to retake ACT once. :-/ :-/
Congrats @gusmahler @eandesmom @payn4ward !!
I donāt know how any parent waits for their child to check his scores. Isnāt it normal to stay up late or get up early to check them before they do? :))
And whatās up with the parents who donāt have access to their childās Common App or email? I could never leave it up to S19 to check stuff. Heās not irresponsible and I know itās his gig and not mine but his plate is loaded. Ok. Off topic. Congrats on all of the awesome scores!
My D19 is taking a free ACT administered to all juniors at her school on 2/27. Sheās done a few practice tests and thinks it seems easier than the SAT. Weāll see how she scores. Anyone have a kid who has recently done both? How did they think they compared?
@Corinthian S19 knows lots of kids who hit a 33 but not a 1500 on the SAT which are equal scores according to the current concordance charts. Itās complicated but, when you look at the percentiles for the new SAT, the concordance table that College Board released a year ago seems off. They are releasing a new one this summer. Itās expected to be a little different and a 34 may now be a 1500. We wonāt know until they release the new chart using data from real SAT sittings. (The original chart was produced without them.)
The general consensus is that the ACT questions are easier and more straightforward but, with something like 30 seconds less per question, kids have to move very quickly.
Regardless of all this, colleges show their 25th and 75th percentile ACT scores so an ACT student just looks at those for a gauge. Updated common data sets come out in the summer (I think?) so we can all use those to see class of 2022 info.
@Corinthian My son took the SAT in October and ACT in December. He did a little better on the ACT with no prep for it because the English/Reading were easier for him. (I think he scored 34/33 on those sections compared to 700 on EBRW and that 700 seemed like a miracle!)
He also found the ACT more straightforward in general and had more trouble managing his time on the SAT even though it allows more time per question.
Congrats to those who got the scores they were looking for!
Kiddo got a very good score but he thinks he can do better. The downfall is math; if we left that off he would be a high 34. Well, math is supposedly the easiest one to raise, right?
His score is above the 75th percentile for his match schools (yay!) but just above the 25th for his reaches.
He was very relieved. He had convinced himself that he was down around 24 territory.
Honestly he could be one and done with this if he wants, but we will give him the option to sign up for it late summer or September, if he feels it is worth putting the effort into studying for it.
My DS16 took both @Corinthian . He scored better on the ACT. Because there are more sections to the test, a poor score on one section does not negatively affect the test as much as the ACT. Ds19 is also taking the ACT on 2/27 at school. Weāll see.
I woke up in the middle of the night but figured I should not get up and check so I waited until 6. In the meantime, I dreamed about her scores which in my dreams were 23, 29.4, and 31 
In real life, DD got 27. Itās two points higher than freshman year, but I was hoping for 29 as that would get full tuition at a school on her list. I donāt know if sheāll go there but I wanted that as a low cost option. So Iāll see if I can get her to study math (her downfall) and try in June. For some reason she is not keen on that school which wonāt help with motivation, but she admitted she knows nothing about it, so maybe we can visit soon and if she likes it that will help.
In other not so good news, yesterday she ran her Jeep into a pole. School was cancelled for ice but basketball playoffs were still on so she drove in to town for cheer. She got all the way to the school drive when she slid off the road (pretty gently she says) and hit the pole. It was a wooden street light and possibly somewhat rotten- it broke off and fell into the street. She called me in hysterics so I came from work (4 blocks) and the police and utilities came. Fortunately her dad was also working in town (most days he could be an hour or more away) so he was right there too and could drive it home for her. To her, the worst part was the bus with the basketball boys and cheerleaders driving right past. To top it off, the boys won and have to play tomorrow when there is crappy weather forecasted. Weāll play that by ear whether she goes but she doesnāt want to drive this week.
So I was hoping to give her a report of a fantastic/definitely done ACT score this morning!
@corinthian My D19 took both. It really depends on what your childās strength is. Based on percentiles, she did the same on verbal SAT as she did on ACT English, reading, and science. But her math is her weak section. Because math is half the SAT score and a fourth of the ACT score, her ACT score is definitely higher.
That said, D19ās SAT was an anomaly. She actually did 80 points better on the PSAT math than the SAT math. She might have been burnt out after taking 3 standardized tests in 4 weeks.
To put numbers to it, D19 got a 760 SAT verbal and a 35 on both English and reading ACT. Those are roughly the same. ACT science has no equivalent on the SAT, and she naturally does well on that section (got a 36 this time), so that pushed her to emphasize ACT over SAT.
Math is her weak area. Sheās just wildly inconsistent on it. She got a 30 on this ACT (27 on her previous try), which is about 95th percentile. But on the PSAT, she got 710, which is 98th percentile. On the SAT, she got 630, which is 82nd percentile.
So her SAT is equivalent to a 30 ACT and her PSAT score is equivalent to a 32. Since she got a 34 ACT, itās definitely in the ACTās favor.
Good job by your D @gusmahler !! That must be great to be done, and that is a nice score.
@bjscheel glad your D is ok after the crash. She can keep retrying the ACT, sheāll probably end up doing better, but her score is solid as it stands.
@homerdog - With my D17, I always checked her scores first, had access to her common app and was involved in reviewing everything and helping her send things off. When my S19 recently took the ACT, he specifically told me he wanted to check the scores first. Fortunately, when they were finally released after a longer than usual wait, I was able to text him at school to check them and then get back to me and it didnāt take too long. So, it worked out well, but if he hadnāt responded for hours that would have been rough!
To those of you using PSAT scores to predict SAT scores, remember that they are not the same test. Math goes up through a little pre-calc on the SAT but not on the PSAT. And the reading passages are supposedly harder as well. The way the questions are asked are very similar in that they arenāt always that straightforward. Also, itās been stated above but it is a very true that, if you have a strong math student, then the SAT is 50% math and might garner the best total score. Math is only 25% of the ACT. The science section is really more reading and chart reading, not science.
And my D19ās February ACT score is one of the ones that didnāt drop on the 21stā¦ :((
D19 sent off an application to a competitive science program last night. She asked me for some comments on her essays/app gennerally, but I hadnāt had a chance to give comments on all of them, even though Iād scanned most of it and had some other thoughts.
I mention this here not as a complaint, but as context for the question that follows. As I read the app, one thought I had was that it was just telling an OK story about her, but not one that would compel the program to admit her. While she could certainly the program, she has few great science ECs, and so she really needed to emphasize more the things in her background/experience that would make her a more interesting candidate. But she clearly thought she knew what was best in the application.
Iām not invested in the program sheās applying to ā if she were accepted, that would be awesome, but as best I can tell, itās one of those ālottery ticketā-type programs where the percentage of admissions is very low, so my hopes are not up.
But Iām thinking ahead to the college application process, where packaging the āstory,ā emphasizing the good and unique points, is important. Sheās a really good kid, with decent-but-not-great ECs and very good GPA/scores that would make her a reasonable candidate at most everywhere except the tippy-tops.
We donāt have the money to invest $3k in a college advisor that sort of does soup-to-nuts application stuff. Frankly, I feel like at this point between my own research/reading and CC, Iād know as much as quite a few advisors, and thatās a lot of money to pay for a ābad copā for a kid who generally is very self-motivated. But Iām wondering if there are cheap ways to have someone else ā i.e., not the parent, whose advice might be discounted regardless ā review the overall application to say whether or not the application tells a consistent story. Iām not looking for an essay reader as we have app essay guidebooks (though if somebody has good experience with those, Iām interested in hearing those), more just a big picture comment. Has somebody tried giving a package to a friend familiar with the kid as a set of fresh eyes, or is that just too weird?
Iām not totally averse to paying some money, but if we do pay, Iām kind of thinking we wouldnāt want to pay more thanā¦ $300? [Plucked that number out of the air, so thatās not set in stone, but figured some number would be better than none for the purposes of this conversation.]
@BorgityBorg There are some admissions consultants who may offer an hourly contract. I donāt know the rates; Iām guessing $300 would only get you a couple of hours at most, but perhaps thatās all youāre looking for.
At our HS a lot of students ask teachers (primarily English teachers) to review their essays/apps over the summer. Once college decisions are made, a small gift or gift card is usually given. I have many, many friends who use college advisors, but TBH, their outcomes donāt seem that different from the kids who utilize teachers.
@Corinthian I had S19 take a diagnostic in each and his scores were virtually identical. We chose to go with the ACT as his first diagnostic showed a very solid science score, something not on the SAT. Since then his science score tanked on subsequent practice tests but rebounded to a 30, his lowest sub score. So who knows, maybe the SAT would have been better, maybe not. At this point we will most likely (unless he votes otherwise) be one and done with his 33. Heād have to improve more than just the science to bump up to a 34 and Iām not sure itās worth it.
@BorgityBorg itās hard to say as I think those services really vary by area but most seem to charge quite a bit more and are more involved than that. The folks I know that have done it have spent between 5K and 30K (which is nuts but not my kid!). Youād probably get 2 hours out of someone for that. Theyāve all been happy with it though and in all cases, they had pretty self motivated kids.
@bjscheel I am so glad she is ok! I agree that a 27 is a solid score and gives her lots of options that can include merit.
Does anyone have tips on how to get your child motivated to take things seriously, or at least talk to you about all of this stuff. S19 is hardly here, and when he is there is no getting him to discuss anything. I donāt know if he is just overwhelmed, burnt out, or under the impression that everything will just take care of itself. His grades are pretty good(3.94), ACT score needs to come up(24), decent ECās. I am not in a position to pay for college or sign loans so if he wants to go he is really going to have to go after some big scholarships or grants, I have been researching but canāt get him onboard at all.
On another note, D23 took the ACT through the Duke TIP program and it is so frustrating that we canāt check her scores because you have to be 13 to create an account on the website. I called ACT and they said the only option is to wait for them to come in the mail.
Congrats on good scores, @gusmahler, @eandesmom, @payn4ward, @ninakatarina, and @bjscheel (glad the crash wasnāt more serious). <:-P <:-P <:-P
@BorgityBorg, I have done what you described for about 10 friends of kids and kids of friends, with some success, and itās been fun. I didnāt charge anything. Offer an exchange with someone in your area who is knowledgeable and has a kid close to the same age, maybe.
Thatās what I was thinking, perhaps, @EastGrad ā someone who would have a good perspective and with a kid with not entirely dissimilar overall qualities (and whoās also graduating in '19). Just somebody who knows the kid and can provide an opinion thatās not the parentās to say, āthatās perfect,ā or āyou havenāt captured this part of yourself which I think is pretty awesome.ā And if that person looks at the app and says, āignore your parent(s), this app is great,ā then thatās valuable, too.