Well that’s a bad news/ good news scenario @ninakatarina, its good it worked out. Now your kid has something new to look forward to, has summer plans, and has a different thing to add to the resume. Congrats. Sometimes things work out like that for a reason.
My son got his SAT scores back and he went up in English a decent amount, but went down in math some, which I expected because it was going to be hard going much higher in math unless he had one of those perfect test sittings. He knew right away that he thought the math was harder on that test, but he felt better about English. So with super scoring he has a decent score now. He think he might try it one more time in the Summer/Fall to see if he can do even better on the English section. We’ll see. He did improve by this test, and so he actually has a decent score, not just super tippy top scores. Whatever, it is what it is. Unless he improves both sections a teeny bit next siting I’d say any of his reach schools are likely out of " reach". He’s close, but just not there. He stands a better chance at some form of reach D1 school for athletic recruitment where the exact numbers don’t matter as much, versus a DIII reach school where he doesn’t get much help in admissions from the coach.
Good news is that in all of his match schools he is now firmly in top 25% stats of admitted students, so maybe he could get some merit or something, or at least shouldn’t get denied/waitlisted because his scores are too high or too low. He’s right in the good mix.
@parent2one, I’m looking forward to your report on UAH. (Read: Please, please post one!) My D19 qualifies for 100% tuition there (assuming no changes to the program), as well, but we won’t be able to visit, so it’s a serious possible for her.
@Samsmom2019 , my older son is a senior at Princeton and we were there on Monday to have lunch with him. I saw at least two very large groups taking tours simultaneously even though it was a snowy day. For any parents of kids interested in Princeton, I can try to answer any questions you may have about the university.
@ninakatarina - I remember the ups and downs of casting decisions for my D17. She did four years of theater in high school and it was pretty intense. I’m glad things worked out well for your son. D is a freshman now and her college is filled with artsy/talented/theater kids. Since she is not majoring in drama, she knows that it is especially difficult to get parts in some of the plays. She had a couple of disappointments in the fall for things she auditioned for (acapella group and a musical), so she ended up doing props for a play. However, she just got cast in Legally Blonde (which she also did in high school), so I’m excited for her.
@RightCoaster My 2009 son liked MIT because he did not have to go walk on the snow or under the rain. He lived in a a dorm next to the class buildings. Once he got into one building he could go to other buildings without going outside.
S19 went on a field trip to Penn State main campus today. His German teacher took the class up there because the PSU German department was hosting, wait for it, German Day. This was his first time there. Tours were offered. And he he met up with a good friend who is a current student.
He really liked it. Which surprised him. Said it was really big but not in a way that concerned him. And he loved the college town. He thought that “in the middle of nowhere” meant like Susquehanna University which doesn’t really have much of a town around it. He had not imagined that, while Penn State is in a remote location, that there is an entire town and ecosystem that supports the 40,000 students and PSU staff that are there. He did rebel during the tour by not responding “Penn State!” every time the tour guide shouted “We are…” as he thought that felt sorta culty. :))
He wants to apply. I told him that he’ll have the stats for main campus but that it’s still a total crap shoot. However, it is also within our budget as “We are…” PA residents. It’s a financial safety but most definitely not a holistic safety by any means. So he knows the deal and still wants to go for it.
The other schools on his list are much, much smaller. So I asked him if he wanted to consider other big schools like Delaware or George Mason. He said no. And he is not at all interested in the PSU 2+2. He would rather attend four years at Lebanon Valley or Goucher than do two years at a PSU branch and then two years at main. So if he doesn’t get into main campus but has other options, he’s cool with that.
So, the list is now two safeties, five LACs where merit is a possibility, and PSU main as a crap shoot reach. Eight schools total.
@InfiniteWaves I attended Penn State and cringe at that “We are …” stuff. However, I would like to see the campus again since it’s been, oh, 23 years, and I think they still have my B.S. diploma in a drawer somewhere, haha. It’s just too pricey OOS.
Today’s adventures in obliviousness - My son told me that he recently learned that “Common App” means “Common Application.” He thought it was some reference to operating system files on a computer (can’t say I understood his explanation). I can’t make this stuff up.
Need advice on accommodation for ACT and SAT
Hi my daughter is diagnosed with ADD and would like to request accommodation for SAT and ACT. Did any one went through process how difficult to get accommodation. Appreciate your response.
@dcmaan does your daughter have a 504 plan or IEP? If so, it should be easy to get accommodations from the College Board or ACT similar to what’s in the 504/IEP. Go through the 504 coordinator at your school.
@dcmaan Also on the SAT/ACT forum on this site there is a subforum for special testing accommodations. Have you read there?
DD goes back to school tomorrow after 4 days of spring break. Decided tonight to get her math homework started! Then discovered her notebook was at school so had to Snapchat someone for the assignment and assume that she hadn’t already done some of it. Must be going okay as she hasn’t asked for help… She did get lots of AP Lit done over break at least.
Had a parents meeting for Prom today. DH and I will be helping decorate Friday after school and fortunately don’t have to do anything actually at Prom, except maybe move some decorations from the auditorium and hallway to the gym after Grand March. Glad to not have to be at the school in the middle of the night DD is class president so sort of “in charge” but her grade has so many take-charge moms I am happy to take a minor role.
First soccer game tomorrow night! We’ll see how much she gets to play Varsity.
I’ll give a full update when we get home Saturday, I’m no good typing on my phone, need a real keyboard lol. As far as Harvard, it just didn’t appeal to him. He’s not into the old (gorgeous) buildings, and the guide we had wasn’t the best for a future engineering major. More on that later
We’re in Huntsville now, will give initial reaction tomorrow after the tour and then in excruciating detail when I get home to my keyboard lol
One piece of advice. If your D does not have a 504 or IEP already in place, you may have an uphill battle. I have late diagnosis kids. One ADHD (10th grade diagnosis) and one HF ASD with Executive Functioning Disorder (11th grade diagnosis, misdiagnosed as ADHD in 9th). Kids that have taken either above level mid rigor, or the highest rigor classes.
Their grades reflect their LD’s. However, from a district perspective, they are well above average, not struggling (as they define it…aka passing) and do not have a documented history of needing accommodations or having them requested. Due to that, while the HS might be willing to grant them if I pushed, they were pretty clear my chances of getting accommodations with ACT or SAT were very low given the lack of documented history. And, it’s not a quick process. My S19 for example. I requested a 504 meeting in June. It happened in Feb. Accommodations (minimal) went into place last month and I just last week got his official updated diagnosis (but not the report) from the psychiatrist. That report will be a few more weeks. I couldn’t even start the SAT/ACT accommodation process until all those pieces were in place.
So, hopefully you aren’t me and are set up to request what your D needs. Your school should help you through the process (504/IEP coordinator) and if you don’t know who that is, start with the GC for your D. And, while there is a forum here for LD’s… my experience is it not terribly active and there are several of us on this thread and the 3.0-3.4 thread that have kids with varying LD’s so posting here is ok too!
@dcmaan – adding to the excellent advice you have received here already – if your student has an IEP and/or 504 Plan already, reach out to the testing coordinator at your school to get the College Board/ACT accommodations process started. You may need recent testing completed by a psychologist to document the disability.
That said, with an existing 504 Plan in place plus recent testing completed and working through our school’s testing coordinator, my D19 received ACT accommodations approval in roughly 2 weeks, and SAT accommodations approval in roughly 8 weeks. For the ACT, you have to register your student for the test first, and then provide the testing ID number to the school’s testing coordinator, and then they submit the accommodations request that way. For the SAT, we submitted the accommodations request first, and then had a special code to use to register for tests (including AP exams).
Back from weeklong California road trip…sifting through the mail and…oh USC you sly devil, a handwritten note to my dd thanking her for visiting. There must be a basement full of guides writing these daily - had to be hundreds on our tour and they do multiple tours a day of course. Dd is of course, smitten and oblivious to the sneaky marketing plan in action.
@dcmaan, hopefully you can get the accommodation process sorted out. But I thought you might also be interested to know that DD’s college counselor (who’s fabulous) says that while there’s no longer that much difference between the SAT and the ACT, the SAT is better for kids who might struggle with being able to finish under the normal time constraints.
Thanks @guppy64 ! I just had a general questions regarding what kind of kid Princeton seems to be looking for and it it’s even worth my son’s time to apply. He seems to have the stats but I know the application is very involved…
DD is class president so sort of “in charge” but her grade has so many take-charge moms I am happy to take a minor role.