All Oregon state schools announced the other day that they will be Test Optional starting with class of 2021…so it could happen here in Ill.
One step at a time…first they have to extend the state tax filing date 3 months to match the federal extension, otherwise we still have to go thru the entire tax calculation/estimation process anyway.
S17’s high school “didn’t rank” - which meant they only reported it for the high ranking kids!
D21’s school doesn’t rank - but they include a super detailed report to colleges that makes it easy to place them - 6% GPA 4.5-5.0; 15% 4.0-4.5. So not officially a rank but if you have a 3.9 pretty easy to tell you aren’t top 20%.
@AlmostThere2018 S17’s state college is doing that, but already said kids have 7 days from when final grades are posted to decide Pass/No Credit. You’re in NC? What’s your take on App State? Our visit was canceled; not sure when we can get here but D21 loves it on paper!
@NJWrestlingmom I think most schools call out their percentiles for GPA on their school report. Our shows each decile in both weighted and unweighted GPA. So, yeah, you can tell where a student fits in the class. It’s helpful because, to be in the top 10% last year for UW GPA, a student needed a 3.82 which is probably lower than some other schools out there where there’s more grade inflation. It’s a big class (700 ish) but there are very few 4.0 UW GPAs.
My hope would be that high schools with cancelled school day testing might pick up a fall school day test. There are regular Oct school-day dates, though I’d also guess that College Board will be working with those schools to get that cancelled April school day test completed ($$ for CB) and could easily schedule an April school-day makeup for, say, September.
I still think that the vast majority of students will have a chance to test in the fall unless August were to be cancelled. I also imagine that even more colleges will take scores from the November test date for EA/ED than already do. From bits I’m reading here and there, I am getting a panic vibe from colleges’ perspective, leading to their greater test flexibility.
In contrast, second semester grades and spring ECs don’t get make ups…
@evergreen5 right. And some of the stuff D planned for this summer will likely not be happening. All 2021ers are going to have to be productive this summer in a way that wasn’t planned. We are trying to think of things for her to do that don’t require being in a group.
The two spring plans she had (Special Olympics coach and dance class at Hubbard Street) are not happening but she’s pretty busy with school so, at least while we are stuck at home, I’m going to let her just do school. She’s been looking at some Coursera courses and started a running routine but that’s all she’s done outside of school since Illinois has become shelter in place.
I doubt that CB will set up an all school SAT in the fall. These tests are once per school year to gauge how kids are doing academically by the state (as well as a chance to take the test) and I’m sure Illinois wants to stay consistent and test in the spring.
I know this is not a State of Illinois thread, but the ISBE said this on Tuesday of this week after discussing that the waiver of standardized testing this Spring should be approved:
We know that the free SAT provided by the state is the only opportunity many students get to take a college entrance exam. ISBE is working with the College Board on developing options to allow current 11th grade students to take the SAT in the fall. We hope to have more information on these options by the end of April.
That’s good news for kids who would be relying on the April test.
^That’s fantastic. College Board loses big, big money without state tests, so I think CB will be highly motivated to make it happen. Plus they schedule makeups all the time. Class of 2021 is an anomaly; I’d expect for high school class of 2022, they will test on schedule in spring of 2021.
@3kids2dogs Wow! That’s great news. Let’s hope school is in session by then. I’ll be looking for more info soon. Thx!
Another variable that’s in control of colleges is their application deadlines.
Not inconceivable that they could push back ED deadlines from Nov 1 or 15 to Dec 1 or 15, as an example. EDII, EA, and RD deadlines could follow accordingly…perhaps we could see RD deadlines go to 2/1 with a more consistent June 1 deposit deadline.
Just spitballing here, I am sure colleges will discuss this in the summer once class of 2020 is set.
@NJWrestlingmom – App State is a very popular college for kids in our community. Lots of happy students there. Boone is a perfect college town in the mountains. The campus is a bit hilly, for obvious reasons. It’s pretty big so has all kinds of students, but they tend to lean down-to-earth, liberal and a bit ‘crunchy’ – at least that’s my impression.
I think it’s esp. strong in environmental science and education.
App State is always in the top 2 or 3 in terms of where the most kids kids from our HS go. Probably b/c we’re in a pretty liberal part of the state.
If you want a smaller version of App State, also check out UNC-Asheville. It’s a public LAC and Asheville is simply amazing.
We are lucky in NC to have a lot of really good public universities.
@AlmostThere2018 Have they said anything abut end of year testing for NC? I thought they were getting rid of most of that next year anyway, I’m surprised it’s taking this long to announce it.
We aren’t starting school back up until April 13- a full month from when we ended. No word on grades for 3rd quarter or how we will proceed for the rest of the year. AP teachers are posting some things, but every one else is pretty much silent. We hadn’t even fully registered for classes yet. I will say I am glad D21 decided against AP Calc since we may not even get through pre-calc.
Are any of your kids’ schools having difficulty managing online delivery of classes given special ed requirements? Our school apparently is. Girls are on spring break through April 20 but I’m hearing rumblings that it will take a miracle to get school back in session after that (online) because of special ed requirements. Rumor has it that the current grades will be the final grades and no extra credit will be allowed. Assignments are being “strongly encouraged” but current stance is that they will not be graded until further notice. :-/
@amsunshine I am not sure about special ed, but the reason we are out for so long is so that we can get laptops and hot spots to kids so they can do online work. We have 160,000 kids in our system, so this takes time.
All of my D21’s teachers had the ability to be online for several years- my biggest gripe is they all use different things- Canvass, Google Classroom, personal website… it’s a mess when it’s not in one place.
Yes, my daughters’ school is making sure all kids who need chromebooks and internet access have those things. That appears to be the easy part. They say their sticking point right now is figuring out how the special ed kids get equal access that accounts for their specific needs. Until they can make sure all students have equal access they can’t move forward. Hopefully, this is just a temporary problem that will be solved in such a way that the kids can finish out the year at least.
@homerdog our school already administers the SAT to all seniors in Oct. I think they do it on the same day as the PSAT.
@Aguadecoco but you’re not in IL, are you? If you are, that’s super interesting! We only do the PSAT on that Oct date (and the PSAT 8/9 and PSAT 10 for freshman and sophs). Seniors have the day off. I wonder if your seniors pay for that exam.
That’s so late for seniors in application season…is a school day SAT (free?) also offered for them in spring of junior year?
Oh sorry, we are in TX. I misread the post and didn’t realize you were talking about IL.
@Mwfan1921 Yes, the school offers two free school day SATs. There was one in early March for juniors.
@amsunshine I read about a state that is ceasing all e learning due to accommodation issues for those kids with special needs. I don’t remember which state it was. I understand the theory, but think it’s a shame if a particular district has worked to accommodate all of its students.