Shockingly Disappointing Results

Test Preparation
1

<p>I doubt that my daughter has checked her October SAT results yet, but they were amazingly disappointing - especially compared to her May results. She received a 31 composite in the ACT in September despite never having even looked at an ACT test until she was actually taking it. I will say, though, that the fact that she made it into the 30’s was due to her high science score. The only prep she had done in May for the SAT was the PSAT the previous fall, and whatever little prep her school did the week before that particular test. She did quite a bit of self study for the math section of the SAT in August (the rest of her summers are fully taken up with her extra curricula). She had hoped to nudge her CR closer towards 700 (previously 690). Instead she took a 70 point drop in CR. Likewise, despite all her math prep, she dropped 20 points from 610 to 590. Only writing increased by 50 points from 590 to 640. Ironically, science and math are her strengths (received a 34 subscore on the ACT science section, and currently has 100% in her AP calculus class). Her hope was to edge all her SAT scores up to make them a little more competitive.</p>

<p>Now, I don’t know what to counsel her to do when she returns from school this evening. She was persuaded by one of her teachers to apply to a very selective college on early decision. The teacher is an alumnus of the school at the graduate level, and is writing her a separate letter of recommendation. Her ACT composite score would have put her in the 25th percentile of accepted students there, even though it is the kind of college where test scores are not enough by themselves. So it was already a long shot, which I didn’t encourage, but nor did I fight her on it, even though I shared my skepticism. Unfortunately the college now has all her SAT results, which we assumed would merely improve, not get worse! She hasn’t even taken the subject tests yet since we had no idea that she would even aim for such a selective college (yes, we did run this fact by the college and they will wait on receiving those scores). However, given that she is generally a poor test taker, I don’t have high hopes. Like me, (and I attended an extremely prestigious college outside the States) she isn’t fast, but she can produce great quality if given just a little more time. And this slow processing speed was confirmed by educational testing, but due to her scores falling above the average range to superior, she doesn’t qualify for the same kind of accommodations that her older brother received who had some major learning disabilities that initially gave him a CR of 590 which later went up to 710 with the accommodations in place. Her processing speed makes her ‘average’ even though all her other scores fall in the superior range. Her weighted GPA is 97.42. She will graduate having taken 7 AP subjects as well as all honors/college prep courses. This on top of dedicating the majority of her time to ballet (hence she really has no time for test prep - right now all she does is dance and study, eat and sleep - even for most of the summer - and not even the time to get her driver’s license).</p>

<p>So I’m not sure whether to encourage her to drop the selective college application, and just shoot for the local public university, or even whether to simply consider taking a gap year where she can take a breath, and get herself into a better place for college entrance - i.e. lots of reading, test prep to make her more competitive, and just simply figuring out who she is and what she wants from life. Her dream has always been to be a dancer. For the first time she sees that this might be unrealistic for her - she is very talented, but her body type betrayed her. Her complete focus on ballet is why she doesn’t have her ducks lined up like other students who have been planning for competitive admissions for a long while. At the same time, dropping dance after 14 years is going to be so very traumatic for her, I was really hoping she’d have some bright spot to look forward to in the fall of 2015. Her local public college doesn’t quite do that for her, even though she truly loves to learn, especially the sciences.</p>

<p>Do you think that the college would perhaps discount her low SAT scores, and simply look at all the other strengths? I kind of think though, that any college that is asking for SAT subject tests, has to place quite a bit of weight on what test scores have to say. Am I wrong?</p>

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<p>Is this college her first choice? Is ED binding and can you afford it? If this is the case, you can leave it and see what happens. </p>

<p>Or, you can contact them and request that the application be changed to RD and then she can start applying to other places if she has obligated herself to not apply elsewhere. I’m not sure where deadlines fall into place with all this.</p>

<p>She will be disappointed to hear her scores. I don’t think I would try to advise her when she is upset as any advice may sound critical to her when she is in that state. I don’t think I would make a big deal of it, but would do something comforting- have a favorite snack for her, let her cry or be emotional. The only message she needs to hear from you right now is that you love her, she is not her scores, and this will be OK no matter what happens. Even if she knows this, she may be very hard on herself when she hears the news. In the grand scheme of things, these are good scores and not ones to feel badly about. </p>

<p>Then, when things settle, you have time to explore options. You could leave the ED application as it is, and come up with more colleges that may fit her. Her state college sounds fine, and there may be other choices too. There are test optional colleges, and colleges that may be very happy to have a student like her, and that she might really love to be at. In actuality, her scores are great, just not in range of the tippy top colleges, but there are so many more that are good. Finding some colleges where she is at the higher end of the application pool and that she likes would likely give her more options.</p>

<p>Senior year is tough on students. I think many of them feel like they are under a microscope and the endless talking and opinions on colleges is very hard to hear. You can’t do anything about the outside, but you can set the tone that wherever she ends up in college- if it fits her, and you can afford it, then that is the one that is OK with you. Once kids get settled into their colleges, the peer talk seems to settle down, and they make new friends that are all at that college with them. Also, kids have succeeded from many colleges in the country. </p>

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<p>Poldark2, As a mom of a slow test-taker, I completely understand how you are feeling. But her application has more on it than the test scores, and no school will ignore a 31 ACT and a 97.42 gpa. There are MANY schools in between the very selective college and the local public u. Have you got a list ready, or can you generate a list of 5 or so more schools with the guidance counselor in the next few days? State publics may have non-binding early action deadlines of Nov. 1 which would not conflict with your early decision application (I am thinking of UVa and Miami of Ohio, specifically), plus you can add some other near-match schools which have Jan. 1 deadlines. </p>

<p>Also, the next ACT (which looks like her better test and for which she can prepare with the red book) is December 13, and those results will be fine for the Jan. 1 deadlines. And her teacher may have the right connections to advance her case with Selective U. A new set of Dec. ACT scores could support her should she be deferred to the regular decision round at Selective U.</p>

<p>There is no blanket rule about the floor for test scores for selective schools. Don’t overthink it. Regarding SAT subject tests, they should support the claims of the transcript. A student with high grades should show a strong score in some of the same subjects on a subject test. If they do not, that says much about the school’s strength of curriculum and possibly the student’s depth of knowledge. Most important thing: give your girl more schools to choose from, with a range of safety-match possibilities. You can control that part of the process, at least.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Pennylane. </p>

<p>To answer your questions:</p>

<p>It isn’t binding, just restrictive early action, meaning she doesn’t have to accept an offer from them, but nor can she apply for early action in any other private college.</p>

<p>Actually, the more selective the college, the more likely it is to be affordable for us, since those colleges are more likely to help with unmet need etc. </p>

<p>Yes, it is her first choice and her dream college. I think initially she didn’t dare to hope for it, but her teacher encouraged her, and gave her ‘permission’ so to speak, to put it on her list. </p>

<p>The only other option would be to apply regular decision (deadline for early restrictive action is Nov 1st) and try to fit in one more ACT test. The only thing is, I’m now loathe to let her take one more test - one more straw on a back that is already quaking from the strain of senior year. She is barely making it as it is, with a very rigorous course load and very long rehearsals each day for her final Nutcracker performance. She is physically and mentally approaching exhaustion. That’s why I wonder if a year out to recoup and put herself on the same kind of footing as other competitive candidates might not be a bad idea. I have no problem with her going to the local university - her brother is there and his test and AP scores were much higher than hers. I just am very concerned that she will be dealing with too many disappointments at once. Even if she were to get into her first choice next year, she will still be dealing with the loss of something she has given so much of herself to for most of her life. I agree that she can be happy in some situation a little less high powered - or even at the local college (in fact, since I know first hand how demoralizing a highly selective college can be if you’re not at the top of the pack there, I think she actually might be better off at a less selective institution where she can find her own niche and excel - just as she has done at her high school where the standards are not those of a high class, high pressure prep school). However, I strongly feel that if she does end up at her local college (where more than likely she would have 41 college credits; she could double major in both botany and zoology and thus take courses more tailored to her specific interests and career goals rather than the generic “biology” degree at some high powered LACs) she would feel like she had personally failed in every way. Her brother is a freshman there now. He is enjoying himself and trying to extract as much as he can from the experience and the professors. However, he misses some of the academic rigor he had tasted in certain high school classes. He misses the type of student that is very focused and really into the classes. I think he will make it work (although he too is considering transferring - weighing that against the extra demands put upon someone with his learning disabilities - he too excels in his subjects - but it takes him much longer to achieve the same result as someone else - and that was and remains my own profile). I think she takes note of that. She wants badly to escape classes that have many underachievers who aren’t interested in learning. She wants an environment that is filled with ambitious students who, like her, seek to be as perfect as possible. I think she knows that her first choice is a reach. But it is her personality (and a product of 14 years of intense ballet training) to shoot for the impossible anyway. I’m the one who would prefer for her to pull back and align herself with reality more.</p>

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<p>Ack! ACT would have to be Dec 13th, wouldn’t it?! That is the weekend she is performing in Nutcracker, and she would not be forgiven for skipping out of it at this point. Also, it is her last, and she just would not want to do that to her teacher, school and classmates. </p>

<p>But thank you for the suggestions, MommaBear. Yes, there is a list. It even has some test optional colleges on it. Most public colleges out of state have to be ruled out due to how much they cost, and few cover <em>any</em> unmet need (with perhaps a few exceptions such as Texas A&M that can convert to instate tuition if a scholarship is granted). We even have some colleges that she doesn’t care for, but might feed her dancer soul a little. </p>

<p>I think in the end she’ll find somewhere. I’m just wondering if she needs a year off to regroup, though - travel, volunteer, rediscover herself that she hasn’t had time to connect with for a long while.</p>

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<p>Poldark2, certain tippy-top schools take higher percentages of their entering class during early action. Do you know the difference between your Selective U’s EA admit percentage versus their RD percentage? If this school is an LAC, that fact is important, but less so at an Ivy, where the fractional percentages (9% EA, 7%RD) don’t really differ at all. I have one student in an LAC where they took 50% of the incoming class in ED, and the RD pool was ridiculously competitive, so the guidance counselor made it clear that ED was the way to go.</p>

<p>As her parent, you can reassure her that the scores are not “who she is” and that colleges look for a reason to admit, not a reason to deny. Do that and emphasize her many strengths. Your description of your D sounds like she keeps high standards and likes to be with achievers. If so, you need a bigger list than Selective U and local college. State schools’ honors college, top 30-ranked LACs with good botany/biology departments and some dance groups on campus sound like they would fit. On the subject of “better off at a less selective college where she can excel,” I am seeing that intellectually curious kids would rather be with peers or in the shadow of brains than spend 4 years with those they perceive as not intelligent or not working hard. If your D has not mentioned a gap year, or has no concrete plan for an activity or job for that year, then a gap year is really not an option. Good luck with finding an array of choices so that come April 1, she can decide between some very good schools, regardless of what Selective U. decides.</p>

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<p>Wow, a performance weekend makes the ACT tough - it’s not over until 1pm Saturday. Okay, most OOS publics don’t have much aid, but some (MiamiOH, also Alabama I think) give merit money based on scores (31 is still great). I know you are sad she has to go through this today. Those test numbers are not her identity, and I hope she’ll receive your encouragement and keep her chin up!</p>

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<p>can you just submit her ACT scores and not SAT?</p>

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<p>SAT scores were already sent to the college. We had no reason to think they would actually get so much worse after actually preparing for the exam rather than walking in and taking it pretty much blind. That is going to be the thing that makes her the most mad about this - the fact that doing self-prep has a negative effect, even though when she was doing the test questions this summer, she was actually doing quite well. She had absolutely no sense that she had done this badly when she came out of the test. And her results in the ACT made us hopeful that she was getting to a good place with test taking.</p>

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<p>Some students do differently on the ACT than the SAT, so it is possible that your D is one of these students who do better on the ACT. Still, the college has both tests, and it is probably not possible to know exactly how they will decide on your D, and any other student really. </p>

<p>There are some things to consider, and since this is just one person’s idea, I’d also like to see others post on this. Applying ED or EA is a way of showing interest in a school. I wonder if changing the status to RD would send a different message of “not sure”. Since this is a favorite for your D, it may help to be an ED applicant, however, if she is not a strong applicant, it may be better not to. It’s impossible to know the outcome for certain, but you can assess your chances. It is hard, but your D will have to look at options and decide what to do. </p>

<p>There are three ways this can go- acceptance, denial, and deferral to the RD pool. In general, a college will pick the best applicants out of the ED pool, deny the ones that are not likely to be admitted, and defer those students who they are not sure about. This can give a student a chance to improve on grades and scores. If, even with a 31 ACT, your D is at the bottom half of the grades and scores of admitted applicants, then there is a chance she will end up with a deferral or a denial of admission. It is hard to know what that chance is. </p>

<p>If you want to avoid outright denial and give her a chance to improve, then changing from ED to RD will give her that chance. Your D will have to contact the college to do this. It may be a good idea for her to tell them why- that she very much wants to attend this school, and would like the chance to improve her ACT score before being considered for admission. I don’t know the value of this, and other posters should comment as well.If she does retest, then sticking with the ACT ( and SAT subject tests if required) may be the better decision.</p>

<p>As to a gap year, you don’t have to decide now. Many colleges will defer admission for a gap year. Your D can continue to apply and see how things turn out. At this time she can decide to attend, defer, or reapply. </p>

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<p>Thanks again, Pennylane.</p>

<p>Actually, she was ostensibly less upset with this than I imagined (or just processed the whole thing with her school mates during the course of the day). I think it also helps that she knows that this is such a very long shot as it is, that she isn’t going to be too surprised by a negative outcome. The acceptance rate is a single digit. The odds are near impossible. And yet, the odds for her getting into a ballet company are less than 1% and she is still going to give that one last parting shot next spring, also. There’s no other college that she is so certain about that she would risk committing to via ED. The odds of acceptance improve by about 10% with EA and no one ever makes it in off their deferral list. It is unlikely that she is going to get a different result with re-testing. She put substantial work into preparing for this test and came out with significantly worse scores. Now, she no longer has the time to prepare. She can’t even make the ACT December test due to a performance. She leaves for school every day around 7:30am and doesn’t get back most days until after 8pm, and this will only get worse as she gets closer to theatre week in mid December. And yes, she is also in the studio for much of each Saturday (occasionally Sunday - but she tries to avoid this). She is taking 8.5 academic credits this year (two are in ballet, the rest are APs and one is a dual enrollment science). She has a week to get ready for SAT subject tests that in topics that she hasn’t covered for a while. Most people who are applying to this college have been preparing for this since freshman year, if not kindergarten. She only decided to go for it last month,based mainly on the suggestion of the alumnus teacher (who has just sent off a private, additional letter to the college). She has put her eggs in mainly one basket - ballet, even though her academics have been excellent and rigorous. And so this is part of the price for that decision. Her tests are just not going to get her in. If her accomplishments outside of academics, her essays, her other parts of her application, her references her academic record aren’t going to get her in, then I’m out $60-70 and we’re going to have a miserable Holiday break this year, filled with an application essay a day! But she is very strong. Her ballet teacher told her that she is one of the strongest people she has ever met. If she ends up at the local public U (which is sadly underfunded and struggling financially and has an average SAT of around 500 or so) then she’ll find a way to make that work for her. I personally think she’ll have other options. </p>

<p>Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts about this - it is much appreciated. I think after the inital shock we have moved on. Both of us realize that life can’t be controlled. You can get perfect 800s at SAT, attend the perfect college, and still not have things work out as you would wish. You have to learn to deal with the hand life plays you, and make the best of it. That said, I’m not a true believer when it comes to the validity of the SAT result. My eldest son had taken College Algebra 1 & II and College Calculus I &II at a local university before his junior year and received all A’s. At age 5, his IQ had been recorded at 163. Yet his first SAT math score was something like 590 if I recall? It got better a year or so later, but by that time he had gone on to almost completing a minor in math. I just find it terribly sad that so much weight is given something that really isn’t terribly reliable in any sense. D had put the work into this that everyone suggests, and yet came out with a much lower result. How is that reflective of the real world? My family is moving on to new things after this year, so by that time we’ll have no skin in the game. But I truly do hope that this whole testing business in America is radically rethought in future years. Coming from outside the US, I find the entire college application process here often baffling or nonsensical. Oh well. Good luck to everyone else out there struggling with this right now! And thanks for all the responses.</p>

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<p>Which school is she looking at? Their ACT 25% percentile is below a 31? </p>

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<p>It isn’t over for her. A 31 on the ACT is the 97%. Even if she doesn’t get into HYPSM, she can still go to a selective public/private. What is wrong with a 31? </p>

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<p>I can sure she will AT LEAST get into college with a 31. Maybe not HYPSM, but definitely NYU or something like that. It is not like the only choice is that super selective and that crappy public. </p>

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<p>Thanks, Captain. I’m sure she will, also. </p>

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<p>It’s OK that she’s been focused on something she loves. There are many colleges to choose from, and surely there are some that would fit her. If she were to attend one that didn’t- then she wouldn’t be happy. Her scores are fine for many colleges.
Surely there must be some out there with strong dance programs. Even if she doesn’t have the body type for ballet, there are other forms of dance. She might also choose a field that is dance related- teaching, dance therapy.</p>

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<p>Pennylane, I agree about the importance of fit. I’m just sad on her part, that she is putting herself under this kind of pressure for an outcome that has such a low probability of success. But… this is what she wants to do, so I just write the check (even though we have discussed all this). I think she will be fine eventually.</p>

<p>As for the strong dance programs, most of the best require the student to take a BFA in dance, or they do not have access to the best (or any) classes. She isn’t interested in doing this. She loves academics, and she wants her time in college to be dedicated to all the subjects she loves outside of dance. She doesn’t want to be squeezing in science labs around rehearsal and class. At the time she enters college, she will be resigning herself to the idea that she has closed the chapter on dance and is moving on to a new life. She isn’t interested in teaching or dance related careers. Nor is she currently interested in dancing professionally in other forms of dance. I know that might change, but she isn’t seeing that herself, yet. </p>

<p>Most of the top BFA programs are in public universities, often with a high cost for out of state students. Nor does she tend to gravitate towards the huge public university profile. She seems to prefer smaller LACs The ones that offer concentrations and minors in dance are probably the best compromise for her. That said, she has friends who have gone off to very good LACs that are proud of their dance offerings, and some of these students are having a hard time adapting to the mediocrity of the classes there. They miss the intensity they used to have. Some of the best dance opportunities for non dance majors are at places such as Harvard, Columbia and its sister, Barnard. This is because these colleges get retirees etc. from places such as ABT and Boston Ballet. So the standard is a bit higher, for the most part due to the participants. Duke also has some good, non-BFA dance offerings. I’ve also heard good things about Vassar. There are also some less high powered offerings out there that she has on her list to review before the holidays, such as Goucher and Mulhlenberg. She isn’t interested in Mercyhurst, and I’m not sure if that even allows participation for non dance majors.</p>

<p>So yes, there are plenty of options for her out there. Leaving the intensity of ballet behind will be a huge adjustment - it is for her fellow classmates even when they had known for over a year or more that they were going to quit after high school. But every dancer stops dancing at some point - it is just a question of when. </p>

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<p>I agree with you. I sensed some regret in one of your posts that your D may have hurt herself academically by focusing so much on dance, but it made her happy and will always be a part of her no matter how long she keeps dancing. It’s true that the years for dance performance are limited. However, many students in the arts eventually have to choose between that and academics as both are very demanding if one wants to do well. It’s not an easy choice and it is with some sadness when choosing to follow one interest and leave another to second choice. However, many still try to fit in the interest by being part of groups, band, dance groups and I hope your D will find that she can do that if she chooses. I think it is good that you are supporting her applying to the reach school, so she knows how it will turn out and won’t wonder what might have happened. Who knows? I hope your D is happy with wherever she goes. She has done very well. </p>

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Just an update, since I’m visiting the site for another issue to do with my son in college. My daughter ended up being accepted into her first choice (Princeton) from her Restrictive Early Action application. She was also accepted by Columbia and Vassar. She also graduated as Valedictorian in her class, which I’m sure must have helped (although we didn’t know this until spring of senior year, and we were both pretty surprised). So, while her numbers weren’t sheer perfection, her other qualities must have made up the difference, and her dance history was hugely helpful, I believe. The irony is that she is not even in college right now (she deferred Princeton) and is currently a trainee with a ballet company exploring her options for a career in professional dance. I share this only for the sake of others coming behind her, who may be worried about imperfect stats. I never would have dreamed of encouraging my daughter to apply to such high profile universities, yet I think the lessons she learned in the dance studio caused her to take a risk, and shoot for the ‘impossible.’

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What wonderful news, @Poldark2! Thank you for sharing and congrats to your daughter. I hope she’s loving her gap year and will be able to make a good decision for her future.