<p>Plan a big family celebration! Surely family will rejoice with you over this accomplishment. I wouldn’t worry about the school/publicity. Share it with the ones that truly count. Congratulations!</p>
<p>OP,
Does your S want a story done on him and his score? If so, you and he could contact the media. Just do so with your eyes open. Once everyone learns of your S’s score, some people will be trying to undermine him or will be hoping he takes a fall. Some people also could have unrealistic expectations of him, expecting straight As and constant 100% on tests, and expecting him to get into places like HPYS. Consequently, any time he falls below perfection, he could be embarrassed.</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of this sort of public recognition. My daughter received a commendation from the school board, amongst a handful of other students, for doing well on the SAT. We had no idea this was going to happen ahead of time. She felt very awkward about the whole thing, and that to some degree her privacy was violated. I certainly would never seek it out. It adds pressure to the application process, people seem more interested in where she’s applying, or they make comments like “she’s got nothing to worry about with her scores”. Much better to lay low on the whole thing.</p>
<p>Whoa! I am surprised by some of the posts. My Ds are athletes and have their “minor” accomplishments mentioned in the school announcements,school newspaper, school TV show and local papers. Why shouldn’t academic accomplishments also be highlighted??? Art awards, band and choir awards, service awards, etc. are all mentioned. Surprises me that so many think this academic achievement should be hidden and not mentioned. What’s the difference???</p>
<p>Congrats to your son OP!!!</p>
<p>It can take a while for them to recognize it. The school has to receive an official copy of your son’s score before they recognize it. Also, they will probably recognize it when school begins.</p>
<p>P.S.
Make sure to tell your son that the 36, while impressive, does not make him a shoe-in to any competitive school. Make sure he puts time and energy into each application so that each school knows he is seriously considering attending them.</p>
<p>Northstarmom bring up a major point. Stories are often written in clusters for the local papers. I don’t recall ever seeing an article here about perfect test scores, but there are awards always posted… If it is important to you and your son than let the PR person for the school or district know so they can include it in the offerings.</p>
<p>I know that when my other son was at our school, all sorts of events seem to make the local paper. Not so much any more. Found out that the PR person was a parent whose kid graduated. She used to report every thing that she knew that had any relevance or possibility to the papers. Whoever now has the job isn’t so enthusiastic, and I never see any mention any more.</p>
<p>I agree with Northstarmom on the perils of making his score public. If word gets out, there’s nothing to be done but be humble and gracious. But I definitely would not further publicize this information myself for the same reasons Northstarmom lists.</p>
<p>If the OP’s son did not put a high school on his ACT registration (something that is frequently recommended on CC) then the high school will not receive his scores unless he requests that they be sent.</p>
<p>I think it’s hilarious that people seem to think it’s O.K. to swoon about NMF but somehow less than classy to mention a perfect score. Duh. Look at the numbers. NMF’s are a dime a dozen compared to perfect and near perfect scorers on the SAT and ACT. </p>
<p>If you are one or a parent of one that shuns the spotlight, stay mum. It’s your right. OTOH…in the year my D graduated, seven kids scored a 36 in our state. 7. Just guessing but we surely had a couple of hundred or more NMF’s. I don’t see as many complaining when the NMFs get the press or recognition. Blow the horn as loudly as you think is appropriate.</p>
<p>An example of the kind of follow-up publicity that you may not want. The below is the Austin Stateman’s follow-up story to the one they did about this student’s getting perfect scores. Check out the link to comments on CC. Would you want your son scrutinized the same way?</p>
<p>"The college-bound LBJ High School Liberal Arts and Science Academy senior racked up more than 400 hours volunteering in local hospitals and libraries. He plays the piano, is a first-degree black belt in Kung Fu and got a perfect score on both the SAT and ACT college entrance exams. Ghosh had mailed out all of his college applications and was just waiting for the acceptance letters to come pouring in.</p>
<p>But the letters that began filling his mailbox were of a different kind.</p>
<p>The first rejection came from Stanford University in California, but the hits kept coming. From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From Ivy League institutions: University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale, where he was wait-listed. But the biggest disappointment came from Harvard University, which Ghosh had chosen as his “dream school” based on the course offerings. Even the Plan II honors program at the University of Texas turned him down.</p>
<p>“I know this news must be quite difficult,” the letter from UT’s Plan II director said. “This year, however, with our number of applicants higher than any year of the last decade, we have been compelled to make an extremely difficult decision.” Ghosh did get accepted to the California Institute of Technology, UT, Duke and Rice."</p>
<p>Link to CC comments: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/498251-another-applicant-rejected-all-ivies.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/498251-another-applicant-rejected-all-ivies.html</a></p>
<p>nsm, most of the comments I remember from that thread were about the actions of the father , not the kid (although there were certainly some about the kid).</p>
<p>Mamacol,</p>
<pre><code>I’m thrilled for you and your son. I’m in Chicago and his photo would
</code></pre>
<p>be in both newspapers here and the school would display the articles.</p>
<pre><code>It is OK that the GC didn’t call you. I hope your son has grandparents
</code></pre>
<p>to beam over this.</p>
<p>OP, be careful what you wish for. The NMFs at our school have been trotted out so many times, either in the paper or at assemblies, that the label is growing tired. It was exciting at our house when first announced, but my D definitely grew tired of the constant emphasis on her test taking ability, rather than a few other accomplishments that took more effort, time and commitment. </p>
<p>Another friend is a fantatastic pianist, among other things, and grew so tired of the media label “prodigy.” </p>
<p>And I echo the comments of posters who note that the media is fickle about when and what they print. Around this time of year, sports state championships, general graduation pieces and the price of gas are making the headlines. If you really want to draw attention to this score, write your own press release and email it to the paper. But beware the fallout.</p>
<p>curmudgeon’s point is well-taken. However, Americans are much more tolerant of and favorably disposed toward sports accomplishments and the accompanying publicity than they are toward academic accomplishments. This is unfortunate and probably indicative of screwed up priorities, but true nontheless. Publicity of any kind is a double-edged sword. It can feel wonderful, but can turn sour pretty quickly and you won’t know what hit you. And frankly, most people have a limited appetite for reading about the accomplishments of other people’s children, no matter how fabulous. Again, this is not the way it should be–we should all rejoice in the success of others. Be careful; publicizing this could put a target on the OP’s son’s back.</p>
<p>I really appreciate the feedback from everyone, and would like to clarify a bit, I guess. In reply to Northstarmom, I don’t see my S going to HYP and I’m not holding those schools up as a example to him shoot for. He didn’t take any prep classes and just did really well on this test. He is just a smart kid who likes to hang out with his friends and play video games. I’d like to see him go to a challenging school with small classes and lots of discussion and debate with professors and other students. It is his life and his passion to find.</p>
<p>If his hs hadn’t done anything to single out the boy who got the 36 a few years ago, I wouldn’t have expected anything at all. And who knows, the newspaper stories that I have been reading about others in the region with perfect scores may have been initiated by the parents. I certainly wouldn’t go that route.</p>
<p>We are very proud of him, and when we talked about his score, I took care to let him know that he is loved for so much more than his academics. A celebration dinner is definitely in the offing!</p>
<p>And you guys are all perfectly correct in pointing out that it has only been a few days! I need perspective!</p>
<p>I know it implies absolutely nothing about his futures chances for success, but only a couple hundred kids do it every year, so it feels pretty special to us.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As it should. It is an accomplishment. Where we all rank that accomplishment among other things they do is up to us.</p>
<p>
I think few of us on CC would go as far as saying “absolutely nothing”. I think the most the anti-testing folks would probably say is “not much” or “very little”.</p>
<p>It is certainly a accomplishment, and it certainly does have success implications. Whether they pan out is another story, but for now, enjoy those results. Let the district PR person know. If they want to mention it, they can. Are there any awards like national merit for high scoring ACT kids?</p>
<p>Congrats to your son! Our town finally publishes the HS honor rolls months later, hopefully before the end of the next semester or summer. Our son got his name (even his picture) in the paper many times for sports (his school had done well in his sports when he was there) but never for the academic accolades, at which he and his HS excelled. It is hard to find people to share your excitement, there are a limited number of people who understand the significance (and rarity). I have only a very few people I can discuss academic ups and downs with- most don’t feel your hurt when your son “only” got into the safety that is a reach for most of them…or the frustrations of a child getting a B when he should have done the A work…</p>
<p>Congrats to your S, mamacol. </p>
<p>We were also stunned to see that S2 scored a 36 on the ACT, and if I lived in an ACT-dominant area, I would probably contact the local community paper about it. But here (CA), I think it would be seen as nice but not spectacular unless he was also perfect on the SAT, which he wasn’t. (Though he’ll probably be a “commended.”) I would like to see it mentioned in the principal’s newsletter, along with the kids who get mentioned for NMS, but that won’t be until after those awards are announced this Sept. </p>
<p>P.S. I was so shocked to see that 36 score that I logged off and back on twice to make sure it wasn’t a mistake, or a kind of come on…like, “this could be ____ fill in kid’s name ___ score if he takes our Great Results Prep Course. Sign up now!” Lol.</p>