I hate test optional!

[Anonymous]

I have a child with great scores and I feel confident that will help them. It’s not test blind, op.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The field is NOT being leveled. Get that out of your heads. College admissions officers HATE test optional. They have an even harder time trying to separate the wheat from the chaff.
After this year is over, they're going to try to backpedal hard, but it will take a while.

They have to figure a better way to evaluate kids. SO many people of wealth pay for tutors and other ways to give their kids a leg up - who can blame them? But it's really not fair to the lower socioeconomic kids who don't have the financial advantage.

Plus, based on how ACT and the College Board handled the pandemic last year - cancelled tests, screwed up AP exams - for shame. They are rolling in cash and couldn't figure shit out.

[Anonymous]

Imagine all of the years when the shoe was on the other foot. Many kids are bad at standardized testing, but excel in the other aspects of what colleges are looking for.

Keep things in perspective. All applicants have strengths and weaknesses. Help your kid identify a mix of schools where she could learn and grow.

If you are so freaked out, that will not help her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a child with great scores and I feel confident that will help them. It’s not test blind, op.

It is now if you're applying to a UC school, or dozens of others.

[Anonymous]

You don't have to go to an IVY or T-30 school to be a doctor, pharmacist, or PT.

[Anonymous]

wow. well my kid who got a 1380 without benefit of a tutor, just a regular middle class kid who had to prep solely on Khan Academy must be a complete idiot to you, certainly "less talented and less capable". Well I wager his GPA is higher than your kid and he can write a better essay than yours too... but ok sure, he's "less than" because his family is not rich enough to spend thousands on test prep and couldn't retake it because of cancellations anyway.

There are words for people like you... and oh I wish I could share some of them here but I'm trying to be polite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imagine all of the years when the shoe was on the other foot. Many kids are bad at standardized testing, but excel in the other aspects of what colleges are looking for.

Keep things in perspective. All applicants have strengths and weaknesses. Help your kid identify a mix of schools where she could learn and grow.

If you are so freaked out, that will not help her.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think your kid is more worthy than other kids just because she can test so high on the SAT, and then only after getting private tutoring?

There are going to be kids who can't afford such outside help who would have scored just as highly as your child if they could have.

There are kids who just don't test well but they might prove to be a better doctor, pharmacist, PT, whatever because they have other qualities that make them stand out.

And no on is "taking" your DD's spot anywhere. It isn't a scenario where officials pit one applicant against another. I notice you don't go after the athletes who are given preference - why don't you say they are "taking" your DD's spot?

--mother of a child whose main thing going for him in the application process is his super high test scores, which he received without any private tutoring or much studying at all.

This! Get over it.

[Anonymous]

Well it sounds like there is nothing “pointy” aka special about your daughter that would make her stand out from a crowd. And no, good test scores aren’t that special anymore when any UMC kid can get tutored and pull a 1500 +.

Maybe start there?

[Anonymous]

OP, if your daughter excels now, she will excel wherever she goes. Don't focus on the prestige of the university that she gets into. Check that at the door and allow her to do well at whatever college she selects. She'll be totally fine - particularly with continued parental support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:wow. well my kid who got a 1380 without benefit of a tutor, just a regular middle class kid who had to prep solely on Khan Academy must be a complete idiot to you, certainly "less talented and less capable". Well I wager his GPA is higher than your kid and he can write a better essay than yours too... but ok sure, he's "less than" because his family is not rich enough to spend thousands on test prep and couldn't retake it because of cancellations anyway.

There are words for people like you... and oh I wish I could share some of them here but I'm trying to be polite.

GPA is meaningless when compared across different schools, let alone different districts or states. But my daughter is ranked in the top 3% of her class at a competitive public in a highly educated, UMC district. As for the essay part, if your son inherited his writing skills from you, I doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Daughter who's a junior pulled a 1490 on her first SAT attempt in March, cold, I mean zero preparation. Now she has a tutor and is signed up to take it again in June. Her tutor told me that based on what she's observed in their sessions so far she expects her to get a 1550+ on the second try.

I want to be excited for her, but after reading this board along with so many newspaper articles on how test optional is changing the admission landscape, I can't help but think she came along a couple years too late to be a high-achiever but an otherwise normal kid, by which I mean she's ranked near the top of her class, plays sports, is involved in clubs, but isn't a "URM" or a "first-generation student" and has no interest in being some nationally known social justice activist or social media influencer.

She's just a really smart kid who'll likely become a doctor, pharmacist, PT, or something in that mold, and her test scores were going to be what set her apart from all the other kids who've been handed high grades during Zoom school and can make up a bunch of extracurriculars and "leadership roles" for their applications.

I worry that some kid like that who probably couldn't pull a 1300-1400 with a year of prep will end up taking a spot that should have gone to my daughter. That might sound bad, but what parent likes seeing their kid lose out on opportunities to someone who they know is less talented and less capable?

I hate test optional!

Test optional can SMD!

Love the quotes around URM and first-generation student like they don't really exist or don't really matter. Guess what, OP, high achievements by those two groups is equally as impressive as the achievement of your daughter, given her likely advantages starting from the womb. Luckily, their success won't detract from the success of your daughter, who will be absolutely fine wherever she attends college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow. well my kid who got a 1380 without benefit of a tutor, just a regular middle class kid who had to prep solely on Khan Academy must be a complete idiot to you, certainly "less talented and less capable". Well I wager his GPA is higher than your kid and he can write a better essay than yours too... but ok sure, he's "less than" because his family is not rich enough to spend thousands on test prep and couldn't retake it because of cancellations anyway.

There are words for people like you... and oh I wish I could share some of them here but I'm trying to be polite.

GPA is meaningless when compared across different schools, let alone different districts or states. But my daughter is ranked in the top 3% of her class at a competitive public in a highly educated, UMC district. As for the essay part, if your son inherited his writing skills from you, I doubt it.

hahahahah ok I am guessing this has to be Friday afternoon troll because you are just a miserable human being. My son is in the top 1.4% of his class in a "competitive public in a highly educated, UMC district", so dang your kid must be an idiot LOL how dare she take a spot from some other more deserving human. I wish you nothing but (lack of) success in your college search!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow. well my kid who got a 1380 without benefit of a tutor, just a regular middle class kid who had to prep solely on Khan Academy must be a complete idiot to you, certainly "less talented and less capable". Well I wager his GPA is higher than your kid and he can write a better essay than yours too... but ok sure, he's "less than" because his family is not rich enough to spend thousands on test prep and couldn't retake it because of cancellations anyway.

There are words for people like you... and oh I wish I could share some of them here but I'm trying to be polite.

GPA is meaningless when compared across different schools, let alone different districts or states. But my daughter is ranked in the top 3% of her class at a competitive public in a highly educated, UMC district. As for the essay part, if your son inherited his writing skills from you, I doubt it.

What else does she have/do? This is the minimum requirement now for T20. She also needs something that makes her unique be it a talent, skill, perspective based on background history, a special interest, etc.

I knew a kid who got super into archeology at 12 ish and started emailing with archeologists and doing summer dig programs in high school. Combined with 4.0 and 1500 + SAT, that’s the kind of kid who gets into HYP now. It had to be genuine though. There were professors who could vouch for this kid.

Your DD needs something like this but her own unique slant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow. well my kid who got a 1380 without benefit of a tutor, just a regular middle class kid who had to prep solely on Khan Academy must be a complete idiot to you, certainly "less talented and less capable". Well I wager his GPA is higher than your kid and he can write a better essay than yours too... but ok sure, he's "less than" because his family is not rich enough to spend thousands on test prep and couldn't retake it because of cancellations anyway.

There are words for people like you... and oh I wish I could share some of them here but I'm trying to be polite.

GPA is meaningless when compared across different schools, let alone different districts or states. But my daughter is ranked in the top 3% of her class at a competitive public in a highly educated, UMC district. As for the essay part, if your son inherited his writing skills from you, I doubt it.

hahahahah ok I am guessing this has to be Friday afternoon troll because you are just a miserable human being. My son is in the top 1.4% of his class in a "competitive public in a highly educated, UMC district", so dang your kid must be an idiot LOL how dare she take a spot from some other more deserving human. I wish you nothing but (lack of) success in your college search!

Sorry your kid got turned down for prom by someone like my daughter.