Do we try SAT?

[Anonymous]

For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

not sure who the "we" is since driving him to the test isn't that hard.

If his grades are good, he will have many good choices even without a better set of scores. At least this was true for my kid who was very similar.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would try SAT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

not sure who the "we" is since driving him to the test isn't that hard.

If his grades are good, he will have many good choices even without a better set of scores. At least this was true for my kid who was very similar.

"We" since I am paying for every test he takes and I also make the decision whether to pay for another one or just say this is enough - mentally and financially enough.

GPA is 3.4 in a top 5 private, rigorous advanced course selection, but no AP options so there is hardly any weighted grades. All A's and B's but used to lean towards more B's until last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

From my experience as a high school teacher, it's incredibly frowned upon to sit next to your almost-adult son while he takes the test and take it with him. The College Board, as well as every other high school student in America, would prefer you allow him to sit alone and take his own test. "We" don't need to take an SAT, no matter how hard it is to cut the umbilical cord.

Additionally, it is a College Board requirement and almost every accredited university in the modernized world does now require the detachment of umbilical cords, so that is something to consider as you enter his junior year. He only has two years left for an entirely necessary medical procedure that should have happened approximately 16 years ago, naturally.

[Anonymous]

Sorry OP. Some of the people on these boards are IDIOTS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

From my experience as a high school teacher, it's incredibly frowned upon to sit next to your almost-adult son while he takes the test and take it with him. The College Board, as well as every other high school student in America, would prefer you allow him to sit alone and take his own test. "We" don't need to take an SAT, no matter how hard it is to cut the umbilical cord.

Additionally, it is a College Board requirement and almost every accredited university in the modernized world does now require the detachment of umbilical cords, so that is something to consider as you enter his junior year. He only has two years left for an entirely necessary medical procedure that should have happened approximately 16 years ago, naturally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

not sure who the "we" is since driving him to the test isn't that hard.

If his grades are good, he will have many good choices even without a better set of scores. At least this was true for my kid who was very similar.

As described in the post, OP is clearly working with her son on test prep. Sure he alone will sit for the test but it seems a collaborative decision.

If you son is still willing to prep I would try the SAT. DD is a senior in calc AB, math is by far her best subject in school with As since freshman year. She sat for the ACT 3 times and got 29, 27, 27 on the math. Her super score is 34 on the other 3 sections leaving her with a 33 (rounded up) composite. She has decided to stop bc its good enough and she is 100% over it but we are also mystified. She did the first test junior fall virtually un-prepped. The second junior spring and the last this past summer after 6 weeks with a tutor. She decided to do ACT over SAT last fall bc of dates and something a school counselor said about her PSATs; at this point I wish she had done a benchmark test in both before we committed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

not sure who the "we" is since driving him to the test isn't that hard.

If his grades are good, he will have many good choices even without a better set of scores. At least this was true for my kid who was very similar.

As described in the post, OP is clearly working with her son on test prep. Sure he alone will sit for the test but it seems a collaborative decision.

I *think* you're actually more dumb than OP, somehow.

Thank you SO much for reading between the lines and understanding jokes and sarcasm. Great work, jolly chap.

If you son is still willing to prep I would try the SAT. DD is a senior in calc AB, math is by far her best subject in school with As since freshman year. She sat for the ACT 3 times and got 29, 27, 27 on the math. Her super score is 34 on the other 3 sections leaving her with a 33 (rounded up) composite. She has decided to stop bc its good enough and she is 100% over it but we are also mystified. She did the first test junior fall virtually un-prepped. The second junior spring and the last this past summer after 6 weeks with a tutor. She decided to do ACT over SAT last fall bc of dates and something a school counselor said about her PSATs; at this point I wish she had done a benchmark test in both before we committed.

[Anonymous]

It really doesn’t matter that your kids are in Calculus now, the ACT & SAT cover topics up to Precalculus. The ACT offers very little time per question, so maybe that wasn’t the best fit with your kid. If your kid is looking for an engineering program, absolutely try to get that Math score up. Also, some schools explicitly look at the Math & English sections only, so this is something to research too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

From my experience as a high school teacher, it's incredibly frowned upon to sit next to your almost-adult son while he takes the test and take it with him. The College Board, as well as every other high school student in America, would prefer you allow him to sit alone and take his own test. "We" don't need to take an SAT, no matter how hard it is to cut the umbilical cord.

Additionally, it is a College Board requirement and almost every accredited university in the modernized world does now require the detachment of umbilical cords, so that is something to consider as you enter his junior year. He only has two years left for an entirely necessary medical procedure that should have happened approximately 16 years ago, naturally.

The irony of teachers is that they bitch that parents don't have their backs as teachers, help their kids at home, always want the easy way out, and don't encourage them to be better human beings in school. They are all over here on the schools boards bitching away left and right about parents that don't do a thing.

But then a mom comes on here asking for help and she gets bullied by a teacher? Shameful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

Sounds like test anxiety. Has he tried taking the test at a library instead of home and at the same time in the morning? That might help. Others have said to shave off 2 minutes when testing at home to get better used to the time management of ACT's. When my daughter took it at one of the high schools, it was hot and they had the windows open and there was a lacrosse tournament going on and at one point some massive truck came back in too. She said it was really hard to concentrate. So maybe a place with a little more noise would help for practice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, my child can not get above a 31 on the Math ACT, even though he is in Calc BC. He has done multiple tests at home, reviews, and has the books. Everyone I have graded at home for him is 33-35. He has taken it 3 times and all were 30 or 31. It is his lowest score on the ACT. His English is 34, Reading 32, and Science 32.

He is obviously frustrated. He has never taken the SAT. Took the PSAT and got in the low 1300's sophomore and got a composite 29 PACT also in sophomore year, so his college counselor said to stick with the ACT.

Looking for advice.

not sure who the "we" is since driving him to the test isn't that hard.

If his grades are good, he will have many good choices even without a better set of scores. At least this was true for my kid who was very similar.

"We" since I am paying for every test he takes and I also make the decision whether to pay for another one or just say this is enough - mentally and financially enough.

GPA is 3.4 in a top 5 private, rigorous advanced course selection, but no AP options so there is hardly any weighted grades. All A's and B's but used to lean towards more B's until last year.

I get it OP. I have been there 3x already. It isn't just his decision and sometimes you have to say enough, even if they feel they want to keep going or are so anxious. If he is a senior, I would try either test one more time and call it a day. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

It's fall of junior year and he's already taken the ACT three times? That sounds crazy to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's fall of junior year and he's already taken the ACT three times? That sounds crazy to me.

Sounds crazy that you just decided he was a junior when it seems obvious he is a senior (but I wouldn't just assume and then post an option about my assumption.) See how that works?

Also, helpful post for OP!