Anonymous wrote:Do you know if regular Saturday 8/29 SAT was held or canceled at Walter Johnson HS / Bethesda ? Thanks a lot.

Cancelled

The other thing is...this year many colleges are giving kids a pass for the test scores. Maybe even next year. But what about 2 or 3 years from now? If your child wants to transfer midway through college, the new college may require the test scores at that point because things are back to usual. Thus, it's best to try to take the test now if at all possible, while the material is still the most fresh.

Many students will leave trigonometry and calculus behind, particularly after freshman year, if they aren't a STEM student. Same with the reading and writing content portion for STEM degree students. Now is the best time to take the SAT and ACT if you can and have the score in your back pocket in case you need it later. Blowing it off since colleges aren't requiring it THIS YEAR isn't necessarily the best course of action. If you try and you just can't get a seat due to cancellations, and possibly have to take it later, then so be it. But it'll be more of a challenge to study for it later in the midst of college coursework.

Do you know if regular Saturday 8/29 SAT was held or canceled at Walter Johnson HS / Bethesda ? Thanks a lot.

I watched the College Board's one-hour admissions talk various college admissions folks. They said on the one hand that the tests are completely optional at their colleges this year, and that they will be evaluating all students equally without the scores. On the other hand, they said if you take the test and make a high-enough score that it would be a favorable score in a normal year, submit it.

That says to me that you should still try to take the test and get a high score if you can. If you can't due to cancellations, or your score isn't that high, you have a silver lining year where you can submit an application without them. But if you have the high score, it may make a difference for the schools that receive 30,000 apps for 1,400 seats, which is many of them...you're more of a sure thing capability-wise so they'll feel more comfortable giving you a yes. And awarding merit aid.

So for our family, we're trying to get 2 test takes in, one of them being the 8/29 one DD just took. Having those scores in hand gives you more options.

Anonymous wrote:They have no value this year - skipping them all together...

Some schools may still require them for significant merit aid. So it's worth it to try until the college app deadlines hit.

We are trying because our DD made a lower score than we had anticipated the first time she took the SAT, much lower than her practice tests, and we stupidly had already had them sent to schools she is interested in as part of the freebies you get. So we're trying to override that score. She was able to take it again yesterday and will be trying one final time at the 9/23 FCPS sitting in case she can superscore.

Anonymous wrote:They have no value this year - skipping them all together...

Scores have no value for the applicant with a top GPA, rigor, and whose practice test scores were not looking promising. In other words, the type of student who ordinarily benefits from a test-optional policy.

Scores do have value for the applicant with the imperfect GPA, the applicant from the less-familiar high school, the applicant looking for merit, the applicant applying to highly-selective schools where a good portion of applicants will have scores.

Anonymous wrote:They have no value this year - skipping them all together...

I think that is a bad assumption. More than 50% of high schools seniors had a score pre-Covid. After September, that number will be much higher. Your Senior will be competing against kids that have an SAT score. Our excellent FCPS college counselor told parents that you should do what you can to get a score.

Anonymous wrote:They have no value this year - skipping them all together...

Really depends on where you’re applying and if you need aid. Optional doesn’t mean it won’t be considered.

Anonymous wrote:They have no value this year - skipping them all together...

Some schools may still require them for significant merit aid. So it's worth it to try until the college app deadlines hit.

We are trying because our DD made a lower score than we had anticipated the first time she took the SAT and we stupidly had already had them sent to schools she is interested in as part of the freebies you get. So we're trying to override that score. She was able to take it again yesterday and will be trying one final time at the 9/23 sitting in case she can superscore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doing the same thing in FCPS for seniors on Wednesday, 9/23, holding the SAT at all the high schools. The FCPS schools held the scheduled SATs today as well, so unless cases suddenly surge, the 9/23 test across the county should go as planned. Completely see it happening for MCPS too.

Why FCPS can have SAT test while MCPS not?

Because it is not the advertised Saturday, 9/26 test that SAT supposedly is holding across all testing sites that are open. It is a weekday special holding of the SAT for FCPS seniors that FCPS is sponsoring for them. MCPS is looking at doing the same.

They have no value this year - skipping them all together...

Anonymous wrote:Doing the same thing in FCPS for seniors on Wednesday, 9/23, holding the SAT at all the high schools. The FCPS schools held the scheduled SATs today as well, so unless cases suddenly surge, the 9/23 test across the county should go as planned. Completely see it happening for MCPS too.

Why FCPS can have SAT test while MCPS not?

Doing the same thing in FCPS for seniors on Wednesday, 9/23, holding the SAT at all the high schools. The FCPS schools held the scheduled SATs today as well, so unless cases suddenly surge, the 9/23 test across the county should go as planned. Completely see it happening for MCPS too.

Santa is that you? Sorry OP ddon’t have any trust that this will happen.

MCPS announced they are working on hosting the SAT and ACT in schools, for seniors. Some more info here —-

https://news.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/quicknotes/update-on-fall-sat-and-act-administrations/