Anonymous wrote:If the parents are really broke, the kid will qualify for good need based aid

They make solid money. BIL makes over $100k as a UPS driver. SIL makes $30k answering the phone at an insurance agency. They blow every cent.

Anonymous wrote:OP - did your inlaws vote for Trump?

I think OP and her inlaws voted for Trump. One set is ignorant/entitled and the other is tight clenched bitch. At least they agree on their politics.

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Anonymous wrote:the December 10th ACT.

- Wednesday he watched basketball games, netflix, goofed on his phone all night.
- Thursday watched NFL and managed his fantasy football team all day.
- Thursday at dinner he and his parents talked about how excited they are about college. Hope he can do well on ACT to earn merit scholarships.
- After dinner, back to football, fantasy football, college basketball.
- So far today shopping, netflix, sports, goofing on phone.

ACT prep books collecting dust in the kitchen. I no longer feel sorry for families who can't afford college.

Relaxing during his Thanksgiving break. The horror!

I think the layabout has been relaxing for 17 years.

Sounds like you could use some relaxation yourself.

OP - did your inlaws vote for Trump?

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Anonymous wrote:There is literally zero evidence that "prepping" for standardized test improves your score.

Prep does improve. For sure.

I agree. My DC scored in the 550'd for each section of the SAT. She hired an SAT tutor. Her scores on the second exam where 650+ on two parts and 730+ on math. So, for her, prep mattered. My other DC was also tutored and I think her score went up three points. So, it just depends.

Anonymous wrote:OP I never studied for either the ACT or SAT -- hell I didn't even know there was such a thing as studying for those tests (grew up in small town flyover country). And I got into and went to an Ivy school, for which my parents didn't pay a dime.

Sounds like your in-law is a nice kid who enjoys being with his family. I wish him well.

Times have changed.

If the parents are really broke, the kid will qualify for good need based aid

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the December 10th ACT.

- Wednesday he watched basketball games, netflix, goofed on his phone all night.
- Thursday watched NFL and managed his fantasy football team all day.
- Thursday at dinner he and his parents talked about how excited they are about college. Hope he can do well on ACT to earn merit scholarships.
- After dinner, back to football, fantasy football, college basketball.
- So far today shopping, netflix, sports, goofing on phone.

ACT prep books collecting dust in the kitchen. I no longer feel sorry for families who can't afford college.

Relaxing during his Thanksgiving break. The horror!

I think the layabout has been relaxing for 17 years.

Anonymous wrote:There is literally zero evidence that "prepping" for standardized test improves your score.

lol. bullshit.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the December 10th ACT.

- Wednesday he watched basketball games, netflix, goofed on his phone all night.
- Thursday watched NFL and managed his fantasy football team all day.
- Thursday at dinner he and his parents talked about how excited they are about college. Hope he can do well on ACT to earn merit scholarships.
- After dinner, back to football, fantasy football, college basketball.
- So far today shopping, netflix, sports, goofing on phone.

ACT prep books collecting dust in the kitchen. I no longer feel sorry for families who can't afford college.

So based on one child's behavior over Thanksgiving, you have lost sympathy for every family everywhere who can't afford college?

Correct. I looked up merit awards at low tier colleges and they're ridiculously easy to secure. That's before even all the outside scholarships kids can apply for with just some volunteering and a short essay, if that. Easier to sit on your ass like a slob and bitch about how things ain't fair, how the immigrants took all your scholarships.

My kid didn't study for these tests and was a National Merit Finalist and earned a National Merit scholarship. He has a full ride merit scholarship for four years at a top ten STEM university.

Please share his stats.

1550/1600, TJ grad, involved very deeply year round in sports and a music group. Didn't need to study for standardized tests. Some people just do well without prep books and such.

What will be on your relative's college applications? Activities, interests?

1550/1600? What's his stat for all three subjects combined?

2310/2400. Took the SAT just the one time.

Most of the schools he applied to told us they were only interested in the math and critical reading scores.

OP I never studied for either the ACT or SAT -- hell I didn't even know there was such a thing as studying for those tests (grew up in small town flyover country). And I got into and went to an Ivy school, for which my parents didn't pay a dime.

Sounds like your in-law is a nice kid who enjoys being with his family. I wish him well.

They probably are legitimately clueless about these things. Why not fill them in on what you know?

If the kid is a high school senior and he is not taking the ACT until December 10, he won't have his scores back until sometime in early January, I believe. Does this mean he has not even applied to colleges yet? Because most colleges that offer merit scholarships have much earlier deadlines for awarding of said scholarships. As in, the student should have applied before November 1.

To the PP who said that scholarships are available for just writing an essay and doing some community service, please provide links. That has not been my observation on the whole, and my college student did receive some very nice outside scholarships, requiring a whole lot more investment of time and talent than that. What I have observed over the years is that outside scholarships are often difficult to obtain and the student is best-advised to seek scholarships from the institution itself. This generally requires a high SAT or ACT score, among other things. And an application submitted earlier in senior year than January.

OP, since your DH's family brought up the topic at dinner, you might be doing the kid a kindness if you sat down and spoke with him about the realities of applying to college. You may find that he has in fact already completed many of the steps and he's just trying to hit a certain number on the ACT, but if he has not even started the process then he will probably find that substantial merit aid is difficult to obtain at this point. This may exclude his state public schools, which may have a simple scholarship grid based on ACT score and GPA. Those scholarships are often awarded until sometime in the spring.

Why don't you share your supreme, expert knowledge on college prep and parenting with them? I'm sure you won't be invited back again--and rightfully so.

Anonymous wrote:There is literally zero evidence that "prepping" for standardized test improves your score.

Prep does improve. For sure.