Anonymous wrote:One more thought, you can get more score detail from the ACT if you ordered it when you signed up for the test--might be interesting to see if he starts off fine and trails off the longer the test takes. Test fatigue is a thing and made even trickier with ADHD.

I think k you can actually order the score detail up to 6 months after the test date (for the three dates that offer it), so you could still get it even if you didn’t request it when you registered.

Could give useful insight.

One more thought, you can get more score detail from the ACT if you ordered it when you signed up for the test--might be interesting to see if he starts off fine and trails off the longer the test takes. Test fatigue is a thing and made even trickier with ADHD.

I would have your child take a paper practice test with no time limit section by section (doesn't have to even be in one sitting) to determine whether it's an issue of not being able to answer the questions versus the test anxiety of a lengthy timed test. Is he doing better on one section than another? If he truly doesn't know the content, you might want to consider a regular tutor (not necessarily a test tutor) as that is the type of content entering college students should know.

If its really more test anxiety related, try the SAT (fewer/deeper questions) or start taking a practice test/week--repetitive practice may help him learn what to expect, to not panic when he doesn't quickly recognize what to do, etc. Ultimately if he does a bunch of practice tests, he'll see they tend to test the same concepts, just with different numbers or wording. Once he figures out how to recognize and handle a certain concept it may be less stressful.

DS has a slightly higher GPA 3.2 and scored 22 on the initial ACT before any prep. Our college counselor told us not to waste time and money on prep- it wouldn’t get his score high enough to where we’d submit it. He’s only applying to TO colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sons got an 18 and a 19.

One got into Vatech, tenn, Towson, UofSC, Providence, Dayton

One went to a patriot league school, athlete,

Good luck,

Those are all great schools! An 18 is not a bad score at all.

Yes, it is a bad score.

The average ACT score in the USA is 19.4

And majority of kids that graduate high school do not graduate college with a bachelor’s degree. Kids are dumber than ever and scores are lower than ever in reading and math- vast majority of kids graduating high school do not have basic proficiency in math and reading

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/GMA/Living/us-students-reading-math-scores-historic-lows-devastating/story?id=125392421

Additionally, these are the benchmark scores the ACT exam recommends having to be successful in entry level college courses.

https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/pdfs/R1670-college-readiness-benchmarks-2017-11.pdf


18 English- Eng composition I
22 math- college algebra
22 reading- 101 history courses/social sciences
23 science- biology

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sons got an 18 and a 19.

One got into Vatech, tenn, Towson, UofSC, Providence, Dayton

One went to a patriot league school, athlete,

Good luck,

Those are all great schools! An 18 is not a bad score at all.

Yes, it is a bad score.

The average ACT score in the USA is 19.4

So, while as parents, we will share alternative ideas such as work or military…. I just don’t see throwing in the towel before we even give him a chance to flunk out so to speak .

You obviously have a lot more spare income than I do - I am not the PP. I'm not sure my son will be ready for college in two years. We plan on having him apply, but if our conclusion is that he is not ready to handle living away and the academics of a 4 year school, he can do 2 years at NOVA and transfer in the future if he still wants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sons got an 18 and a 19.

One got into Vatech, tenn, Towson, UofSC, Providence, Dayton

One went to a patriot league school, athlete,

Good luck,

Those are all great schools! An 18 is not a bad score at all.

Yes, it is a bad score.

But…if my kid came back with a 17 ACT we’d be talking to the Marine Corps or Army recruiters instead of chasing college

Seriously, in the current environment?
I would be encouraging community college to start with, or a trade program.

Agree with TO and maybe this will help inspire him to get some better study skills and habits in place for when he goes to school. Don’t spend time on the SAT/ACT, spend time on the execthive function and study skills that may help him now and long term.

Anonymous wrote:He obtained an 17 on a practice test beforehand, the same score!

Last year he managed a 3.0 gpa, this year he did not start off well but is being tutored- junior year. DS has an IEP (ADHD), so he had extra time for the exam, he just doesn’t test well.

Where do I go from here? Take another ACT course?

Test Optional. Don’t waste your time. Do activities he loves instead.