I know this is off-topic, but isn't the guidance office supposed to be helping the parents, not the other way around? Maybe we should just make guidance a volunteer office at the school.
We found that we couldn't depend on the guidance counselor. Parents have their child's best interests in mind more that the counselors do.
My son is in the 10th grade and has taken only the PSAT. I wonder how closely it resembles the SAT. My knowledge of ACT is very limited, but I know I will need to learn.
I recall when I was applying to colleges in the UGA system, only the highest SAT score was evaluated, as opposed to an average of all scores. Is that the common way scores are evaluated or does it vary by school?
Some schools use the highest of each part, others use the highest on a particular test date.
I strongly encourage you to have your kids take these tests several times.
My friends and I took them so many times (to test them for companies, the PSAT, both the ACT and SAT because of different college requirements) that they became old hat - and our scores were higher because of the reduced stress, the repetition, and taking the higher scores.
Yes, take them as often as possible. In our case our daughter made the score she needed on the SAT on the second try her junior year. So her senior year she focused on SAT II's.
Thanks very much for the clarification! So what's the concensus? Is it worth taking the SAT in the 10th grade or early 11th grade before the student has been exposed to all the higher math concepts he will learn by the end of the 11th grade? Is the experience worth the risk of a lower math score?
BTW - I took the SAT four times and fully appreciate that taking the test multiple times is beneficial.
Thanks to all who have input. This is a timely topic for my family.
The math part is advanced algebra, geometry, precalc, and a little probability/statistics. I'd wait until the 11th grade.
Now that the parents are mobilized it would be great to continue the momentum with a workshop dedicated to filling out the
FAFSA form. If this hasn't been done it's a great way to assist in the financial aid process. This paperwork can be daunting for many.
I've seen too many cases through the years where a student was well qualified academically, but was unable to pull together the financing to go to the next level only because the appropriate paperwork was not in place.
I am almost certain that a rep from the community college would come out and do the workshop. They would just need to be asked.
If you can afford a second residence, no matter how humble, you child will not get any need-based aid. We stressed over the FAFSA the first time. We were told that we could afford $99,999 a year for tuition/board/fees (yeah, right). That's just because a 5-digit number was the largest possible on the form. BTW we are blessed, but we aren't wealthy by any means. So if you are in that category, don't take it too seriously.
Parents, there are two things you need to understand.
1. You really need to help your child keep track of the deadlines. I was overwhelmed by it all, and I am a college professor. So how can a 17-year-old keep track of all of this? Our daughter was applying to the Ivys and MIT, so she had to take three SAT II's (English, math, physics). I was busy at work and forgot the registration deadline for the third one -- a day late. I couldn't register her online for obvious reasons. So I filled out the mail-in form and drove to a very small town's post office (at a gas station) and asked the little old lady there to post-date their date stamp by one day. She agreed. If daughter hadn't taken that SAT II, she wouldn't have even been considered at the Ivys and MIT.
2. You parents of 6th graders need to plan out your child's path in math if they want to apply to a top-10 school in engineering or architecture and take the SAT II in physics. That means they need to have completed calc-based physics their junior year, which means they need calculus in the 10th grade, precalc in the 9th grade, and geometry and advanced algebra in the 7th/8th grades. In other words, they need to skip a grade in math if they are on that track. We didn't get that until it was too late. So daughter took calculus and non-calc-based physics concurrently her junior year. The summer after her junior year we hired a Kaplan tutor to get her ready for the SAT II in physics. It was worth the money. She got in the schools she wanted!
In summary, my advice is be your child's advocate, help him/her keep track of deadlines, plan out the math courses when they are in the 6th grade, and encourage them to take the SAT/SAT II as often as possible until they get the score they need.