Do we really have to travel 7 hours to take the SAT?

[JennifersLost]

If your senior hasn't taken the SAT yet and is applying to colleges this fall, would it be okay to wait for January to take the SAT?

 

Our high school only offers it in June (didn't know this until today!). There's a place two hours away that offers it in January.

 

Otherwise we have to drive seven hours to take the October or November one. That means at least one night in a hotel - possibly two. All the schools ds is applying to require the SAT.

 

What would you do?

[Jenn in CA]

One college my son's looking at specifically said "SAT scores must arrive no later than December." And that was the school with very mediocre SAT scores.

 

You could call admissions and see what they say.

[vmsurbat]

I feel your pain. We live overseas and have to drive to another country for the kids to take the SAT. One year the facility was under heavy security (USAID facility) and it took more than 1.5 hours just to process the kids into the building. We've never gone back to that location....

 

But I digress. Well, if the schools your son is applying to are the least bit competitive, he really ought to take his SATs this fall. Especially if merit aid is offered and you think he has a chance to qualify. Scholarship money is limited and goes quickly because schools use it as an enticement to get top mark students. A good guide is to use the deadlines for application--he should have taken his test BEFORE the deadline passes. If the school deadline is Dec. 31, he should take it this year. If sometime later (I've seen some schools accept applications until March/April), then no rush.

 

Also, note that sometimes the College Board people mess up and don't send the scores like they should. (We had that problem with our son this year--the school accepted our word about his score and he was admitted to the program of his choice), but it took the College Board more than three MONTHS of repeated requests to correctly send his score.) Our son is going to a big state university and the SAT people send scores going to large colleges out by disk..... we didn't know Ds's final financial aid packet until just a few weeks ago....

 

HTH,

[JennifersLost]

Vicki,

 

That really does help. I hadn't thought about it in terms of aid. We really need to figure this out fast, I guess, because I don't want to be driving seven hours in the snow in November.....

 

Sigh.

[creekland]

Is there any chance the ACT is offered sooner and closer? Most colleges accept either. It'd sure be worth looking. Otherwise, I agree that in general, fall is better. I'd also be checking a guide out of the library for practice as there won't be a chance to take it twice if the first score isn't as high as it could be (for him - not meaning a perfect score).

[flyingiguana]

A lot of colleges that say they require the SAT really will take the ACT if you ask. It may even be on the fine print on their website if you look around. There are large swatches of the country where the SAT isn't all that common. Colleges do know this, so they're often flexible.

 

I would definitely ask the college on this one.

[TravelingChris]

In the USA, all colleges allow the ACT instead of the SAT. I don't know about colleges in BC but since they aren't giving the test in your area, you should check this out.

[Quiver0f10]

One college my son's looking at specifically said "SAT scores must arrive no later than December." And that was the school with very mediocre SAT scores.

 

You could call admissions and see what they say.

 

 

I agree. I called two of the schools that my son is interested in and both told me the December ACT would be too late for the fall application process.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Could you couple the test date with checking out a college that your ds is interested in? So the weekend of the test be in an area with a college you're visiting and take the SAT at a high school near it. At least that way you'd get more out of your travels.

[JennifersLost]

Well, I'm glad I asked and didn't dither around.

 

No one offers the ACT here, either. The SAT is it. Enrollment in the local school district here has gone down so much in the past decade (and especially the last few years) that they aren't offering the SAT nearly as often as they used to.

 

Anyway, today I signed him up for the October test in the town seven hours away. Ds and I will drive there the day before, stay in a hotel. He'll take the test and we'll drive home. We figure he'll get the rest of the hours of practice driving time he needs before he can go take his road test. :lol:

 

Maybe we'll take some time to check out the local college there just in case, but ds is pretty set on going to college in the US.

 

I can't believe I have someone old enough to take the SAT and apply to colleges!

 

I can't believe we're driving 7 hours so he can take it!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I don't know if this is even an option with SAT/ACT, but I was able to take both the GRE and Praxis at the testing center at a local university.