Scarlett Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 I need Cliff notes. And your opinion. Ds16 is a Junior and dual enrolled at Vo-tech taking Auto-CAD. He LOVES his Vo-tech course. I mean he LOVES it. He feels strongly that when he graduates from high school and Vo-tech in June 2018 he will go to work immediately. He thinks at this point he doesn't want to go to college. I am ok with that. He can decide a bit later if he wants to go back for some college or not. My question has to do with the ACT/SAT/PSAT testing. Are college bound kids suppose to take all of them? Is one more important than the other? His dad is really pressuring me to pressure ds16 to take these tests....and I am not opposed . I think it would be good for ds16 to see his scores regardless of what he chooses to do after high school graduation. But which one? Or more than one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 IMO, he does not need to take ALL of them. Most schools accept the ACT and/or the SAT. What is more common in the area in which you live? IIRC, you are in my neck of the woods and the ACT is most common here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 21, 2016 Author Share Posted September 21, 2016 IMO, he does not need to take ALL of them. Most schools accept the ACT and/or the SAT. What is more common in the area in which you live? IIRC, you are in my neck of the woods and the ACT is most common here. Oklahoma. Rural area not far from Tulsa. Probably the ACT but heck I don't know. LOL.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 The ACT is what is most common in Oklahoma. If he were planning on going to college on the East or West coast, I would probably recommend at least looking in to taking the SAT, but if he plans on staying local, he can take the ACT. The testing is offered at TCC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Take both SAT and ACT. You can just check where the test centers are and register online. For PSAT, you have to call, visit and pay the local high schools and the 11th grade PSAT score is used only for national merit award. If your son change his mind, there are automatic scholarships tied to scores. See link below for quick summary, verify details with colleges he might be keen on. http://blog.prepscholar.com/guaranteed-scholarships-based-on-sat-act-scores 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 21, 2016 Author Share Posted September 21, 2016 Thanks! Very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 PSAT matters only in Jr year for National Merit and makes no sense for students who don't have a shot at NM scholar. All colleges accept both ACT and SAT. If he were interested in very selective colleges, I'd suggest trying both to see which one works better for him. If he is not interested in college at all, or a non-selective school, just do one of them and get it over with. My DS only took the ACT. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 I think the essay is optional for both the SAT and the ACT. I would have him skip the essay. The basic reading and math skills you can do at least semi-OK on without test prep, but the essays have gotten much harder. They expect a very specific type of response to score well, and if he's not doing extensive prep for it, it will be a waste of time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 21, 2016 Author Share Posted September 21, 2016 I talked to ds16 just now. Scarlett--- ds16 this is the ACT schedule. How do you feel about taking it? Ds16--how does it benefit me? Scarlett--it is required for college entrance in case you decide to go on to college after you graduate Vo-Tech. Ds16---Do I have to study for it? Scarlett---most people who are serious about getting into a good college DO study for it, but no, studying is not required. And you can take it again if you don't do well on it. Ds16--ok, I will do it. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Take both SAT and ACT. You can just check where the test centers are and register online. For PSAT, you have to call, visit and pay the local high schools and the 11th grade PSAT score is used only for national merit award. If your son change his mind, there are automatic scholarships tied to scores. See link below for quick summary, verify details with colleges he might be keen on. http://blog.prepscholar.com/guaranteed-scholarships-based-on-sat-act-scores The article is from 2015. Colleges can change quickly and we have a new PSAT and SAT since that point, so as Arcadia said, be sure to verify current info and current score thresholds with the individual colleges. It is likely too late to be able to take the PSAT this year, since it is given only once a year in October and you have to go through a local high school in advance to register for it. It isn't required at all before taking either the SAT or ACT and colleges don't see the scores anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 I talked to ds16 just now. Scarlett--- ds16 this is the ACT schedule. How do you feel about taking it? Ds16--how does it benefit me? Scarlett--it is required for college entrance in case you decide to go on to college after you graduate Vo-Tech. Ds16---Do I have to study for it? Scarlett---most people who are serious about getting into a good college DO study for it, but no, studying is not required. And you can take it again if you don't do well on it. Ds16--ok, I will do it. If he wants to take a practice test, TCC offers a residual exam. It will not be sent to any universities, but could be used at TCC for concurrent classes. That is what dd did last year. We just wanted a baseline and to help with nerves. If you have any questions about that, feel free to PM me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) We did PSAT just for practice, then SAT for real. The SAT score was good enough that we did not bother with ACT. DD wants to go to a local, non-competitive college. ETA, do take the time to prep for whichever you decide to take. We did not prep for PSAT since it was mainly for practice. We did prep for SAT, and she felt much less nervous and did significantly better. By prep, we mostly did the Khan practice tests. Edited September 22, 2016 by goldberry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 PSAT matters only in Jr year for National Merit and makes no sense for students who don't have a shot at NM scholar. That is why we didn't take it too seriously or waste prep time. It was more just a practice run for the testing process. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 I talked to ds16 just now. Scarlett--- ds16 this is the ACT schedule. How do you feel about taking it? Ds16--how does it benefit me? Scarlett--it is required for college entrance in case you decide to go on to college after you graduate Vo-Tech. Ds16---Do I have to study for it? Scarlett---most people who are serious about getting into a good college DO study for it, but no, studying is not required. And you can take it again if you don't do well on it. Ds16--ok, I will do it. Yes, I would call what we did more "practice" than study. It was really helpful for DD to get used to the format, the type of questions, etc., and especially the timed aspect of it. I really don't think a kid is going to learn a whole lot at the last minute that they didn't know already, KWIM? But... the practice tests did remind her of a few math tricks she had forgotten. She was in College Algebra at that time, and had honestly forgotten some of the basics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Oklahoma. Rural area not far from Tulsa. Probably the ACT but heck I don't know. LOL.... These are scholarships for Oklahoma U based on ACT or SAT scores. My kids are wide awake unfortunately so I googled. Oklahoma City U http://www.okcu.edu/admissions/freshmen/scholarships/ Oklahoma State U https://financialaid.okstate.edu/recent-changes-sat-scores The new SAT to old SAT concordance tables https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/higher-ed-brief-sat-concordance.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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