Well, that sucked. SAT related

[Lizzie in Ma]

Youngest, who has been doing so well, had a full blown panic attack at the SATS yesterday and was unable to finish them.

We will reschedule them, when she feels ready, but I felt so badly for her.  She got through the first section ok and then kind of just lost it and started sobbing.  Not because it was hard or anything, she isn't sure what triggered it.  Thinking of asking for accommodations, perhaps a small group setting or a private room which are listed as available on the College Board website. I know her therapist or psychiatrist would help us with anything that needs to be done to obtain the same.

She puts so much pressure on herself academically. ?

[livetoread]

I’m so sorry. Your poor daughter. I hope I am wrong, but it is my understanding that if you want accommodations on the SAT or ACT, you need to have those in place before you take it for the first time. If that is the case, you might want to switch to the ACT and get the accommodations in place before she takes it. It takes awhile to get approved, so the sooner the better. I hope it all works out for her.

[GinaPagnato]

<<hugs>>

It does take time and lots of paperwork to get accommodations in place for standardized testing. I'd start looking into it ASAP so she can perhaps have them in order for the fall.

I'm really sorry for you both. It's so hard to have to continually hit roadblocks when other people's kids seem to sail through these normal milestones. 

 

 

 

[Mbelle]

There is so much pressure on kids these days.  

My ds said this SAT was harder than the last one.  Especially the reading passages.  He thought there was less Geometry and more Algebra 1 compared to last time too.

[Jann in TX]

((Hugs))

My middle dd (homeschooled) also had panic attacks during her SAT and ACT tests.  She managed to 'complete' them but her scores were extremely low-- like below college minimum.

This dd is extremely intelligent-- at the time of the tests she had completed 28 hours of DE at the local CC with most classes at the 2nd year level-- and she maintained a 4.0 average! 

When she applied to college-- she would only consider ONE place (Texas A&M)-- she was, of course not accepted due to her low test scores, however one admin. person called us and asked us to consider re-applying.  DD was writing a novel so she sent in the first chapter.  Less than 2 weeks later she was accepted AND the head of the English department called asking her to consider majoring in English... (at that time she was Pre-Med/Business).  DD laughed-- but 4 years later she graduated from college (she transferred to Texas State) with an English degree and high honors!  

Anyways-- colleges understand that test scores are not the end-all for college admittance.... unfortunately they are still linked to the majority of financial aide.

[Lanny]

8 minutes ago, Jann in TX said:

<snip>

Anyways-- colleges understand that test scores are not the end-all for college admittance.... unfortunately they are still linked to the majority of financial aide.

 

During the School Fair we attended on 03 May 2018 in Bogota (Duke, Georgetown, Harvard and Penn were there) that was emphasized to us.  They know that kids may have a bad day when they take the SAT or ACT and that the test scores may not be reflective of the abilities of that student. They are looking at many things, in addition to the test scores.   In those 4 schools there is a LOT of NEED based aid, but little if any Merit Aid if I understood correctly.

[klmama]

OP, hugs to both you and your dd.  Can you cancel the score from this exam so it doesn't appear on any future reports?  

[4everHis]

((HUGS)) My heart hurts for her. Poor kid.

[Tsuga]

13 hours ago, Jann in TX said:

((Hugs))

My middle dd (homeschooled) also had panic attacks during her SAT and ACT tests.  She managed to 'complete' them but her scores were extremely low-- like below college minimum.

This dd is extremely intelligent-- at the time of the tests she had completed 28 hours of DE at the local CC with most classes at the 2nd year level-- and she maintained a 4.0 average! 

When she applied to college-- she would only consider ONE place (Texas A&M)-- she was, of course not accepted due to her low test scores, however one admin. person called us and asked us to consider re-applying.  DD was writing a novel so she sent in the first chapter.  Less than 2 weeks later she was accepted AND the head of the English department called asking her to consider majoring in English... (at that time she was Pre-Med/Business).  DD laughed-- but 4 years later she graduated from college (she transferred to Texas State) with an English degree and high honors!  

Anyways-- colleges understand that test scores are not the end-all for college admittance.... unfortunately they are still linked to the majority of financial aide.

I am so happy for your daughter. What a great story and shows persistence is worth it.

Re:financial aid: always, always, always ask twice. It never hurts to ask. Particularly for students with excellent grades and attendance and other things, asking for an exemption to standardized tests can be worth it.

[GoodGrief]

I think something similar happened to one of my daughters during the SAT. She made it through and did okay, but was pretty traumatized by the experience. There was no more standardized testing after that.

[madteaparty]

15 hours ago, Mbelle said:

There is so much pressure on kids these days.  

My ds said this SAT was harder than the last one.  Especially the reading passages.  He thought there was less Geometry and more Algebra 1 compared to last time too.

This is exactly what my DS said. 

[Corraleno]

(((HUGS))) I'm so sorry that happened to your DD.

You probably will want cancel the score ASAP — once they release the score (in 2 weeks or so) you can no longer cancel it and it's a permanent part of her record.

Unfortunately you may have a hard time getting accommodations if she has never had them before. If she has had any prior accommodations for test anxiety issues, you want to document those as extensively as possible. I would read the instructions on the College Board website VERY carefully and follow the directions exactly in terms of what diagnoses are accepted, what documentation is necessary, how things need to be worded, etc. And I agree with a PP that you may want to look into trying to get accommodations on the ACT as well, since she hasn't taken that yet. ACT also tends to be a lot faster (like 2 week response time vs closer to 2 months for the SAT), although some people have found it a little more difficult to get ACT accommodations approved.

ETA: I wonder if it would be better to start with the disability office at her current school (assuming she is enrolled in the "tech school" listed in your sig), to get testing accommodations there first. If you could show that she has accommodations there (small group or private room or whatever), I suspect that would greatly increase your chances of getting them on the SAT & ACT. Otherwise, if it looks like you're saying "DD has test anxiety, but only on the SAT and not in any other context, so we just want accommodations on the SAT," they are going to be very suspicious of that.

[TravelingChris]

On 5/6/2018 at 8:01 AM, livetoread said:

I’m so sorry. Your poor daughter. I hope I am wrong, but it is my understanding that if you want accommodations on the SAT or ACT, you need to have those in place before you take it for the first time. If that is the case, you might want to switch to the ACT and get the accommodations in place before she takes it. It takes awhile to get approved, so the sooner the better. I hope it all works out for her.

No, you don't.  At least not for the ACT.  My youngest was taking the ACT before for talent search reasons.  She got her accommodations letter in her sophomore year.  ACT was definitely easier than SAT. 

[Innisfree]

No advice, just hugs. Your poor dd, and poor you, too. It hurts so much to watch our children hurt. I hope you can get accommodations that help.

[katilac]

Yes, cancel the scores right now. 

I have kids with anxiety. One thing I would consider is simply rescheduling the SAT.

My thoughts would be: The 'worst' has happened, you tanked the SAT, yet the sun still rose this morning and the world kept turning. Like most things in life, you get a second chance. I'll start the ball rolling on ACT accommodations just in case, but you're prepped for SAT and I think you will do just fine the next time. And if you don't, the world keeps turning and we do ACT or figure out another way, but hopefully you can get it over with and be done. 

I don't know your dd so I don't know if this has a chance of working. For my kids, I have the feeling that quiet rooms would not be a help, because the problem is the test itself. Zero distractions would just have them hyper-focusing on what was coming up.  A crowd of people in the same boat might make one student feel better, but it might make another student unable to focus and breathe.