ACT/SAT decision help

[skimomma]

Dd is a senior.  She has not taken the SAT or ACT yet.  She was registered for the April and June ACT tests, which were cancelled, and did not even get a slot for the July test.  She has been rescheduled for September....two states and five hours of driving away!  Assuming it does not also get canceled, this is a bad situation.  We would have to stay the night before in a hotel, which is stressful under non-pandemic circumstances, and will also be hard for my dd who already struggles with test anxiety and insomnia.  Not to mention, we really cannot afford the travel costs or time.  I went to the site and found that there is nothing closer to us until the December test.  I will absolutely lose my mind if we do travel to the test and we arrive only to find out it is cancelled!

The nearest SAT test site is two hours away.  Still not ideal but better.  There are seats open in September and October.  I have not been following the SAT at all.  Have they also been cancelling tests?

Dd has lightly prepped for the ACT.  Not the SAT.  She is dual enrolled and already very much overcommitted right now so if she were to take the SAT, it will be 100% cold.  There is simply no time for prep.

The main school dd is interested in went "test optional" except for homeschoolers.  Sigh. 

I see a few options.  Which would you do:

1.  Plan to take the ACT 5 hours away and just deal with the stress and cost.  Also register for an SAT test as a back-up in case the ACT gets cancelled again.

2.  Forget the ACT altogether and register for the SAT.  

3.  Forget both tests and hope dd's school changes their policy for homeschoolers.

[BusyMom5]

Can you call and speak to admissions first?  

[skimomma]

8 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

Can you call and speak to admissions first?  

I have.  At this point there are no exceptions but they said the "discussion is ongoing," whatever that means.

[mom31257]

Following as ds hasn't registered for or taken either one but needs to do so. 

Ideally, I would like ds to take the ACT 12/14 and the SAT 3/13. Both are scheduled at schools very close by, and one is my dh's school. 

Edited August 4, 2020 by mom31257

[skimomma]

I thought of a fourth option:

4.  Switch the ACT to the local December test and register for earlier SAT test.  Cancel ACT if SAT goes well enough but have ACT as a back-up in case cold SAT goes as poorly as I fear.

[Roadrunner]

Is December not too late for a test? 
 

I would administer the SAT at home. If you like the score you are seeing, then switching to SAT would make sense. However, SAT tends to cancel tests on national level (they did before), so it’s a gamble assuming test will actually take place. In CA many schools are listed as a “go” for a test in August, but if you call local schools, they will tell you they don’t plan on administering. 
 

And now that I wrote this out, I would actually drive and take ACT because there is no guarantee of future test dates. It’s too bad the college insists on a score. 

[skimomma]

5 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

Is December not too late for a test? 
 

 

The school does not have an application deadline, so I assume this means it would not be too late.  Good tip on calling the SAT test school.  They might already know what is happening for the fall tests.  

[mom31257]

2 minutes ago, skimomma said:

The school does not have an application deadline, so I assume this means it would not be too late.  Good tip on calling the SAT test school.  They might already know what is happening for the fall tests.  

Ds' school doesn't have hard fast deadlines, either. He'll go ahead and apply this fall and have a provisional acceptance until the test is taken. They can give one in-house for admissions, but it doesn't count for the scholarships at this point. 

[skimomma]

8 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

 

I would administer the SAT at home. If you like the score you are seeing, then switching to SAT would make sense.

She did well on the PSAT but I believe I recall that the PSAT is not very similar to the SAT?  She doesn't "need" a very high score to be admitted to her target school.  And I doubt she would be a candidate for merit aid anyway.  So maybe taking it cold would not be terrible?

[skimomma]

2 minutes ago, mom31257 said:

Ds' school doesn't have hard fast deadlines, either. He'll go ahead and apply this fall and have a provisional acceptance until the test is taken. They can give one in-house for admissions, but it doesn't count for the scholarships at this point. 

What kind of a test do they give in house?  When I talked to the admissions person, she did not mention a provisional acceptance option.  I'll have to ask about this.

[mom31257]

1 minute ago, skimomma said:

What kind of a test do they give in house?  When I talked to the admissions person, she did not mention a provisional acceptance option.  I'll have to ask about this.

It's either the ACT or SAT. I'm not sure which one. But they only give it in extreme situations. They actually waived it for admissions this year rather than have to test all those who hadn't taken it, but they haven't made any decisions about the next year yet. 

[teachermom2834]

How competitve is this school?

Our local schools that are not very competitive allow test scores to be submitted for scholarship purposes all the way through the summer after graduation. They also regularly admit and enroll students in the weeks and days before the semester starts. There is nothing wrong with these schools, they are just very open admissions wise. If this is the kind of school I feel like you are going to be able to work around the test issue. 

If it is a more competitive school they will likely expect you to go much more out of your way to secure the test score and to them explaining you have to travel probably wouldn't convince them. 

I would definitely be in an ongoing discussion with admissions about this situation. 

Sorry. It stinks.

[Roadrunner]

11 minutes ago, skimomma said:

She did well on the PSAT but I believe I recall that the PSAT is not very similar to the SAT?  She doesn't "need" a very high score to be admitted to her target school.  And I doubt she would be a candidate for merit aid anyway.  So maybe taking it cold would not be terrible?

PSAT is just a tiny bit easier that SAT. It’s essentially the same thing. 

[skimomma]

1 hour ago, Roadrunner said:

PSAT is just a tiny bit easier that SAT. It’s essentially the same thing. 

Ah, I was mistaken as I thought it was very different.  In that case, the SAT should be fine enough for her.  Now I just have to try to guess which one is more likely to cancel.

[skimomma]

1 hour ago, teachermom2834 said:

How competitve is this school?

Our local schools that are not very competitive allow test scores to be submitted for scholarship purposes all the way through the summer after graduation. They also regularly admit and enroll students in the weeks and days before the semester starts. There is nothing wrong with these schools, they are just very open admissions wise. If this is the kind of school I feel like you are going to be able to work around the test issue. 

If it is a more competitive school they will likely expect you to go much more out of your way to secure the test score and to them explaining you have to travel probably wouldn't convince them. 

I would definitely be in an ongoing discussion with admissions about this situation. 

Sorry. It stinks.

It's a somewhat competitive school but dd's grades, PSAT, and practice ACT scores are well above their admission criteria, so I do think she could be admitted up to the last minute assuming she does not completely bomb whatever test she may take.  She has been, and currently is, dual enrolled there so she also has an established GPA of 4.0 (so far) which I thought would be enough for petitioning the waiver of test scores, but that is not the case at this time.  

[teachermom2834]

8 minutes ago, skimomma said:

It's a somewhat competitive school but dd's grades, PSAT, and practice ACT scores are well above their admission criteria, so I do think she could be admitted up to the last minute assuming she does not completely bomb whatever test she may take.  She has been, and currently is, dual enrolled there so she also has an established GPA of 4.0 (so far) which I thought would be enough for petitioning the waiver of test scores, but that is not the case at this time.  

That is very frustrating. Sorry.

[Roadrunner]

1 hour ago, skimomma said:

Ah, I was mistaken as I thought it was very different.  In that case, the SAT should be fine enough for her.  Now I just have to try to guess which one is more likely to cancel.

Are you in CA? Here everything through October will be cancelled for SAT. 

[RootAnn]

4 hours ago, skimomma said:

I thought of a fourth option:

4.  Switch the ACT to the local December test and register for earlier SAT test.  Cancel ACT if SAT goes well enough but have ACT as a back-up in case cold SAT goes as poorly as I fear.

I'd try this & hope for the best.

[skimomma]

18 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

Are you in CA? Here everything through October will be cancelled for SAT. 

Is that reflected on the College Board website?  Or did you get that info elsewhere.  I am not in CA but don't want to believe, and therefore plan based on the website, if I know it is not accurate.

[Roadrunner]

31 minutes ago, skimomma said:

Is that reflected on the College Board website?  Or did you get that info elsewhere.  I am not in CA but don't want to believe, and therefore plan based on the website, if I know it is not accurate.

I will PM you

When you spoke to admissions did you mention that she is dual enrolled and already taking college level classes?  I would think that might put her in a slightly different category than a homeschool student with no outside grading. 

[skimomma]

11 hours ago, Mom2mthj said:

When you spoke to admissions did you mention that she is dual enrolled and already taking college level classes?  I would think that might put her in a slightly different category than a homeschool student with no outside grading. 

Yes.  I have been in ongoing discussions with Admissions over the last 24 hours.  I does now appear that they will consider waiving the test requirement based on her DE record.  We are awaiting a final ruling.  Meanwhile, it does appear dd would likely qualify for merit-based aid if she can test.  They will allow test score submission up to right before she starts, so that is good news.  So, we are going to go with (new) option 5, which is to change her ACT registration to the December test and plan to figure out a spring test time if that gets cancelled.  This does not help if dd decides she wants to go elsewhere, but with everything as uncertain as it has been, limited option s might be the least stressful for everyone.

[Arcadia]

On 8/4/2020 at 10:58 AM, skimomma said:

Is that reflected on the College Board website?  Or did you get that info elsewhere.  I am not in CA but don't want to believe, and therefore plan based on the website, if I know it is not accurate.

I would register for both ACT and SAT, and hope one goes through 

CollegeBoard just posted on Facebook and their webpage https://blog.collegeboard.org/what-expect-sat-test-day-fall

“Because of covid-19, we expect some test centers may decide to close ahead of the August SAT, even on test day. We're asking test centers to report closures as early as possible and will communicate changes to students ASAP. Here's how to stay informed.”

“

Health and safety

Our top priorities are the health and safety of students and educators. Local schools and test centers make individual decisions about whether to administer the SAT. All weekend test centers must adhere to local public health guidelines and follow College Board requirements. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• You’ll need to bring a mask or protective face covering and wear it throughout the duration of testing. (Take a full-length practice test while wearing a mask before test day to prepare yourself for the test day experience.)

• You’ll be required by test centers to be seated at least 6 feet away from other students.

• Check your test center’s website for any additional health and safety measures so you’ll be prepared to follow them. 

• If you feel sick the day of your test, stay home. Contact customer service on the next business day for your options. You won’t be charged a change or cancellation fee if you stay home because you’re sick.”

[BlsdMama]

On 8/4/2020 at 9:20 AM, Roadrunner said:

Is December not too late for a test? 
 

Check, not just for the purpose of admissions, but for any scholarship she is in the running for as it may have an effect.

On 8/4/2020 at 9:27 AM, skimomma said:

The school does not have an application deadline, so I assume this means it would not be too late.  Good tip on calling the SAT test school.  They might already know what is happening for the fall tests.  

Application deadlines are often different than merit scholarship deadlines.  My DS missed out one because at the time I was going through diagnosis and we didn't get his information to them until after the Dec/Jan deadline.  They were kind enough to reconsider and reward due to our unique scenario, but it was a renewable scholarship so it would have had major impact.  A good general rule is to have scores in hand by Dec 1 unless you sure and confident you won't miss anything.

If the above scenario applies to you, I'd drive.   My kiddos have traditionally done better on the ACT, but I have only tested two on both.

[pgr]

I don't know at all if it would be a viable option, but have you looked at the CLT? I read somewhere that it is with a "live virtual proctor" option and some schools accept it.

https://www.cltexam.com

 

 

[Forgiven]

I would definitely schedule an SAT just in case, maybe even another ACT. Maybe schedule the earlier ACT that was only 2 hours away and the first available SAT that is close to you. You can then cancel whatever you don't need to do, or take all of them.

As for the SAT cancelling, the College Board has said they will not cancel across the board again. It is up to the individual testing sites. I would call the location of the SAT that you would sign up for and see where they stand. We are constantly looking at the website for the school my daughter is scheduled to take it at in a couple of weeks. I've spoken to some teachers and parents of other kids scheduled there, and as of right now, there is no worry of it being cancelled. The school is determined to have this test happen because none of their seniors have tested yet at all! I've read that many schools are in this situation and are trying very hard to have this August test happen.

 

Anyway, good luck. This is the most stressful part of our journey right now. Our plan was to have all SAT and SAT subject tests completed by the June test date. Now we have no idea if we'll get the SAT Subject tests in at all. Our priority is the SAT right now. Some of the schools my DD is interested in require SAT Subject tests for homeschoolers, so we'll see what happens. 

Angie