Bragging about kids

[tractor]

OK, I have to say I'm impressed. My son took the ACT last month. Told me he didn't think he did that well, was confused by some of the questions, etc, hoped to do better next time.

Grades came Saturday, he got a 32! Hope the scholarships start rolling in. He should be able to get into any college he chooses.

[Deleted]

Congrats to you DS! 

[Deleted]

Mar 31, 2014 9:50:51 GMT -5 tractor said:

OK, I have to say I'm impressed. My son took the ACT last month. Told me he didn't think he did that well, was confused by some of the questions, etc, hoped to do better next time.

Grades came Saturday, he got a 32! Hope the scholarships start rolling in. He should be able to get into any college he chooses

32 is a failing grade.   At least you don't set you standards too high.

[bookkeeper]

Congratulations! and don't forget to apply early. You may want to report his ACT score to a few more schools if he is undecided about where he would like to attend.

I can brag that our children scored a 32 and 31 on that test as well. It took the 32 score to get offered a full tuition scholarship. 31 did not make the cut.

[Deleted]

Mar 31, 2014 9:50:51 GMT -5 tractor said:

OK, I have to say I'm impressed. My son took the ACT last month. Told me he didn't think he did that well, was confused by some of the questions, etc, hoped to do better next time.

Grades came Saturday, he got a 32! Hope the scholarships start rolling in. He should be able to get into any college he chooses.

don't get your hopes up on scholarships....my DD got a 31 overall and a 36 in the english/writing (max grade) and she got 0 scholarship offers from it.

[tractor]

I know many scholarships are need based, that will keep us out of the running on most, but I can still hope he can find something.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

My niece got that on the ACT she took in her junior year. It was good enough to get her a scholarship to a private college, covering better than 50% of her tuition for all 4 years.

[Deleted]

That's a great score!  That said, it just depends on the university as to whether 32 is enough to get anything.  My daughter, who made a 32, was offered a $300 non-renewable book scholarship at the University of Alabama.  They obviously didn't want her very badly.  She was actually rather insulted by the offer.

If that was his first time taking it, he should do some prep and try again.

[tractor]

Southern,

It was his first time taking it as a junior, I wonder if he takes it again and gets a lower score if that will count against him? I couldn't find any help to that question on the ACT web page, but it might be there somewhere.

We will start getting applications in this summer, and I will be requiring him to start campus tours soon. Fortunately the one he's most interested in right now is the same school both my wife and I graduated from.

[Bob Ross]

Mar 31, 2014 9:50:51 GMT -5 tractor said:

Grades came Saturday, he got a 32! Hope the scholarships start rolling in. He should be able to get into any college he chooses

I don't think it works that way.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

It was his first time taking it as a junior, I wonder if he takes it again and gets a lower score if that will count against him

Whatever your highest score is is the one they report to colleges. So if he got a 30 on the next round, 32 would still be the score that counted.

A perfect score on the ACT is 36.  How much difference would 4 pts REALLY make that makes it worth him taking it over and over again?  How many people realistically get a perfect score even with practice? 

[alabamagal]

Most schools just look at your highest score. I had my kids take it 2-3 times. My youngest, who scored lowest on his first time (SAT) showed a great improvement.

It is certainly possible to get a scholarship with that ACT score.   The scholarship just may not be at the schools he wants.  There are plenty of academic scholarships out there if you look for them.

My kids qualify for Hope Scholarship automatically so it was pretty easy decision on where to go.  My oldest was also able to get a full scholarship to a state near us (it says on their website xx gpa and xx SAT/ACT gets full scholarship). DD also have a 75% scholarship to a private school.     You can look on websites (college board for one) and see what the statistics are for acceptance, and if you above the 75% range for ACT you will likely get some offer. That means probably not Harvard, but plenty of other well respected colleges.

[Annie7]

Congrats Tractor and Tractor's son  Your son must be so happy. Best wishes for getting scholarships. Look at the websites of the colleges he wants to go to. They will list the ACT/SAT scores they are looking for. If your school has naviance or anything similar, you might be able to find out how the kids from your school did.

Can I brag too? My YDS took the SATs recently in 8th grade (it does not stay on your record if you take it before high school) to see how where he is and give him an idea of how tiring it is to take a 4 hour test. The only prep he did was go thru one test at home at his own pace and in spurts. He got a 1900. I am so proud of him. And even more happier that he now has gained some confidence that he is academically good and should not be intimidated by his older brother's achievements (ODS got 1830 in 8th grade and had the highest GPA ever in his high school which has over 700 kids graduating each year and is now in Princeton)

[tractor]

That's great Annie,

I think it helps the kids to start taking the standardized tests a couple if times before they have to do it for "real". At least they know what to expect when they get to high school.

I don't know where my son will end up. To his credit he has been researching colleges with the programs he's interested in. Last night he was checking out Stanford, I know it's a good school, but we likely could not afford to send him there.

[Pants]

A 32 isn't going to get him into Stanford without knockout grades and extracurriculars.

[lynnerself]

Apr 1, 2014 12:48:41 GMT -5 Pants said:

A 32 isn't going to get him into Stanford without knockout grades and extracurriculars.

No kidding! Especially the extracurriculars.

Both my kids had perfect SATs and 4.0 GPA s and neither one got in.

[tractor]

He has both the grades and the extra stuff like NHS and varsity sports. I doubt he would go to Stanford, we live on the other side if the country. I am happy he's at least looking into several options, nothing will be certain until he starts getting his applications in. Besides, who wants their mascot to be a silly red bird ( I know they're not named after a bird, but their mascot is pretty lame).

[vonna]

Apr 1, 2014 13:39:50 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

Apr 1, 2014 12:48:41 GMT -5 Pants said:

A 32 isn't going to get him into Stanford without knockout grades and extracurriculars.

No kidding! Especially the extracurriculars.

Both my kids had perfect SATs and 4.0 GPA s and neither one got in.

Wow!  BOTH of your kids scored a 2400 on their SAT?  

That's amazing!

[lynnerself]

To be fair at the time the perfect score was 1600.

And I exaggerated just a little.
DS was 1600 with a 3.95 GPA (Salutatorian)
DD was 1590 with a 4.0 GPA (Valedictorian)

[Deleted]

Apr 2, 2014 18:46:04 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

To be fair at the time the perfect score was 1600.

And I exaggerated just a little.
DS was 1600 with a 3.95 GPA (Salutatorian)
DD was 1590 with a 4.0 GPA (Valedictorian)

diggiggity damn....     what are you feeding those kids?