Sd and the SATs
So dd17 took SATs last year, and this year to get ready to graduate and be ready for college applications. She stressed, it was hard... but she was worried, but that's just the nature of my dd, she had high anxiety (she got it from her momma (me)). She did well though, she got a 1370 (which puts her in the 97 percentile)
Sd took the SAT this year, told dd, "i know you took the SAT and was sooo stressed, but i thought it was sooo easy." This child went to SAT camp, her school literally had a whole class dedicated to SAT prep. She studied A LOT. So yes, maybe she was more prepared. It would be great if she nailed it! But i hated the way she was trying to brag, every single moment she could. I don't know if any of you watched big bang theory, but when Howard wouldn't stop talking about being an astronaut, and his friends got tied off hearing it.... yea, it was like that. Turns out, SD got a 1100. Which isn't terrible, but with ALL the prep it she had, all the assistance she had, all the studying she did, how EASY the test was for her, ALL the bragging she did. I couldn't help but to laugh. 1100 is about average, puts her at approximately 59 percentile. So it's not bad per se, but it's not really something to brag about.
She did her whiney crying instagram pic about how she won't be able to get into her dream school with that score. Dd is so kind (even though sd is sooo hateful and braggy toward her always trying to prove how much better she is than her), she told her to shake it off, and take the test again, that she can get it, she just has to try again. Of course THEN sd tells dd that she's not going to because it stressed her out so much to take it the first time *insert eye roll*...... she just doesn't like to do anything that's hard.
Test prep can only help so
Test prep can only help so much. It's not going to make you smarter. Getting average scores doesn't mean you can't go to college. Just that Ivy League might not be for you. You are average as most people.
SAT scores have nothing to do with school grades or knowing school material either. That's why SAT preps are a joke. You can't prep for it.
My DD was only few points short of perfect SAT score but she was barely a B student because she just didn't bother. Getting whatever grades is irrelevant.
My DD was in Midwest Talent Search (if anyone knows what it is) and took ACT I think in 6th grade and she scored 29. Although it wasn't perfect it's a high score for someone who's never been to high school and she was an average (lazy) student at the very average elementary and just started a very average middle school.
When we got her report we were laughing that she doesn't even need high school and csn go straight to college. It just measured her intelligence and test taking ability not knowledge of high school curriculum of which she knew zero.
So how you do in school or how you prep means nothing. You are either above average or you aren't
Many colleges are not
Many colleges are not requiring test scores at this point. It's unclear if having a good score gives you an edge, but supposedly, students won't be penalized for not submitting scores as part of their application.
One of my SSs still thinks he's going to college even though he is neither smart nor hardworking. He will totally flub the SATs and ACT if he even takes them. All of his test scores are "adjusted" at school even though I don't believe he has the type of accommodation that would allow him to have extra time on college assessments (and BM is too disorganized and lazy to actually figure out what needs to be done to get those accommodations.
Also, congrats to your DD on getting an excellent score! She should be proud and not worry about making others feel better. I had a "friend" in high school who told me that she "felt bad" when I got into a very selective college that she didn't have a chance of getting into and didn't even apply. Um, not really my problem that I was smarter than her...was I supposed to achieve less to make her feel better? It's not even like we were in close competition. She wasn't even taking college prep classes.
I think I have read somewhere
I think I have read somewhere that they aren't making the SATs a requirment. Which is totally great for those who aren't great test takers. And I agree that my daughter shouldn't feel like she has to apease SD with any niceties, I wish she would just ignore SD and her dramatics... SD will use ANY excuse to show off her crying! I mean, really CRYING over a test, AND posting it on social media? I would be HUMILIATED and not want to broadcast my shortcomings all over social media! But for SD I think she lives for the pity. Honestly, my kids are so much better than I am... they forgive SO MUCH of SD's bull S#!T, and try to comfort her ANYTIME she posts crying pictures, whereas, it literally makes me physically ill to see SD snot faced crying, she reminds me of kim kardashian ugly cry face... over EVERYTHING, she cries hysterically over EVERYTHING, there is no "medium level" or "low level" crying, it's all "OMG MY LEG IS BEING AMPUTATED WITH NO ANESTHESIA" level crying.... and this infantile child is supposed to be an ADULT in 1 year?!
Bragging
Seems to come naturally to these SK's. Bratty would brag about every little thing. And she bragged about going to Harvard or Columbia for med school because she was accepted to a post-bacc program, which she never completed because of 'stress'. Funny there was no post bragging about having to repeat that whole program somewhere else...and no posts bragging about how well she's doing in it this year, which is why I know she's doing average at best.
As far as SATs, I think they measure how well people take tests but not necessarily a predictor of how they will do in college. Focus, maturity, and effort can make a big difference in academic success.
That being said, I'm not sure getting rid of it entirely is helpful either but who knows.
I agree, but it's hard to
I agree, but it's hard to gauge how mature/how much effort/ how much focus they will have... not sure if a test can gauge it either, but unless they have multiple interviews with each student, I think it's the best they can do. I don't know, maybe there is another way, and I just can't think of it.
But SD is extemely immature, and refuses to put forth ANY effort, so regardless of what the SAT score ever comes to, colleges wont be like her school where they extend EVERY oppurtunity available to it's students. They bend over BACKWARDS because her school is MOSTLY economically disadvantaged (SD is white (very white), her mother makes more than DH and I combined, as does her husband, as wll as getting child support from DH they are economically ADVANTAGED, as BM was growing up, as was her parents, that whole family doesn't know what it is to have to work hard)... so MOST of these kids FLOURISH in that school, because otherwise, they wouldn't HAVE that oppurtunity. But SD is given EVERYTHING, has EVERY oppurtunity handed to her, but as soon as these oppurtunities are no longer just placed in her lap, she is not going to do very well, SHE doesn't have to, nor wants to fight for her oppurtunities. She thinks shes entitled to everything, because she sees those who NEED the help get the help, she thinks she deserves that as well.