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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55278 is a reply to message #55276]

Sat, 20 May 2006 15:18

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

The Princeton Review they say is staffed by hiree's who are not always up to snuff. Much of it is done by rote and they don't use the most up-to-date examples of the current test.
What I have heard is to canvass your area for a very highly recommended small local test prep course. They say that those are usually staffed by a small group of dedicated and very competent instructors who live and die by their reputation and so must keep a high standard of results.
I did very poorly in HS; too much party. Luckily I snuck into college and straightened out my act after a few years. I took ten years to get my Bachelors because it was really of no help to me to have a degree; I would have lost money by advancing to the management ranks. Plus I don't do well with authority; I like my space so to speak.

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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55279 is a reply to message #55278]

Sat, 20 May 2006 16:16

Shane
Messages: 1117
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

Hey, I did too much partying in HS and when I got to college it was a real struggle. Took me 10 years to get mine, too. The birth of my son finally convinced me to finish. I hate authority if it's misused. I don't make much, but I come and go pretty much as I please and don't have anyone breathing over me. And no manual labor anymore.

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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55280 is a reply to message #55277]

Sat, 20 May 2006 16:25

Shane
Messages: 1117
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

Which nightmare? College, girls, lack of money for my fledgling audio habit! We definitely don't make much money, so good grades and test scores are his hope. He's not into sports at all except playing a little basketball now and then. He like to ride his bicycle a lot and I attribute that to the many years I have ridden a road bike. All except this year because I just can't seem to find the time. I've only been out about 6 times since the first of the year.

I'm still paying on my student loan and will be for awhile. Almost all of it went to daycare and having to live off campus. I was lucky in that my ACT scores pretty much helped pay for the school. I went to a private college because of the small classes and dedicated professors. I found that the schooling actually cost me less after scholarships and whatnot than going to a state school would have. They tend to have more money to offer at the private level if you meet the criteria, which really offsets the costs.

My son probably is in the top 20 of his class as well (about the same size) and got several top awards for science, tech applications, and creativeness applied to both. So he makes me feel stupid at times, but as long as he doesn't make the butthead mistakes I did he's got a real chance for a great future.

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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55281 is a reply to message #55279]

Sat, 20 May 2006 16:47

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

Thats the spirit. Some things are more valuable than just more money.

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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55282 is a reply to message #55280]

Sat, 20 May 2006 16:51

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

I had the feeling that you were in a similar boat as I. The concern about these things gives it away. Good Luck with your search and If I hear of any new advice I will pass it on.
Also I agree; HS is much harder than college is now. After what he goes through college will be a breeze.

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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55283 is a reply to message #55282]

Sun, 21 May 2006 06:06

lelandcrooks
Messages: 12
Registered: May 2009

Chancellor

Don't despair. Apply to the private colleges. Most of them have got more money than they know what to do with. My daughter applied to 6 or 7 schools, and a private in LA coughed up the most cash by far. If they want you, they'll find a way. Especially if your son is muscial. The private colleges are far more giving and supportive of the liberal arts programs than the state universities. All they seem to give grants and scholarships for is athletics. We ended up with vocal music scholarship, debate scholarship, and a good sized grant. I'm sending her there for less than instate would have cost, (excluding my travel costs to visit

)
Another reason she got a chunk was the school was looking to diversify it's classes. Small town midwestern girl goes to big LA private school. Apply out of state.

Cross your t's and dot your i's. Pay attention to every deadline. The paperwork is much harder than when we went. Do the fafsa before the end of january. I did mine by Jan 10th this year. That also means you have to have your taxes done by then. Get your fafsa pin now. Get your son's pin now. Be ready to jump in as fast as possible. The early bird gets the worm is true here.

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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55284 is a reply to message #55283]

Sun, 21 May 2006 07:28

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

Thanks; I appreciate that. He wants to go to Duke; we shall see.

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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55299 is a reply to message #55281]

Thu, 25 May 2006 20:23

Bill Martinelli
Messages: 677
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (1st Degree)

You say the College is more interested in SAT than HS grades. What do you think of that? I guess I question why the grading of 4 years of schooling in more or less real world situation, grades from a wide variety of faculty would be cast aside for a single test score.

Sorry for a question instead of an answer!

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Re: Anyone know anything about the SAT's? [message #55300 is a reply to message #55299]

Fri, 26 May 2006 06:30

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

Don't be sorry because that is the question. Here's my answer I hope it doesn't ruffle too many feathers. In the High Schools around here and those are the only ones I know about; the curriculum is very structured.
It is rigorous and requires teachers who can really teach. I am talking about the Honors programs now.
Many teachers are not well trained. Up until recently they were not even required to take a course sequence in their own teaching discipline. You could teach english without taking more than the basic english classes everyone takes. You just had to complete the education major credits in order to qualify.
So you had quite a lot of incompetence. This is getting better becuase now they have to qualify in a core subject sequence in order to teach that subject. But we still have holdovers from the bad old days. The results of incompetence was teachers who graded on things other than competence in the subject. Kids who they favored would of course get better grades.
Then there was the proven gender gap. Females in the sciences did poorly. So in order to avoid being accused of discrimination teachers would find ways to pass them even though they were not qualified in the material. Also they would equivecate the soft subjects like english and compensate with those by granting better outcomes to the females and the non-english speakers etc.
So the schools had an incentive to pass kids who really did not deserve to pass.
Now the SAT's don't discriminate regarding the material the kids are required to know. Colleges had to have a reliable gauge with which to determine if kids were really ready for college level material. So they focused on that instead of using your HS record as a sole indicator of ability.
Really it is all about less qualified schools/teachers/kids/and discrimination towards the less fortunate because of the requirements that the schools maintain grades in order to keep their accredidations intact.
So now the SAT's are really the best way to overcome these drawbacks; I favor it because to me it removes the personality issue; where if teachers find your kid quiet and studious they pass him by and give all the attention to the problem kids. Or the ones who favor the girls because they are so much more mature at that age and have better attention spans than the boys.
This is my opinion of the situation but believe me it is shared by many.

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