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Opting out of the ACT/SAT?
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My husband and I both have college degrees and followed the crowd in high school, taking the ACT and SAT. I remember reading one those “Cracking the SAT” books and it greatly improving my score the second time around. I share this because I am familiar with the process.
With that said, I am curious as to the reasons why some of you may choose to opt out of having your kids take these tests. I know of a family who skipped them entirely and their son has been taking CLEP tests and paying for college as he goes along. That sounds great to me but it seems like so many people I know (homeschooled and public schooled) think that these tests are very important. Is there a philosophy behind avoiding them or ensuring that they take them?
Currently, our oldest is 15 and this is our third year homeschooling. I have decided to go with the portfolio assessment each year so far instead of standardized tests.
I appreciate your thoughts.
Most colleges require them for admission. If my kids weren’t going to go to college they wouldn’t be taking them.
Dd16 is planning to take some dual enrollment courses in 11/12 grades. To do so in the fall, she has to take the PERT (college readiness) test in a couple of weeks. If accepted for dual enrollment at the community college (grades are fine, pert is unknown, but should be ok), she will not be required to take the ACT/SAT as she can transition from a DE student to a full-time student without it. If she wants to transfer before getting her AA or AS, she will need the SAT/ACT scores to apply. She is very bright, but testing under time pressure is her idea of no fun at all. That said, she is undecided on her future college plans, so I’m preparing her for the tests, just in case. And yes, it annoys me because I really see little worth in them, but sometimes we gotta play the game.
As Christie mentioned, a student doesn’t necessarily need to take the SAT or ACT if she is planning on getting her AA or AS at a community college as she can simply take the PERT there instead which is a lot less pressure.
People choose to have their children take the SAT’s/ACTs to get scholarships and when their children are going straight into a University.
It all depends on your student’s goals. My son never took either as he desired to go straight into the work force. I didn’t insist on him testing because I knew he wouldn’t be changing his mind. If he had, he would have started at our local community college and taken the PERT test instead.
My daughter will be starting SAT prep soon through Khan academy as she has definite plans to go to college. She will probably start at our local CC so our main goal in taking the SAT is to try for scholarship opportunities.
A lot of the colleges in this area don’t require ACT/SAT scores for admission anymore. My alma mater doesn’t use the scores in determining admission because they recognize that the scores do little to reflect a student’s abilities or potential.
That said, I will decide next year whether my son will take the SAT or not. He is 15 and has plans to take some college courses next year, so maybe not.
Thank you for the responses here. I know what you mean–sometimes we just have to “play the game” but I was curious to know the thinking behind the decisions. I have yet to look hard at college options and requirements but I know that will need to happen soon.
I have a 15 y old also and I recently read from Above Rubies magazine an article entitled “How to get your child through college without going to college” by Kathy Cooksey and she also wrote a book entitled His B.A. was only 9 K. She goes on to tell in her article that her church friends after college changed their belief in the Lord and she and her pastor husband have looked into an alternative to traditional college for their children. They homeschool through college and by taking CLEP tests at home and have children enrolled in Oakbrook college of law. also, recommended teamtreehouse.org for classes like computer programming. She offered her email address in the article:kathy@ronnykathy.com
Hope this offers up some ideas. Martha
Thank you so much, Martha! I will definitely look into this. That’s one thing about home educating my own kids–it has boosted my confidence in exploring other options and not feeling the need to follow the general pattern of the world, so to speak.
Dear Melissa, I got and read Kathy Cooksey’s book today. After I finished the book, I knew I needed to let you know! Staying awake much too late, because I am so excited about her ideas that she shares.
Brillant plan and I’m starting research on it as I really want to copy her plan for her kids college. After 3 collleges and 2 degrees, myself, I could ditto her writings about the disadvantages of classes with indoctrinating professors and a social life that never included church on Sunday!
A must read! Let me know how you’re going to proceed if you do decide to read the book. Blessings, Martha
Thank you, Martha! I’m so excited about looking into this. My email is melissacseverance@gmail.com if you ever want to discuss all of this further.
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