My 12yo ds took the ACT a couple of weeks ago. I signed him up hoping he'd qualify for some of the on-line learning programs available through places like Duke TIP or JHU CTY as we've been having no joy with school for a while & I wanted a back-up plan. I sprung it on him at the last minute & he had done absolutely zero prep, so I was a little concerned as to how he'd go, especially given his continuing downward spiral in the school engagement stakes.

Well, don't we underestimate them! He ended up with a respectable 24 composite, and managed a 30 for English! Maths (which he insists he's no good at) 23, Science 22 & the only glitch was his Reading score at 19 where he completely bummed out on the Arts/Literature subtest (it'll be interesting to get the full results & see what happened there.)

Needless to say I'm proud as punch of him. They may not be the most stellar scores, but hey, the kid did it cold and he's not renowned for being great with timed tests. They're certainly enough to qualify for any of the programs I had in mind.

Thanks for letting me share � no-one around here (Aust) would know what ACT scores meant, even if I did feel comfortable discussing his results. One more reason this board is such a wonderful resource!

Hey - awesome!

Congrats to your DS!!!!

I'm still learning the quote thing so I apologize if this looks odd...
Yes, I am guilty of the same underestimating when it come to my kids too. Thanks for sharing your good news. CoNgRaTs!!!

Congrats to your DS! Those are great scores, and you can see the percentiles compared to National norms here: http://www.actstudent.org/scores/norms1.html

If he took it through the talent search, did you get these percentiles, or just percentiles as compared to the other talent search participants? I think a 94th percentile in English compared to mostly 17 year olds is much more significant than a 99th percentile (or whatever it is) compared to other 12 year olds.

Congratulations to your DS, Cassandra!!! That is a wonderful accomplishment! It's nice when a kid has the chance to shine so dramatically, particularly if the school doesn't give them the opportunity to do so. I hope this helps with the downward spiral with school. Sometimes these tests can help kids take a longer view beyond the narrow confines of k-12 education. I remember taking the ACT at the same age and it helped me to focus on what I wanted for my education after high school. It was like a door had been opened and I could suddenly see a world full of possibilities out there. I decided then that I was going to jump through all the hoops at school as quickly as possible so that I could race on to where the real learning was going on. I hope the same thing happens with your DS. Hang in there!

Yay for your DS, cassandra! wow!

Congratulations! My son is only ten now, but I think in a few years he might try taking the ACT.

Thankyou all for your kind words. As I said, it's just so nice to have a place like this to share.

I'll submit his scores to a Talent Search, but as we're not in the US it's a matter of sitting the test independently & then forwarding a copy of the report. I'm hoping the Talent Search info will arm me with something his school will take note of.

ebeth - thanks for sharing your experience. I can see the same sort of catharsis happening with my son. Perhaps not overnight, but the signs are there. Fingers crossed!

Cheers,
Cassandra

Those scores look good enough for Davidson Academy for grade seven:
http://www.davidsonacademy.unr.edu/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=144&NavID=1_33

I hope this gives your son a boost.