PSAT Score Reports...

Students have had the opportunity to look over their score reports from the PSAT's back in October or November and after flipping through a number of these reports, it's really depressing.

I see a lot of students who fall into the bottom 15th percentile.

I guess in a normalized test series like the SAT's or PSAT's, somebody always has to end up on the bottom. I mean the highest percentile I saw was like 65th percentile and they barely broke 1200 with all 3 scores.

What are these kids going to do with themselves?

I understand that college is not for everybody, but there's a lack of alternatives that these students are directed towards that it's like a dead end for many of them. They look forward to getting into college and studying in college but these tests are one of their biggest obstacles towards acceptance.

There are few quality institutions that will accept students with Regents scores between 65-70 and with crummy GPA's and an awful SAT score. Their best bet, if college is really what they want is to take a couple years in a community college and get their associates degree before attempting to get into a 4-year institution.

It's weird being in this position where I know what it takes and what these kids are up against and yet they are pretty clueless about what lies ahead. They have these notions of what college is going to be like and yet they haven't the foggiest idea what sort of clusterfuck it can be for somebody who is years behind in reading, math, and science.

Even our valedictorian who has straight A's and is getting a Regent's diploma can't get into the local schools like Hunter and City College. Though the CUNY's have stepped up their admissions requirements, it's still a little crazy to me. I'm guessing his SAT's weren't that dazzling. I guarantee that if his score put him in the 75th percentile, he wouldn't have a problem.

Ah well... Now back to making my final exams...