Seeking official accommodations via the College Board (SAT/PSAT/AP)

[maeve]

It takes about 3mo to run through the official process with CB.  If she's taking it in October, that ship will have sailed already-- the choices will be:  a) take your chances and do it as-is, b) hope to negotiate 'no-food' with test site personnel on the day, or c) skip it.

We can't skip it.  DD wants to apply to the local Academy of Science (AOS) or HS, and the PSAT is the entrance exam. I think it's also used for Thomas Jefferson HS of Science (highly ranked STEM HS), which she also wants to apply to. I think she might have a shot at AOS, but TJ would be a serious long shot.  I so wished I'd gone to the info meetings last spring but DD was kind of waffling on whether to apply.

[Macabre]

The deadline for accommodations was last week.

I missed it. Also missed SAT accommodations deadline.

Hmmm. Can we combine threads?  I've listed what DS had for ACT  accommodations in the other thread.

Maeve do they take it two years early at your HS?

[maeve]

McC,
They don't take PSAT 2 years early at our HS.  DD is taking it as part of an admissions process to get into the Academy of Science, which is an alternative HS (really a part-time program in that she'll spend alternating days at this school and at her home HS).  The PSAT is part of the initial screen process.

I'm actually worried she won't do well on the math portion.  She's just starting algebra now.  She did do a PSAT prep course a couple of weeks ago; really an AOS prep course.

It turns out that she'll take the PSAT on Saturday, 18 October. So I could sit outside the classroom, if allowed.

[CMdeux]

{I just merged the two threads}

[maeve]

Thanks CM.

[Beach Girl]

Having been through PSAT several times (took it from middle school up through 11th grade), there is really not a lot to worry about as far as food allergies.  They are very very strict about no eating or even having food out during the test.  I never saw any food during all the times I took PSAT, SAT twice, ACT, SAT subject tests twice, and AP tests.  Phones are allowed in the room, but not on the student.  Same with meds.  I would not get all stressed out over this.  I am severely allergic to peanuts and never saw so much as a crumb of anything during all these tests.  (Also, I would have been absolutely mortified to have my mother sitting outside of the room when I was in middle school and high school.)

[Macabre]

What's concern in is the possibility of the PSAT being taken in the cafeteria, and it's clear that's been the case for some.

[Beach Girl]

What's concern in is the possibility of the PSAT being taken in the cafeteria, and it's clear that's been the case for some.

They are required to sit each student at a separate desk, so it would be difficult to find a cafeteria that has individual desks rather than the standard cafeteria tables.  Normally they divide the students into different classrooms in order to comply with the rule about desks. 

[maeve]

What's concern in is the possibility of the PSAT being taken in the cafeteria, and it's clear that's been the case for some.

They are required to sit each student at a separate desk, so it would be difficult to find a cafeteria that has individual desks rather than the standard cafeteria tables.  Normally they divide the students into different classrooms in order to comply with the rule about desks. 

I took my SAT in the cafeteria of my HS, so it has been done.  It was the absolute worst place to take the SAT.  I took the SSAT in an auditorium I think and the PSAT in a classroom.  I took AP and a second SAT in a classroom; though the proctor of the second SAT let kids into the exam late after the break, which is a no no.

So these sorts of variances do happen and have to be planned for.  The exam will be given at a HS in our district that my DD is unfamiliar, will never attend, and at which she is unknown to those administering the test. Such are the vagaries of a large, county-based school district (73,000 students) vs. a town-based district (fewer than 5,000 students) in which I attended.

[Macabre]

DS took the ACT in a school he had only visited for a theatre performance in a self-contained theatre. It wasn't in our district and was 20 miles away. It's one reason I'm glad he had accommodations.

He was in an office, not a classroom. A table, not a desk.

I was in the car and never went in (except for a potty break but saw no kids). 

His PSAT will be in one of our school'a lecture rooms. Again, no desks but a seat at very long tables.

He'll take the SAT at a nearby school. No accommodations.  I didn't get it done. At least he has been in the SAT school for speech tournaments.

[CMdeux]

What's concern in is the possibility of the PSAT being taken in the cafeteria, and it's clear that's been the case for some.

They are required to sit each student at a separate desk, so it would be difficult to find a cafeteria that has individual desks rather than the standard cafeteria tables.  Normally they divide the students into different classrooms in order to comply with the rule about desks.

I'm pretty sure that table seating is okay-- DD took both PSAT and SAT that way-- in classrooms without individual desks-- and also the ACT, which had to be MOVED into a computer lab with only table seating.

We hoped for the best with the ACT, and it was fine-- DD was moved and I was outside the room, and the proctor was okay hanging onto her meds and phone, and allowed her to wipe down her seat, and sit on an end of the long tables. 

In all three exams, some students were seated in areas/rooms which are intended for food consumption.  DD just got very lucky with the ACT room assignment. 

[Beach Girl]

Current rules for the official testing are that kids cannot sit at the same table.  So, sure, I guess if your child is taking it alone, it could be in the cafeteria by himself/herself or an office or a computer lab.  But it also requires an area where people are not coming and going, and the cafeteria is high on traffic.  Maeve, the rules may have been different years ago when you were in high school (if you have a child taking it now, then you went to high school 15 - 20 years ago?), but it is a new world now.  Lots of pressure and kids who have no objection to cheating. 

If your concern is that your child will be in the cafeteria testing alone and you are worried about crumbs on the tables, I would suggest just bringing wipes.  Studies have shown that gets rid of the food protein (referring to allergies, not microbes).   You don`t need any special accomodations to bring in a couple of wipes, clean the area, and get rid of the wipes (hand to the proctor or put them in the trash).   I did that for each test I took just to feel more comfortable.   If you are worried about your child being exposed to food from another student, that won`t happen, because no food is allowed to be out.  They are extremely strict about that.

I also took these tests at several different locations (four different schools for all of these tests, two of which I had never been to before), and the rules are the same everywhere.  There can`t be a different standard for different schools.  They take this very seriously (much more so than even final exams in high school).

I also did an SAT prep class, and they said everything I said above.  No eating, no food can be out, you can bring a cell phone into the room, but have to hand it in to an area in the center, two students cannot be seated at the same table, so desks are used, etc.  Same rules thoughout the U.S.

[Macabre]

Carefulmom,  at our school they are not taken at separate desks. Neither was son's AP test. The lecture hall consists of ten rows of tables.  Now, kids are seated far apart from each other. But they are tables.

Food is ubiquitous at our school unfortunately. :/

But DS didn't have trouble during his ap test. He doesn't have trouble going from class to class or sitting at desks in five different classrooms every Saturday at speech tournaments. So I'm not too worried that he needs to wipe things down. Though that was one accommodation for his ACT.

We'll see how it goes. Missing the deadlines for the SAT and the PSAT (he'll take the SAT before the PSAT, lol) were not what  I had planned, but I think will work out.

[maeve]

OK, I received word this morning from the Spec. Ed contact at DD's school that we can still apply for accommodations from the College Board. She is requesting individual testing.  I think I should also ask that her meds and phone be kept with the proctor; I'd even suggest that we can put them in a Ziploc so that it's obvious that nothing else was brought in.

I need to contact the director of the school she's applying to, which will be administering the test, to see what accommodations they can grant. 

Any other suggestions?

[maeve]

Beach Girl,
Yes I did take the exams eons ago but the impetus to cheat was not less then, certainly not among the students I went to school with (who routinely cheated off me, were in the National Honor Society, and a few went on to service academies). Intense academic pressure existed then especially among highly competitive schools/classes. Difference in class rank in my class was a matter of hundreths of a point, much as it is now.

Also, being a bit older and in the world for a while has shown me that rules may be rules, but they are not always applied the same way. With the PSAT (according to the info my POC got from the College Board), there is a fair amount of latitude given to the schools.

I appreciate your input but as CMDeux and McC have also shown, the experience I had 28 years ago happens now.  Therefore, it's best to plan for the imperfect world we live in and make sure accommodations are in place.