Essay Chat - page 7

re: ap classes or not?

Dec 19, 2022

AP classes are going the way of colleges, useless and a waste of time. There is too much emphasis on academic preparedness these days that boggles my mind. Why take these extra colleges that are supposed to prepare me for college, by allowing me to take creditable courses, only to find out in the end that the college or university I applied to will not accept these courses because they teach it differently? Talk about a redundant waste of time.

High school is enough of a pressure cooker without having to deal with higher level classes that may or may not actually help me in college as promised (when I eventually attend). Since there are also more practical options to a profession related education these days, you do not have to take these classes if you are not inclined to attend college. Do not do it just to please your parents. If it will not make you happy to attend these classes, then your parents will not be happy with your AP class(es) performance either.

Do what feels natural to you. If you feel AP is a path you want to take, then go for it. if not, then you do not lose anything. Always look out for and take care of yourself first.

re: ap classes or not?

Dec 17, 2022

AP classes are only for students who do not have problems with time management. They must also have a higher level of intellect that the regular high school student since he will be taking college credit courses, which means he needs to be studious as well. The main point here is that an AP student needs time management skills.

It is not impossible to enjoy high school even as one attends AP classes. These classes should not take up your whole life. Rather, these should prepare you for adult life as a college student. It is something to be enjoyed by a student who would think of these courses as a prerequisite for his actual college courses. Imagine how much easier your life will be in college when you have college credits to help you get ahead once you reach tertiary education. Most students who consider taking these classes often consider the study load in college as one of the main criterias for deciding to enroll. The more college credits they can have beforehand, the easier it will be for them to adjust to college life since he will have some extra time between classes, not having to take required courses anymore he already made the grade the year before. Isn't that worth considering?

re: ap classes or not?

Dec 15, 2022

I am on the fence about AP Classes. I do qualify for these classes and I know it is useful for college applications but, do I really need the added pressure ? My school days are full enough with schoolwork, projects, various academic activities and other co- curricular work that I barely have time to sleep at night. My weekends are dedicated to community work. All in an effort to get the best academic resume possible. It has gotten to the point where I need sleep aids to turn off my brain at night. Do I really need all the added pressure AP classes would put upon me? I do not think so.

My parents and I actually had a meeting about my taking AP when I was informed I qualified for it. I knew they were excited and happy for me but they never pressured me into the decision they wished I would make. They left it up to me. They did not want me to sacrifice my mental and physical health for any reason. Maybe you should consider these while considering attending AP classes?

re: ap classes or not?

Dec 13, 2022

I was more excited for my daughter to be taking AP classes when she qualified than she was. I have always believed that she must take every opportunity to shine if she wants to attend an Ivy league university. I told her not to worry about the tuition, I would help with that. She has taken every AP class that she can and she has increased her admission chances immensely.

Sure she can take it easy academically, but what purpose would that serve? I agree it is not an assurance of admission but an ambitious student, of which my daughter qualifies would never leave a stone unturned if it meant shoring up points to achieve her dream and ambition.

It does not hurt to beef up any student's qualifications when applying to college. AP students are already considered exemplary in some way. So why not use that benefit? Students have nothing to lose with taking AP classes. Most specially where scholarships are concerned.

re: ap classes or not?

Dec 11, 2022

Considering how students are even forgoing attending college these days, I do not see the need for any high school senior to attend AP classes. What exactly is its use? Does it guarantee instant admission into your first choice university? No. Your second choice? Nope. Your third? No way. So why bother?

Colleges and universities seem to give more weight to the community service and civic minded students. Those are the creds that look way better in the application form of the student. I could have attended AP classes this year but I thought I would not want to spend more time studying than I have to. I will let my grades speak for myself as an applicant. it doesn't matter if you have college level courses completed anyway. It will still be up to the university to accept those classes, or not. So, I will enjoy my senior year and make memories with my friends. I do not want to look back on my senior year and just remember how much time I spend trying to up my college cred, while my friends were actually enjoying senior year.

ap classes or not?

Dec 9, 2022

I have been thinking of taking AP classes to help me prepare for college. I plan to take classes relevant to my intended college major because I read somewhere that college admissions committees consider the AP courses as a part of the student's pre-college credentials. It gets the applicant extra consideration points. My parents are very supportive of this decision of mine because they believe it will also help me get scholarships, which we badly need if I am to attend college full-time.

My friends have a different opinion though. They believe I should enjoy the rest of my high school days without added stress like AP classes. They believe that I will stop enjoying my college life because I will be sacrificing all my time due to the demands of the AP studies. While they do make some good points, I feel like it does not really help me prepare for my future.

So I guess my questions are:
How important are AP classes to my college education?
Is it important that I take these classes?
Is it worth sacrificing the rest of my high school days?
Will it be worth it in the end?

to take or not to take the sat and sat tests

Dec 8, 2022

I have been looking into colleges and universities to apply to after I graduate next year. Most of these colleges and universities do not seem so keen on requiring SAT and ACT results as part of the admissions process anymore. These tests are now listed as optional when it comes to document submission / consideration. I take it to mean that "optional" means it could also help as an admission consideration depending upon how I feel about my score. What to do then? Do I take either test in the hopes that I will score well enough for it to prove my qualification for my chosen major? Or would my score in the test be a stumbling block instead? I feel like the test score submission could prove to be both an advantage and disadvantage for me. My GPA is median at best, which means the assessment scores would help me get into a university if I score well enough. However, a low score would mean a problem when it is considered with my other qualifications. How should I approach this then? Would it be safer for me to totally skip the test instead? At this point, I am not confident about either decision when it comes to my college application. I would appreciate a point in the right direction. Thanks guys.

re: ai academic writing will be the wave of the future

Dec 6, 2022

It not the wave of the future, the future is actually now. The way that AI has been successfully trained to write automatically based on specific keywords or information is amazing. The programs have gotten so intelligent that it can actually write a complete research paper based solely on information provided by the writer. Not only that, but the writing software has been been improved to proofread, edit, and revise content for the writer if it detects that presentation improvements can be made. It has taken the guesswork out of academic writing and also, lessened the student reliance on sketchy academic writer hiring.

That said, I will admit that I know my students are using the software and I continue to encourage them to do so albeit for a highly different reason. I ask them to use the AI produced paper as their inspiration to write their own version of the paper. That way they have an effective model paper to use as a reference for their actual work. It has been effective so far. There are marked improvements in the papers that my students have been submitting these days.

re: college admission invitation

Dec 5, 2022

From what I heard, the universities that send out these invitations are mostly the kind that have a small student enrollment count. They are the kind of schools that are slowly running out of money as a paid business, since that is what an educational institution is. It is first and foremost a business that needs to show its stockholders a positive income every year. Since most students may not have heard of these universities, sending direct admission, with no qualifiers helps the school meet its financial goal for the semester or the academic year.

They are mostly small campuses that are only slightly larger than a community college so there is a tight bond between their students. They also manage to better teach the classes since the student count is manageable per class. I would not discount the quality of education that they offer. Afterall, it is still the student who will need to study the lessons and learn from the text. Those who are natural achievers will excel in this academic space, even if it is not a high priced tuition school.

ai writing software vs. teachers

Dec 3, 2022

It did not take long for teachers to take notice of the AI written essays being submitted by their students this semester. They have noticed that most of the students are no longer hiring academic writers, which is a direct violation of the academic honor code, in favor of the AI writing software, which is still in a gray area of academic integrity. Now the teachers want the school board to determine the validity of an AI written essay. Does it pass as an original paper written by the student because he used a software to guide his writing? Or do they fail because most of the essay was written by a highly capable software instead? At this point, the teachers admit that cannot even tell the difference between an originally written student paper (not to be confused with a paid writer essay) and an AI developed, student edited essay. The one thing they admit is that the AI written software is far better presented and researched than the paid academic writer counterpart, which they can more easily detect through their own software or simple powers of observation and deduction. They are mostly torn about whether to give a passing or failing grade for the essay or research paper of the student. How do you think teachers should proceed at this point?

re: college admission invitation

Nov 29, 2022

I am not sure that I would be able to trust the quality of education in an educational institution that invited me to enroll at the university without taking my grades into consideration. They should at least ask me to write an essay for them explaining certain things. These universities cannot have much quality to their education since they will accept anybody willing to pay the tuition fee. That being their only qualification for admission. Which to me, means the school does not qualify at a serious place of learning. They are just about the student count and the money in the bank. These are probably slightly better than the party universities or, are party universities themselves where anyone will pass and get a certification for his course, as long as he pays the semestral fees. Maybe think twice before considering applying to these schools, colleges, and universities? I mean, it isn't just about receiving a diploma, it is about gaining theoretical knowledge that can actually help us once we enter the workforce. I am not confident that these schools can actually help me accomplish that aim.

re: ai academic writing will be the wave of the future

Nov 28, 2022

Students need to be encouraged to read and understand their lessons. This is a difficult thing to accomplish for any teacher, regardless of teaching level. These kids also hate to do homework. These are all the reasons they need to not touch on any writing assignment that we give them. If it requires serious study, then they will check out. Allowing them to play with their lessons, that is a different case. If we can make learning fun for them, then we will have won half the teaching battle.

By encouraging the student to use the writing apps, we allow them to have fun with the homework or class writing project. I have yet to see a student these days who can say NO to using an app. Writing apps make the work fun for them, without endangering their academic integrity. They do not pay anyone to write the paper for them, so they actually learn something by using the writing app. How? They still need to improve on the provided text, thus indirectly encouraing them to read, learn, and remember. A series of actions that paid writers will not encourage them to do since they are paid to complete the paper for the student, without the student having to read any learning material. They are paid to help the student cheat the learning system.

Would I pass a student paper that was completed by an AI? Yes, since I can identify the improvements the student would have made to the automated paper anyway. Would I pass a student who obviously paid someone to write his paper for him? No. I would fail him and bring him up on academic dishonesty charges with the proper school authorities instead. Which of the 2 options do you believe the student would opt for?

re: college admission invitation

Nov 27, 2022

I decided to apply to the universities connected to this program through their application portal. I will be the first to admit that I do not have the grades to get into college or universities that require both a GPA and SAT or ACT scores. Even though I tried my best to achieve a decent GPA and national test scores, I just fell short. I may not be college material according to some schools, but this invitation process allows me to at least get some sort of college consideration. I have my heart set on completing my college degree because I believe it will help me gain self confidence and give me an edge when I join the workforce. I always planned to work for myself anyway so I do not need to get a fancy degree from a fancy university. I just want to attend a university that will allow me to learn what I need to learn in order to succeed in life. Here's hoping I receive invitations from their affiliated institutions soon.

ai academic writing will be the wave of the future

Nov 26, 2022

As educators, it is our duty to help promote any learning tool that will help our students do better in class. There are emerging technologies, specific apps, in particular that can help them become better students. It is my belief that these AI writing softwares are one of the upcoming tools of the learning trade for the students. While we may not understand how well the technology can help them in the future at this point, it is important that we do not discount the help it is providing the students at present.

I would like to point out that as educators, one of the problems we encounter with our students is that they do not want to read the lessons. They refuse to take note of important information and they do not even try to memorize what they are reading. This is a problem that the AI writing asisstants help us with. Since the students need to feed in keywords and improve the content through proper citations, they are forced to at least jot down the information they want or need to add to the paper. They also find themselves rewriting some aspects of the presentation to better suit the discussion.

The fact that they are personally doing these things and developing their skills and potential as students means that the AI is actually helping the student. These are things they do not even think about when they hire a writer or writing services. So, between the two services, which one is actually an asset to the student and a proper teaching assistant to the educator? The AI gets my vote as Teaching Assistant of the Year if you ask me.

re: ai writing software: the solution to academic and independent writer hiring problems?

Nov 25, 2022

As an educator, I have to admit that I can still tell when the student uses an AI to complete his homework. I know that he only revised the work enough to pass for his own because there are still inconsistencies in the presented final product. Do I give the student a failing grade when I catch this? No. It is highly unfortunate that I cannot fail his work because he used an automated program to complete it. There are no traces of plagiarism, he did not use a ghost writer, the work passed all the requirements I provided. There is no way I can legally and academically fail him for using an AI program to do the work.

Just as it took the academic world decades to catch up with the essay mill industry, it may take another decade before we can figure out how to treat the AI situation. Is it really an academic violation when there was no human intervention involved? Is it a violation of the academic honesty oath if he did not pay someone to write the paper for him? Should the AI be treated in the same way we would a paid essay submission? This is a new gray area that academics will eventually have to deal with for the betterment of future education and learning processes.

re: universities lied about campus available student housing

Nov 24, 2022

Well at least Thanksgiving weekend is upon us and I am finally going home to my parents and back to my own bed. I have been suffering this whole semester from the overbooked rooms in the dorm at my school. I mean I should have expected as much when there were 3 beds per wall in the room and we had to reach the beds as if we were boarding an overnight train. But the fact that the space in the room was meant only for 3 students means that our things were never really secure in the room. Things were broken, "borrowed" without permission, or simply "misplaced" without anyone to blame or accuse. Those are part of the problems faced by students in overbooked in campus housing. It is not something that should be considered normal.

I plan to discuss my housing situation with my parents when I get home. I am hoping that they can help me put down a payment on an apartment I found not too far from the campus. It is in a secured building and I would have a studio apartment all to myself. The building itself is not new but at least I would have my own space and stop losing my things to "innocent" roommates. I have some money saved up and they would just have to help me out a little bit.

As for next semester, I fully plan to get an off campus space to live in. I am no longer going to believe in the publicity for on-campus housing. It costs me too much to keep replacing my things.

re: college admission invitation

Nov 23, 2022

I actually looked into this when I received word from my parents that we may not be able to afford the tuition for my target schools 1-3. I have the grades to get into these schools but of course, I have to look into how my parents can afford the tuition and if my own savings will be able to cover part of the expenses once I get there. Knowing the reality of finances these days, and the cost of living crisis that we are all affected by, I decided to lower my sights and see what schools might invite me to join them through this system. Though these are not high profile schools, they offer decent education and affordable prices, along with student aid. More than enough reasons for me to think about attending their schools based on currently existing financial constraints. My studies should not be a burden to my parents and I should not work more hours than I study either. So these invitation schools offer a good alternative to students who want to complete a college education but find it financially difficult to do so. I am pretty sure that I will be attending one of these schools next semester.

re: ai writing software: the solution to academic and independent writer hiring problems?

Nov 21, 2022

Believe it or not, the AI software is not limited to just writing academic and professional essays anymore. The students and working professionals who continously develop the apps have found a way to use it even for STEM related work. That means, the AI can now create complicated spreadsheets, solve mathematical conundrums, among others. Thereby lightening the workload for these students and officeworkers. The result? Less stress for the users, more rest time, and actual work polishing at the end. When the program spits out the paper, the user simply has to review the results, confirm the solutions and formulas used and viola ! The mathematical report or analysis is completed. All it took on the part of the student or worker was an hour or so to review, revise, and edit just to remove the mechanical voice of the presentation. Does it sound too good to be true? Yes, but it is a reality for everyone who has used the program. I mean, if cars can now mostly drive itself, automated math solutions should not be far behind.

re: college admission invitation

Nov 19, 2022

The invitations being sent out are all based on the low college enrollment rates since before the pandemic started. The colleges and universities sending these invitation are not suspect since they are using valid services to reach out to these students. These are all legitimate universities who are using third parties to reach out to students who have not considered their educational institutions. These third party companies include, but are not limited to Common Application, Concourse, Niche.com, Sage Scholars, and the state of Minnesota.

There is a misunderstanding about how these invitations are sent out. According to the explanation from Business Insider, a registration process is still required. No private information is ever used without permission. The process is completed by an interested student through the following process:

"... a student registering on a website, providing some biographical information, and inputting one's GPA and academic interests, a process that can take as little as half an hour. Then, they wait, and if a school is interested, the student might be accepted without completing any additional application materials at all."

Since there are almost 300 legitimate colleges and universities that use various companies to reach out to these students, there is a high possibility that a student looking to attend college, without a particular preference could find himself receiving an admissions invitation from several universities. This will still give him the prerogative of choosing from the universities that accepted him based upon his own learning preferences, something he could have done with his dream universities, had he qualified to applied for them.

I hope this explanation helps to clarify the misconception that the universities illegally obtain student information and reach out to them in a form of data privacy breach. Nothing of the sort is happening in this system of college enrollment.

re: college admission invitation

Nov 18, 2022

If you are an ambitious student who is holding out for a dream school, and you have the qualifications for it, then ignore these pre-approved enrollment invitations. However, if you did not do well in your SAT or ACT, you do not have the grades to apply for the schools you dream of attending, and you want to avoid studying in-state, then consider these colleges and universities. These are not cons or illegitimate schools. You can actually go and see the school if you want to. They also have offices you can contact if you feel jittery about enrolling there. It will not hurt to look into these schools if you cannot enroll anywhere else but community college.

While these may not be the epitome of the best college education one can have, these educational places help with improving your grade stats. It offers you the opportunity to then try to transfer out to your target college or university. Eitherway, you will get a valid college education that will be useful to your future job search. Regardless of what people think about getting jobs these days, having a college degree is still considered an edge over the "educated by experience" applicants.

re: texas students need to retake sat due to ups accident

Nov 16, 2022

Why was UPS involved in the test paper pick up in the first place? School districts should have their own method of exam paper delivery and pick up that follows a specific security guideline to prevent these sorts of things from happening. If the exam papers flew in the care of a government courier, then fine, have the kids retake the test. Why should they be punished for the fault of a public courier firm? The students took the test honestly and with the hope that they had done well enough to make the grades they need for their future. By having them retake the test, their efforts are disregarded and the message being delivered is that the school board does not care enough about the mental stress having to retake the test will set upon the student. The accident was not their fault, they should not have to be punished for the fault of the courier service. Pass them without question and next time, use a government bonded courier so that if this happens again, the school board will have a better leg to stand on when they demand the students retake the test.

college admission invitation

Nov 16, 2022

Several of my friends and I have received invitations to enroll in colleges and universities that were not really part of our top university choices. Their requirements for enrollment are usually easily achieved, with some not even requiring an SAT or ACT score to get admitted. They just basically want us to say "Yes, we will enroll" and that is it. There is not even a need for application essays. Since I do not recognize the names of these universities and colleges, I am not sure these are valid offers. Although the universities do exist and I have searched for them online just to become familiar with them, my parents and I are worried that these are scam offers and I will find myself non-enrolled when I show up for the school term. So I am here asking for your opinions. My grades are not that good and I am sure I will not get into my first and second university choices. Maybe I stand a chance of getting into my third choice, but that is an in-state college and I really want to study out of state. These offers I have been receiving are mostly for out of state considerations. Should I look deeper into this possibility?

re: texas students need to retake sat due to ups accident

Nov 13, 2022

I do not see the need for the students to retake the test either. Consider that the only people who saw the test papers flying all over the place and gathering the same documents were not members of the evaluation / scoring committee and one will realize that there was no harm done when the papers were collated once again. Nobody could have scored the papers in public or private during the time that it took to collect the papers from the street. What is the big deal? There is no need to spend more tax dollars unnecessarily printing new test papers, paying exam proctors, and renting testing centers / public schools just to take the test again. Save my tax dollars for something more important, this is not one of those. Just check the papers and send the results to the students when it is done. I really believe that the unexpected revealing of test papers is nothing more than victimless crime being blown out of proportion at this point.

re: re: universities lied about campus available student housing

Nov 11, 2022

This is not a new problem at universities. They have been overbooking their dormitories and available student housing for decades. That is why there are students who are keen on pledging at a particular sorority or fraternity house when possible. These are the only on campus housing that do not overbook their rooms because they choose the students who cam come into their house. They also, only accept new pledges based on the number of members that graduated the previous semester / year. I know that I am one fo the few students who benefited from the sister/brotherhood housing system.

I will admit that I began as one of the overbooked residents at my university. We were 3 to a room since having 4 in the room would have resulted in a bloodbath for space. Since my parents were both "house" residents during their time at their own universities, they strongly urged me to pledge for acceptance into a house so that I would get out of the canned sardines housing situation. Needless to say, I made it through the qualifiers and eventually found myself with my own room, living among helpful students, and networking with the previous graduates who previously lived in the house themselves. I expect that this housing arrangements will have benefits for me upon my graduation. At least that is what my parents keep telling me.

re: texas students need to retake sat due to ups accident

Nov 9, 2022

I do not agree with this opinion at all. While there are potential problems with scoring for those who did very well the first time around, those who did not perform as expected, and know it, would receive a once in a lifetime do-over chance by taking the test again. I think the retake is solely a win-win situation on both sides. For those who were well prepared to take the test then, they can only score even better during their second take. Those who know they messed up the test, they have a chance to fix their already expected negative results. See? There is no problem with retaking the test. It can only result in a positive outcome for both sides. What is there to oppose then?

It is important that the students retake the test to retain their academic honesty. Their results were definitely compromised and therefore, could be suspect. By proving that they can pass the test regardless of the number of times taken, the student will build his sense of dignity and understand the importance of academic honesty going forward.

re: ai writing software: the solution to academic and independent writer hiring problems?

Nov 8, 2022

I was on the fence about purchasing these writing AI apps for my daughter at first. She is in the last stages of grammar school and will be entering high school soon enough. While she performs well in her STEM subjects, she struggles to write anything for her English classwork. She has never been a very verbal person and even struggles to speak to classmates or close relatives.It is a shyness that translated into problems for her when it came to putting her thoughts down on paper. I really thought that I would have to place an academic writer on retainer for her at one point because she was struggling to write even a simple "What I Did During the Summer" paper. Then her English teacher suggested that I try using the app to help her cope with her writing problem during a parent-teacher conference. I tried the free versions at first. I wanted to see if it would actually be possible to help my child without human intervention. Turns out, IT IS POSSIBLE ! Not only was she finally able to come up with good foundational papers for her to add her own thoughts to for personal essays, but she also used it well when working on her STEM research projects. Seeing her enthusiasm grow for writing and the improvement in her English grades because of the AI writing assisten was enough to sell me on the product. I do not doubt that she will be using this and its updated versions well into her college years, where she will be needing the help the most.

texas students need to retake sat due to ups accident

Nov 6, 2022

So, a UPS truck had an accident that caused the exam papers of students from El Paso, Texas to be strewn all over the street and then retrieved by examiners. The 55 test sheets will now need to trashed and the students who took the test on 27 October have to retake the test. I find this very unfair. It was not their fault their exam sheets and responses were compromised by an irresponsible UPS driver. Why do they need to retake the test? The College Board better not ask them to retake the test because the students took the exams honestly. Punish the UPS driver by firing him from his job instead. The same exam, taken twice by the same student, will not have the same results. The 2nd take results could very well affect their abilities to gain acceptance into their first choice university. I believe that the college board should pass all 55 students whose test results were affected for just cause. Do not make them sit through the same emotional rollercoaster again because some driver could not close the door to his van properly.

re: blood oath to get into princeton? (satire)

Nov 6, 2022

The Princetonian is a well known satirical newspaper of the university. Their students know not to take anything they say seriously since these articles are only meant to give them a breather from the demanding academic life. It carries crazy articles that only those already familiar with the newspaper will know are meant for comedy and nothing more.

The foreign students that start as freshmen at Princeton tend to take the newspaper seriously and get caught up in the obviously fake news. They need to be led by hand by the more senior students to understand that the newspaper is humorous and nothing more. Sometimes the foreign freshmen actually get scared by the Halloween publications but the experienced students know how to quiet down their nerves. Usually by getting them used to the idea of a satirical newspaper before Halloween comes around.

If you thought this was a riot, wait till they come out with their holiday publication. That has some really LOL and ROFL stories about Santa and how Christmas is spent at Princeton.

blood oath to get into princeton? (satire)

Nov 5, 2022

Okay, I actually thought this was a legitimate news post from The Daily Princetonian then I got to thinking, this cannot be right. I scanned the article again and finally came across the disclaimer: The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

Show of hands with regards to people who know that there will be several silly college applicants out there who will read this article and actually Fedex their own blood over to Princeton. Exactly. While people with a working brain will see this for the satire that it is, there will be people bordering on imbecilic who may just try to get admitted to the university using this method.

I realize that the paper is satirical in slant but their academic supervisors and advisers should draw the line when the comedy crosses the line into asking the applicants to perform self harm to get immediate admission into the university. I mean, just don't. There are some potential students desperate enough to try anything to get into the university, including self harm.

To protect the students hoping to apply and be admitted, I will not post a link to the article. However, just in case they come across the article somewhere on the web, please note that it is categorized under HUMOR with the unbelievable title of "Princeton introduces new admissions category beyond early admission: blood oath" This is a fake article. Do not perform self harm. The university does not want your blood ! It is a Halloween prank and nothing more !

re: act 2022 results indicate lack of college preparedness

Nov 4, 2022

I guess I am a new age parent as well. I found myself unbothered by the results of my son's ACT scores. I have long been conscious of the fact that he was never meant to excel academically, but that he had potential in another profession. He has always been a good amateur cook who would rather be buried in cook books and culinary history reads rather than any STEM or whatever subject. He always managed to make extra money for himself during the summer months by running a small baking business out of the house, he catered a child's birthday party here and there during the schoolyear, he even hosted my recent birthday celebration. Hence my lack of worry about his financial future, which is what most low scoring ACT parents worry about. Since he will not be going to a regular university but a trade school instead, we both do not have to worry about accumulating student loan debt. Between his savings and mine, he will have enough to start his own business when he completes his training. So go ahead, think the worst of kids who do not perform well in the ACT tests. Waste your time with that rather than helping him find his actual financial niche in the world.