Where is he planning to go to school? Unless they require SAT/ACT to get in, or for scholarship $$, I wouldn't bother. (Community colleges mostly do not, for example.) If he wants to transfer later, he can take it then.

We haven't looked a lot. Florida Gulf Coast talks about requiring them. He tests well so it wouldn't be hard for him, although school is a bit removed for him now. I want to get him somewhere with a possibility of him playing basketball.

The FIRST thing you should do is file the FAFSA asap. (He's not 24 yet, is he? If not, you'll still count for his financial aid; if he is 24, he's an independent student, so only his financial resources will be relevant, not yours.)

If you're looking at colleges that require it, I would do either SAT or ACT but probably not both. If it's a school that's taking admissions on a rolling basis (as opposed to once a year only with a deadline that's probably past), then they can probably take late test scores, and if he tests well that will help him get in.

If you're worried he will drop out, I would seriously look at community college. They mostly do not have sports, but the financial benefit is huge, and they tend to be very good teaching colleges. Our local CC is like 3K a year, whereas the local state university is $23K a year. My advice to a parent of a kid who is a borderline student is to start at a CC and transfer. You end up with a good degree and if the kid is not ready for college the financial loss of a drop-out is not huge.

Thanks, flea. He is 23. Our CCs have sports, probably because of the size of the schools. I was hoping to have him go in another part of the state though because he is better off away from home territory. I'll probably have him do the ACT since he hasn't just to get him in a study frame of mind. I just did our taxes so I'll get on the FAFSA right away.

The main reason for looking for one with a basketball program is the incentive to keep him going. He probably is good enough to get on most teams, but not the very competitive programs.

Thanks, Laura. I think I need an Experience but most things are not those.

Erika, if you were common enough to be a stereotype the world would be a much more kick-ass place.

Thanks. There's a sentence you don't say very often, unless you're us.

What Trudy said.

Question about college entrance type stuff. Son will probably go to school in the fall. He took the SAT in 7th grade, then again in 2009. He never took the ACT. Should he take both of those this summer. Is June too late?

I'll note that Emmett scored MUCH higher on the ACT than the SAT, and that did wind up getting him better financial aid, so there are some benefits to doing both.

Me too, because they count more than just Verbal and (my nemesis) Math.