Kid is a high school junior. He took the PSAT and got a 1290. He had done well on the English section of the PSAT given in tenth grade, so he reviewed only math for the official 11th grade PSAT. Math went up slightly, English went down. He’s an A/A- student in all honors/AP classes at a very competitive suburban public high.
I had him take a practice ACT that he pulled of the internet yesterday without his having done any kind of prep for it, and he got a 33.5. He reviewed his errors with his older sister, and found that his errors were all stupid mistakes, nothing having to do with his not knowing the material.
I’m thinking that he ought to focus his test prep on the ACT at this point, and forget about the SAT. He has to take an SAT for the State, to get his high school diploma, but that’s no issue - his score will be well above their threshold. He will be applying to a mix of conservatories and universities with conservatories, plus for safe schools our state’s flagship U and the local private U with a conservatory as safety schools. I doubt that he will apply to any ivy schools - none of them have the undergraduate trumpet performance plus conservatory experience that he wants. So I think that the ACT would be taken by any school he wants to apply to.
My only concern is that the practice ACT that he pulled off the internet may have been easier than the real thing, in order to pull people into taking the ACT.
Many tutoring companies will let students take practice tests free or for a reasonable price…ask if the tests they administer were previously administered, retired tests.
If the ACT test he took from the internet was a real, retired test, and he took it with the actual time constraints, that test could be better for him. But, it could be worth the investment to take a test with a tutor and get their input.
Next ACT test is Feb 8, so he could use that as a ‘practice’ test as well…it sounds like he won’t be applying to any of the few schools that require a full testing history so there’s not much downside to taking the test in Feb.
Advice I received that was spot-on was to take each test with no/minimal prep, see which score was better, and then prep to take that one again. For both of my kiddos, this was a great strategy. The ACT was better for my S, and the SAT was better for my D. Both had taken advantage of the Duke TIP testing opportunities in middle school, so we had a pretty good idea which test would be the better fit for each.
For your S, I’d try the Feb 8 ACT, see how the score compares to his PSAT, and go from there.
Before attempting a real ACT administration or going through a tutoring company, I’d get the official ACT prep book aka “the red book” that has 5 previous ACT tests in it. $18 on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Official-2019-2020-Practice-Online-Content/dp/1119580501/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=real+act+book&qid=1578249405&sr=8-3
Don’t have him take an official SAT or ACT test until he feels ready. The CC boards are full of stories of kids who took a test when they weren’t ready, then prepped and saw their scores jump 5-10 points, then 6 months later were in trouble with SAT/ACT because their scores were suspicious.
Definitely check the source of the practice ACT. There are plenty of official tests from the test organizations that can be use to compare the two.
The tests aren’t that different in content - preferences typically come fro the time allotments for the various types of problems.
If the practice ACT score was significantly higher just because it seemed a lot easier, that would be a red flag. I’d at least try one official practice test.
These posts speak words of wisdom. I used to think one standardized test was similar to the next. Both my sons scored much higher( with significantly less prep) on their ACT after years of being in the DUKE TIP SAT mill. (So much so that Son #1 actually went down in his SAT score!)
Figure out your child’s test of choice and concentrate on making improvements there.
I also agree that there is a difference for many students in taking practice tests in as near test-like conditions as possible. There’s a big difference in being able to lay on your couch and pause the test for a snack and sitting in a crappy chair with a guy that constantly sniffles behind you for a few hours.
My sons had great success with Testmasters ACT prep and their practice exams.
Good point! Also, listen to your child. If they tell you they’re experiencing test fatigue, you might want to heed their warning.
After IB and AP tests and more Duke SAT’s than I can remember, DS #1 did not wish to repeat his SAT. We told him he needed to sit for his school’s SAT and actually went down in his score.
We were bummed, but he switched to study the ACT with his brother over the summer through Testmasters and both achieved perfect scores. Having a buddy to force you to go to class and put in the requisite work was integral to their success, imho.