Another Question

Parents Forum
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<p>Taking the subject tests as soon as completed a substantial amount of material regardless of high school grade seems to work the best for most students. Also, subject tests are much shorter (just over an hour I think) so younger students handle these better. If they are taking only one test (can take a total of 3 at one sitting), they will be released as soon as the first test is finished. </p>

<p>You can sign up for June test through May 10th by paying a $21 late fee in addition to other fees. In addition to cancelling the test before you leave the test center (test is then not graded and no record will exist for it) you can cancel up until the Wednesday after the test but the cancellation request must be in writing. It can be mailed or faxed to College Board. That way, you can discuss with daughter whether to cancel scores or not rather than having her make the decision on her own. </p>

<p>I agree a practice test for your daughter is essential. If she doesnt' do well on math 2 practice she can always take math 1 (easier test but tougher scoring). Have her do a practice test on both. She can change the test at the testing center on the day of the test for no charge. No need to notify in advance or anything.</p>

<p>Oh, and due to medical related issues, my daughter skipped both a paid for SAT and 2 subject tests over the course of her high school career.</p>

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<p>Momnew,
My D also took the PSAT cold in sophomore year, prepped using the Xiggi method starting in September of junior year and increased her PSAT score by 30 points! She used the College Board blue book of practice tests, the book with solutions to the practice tests, and Maximum SAT; she also took the SAT & GRE daily vocab and questions on the College Board site. I believe if you sign up for the online version of SAT prep on the College Board site you get more practice tests. To read a condensed version of Xiggi's method, go to the AdmissionsAdvice website. </p>

<p>Prepping for the PSAT is identical to prepping for the SAT except that the math is a lower level and there is no essay. So after taking the PSAT, she can concentrate on studying more math and doing practice essays and she'll be ready for the SAT. I can PM you some tips for the essay that my D found useful.</p>

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<p>This was too long to PM, so here it is. Kudos to the original poster:</p>

<p>How to Score a 12 on the Essay -- A Miniguide </p>

<p>I scored a 12 on both the March and June SAT essays, so I thought I would write up some spicy tips for you all to do the same.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Read the Quote and the Question. Most kids open the first page of the question booklet and skip the quote, heading right to the question. The quote is there for a reason, though. It gives you some instant mental imagery, sets the tone for the question, and ignites your critical thinker. It is highly probable that you won’t know the author of the quote, but if you do, it would definitely be prudent to at least mention that person and his or her ideas briefly in the essay (on the same topic, of course). Read the quote twice if you have to. Otherwise, move onto the question. Read the question ten times if you have to, noting how it is phrased. Realize that the questions must be politically correct and are supposedly “philosophical,” which means they are questions of truth and knowledge. You must fully understand the question to proceed. If you misread it and write off-topic, the results could be disastrous.</p></li>
<li><p>Time is not on your side. The test prep books will tell you how to manage your time, but the fact is that there’s barely enough time for any type of planning. You do not have time to create an outline! Immediately after comprehending the question, begin your first sentence! You need every second possible. If, after reading the question, your mind begins to race with ideas (which is the best possible scenario), jot a few letters down in the test booklet to refresh your memory, but that’s it! The ideal situation is to spend just a minute or two on the quote and question, dive into writing, and have a minute to spare at the end to search for grammatical errors or to upgrade your word choice in a few areas. However, you don’t want to have to stop in the middle of a sentence when time is called, so bring a watch with a built-in stopwatch if possible. Try not to look at it for the majority of the essay’s duration, though.</p></li>
<li><p>Examples, Examples, Examples…and more Examples. This is the fuel of your essay. You need to keep thinking of examples as you write. Personal anecdotes will not work (e.g. At my school, I volunteer every week...). You need solid examples that carry at least partial academic weight (for instance, a well-known person, historical event, movie, philosophical concept, etc). The more examples you have, the more you have to write about, and the better your argument becomes. Many people have stated that since these essays are read by english teachers, it is a good idea to include books as examples. I think there is validity in this belief; however, you want the reader to think of you as a “culturally enriched” student, so draw from all types of examples, current events, entertainment, whatever!</p></li>
<li><p>Stay Focused. It’s easy to lose sight of what the question is asking. In each paragraph, re-read the question to tie it all together. You don’t want to write two whole pages only to realize that you digressed majorly and went off on a tangent. You can easily lengthen your essay by continuing to mention how your examples fit with the topic. </p></li>
<li><p>Content is King, but it won’t guarantee a 12. Ever since that MIT professor found a correlation between length and scores, everyone assumes that longer essays get higher scores. It’s true, but only because the more capable students usually have more to say and more to think about. Writing just to fill up space won’t ensure a high mark (in fact, the more a reader sees of your writing style or lack thereof, the more it may in fact hurt you). Many of my friends filled up both pages until the last line and still received 10’s. This reaffirms the fact that it’s what you write and not how much you write. (I will note, though, that I did fill up every line provided on both of my essays).</p></li>
<li><p>Prepackage, but also let it Flow. Think of some well crafted sentences and vocabulary that you know you want to use in the essay. Broad but insightful statements work very well as they can be applied to almost any essay the SAT writers throw at you. The readers <em>will</em> award more points just because there is an indication of planning. During the week or night before the test, lay out some vocab words which you are familiar with but which are still academic (don’t use anything too far above your level). You can also think of some broad examples (for instance, editorialist Thomas Friedman has been writing recently about how the world is “flat” since jobs are being outsourced to India and China – this could work for that job essay prompt, the majority rule question, practical skills, creativity…you name it!) Still, you should allow yourself a good amount of flexibility, so don’t try to memorize an entire 2 page essay – you could end up reading the question and panicking since your ideas don’t fit the topic.</p></li>
<li><p>Forget conventional American writing. The 5-paragraph essay format practically breeds mediocrity. It’s true that you need some type of introduction, and you will need insightful concluding marks, but anything in between should be up to you. On my essays, I had solid introductions but only a couple sentences for the conclusions. There are no rules, so as in the previous tip, let it Flow. If your ideas require one continuous paragraph for the whole essay, so be it. That probably isn’t a great idea, but you shouldn’t stress yourself out with having three main examples fit perfectly into three main body paragraphs. You are allowed to break a new paragraph just for one or two sentences if you so desire. Whatever you do, make sure it’s on your terms. In European countries and around the world, they use a “spiral” format, which uses the whole essay to discuss many viewpoints, and then they arrive at a thesis in the conclusion. For the SAT essay, it doesn’t even matter if your thesis isn’t the most prominent line – so don’t spend time crafting a perfect thesis.</p></li>
<li><p>Have a point of view. Go for a “nonconformist” view, even though that doesn’t mean taking an opposte side to the question. Go for the point of view that somehow embraces the beauty of life, succeeding, and progress (it sounds corny, but it works). Don’t depress the reader…impress him or her with a new and innovative direction on the prompt.</p></li>
<li><p>Write Legibly. If your reader has to squint to read your essay, it will slow the person down, paying more attention to grammatical errors and other inconsistencies in your essay. Write clearly so that the reader can zoom through and be “wow’ed” by the end of it. </p></li>
<li><p>Retaking the SAT? Recycle your essay thoughts. There are no rules against recycling your own ideas. It will be a different grader and a different test, so if you liked the essay you wrote from a past administration, feel free to use some of the same vocabulary, examples, or concepts. Obvious? Yes. Effective? Definitely.</p></li>
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