<p>My daughter took PSAT's sophomore year and they were terrible; I don't mean CC terrible...like under 150 terrible. Took them again junior year and they went up but not much. I'm worried because my SAT's were less than my PSAT's although her dad says his SATs were a lot more than the PSATs. Does anyone have suggestions for how to study? Is math easier to improve or is english? She reads good books on her own and she's doing well in precalculus so I was pretty surprised. She's signed up for a prep class in a few weeks for the March 1 exam. She seems to have the opposite of test anxiety; says sometimes she forgets she's taking a test and spaces out! Sounds like a candidate for Ritalin, I know, but she otherwise has a normal attention span.</p>
<p>The CC mantra is to check out the Xiggi method. There should be a sticky in the SAT prep chatboard.</p>
<p>Plus try ACT</p>
<p>Please let her try the ACT. I really think that certain learning styles do better on different tests.
even during Kaplan practice tests- my kid would come out of class white as a ghost- very quiet and said her "brain felt numb". It was not nerves as this was practice tests only.<br>
we waved the white flag- gave up on the SAT and went the ACT route.
Kid did much better- no stress- didn't mind the test at all.
All she did was take a few practice ACT tests to familiarize herself with the format.
I know most people will tell you your kid should study hard and use the Xiggi method- but that would have driven my kid NUTS!!
your kid can take the ACT without the schools getting her score- so you have control whether you want to share the score with the colleges or not, so there is little to lose except a Saturday morning.</p>
<p>this may sound wierd- but I have observed that kids who are active (into sports/performing arts) seem to do better on the ACT. That has been my unscientific observation while following these boards for a few years and it is based on my kids experience.
Good luck!!</p>
<p>And if worst comes to worst and she doesn't improve her scores, there are a bunch of SAT optional schools.</p>
<p>Maybe I'll let her try ACT then...it was sort of presented at the school parent test presentation night by the guidance counselor as this novel alternative thing (we're in NY) "... if the SAT isn't right for you call us call us and we'll discuss ACT.." But it looks like all the schools accept it in lieu of SAT. The prep class she's signed up for is SAT but I guess we could take ACT if March SAT is bad.</p>
<p>My junior S just took the Oct ACT because I didn't think he would do as well on the SAT. He only wanted to take it once and be done, so I agreed as long as he scored a pre-determined score. He not only hit that score but exceeded it, so he is "one and done" as far as this family is concerned for college testing. </p>
<p>Almost all schools accept the ACT or SAT. There really is no longer a preferred test. Have your student take the test best fits her personality and testing style. It worked for us!</p>
<p>I just looked at ACT schedule. If you prep for SAT does that work for ACT? I thought there was science stuff on it. NY doesn't have a February test but I guess she can drive to CT or NJ really early Saturday morning. I'll see how motivated she is! There's one this weekend but I don't think she even knows what the ACT is so might be bad to suggest it today. Thanks for the suggestion; I had not considered ACT at all.</p>
<p>ACT test prep should be done. Science is included, and a familiarization w/test wording and style is recommended before taking any standardized test. It just improves your chances at success. ACT website has some online sample tests, etc. Start there.</p>
<p>ACT is more straightforward than SAT. My son had a little trouble with the science, though, so I'd recommend doing a practice test on that. It is highly timed and he got hung up on reading the graphs. The reading does not have the tricks of the SAT. You don't have to report if you don't like the scores.</p>
<p>the "science" section on the act is really mostly being able to read graphs and charts and apply data they give you -- i don't think you need to really bring much outside knowledge to it.</p>
<p>the act is different than the sat -- eg, the reading comprehension more straight forward according to kids i know who took it. time can become more of an issue -- you have to know to pace yourself while taking it.</p>
<p>you should be able to look at sample questions at their website -- it would be important for your d to familiarize herself with the types of questions. it is becoming more popular even in ny -- the feb date is the only one that doesn't seem to be offered in ny - there are still plenty of other options. </p>
<p>i've known several kids who took it and did much better than on the sat's. (i've also known kids who did about the same -- the only way to know is to try it.)</p>
<p>Muffy- we're NY too. I'm finding alot more LI kids are taking the ACT's now. Two years ago, we got our third choice test center as the other 2 were already filled. So it is definitely a viable alternative.
my understanding is there is no need to get "hung up" on the science testing. It can be general info but the thrust is to be able to read and interpret graphs. So don't worry if she's not a strong science kid.
I would suggest she study a bit- get the "Real ACT" test book- and let her do some practice tests so you may not want her to take the exam this week.
everything is so much more straight forward than the SAT.
if I remember correctly (but this was 2 years ago) the SAT started with a convoluted essay which you had to read a few times until you understood what they wanted. and then my kid had some reading sections and then the math. I think my kid was burnt out before she even got to her first math question.
on the ACT, the essay comes last and it just a type of question where they want opinion and tests writing ability. again- alot less "tricky" than SAT and much less stressful for my kid.
she scored about 130 points higher on ACT than SAT and without too much prep for the ACT exam.</p>
<p>The ACT essays strike me as soooo much easier. Things like "Do you think your school should have a dresscode?" The SAT essays give you an obscure quote and ask you to respond with several examples from history, lit or real life. My son could never think of examples quick enough to have time for a decent essay. (He got a bit better after a lot of practice.) And starting with the essay really did put a damper on the rest of the test. The SAT test is also very long. My recollection from glancing at ACT books is that the science section should be pretty doable for most kids, but something you'd probably want to do a practice test for just to make sure there aren't any obvious holes in your knowledge.</p>
<p>i went up 40 points on the psat in one year then scored about 100 points higher than expected on the sat so its definently possible to improve a lot really quickly.
just do problems over and over again. seriously i did an entire practice sat everyday leading up to the test. theres no shortcut. its the standard method among my high scoring friends.</p>
<p>I second, third, tenth ACT.
Certain kids just do so much better on it than on SAT</p>
<p>^^^ I'll eleventh it! A friend of my d's was in the 150-ballpark for the PSATs with two SATs not much better, but went up to a 28 on the ACT with very minimal prep.</p>
<p>How about investing in both a SAT and ACT prep book with actual tests and your d taking one of each? </p>
<p>If she decides to do the SAT after all, there are some free online resources available at collegeboard. org (I guess sometimes even they do something helpful). My d was not too energetic about test prep, but found that having the "SAT Question of the Day" emailed to her helped familarize her with the common types of questions.</p>
<p>My D took an SAT prep course that was useless. She took math tutoring with Sylvan and raised her math score from 550 (practice test) to 610 in the real thing. That's about as high as she's gonna get in math and her verbals were so good that she didn't take them again.</p>
<p>ACT: I found out too late that it would have been a good idea to take it. I'd had her take it in January of her junior year, and then retake if necessary. The verbal and math sections are similar to the SATs, probably more straight-forward. The science is not difficult. It does NOT test scientific knowledge. It tests your ability to read graphs and charts. The thing about the ACT that is hard is the time crunch, so I hear. </p>
<p>The biggest plus to the ACT is that if you take it, you don't have to take SAT IIs for schools that want them. Schools that want subject tests, accept the ACT instead of SAT I and II. That is a BIG plus. The subject tests really do test subject knowledge. </p>
<p>By the time I found that out, it was really too late to have her take the ACT and so she had the take the SAT IIs. Oh well.</p>
<p>I have heard from a number of people that some students who do poorly on SATs do well on the ACT.</p>
<p>--have had--</p>
<p>Heron, some schools don't make you take SAT2s if you've taken the ACT, but a few do.</p>
<p>For SAT study suggestions, I would get the SAT prep books (you know, the big, thick ones that weigh a ton) and also get the one with 'Real' practice tests in them and do them over and over again. That will get her used to the format as well so she doesn't need to waste time reading the directions and it'll also train her to fill in those circles faster. The on-line help sites are excellent too, but the actual SAT is in the old paper format so I suggest she get used to those (unless things have changed in the past few years??)</p>