Did not read posts. A student who takes AP courses and gets nearly all A’s may not need test prep. My gifted kid did not. All we insisted on were a run through of a practice test (ACT here and SAT) to be familiar with it. Taking the tests spring of junior year gives time for a repeat fall of senior year. Too bad she missed the PSAT, but can’t change that. I’ll bet she resists anything you try to tell her. Don’t worry, she’ll be where she needs to be. From a former student eons ago and as a parent.
Has she taken the PSAT? My kids’ schools had 9th and 10th graders take them just to get familiar…we let them take them totally cold just to get a baseline.
For the junior PSAT, one of my kids needed some prep with math, but DH did that at home with him. S1 went in cold. Both did great, with S2 benefiting a lot from two more years IB between his 9th and 11th grade scores.
For the SAT, they both did a couple of essays (which date us to the 2400-era) to make sure they could get an essay on paper in 30 minutes (which was a big concern for one of my kids, as he had some EF and writing issues). S2 did more math practice with DH. S1 did some practice sections out of the Blue Book to tweak the style of questions, and S2 did a couple of full practice tests for the timing. No paid prep classes. No SATs until March of junior year, which allowed for extra chances to take in June after APs if necessary. S1 was one and done. They took SAT IIs as they finished the relevant class, no prep. S2 was too fried at the end of junior year to prep after many AP and IB exams. He took the SAT the second dead cold and scored 100 points higher, better than he had ever expected.
OP, if your D is balking at taking the SAT, perhaps she is feeling pressure to attend a Big Name school when she really doesn’t want to. Maybe she’s rethinking if medicine is what she wants (the stress levels are huge) and doesn’t want to disappoint you. If she wants to attend a state school where she can focus on tippy-top grades, the SAT may not matter so much. She is telling you something. Listen between the words.
This. This. This. One of mine crashed and burned in college after years of a stressful HS program. He managed fine at home when he had us to keep the rest of life rolling along, but challenging academics plus managing one’s own life away from home, combined with exec function/LD issues was a whole nuther story. He graduated, but it wasn’t pretty, and he is still trying to pick up the pieces.
The OP said she refused to take the PSAT. Which is where I would have lost my patience…
I am answering with the ACT in mind…my boys did the ACT instead of SAT. You can buy one of the books that has old exams (The Real ACT Prep Guide…there is probably something similar for SAT) and have them do one of the exams on a Saturday morning…and you run it just like the real thing. If the score is in range then all is good. If not, it may be a wake up call.
In terms of subject tests, not all schools require them. My youngest has anxiety…he nailed his ACT and has decided not to apply to any schools that require the subject tests. (Most don’t anymore.) So you should ask her which schools are on her radar…and then see what they require.
Note that a number of new schools are test optional.
Just some thoughts from another MA resident. 
I’m with birdie3. Let her take the real test and see what she sees. She can always repeat it. My S “had to” take SAT for precollege program at Northwestern. I got him to take one home practice. That was it. No studying for any of the standardized tests that he took. He did fine at college admissions time. My D did the same, no studying. Did quite fine for the art schools she was applying to. But test scores weren’t nearly as important as her portfolio. Only when she decided to take the GMAT, several years after her graduation, did she go “full prep” b/c she wanted to attend a top 10 business school. She took self-administered prep course. She took a refresher math course. Upped her performance from SAT time. And succeeded in her goal.
BTDT with one of ours – she hook line and sinker bought the ‘nobody cares about standardized tests’ rhetoric that seems to be out there. Even though we kept telling her otherwise, and kept explaining that merit depends on it and that if there wasn’t enough merit she would be limiting her own choices.
She pushed it to the point where she had a fair ACT score even AT the deadlines needed to apply for many of the schools that give good merit - she finally did a cram course but of course it was a tad late to improve as much as she could and today she is reaping what she sewed. She goes to a school in the midwest and it is fine and she will do great but we stuck to what we said and let her live with the consequences of her own stubborness on this subject.
My son didn’t really care about studying until he had taken it 4 times (I did hire tutor for Reading) and then his friend made a certain score on the ACT. THEN, that lit a fire under him and he was self-motivated. He improved by 150 points. They are tough at this age. Definitely, if she is a sophomore and you can bear multiple test costs, let her do it “her way” for the first test. I have learned if you want some $$ from schools, you do want to shoot for certain scores. Research the possibilities of where she will want to go so you know what your targets are. I would also tell you that I helped my son study and it was a bonding experience. I took the timed SAT Reading and Writing test and gained an appreciation for how hard the questions are. We worked on it together. I think him seeing my empathy and understanding and time commitment helped. I highly recommend a blog called College Panda on study tips. Best of Luck!
I wouldn’t have paid for 4 attempts. Holy cow. Two was it from my pocket.
Simply put, if she refuses to take tests, there are test-optional colleges on this list http://fairtest.org/university/optional
Many on this list are top schools.
If she needs merit aid, she may need scores, but otherwise, she will be fine. I would leave it up to her.
If anxiety is the issue, perhaps she will relax as time goes on of get motivated by peers. But as a parent I would just give her the Fairtest test optional list and tell her she can avoid tests if she wants to apply only to test optional schools.
I would sign her up for the NEXT available SAT or ACT and put the ball in her court. Some smart kids are natural testers. And sometimes taking it once and having it not reflect your academic ability can be a wake up call. And then I’d plan on doing it again - last spot of spring maybe or early fall. I’d also talk about the realities of financing college and what a difference some decent test scores will make.
My twins both refused to study for the tests. One superscored a 35 on the ACT, the other didn’t even score high enough to qualify as “collegeready.” I had to sign them up myself to even take them and sure enough, they did take them without any complaint. The high scoring twin is applying to ivies and top tier schools in the U.S. and Canada. The low scoring one is applying to almost all test optional schools and has been accepted to all of them with large scholarships (I didn’t even know he was eligible). It all worked out fine for each of them individually and I guess they each just do their own thing and get to where they need to be in their own way. Do be supportive and sign up for the test with her present to know you are scheduling a date that she agrees is workable.
P.S. when the high scoring twin got his scores, he “was done” and it was clear he was not going to retake them for any higher score. Maybe him trying to exert his independence and being stubborn, so he was all done before he even started Senior year. He just had to submit his applications, which he is still in the process of completing all of his selections. The guidance counselor told him at the start of Senior year that most of his peers had already sent their applications in at the end of the summer to ivies and top tiers (completed in summer and submitted as soon as application submissions opened for the schools), but my guy hadn’t even started them yet. Nonetheless, he gets them in before the deadlines and takes each one seriously. Also, I think the girls are much more organized and prepare in advance than most of the guys his age.