My child took the PSAT in 9th and didn’t do so great. Just got this yr’s scores (10th gr), and did much better, but not amazing. She is currently taking geometry. Next yr she’ll have Alg II/ Trig. Anyway, I was wondering if she can do much better next yr after getting a lot of prep and taking more advanced classes and more AP classes. Have any of you personally seen much improvement by the time they are Juniors or can we assume that she won’t be rocking the test even with tons of prep?
My son went up 200 points by Sr year, after taking psat soph and jr year. . He did even better on his ACT. He did some prep work on his own, and took several prep tests at home to get better. He took a 2 week class at the HS one summer which helped a bit too. The biggest thing he did to improve was to look at the areas that needed the most improvement and try to get better at them. He still didn’t get a perfect score, but his ACT score opened the door for him to apply at a few schools that were just out of reach previously.
In the SAT Test Prep forum there are two methods that have track records and have been recommended - Silverturtle and Xiggi. I would recommend looking there.
My D did a practice test before doing her PSAT both in sophomore and junior year. Her PSAT in junior year was a very modest improvement on the year before. She prepared very well for the SAT, and nudged her score up a tiny bit. Switched to the ACT, prepped for that at about the same level as the SAT, and got a fantastic score, meaningfully better than SAT in percentile terms.
Have your child do some timed practice tests at home and supplement trouble areas with Khan Academy. IME, after 3-4 practice tests, diminishing returns kick in. If you’re not getting a lot of joy from the SAT, try the ACT instead.
2 out of 3 of mine did very poorly on the PSAT in 10th grade and went up significantly on the 11th grade PSAT and then on the SAT. We did do some test prep for them with a tutor, but not a lot. The third one did great in 10th grade and was a NMF as he is just really good at taking those tests without prep. Only one took the ACT and did worse than on the SAT so we abandoned that.
You have to know your kid, however. Many kids (mine included) do not take the 10th grade PSAT seriously. To me, it can act like a wake-up call to the kid if he or she is aiming for schools that want higher scores. I think you can review what they did poorly on and have her review it, especially for the SAT.
Many kids don’t take the 11th grade PSAT seriously either, which only really matters for the tiptop kids that may make the National Merit cutoff.
My older son got the same score as a junior that he did as a sophomore. He got his highest score in different sections. Younger son went up quite a big from sophomore to junior year and the equivalent of about 60 points over all on the SAT from the PSAT. Minimal studying. Since he was commended not a finalist - perhaps he should have studied.
My son got a 203 or something like that on the PSAT sophomore year (out of 240). Junior year, with no practice, he scored a 220. It wasn’t enough for NM in our state, but it did earn him a commended. In the spring of his junior year, with some self-study from the prep book, he scored a 2230 on the SAT. (The 2014 version.) That earned him several merit offers.
D18 went from a 209 in 10th grade to 223 as a junior. She took a couple of math practice tests from the Princeton Review book … but I think the increase in her score was mainly a maturity/confidence thing. She has changed quite a bit in a year.
I think the scores were something like 218 in 10th grade, 221 in 11th. He prepared more for the PSAT, trying to qualify for National Merit. Alas the 221 was only good for Commended in our state that year. He barely prepared for the SAT, took it the first time in 11th grade, kind of like a benchmark/practice, scored in the mid-2300’s, and called it a day.
Sounds like all your kids did great from the beginning. That’s what I’m worried about. D did okay enough so that if she doesn’t improve she can get into a good school, but not good enough to get into a "great"school. I’m hopeful she’ll do better considering she improved dramatically since 9th grade. Fingers crossed.
S2 got a 680M/710R&W on the PSAT, 770/770 on the SAT 6 months later, no studying, no prep, no practice tests. The biggest thing is he does a lot better with less stress and he was already resigned to retaking it in the fall. His 10th grade PSAT was in the 650/650 range. They really do just get naturally smarter with time.
DS did not prep for PSat and took it first time as a junior. Really unimpressive results bordering on alarming (from my POV, especially compared to SSAT results ). Took Jan SAT with no prep and did well. Decided to take a weekly class but not do a whole lot outside of class and take it once more. That helped a bit, and he decided he was fine with those scores. I realize by the standards of many on the boards that he was a slacker!
Neglected to mention that both of my s’s showed consistent progress on the PSAT in 9 and 10 and both made notable improvement in 11th. Both were NMFs. Yes it can be done.
I have a 17 yo daughter whose scores went up a huge amount (eventually into the mid 700s from the 500s), and a 16 yo daughter whose scores seem to be holding steady and consistent in the 600s each year.
Both are lazy preppers, and I can’t account for the difference in scoring. When they were little all the ITBS and other cognitive numbers on test scores were nearly identical between the two of them.
I’m feeling hopeful now, lol. The thing I find confusing, is when do kids have the time to do test prep with all the other homework and ECs? Weekends, I would imagine?