casee37 and gardenstate, thanks very much. Spent some of the weekend poking around in areas you and others have provided insights about, and my dear wife and I talked to my daughter a little at lunch today. Even tried to make it seem spontaneous as I am worried about stressing her out - tough to walk that line of not getting her too stressed about testing while wanting to share things as I learn more from all of you about what things she can/should be at least thinking about.
Overall, she said she’ll take the PSAT and is good with us getting her some materials to prep with. I read the Xiggi method thread a bit, and while there are many ways to reach good results, will probably suggest some self-study around that approach, using real SAT/PSAT tests from the CB as the core material.
She also said maybe she’d be interested in a prep class. My wife discussed with her a tutor as an option, as we wonder if that’s not better given her kind of lopsided reading/math PSAT may show it would be good to focus on math rather than take a class focused about equally on everything. We’ll see what she wants to do re: class/tutor/neither. I think self-study would be just fine, but we’ll see how she feels about it all.
Thanks to gardenstate, MurphyBrown, and others’ advice, we were able to ask her to think about the upcoming year, and especially what awaits her starting right after spring break: her spring sport practices and games - IB SL tests - final exams - a violin audition she’ll have at the end of the school year - and maybe SAT IIs. She took it all in and, not surprisingly, said she’d likely be stressed after spring break. We talked a bit about the possibilities in terms of tests and sequencing (e.g. taking SAT/ACT once this winter after the PSAT and then retest if desired second semester before spring break - or - taking the SAT/ACT once in 2017 before spring break as a junior and then again late summer/early fall before senior year if want to retest). She’s going to think about it. Whatever she decides, thanks to everyone for getting me thinking about it so we could empower her to start thinking about it.
As for SAT vs. ACT, my wife talked to her about having taken the ACT last spring and the PSAT in fall of 2015 and whether she had any initial preferences/noticed any differences (not the same as taking both tests timed now, but at least she has already been exposed to both a bit). She said she felt the time pressure quite a bit on the ACT. We talked about the ACT being perhaps known for putting more time pressure on test-takers than the SAT. She thought maybe the SAT would make sense given she’ll be prepping for the PSAT. Again, she will think on it and we appreciate all the help and advice in this thread on that.
Gardenstate, this is, I think what you observed of your son is my D as well: “For him, that experience showed him that he wanted a school where students were smart and engaged but not uber competitive or driven because that’s not who he is.” Thanks for the sharing your experiences with the same parental anxiety I feel around this at times, as your feelings around the IBD and the competing demands on your son’s time as a rising junior resonate very strongly with me and my concerns about the coming school year.
Many miles to go, and as we keep plugging away on this, thanks again everyone for all the help!