Help needed for my S studying for SAT: Math scores going down

Test Preparation
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<p>I am posting this in the main SAT forum as opposed to the prep forum due to the fact the the study forum seems to be swamped with 'rate my essay'. I am hoping to get some insight here.</p>

<p>My son is very strong in math. Each professor has rated him the top 1-2 students of their class in terms of effort and comprehension. He is a Jr in Functions Analytic Geometry. His overall GPA is 3.85uw. He is a bright kid, but does work for his grades.</p>

<p>His PSAT score in the fall was 730. This is consistent with his sophomore score. He has been studying out of the Big Blue Book and his score in math progressively going down. (Starting at that 730 and creeping down). He has used Princeton Review for exam taking skills only. His CR is going up, which he is not as strong in. Needless to say, this is very frustrating to him. He has read the 'X' method, which I found here and printed all 20 pages. It felt very much like common sense to him.</p>

<p>I have offered him the following: Make sure you understand why you have missed the questions you did and rework them. Is there a pattern to the questions you are missing? He is, and generally no. He is also not running out of time... running close, but not leaving questions blank. Given this I told him: It's not your only test (his is not applying anywhere EA/ED), don't psyc yourself out, I know you will do great, you are strong in Math. I reminded him of his high GPA, killer EC, awesome recommendations, & a strong essay he will write. His schools are not 100% on scores, they take a holistic approach to admissions. He is an engineering major so he's not buying into this. I have told him that if he isn't happy with the results he can take a prep class if that makes him more comfortable... I also suggested giving the book a break a day and studying online at the collegeboard website without timing it.</p>

<p>In short, I'm trying to ease his mind before this exam on Saturday. He says he is not nervous during the practice tests and feels good until they are scored... but I see him becoming visibly more and more frustrated.</p>

<p>Can anyone give us insight as to why his scores may be going down? Any thoughts on a better way to approach the exam? It is sincerely appreciated!</p>

<p>Peace</p>

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<p>Hi blueiguana. How frustrating for your son (and you)! My daughter really likes the Princeton Review book…not just for the test-taking tips, but for the drills and practice exams as well. She goes through it literally page by page and problem by problem, and carefully analyzes what was wrong on the ones she got wrong. Has your son gone through that prep section completely?</p>

<p>For the schools he’s interested in, is the ACT an option? Some kids just do better on one or the other…hard to say why, but the tests are quite different.</p>

<p>I do think a lot depends on the particular day/particular version of the test. I know your son probably doesn’t want to hear this, but many kids do better on their second/third sitting for the test (and that’s true for SAT as well as ACT).</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks MoSB,
I will pass on the information. He asked about the next date on the ACT last night. I offered up June ONLY if it wasn’t going to stress him. Based on his strength in math & sciences a few people have said he may score ‘higher’. I found some good posts in the ‘Best Of’ section at the top of the forum and did a copy & paste for him to read. I’m going to suggest he review and do practice problems (drills) for a couple of days to try to break the cycle. We are trying to place less importance on the score. It’s impossible for the kids to do that when they know what the ‘magic number’ is for their target school.</p>