My daughter has a 4.0 and is ranked near the top of the class. She has consistently scored 99th percentiles in math in all previous standardized testing in grade school and high school entrance exams. English has never been as strong but usually solid. Her PSAT results were 1030 (500 eng/530 math). I am wondering what others experiences have been with increases in scores from sophmore-junior year for PSAT and then for the SAT. She is really hard on herself so I am trying to stay positive.
I have a downer experience but don’t worry too much, every kid is different.
My son has very good grades as well. He got a 540m/630r in 9th grade, 540m/700r in 10th grade, and 530m/690r in 11th grade after I spent the summer nagging him to review on Khan Academy. One of the things we realized about math is that because he is in accelerated classes, the SAT and ACT cover stuff that he learned (and forgot) up to 3 years ago.
I have friends who have reported a good increase year on year, so my kid may be atypical.
A few ideas:
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First, she should never get down on herself for a standardized test. Some people just aren’t great test takers.
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She could look at the ACT to see if that might be a better exam for her. My kid’s guidance counselor said that about 1/3 of the kids do better on the SAT, 1/3 do better on the ACT, and 1/3 do the same on both.
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She should definitely prep for the SAT and/or ACT (whichever she takes). There are classes, tutors, online resources, guide books etc. Preparation can improve scores.
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If her final standardized test scores are not indicative of her academic abilities, you should consider some of the many wonderful test optional colleges. Here is the current list sorted by state. https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional/state
The format of all of the standardized tests take some getting used to, because the questions are out of the experience of most students. Each one takes practice to do well. Sometimes it is something stupid, like putting the answers in the wrong columns not using good guessing strategies.
When my kids were at this stage, I learned that experience matters. Just retaking a test the following year is likely to improve the scores 50-100 points on each part, even with minimal prep, due to familiarity with the test. Don’t put huge pressure on the kid. She will likely do better, and after one or two more rounds she’ll reach a peak.
For some kids that peak will be a perfect score. For many more it will be a credible and competitive score. But a major goal should be to avoid a disastrous score. For that purpose, whether or not the kid takes a prep class of some kind, she should take a practice test or two and become very familiar with the types of questions. She should also know the conditions under which she should “guess” if she doesn’t know the answer. As a general rule, if she can eliminate one or two of the answer options, it’s advantageous Not to skip the question but instead to choose among the remaining options – not to “guess,” exactly, but to choose the answer she thinks is most likely to be right. A good part of the gaming of these tests is to eliminate the wrong options and to answer all the questions.
Let me preface this: tests are not everything. It’s hard to see that in the crucible of high school and college planning, but when you get to the other side, you will all wonder what the fuss was about. Your D has terrific grades and excellent work-study habits; these will take her farther in college, work and life than a number on a printout.
What level of math is she taking? If she’s taking Alg II or Pre-Calc/Trig now, those are the classes that will help math scores junior year. My younger S’s scores went up significantly between 9th and 11th, mostly on the strength of learning more math and critical analysis in English class.
Getting more comfortable with the test helps scores, too. The most useful prep in our experience was being familiar with the types of questions that are asked and if she is taking a practice test, going over the wrong answers and analyzing why she answered that way. It helped us all figure out if a wrong answer was a simple calculation error, misreading the questions, not having been exposed to a topic, etc. DH would have the guys explain their reasoning in selecting a particular answer. One of my kids overthinks EVERYTHING – DH helped him see that the questions were much more straightforward than S realized. That helped S navigate the reading comprehension questions much better.
Sometimes kids (even good writers) need a little grammar rule reinforcement, too. We didn’t do tutoring or paid prep – they did a couple of low-key practice test sections and then we figured out what areas needed some help. Very low-key.
In the big scheme of things, the PSAT is not that big a deal. There is generally not much $$ attached to NMF awards. Agree with others that if she’s not happy with her PSAT scores next fall, she might consider the ACT. I suspected one of my kids would be more of an ACT kid (he was in IB, so the test was probably a better fit), but he did better on the SAT than he expected and was happy to call it a day. Had he been unhappy, he would have taken the ACT.
Once of my nieces scored twice in the 680V/560M range, took the ACT and got a 34. The ACT was a better test for her.
DS20 did a cold PSAT 8/9 in freshman year and was not happy with his score, (similar to ur dd, good gpa/class rank), he used CB’s SAT practice tests (which Khan academy has them all) to prepare his sophomore psat and scored a much better 1470, he thinks doing the practice tests (only use paper and pencil, don’t use the computer) made him a lot more comfortable about pacing and familiarity with the type of questions.
We may also look into ACT as often heard some kids doing better on one test over the other.
I second the suggestion to give the ACT a try. My DD did okay-ish on the PSAT in 10th grade, somewhat better in 11th grade, and then good on the SAT (slow and steady increase). But one try on the ACT got her a much higher percentile/higher SAT equivalent than she actually scored on the SAT. Second try got her a score she was quite proud of. She only submitted ACT scores to schools.
Freshman practice PSAT: 155
Sophomore PSAT practice: 194
Junior the real PSAT: 222 made NMF in CA. Got into Stanford REA. His score just kept on going up. Many others had a lot higher scores as freshmen and sophomores. Based on his freshman or sophomore PSAT scores, no way I could foresee his making NMF in CA, and making NMF was the last thing on our minds. The funny thing is he didn’t even feel confident enough to submit an application to Stanford until he became NMSF.
I believe the college board says that the usual increase is between 100-200 points (real SAT points) from year to year with minimal additional preparation. That was accurate for my family. Although the jump from junior year PSAT score (Oct) to actual end of junior year SAT (June) was maybe 30 points.
@labegg gosh I hope so, but I suspect not true at the higher end. My sophomore just got 760 math- so no where to go on that, she didn’t miss any questions, 700 verbal, so at most she can go up 60 points on that.
Tell you what OP, Ill give you my kid’s PSAT score and I’ll take your DD’s grades…
10th grade PSAT has no relevance to colleges or scholarships. 11th grade PSAT can matter for National Merit based scholarships. So some additional familiarization with PSAT/SAT format and other test aspects may be helpful.
Some students do significantly better on the ACT than the SAT. The ACT is generally accepted as a substitute for college admissions, though not for National Merit.
Checking for clarity…she is in TENTH grade?
If so…the PSAT doesn’t really count for anything. It’s the PSAT in 11th grade that is used to determine NMS qualifying status.
But even that…isn’t used as much for college acceptances as the ACT and SAT. She is a 10th grader. She would be taking the SAT and ACT…more towards the end of 11th grade.
The SAT/ACT is just one data point that schools look at. Obsessing about it at this point is very premature - this first go-round is just a benchmark. I would definitely have her try out the ACT as well. D was a straight A #1 rank (unweighted) in her class, and did so-so on the PSAT. Tried the ACT, preferred it, and wound up preparing and taking just that. That gave her more time to keep up her GPA and EC’s and focus on her apps/essays. You do not want to sacrifice those other things in the pursuit of some really big SAT/ACT score.
My DS19 raised his score about 70 points from 10th to 11th grade and got a 1300. Good but not great. I’ve also felt he would be better suited to ACT and he’s prepping for the February test. His latest practice was a composite of 34, much better than the psat.
Agreed, just one bad test score will not break her.
You should download PSAT test questions and answers from collegeboard and look for any pattern on her scores.
I suggest test SAT at home to see any clear pattern develops too. My D got low score on one of practice test and on last 3-4 practice tests scores were much higher and stay consistent. Well, her real PSAT score was even higher.
Stay consistent and hope for the best.
Are her previous test percentile results national or local? What were you and she expecting?
With the huge numbers of kids I see who do better on the ACT percentile wise than the SAT, where are the kids who do worse. There have to be kids who do worse, or the math doesn’t work.
My d did worse on the ACT. Or I guess more accurately, it showcased the 15 point difference between her math and reading scores on the ACT, which were more obscured by the SAT. If OP takes a practice ACT, she will know which test better suits her to focus on.
Why is the OP worried about a TENTH grade PSAT score?