@VickiSoCal My D20 did better on her SAT practice tests than her ACT practice tests. The ACT science keeps bringing her score down.
@kaedarm My D20 isn’t much of a test taker. She’s a perfectionist and has some slight ADHD/dyslexia issues that are not enough to warrant accommodations but are enough to distract her enough from completely focusing on the questions. But she’s a good student because she has learned to work a little on history, then work a little on math, then work a little on Chinese, then come back and work a little more on history, then work a little on English, etc. In the end, she gets the job done on her classwork, but not so much on tests. Even looking at her school grades, her homework and project grades are higher than her test scores.
The OP is worried about a tenth grade PSAT score because that’s your first chance to try to read the tea leaves about college admissions. The problem is that they don’t tell you as much as you might like.
First, in our day, I believe they gave a grade level percentile for PSATs as well as an overall percentile the former is probably more useful in predicting what will happen in 11th grade.
Second, if a student is taking a normal level of math in 10th grade their math score may go up in 11th grade without any additional studying. (This was the case for my younger son.)
Third, for kids with scores in the 500s to 600s in 10th grade it is not unusual to get a jump in score just from being older and more mature. I don’t remember the exact breakdown of my younger son’s scores but translating them into the current system they went from about 1230 to 1370. So about 70 points per section though my recollection was he had most of the increase in math.
Since this is a student who normally tests well, if it were me, I’d have the kid do a few practice tests on the SAT between now and next fall. It may be that this was just an anomaly. Maybe a mis-bubbling, or tiredness, or a fear of strategic guessing.
Why is the OP worried about a TENTH grade PSAT score?<<<
I suspect it is the first real test that puts the student in the context of a bigger peer group. My kids sat in the top 1-2% of most tests and that stayed the same, as we know, that doesn’t really mean much in the PSAT even in 11th.
@Sybylla, her previous test scores were both state and national percentiles. I am not sure what I was expecting, but perhaps at least a higher score in math sicne she is fairly consistent with a percentile in high 90’s on standardized testing.
@thumper1, I am just wondering if this is the percentile she will likely stay at for SATs, and what others experiences have been. I suppose I expected that she would get higher based on past academic performance. Inam
Not really worried, so much as curious, and I want to keep expectations real over the next couple of years.
@kaedarm My younger daughters stats were very similar to your daughter’s (except for the 99%ile in math). She has a 4.0 UW GPA as a junior, but she’s a science-y kid who doesn’t like to read at all. So, like you, I’ve been a little worried about how she’ll perform on her college entrance exams. Our state has very competitive public universities, so I think a little forethought is warranted in some situations like ours.
Anyway, I’ve noticed a pretty significant upturn in my daughter’s academic abilities since last year. During 9/10 grades she spent several hours/night on homework. But his year she’s managing her workload so much better and her writing skills have improved significantly. I was pleasantly surprised when she got her 11th grade PSAT scores - she improved by 200 points with only one practice test the night before. It was also the first time she’d surpassed the 90% percentile mark on any standardized test. I’m hoping with some real preparation, she can improve her score even more when she takes the SAT for the first time this spring.
So, in my daughter’s case there has been a steady increase in abilities during her first three years of high school. I think mathmom is correct - age, experience, and maturity is probably the reason for that - along with a willingness to learn.
Re the ACT - my older daughter, who has always been very strong in reading and writing, bombed the science portion badly also. She would have done much better on it than the SAT if not for that section. She took it twice and did better on all sections the second time except for science (24 dropped to 23!!). Very surprising since the science portion is supposed to be all about reading skills not science knowledge. I’m betting that my science-y younger daughter would also bomb the ACT science section because she just can’t read quickly.
My older daughter also made steady improvement on the PSAT/SAT - she took the PSAT in 9th and 10th with percentiles starting in the 80’s and then ended up with percentiles in the mid 90’s on the SAT (she took it twice also).
Try not to worry - as others have suggested, just have your daughter do some prep and practice tests (and take the real SAT/ACT more than once if necessary) and I’m sure she’ll do fine - she sounds like a bright kid.