This is one of the MOST
Not sure what happened to the original post, but here’s a link to the article referenced!
I hit “enter” before completing the new thread posting.
Interesting little article. The main topic of it - “rich kids know how important it is to prep for high test scores” - is of course true, especially if they aren’t SO rich that they’d like some merit help with college costs, and for even full-pay elite admissions too.
I thought this side point was interesting:
That hit home for me. My D’s future really took a turn with similar programs, summer academic work and extensive test prep are not the norm, even in our fairly affluent area. I think I learned about them for the first time here on CC, where I’d come for help with her older brother’s process. Thanks CC 
This is very true. Hits close to home, too. I think I was pretty oblivious of the admissions gap until I hit sophomore year and started looking for summer programs: and anything beyond a local camp was unaffordable. Some of the top programs I found cost around 10k when you were all said and done, if not more counting living expenses. It was crazy. I couldn’t enough opportunities that fit me and also offered scholarships, so I just worked (found an internship and literally moved to take it).
It worked out alright, I think committees actually looked upon my internship better than they would’ve if I had just did a summer program, so I’m happy with my decision. But it was definitely a shocker.
This quote from the NY times article says it all:
There is no intrinsic value in a student spending time prepping for a standardized, multiple choice exam – as opposed to many other, more productive things that could be done with that time. I understand the pressure on kids to do so – and I certainly understand the economic incentives — but I just don’t think it’s a good thing. Not good for the kids, not good for the colleges, not good for our society.
@calmom, I agree with you, and that’s why I didn’t hassle my son when he refused to prep for the SAT, but he’d also had the benefit of a very good private school education (and we received the FA to make that possible), but the system being what it is, with the exception of the truly gifted student, prep seems warranted, and maybe even vital for many students. Especially for those kids in middle-middle families whose parents are not going to get much in the way of need-based aid. I see families all the time struggling because their kids didn’t qualify for the big stats-based merit awards (like the ones at Alabama linked to at the end of that article). And while my son did very well on the SAT so we were able to benefit from that big merit package, if he had prepped just a tiny bit for the PSAT, he very possibly would have been a NMF rather than NMC. We could have really used the extra perks that come with that extra accolade!
So while I kind of hate the whole standardized test-industrial complex (apologies to Pres. Eisenhower), this is the reality of what most families are up against. And it is the game that must be played. 
“Not good for the kids, not good for the colleges, not good for our society.”
I mean this may be true (and I agree), but back in reality kids who didn’t have the chance to have the best preparatory education still need to drill SAT questions to score well, which is required for just about every big merit scholarship out there (thanks to grade inflation, I found a good GPA barely matters at all).
I HATED studying for the SAT, and honestly I didn’t do it nearly as much as I should’ve, but I got a 1400 CR+M/2100 composite (one sitting, old SAT) after scoring a 192 on the PSAT (old version). I think that was a pretty significant enough improvement to have justified the time, as it bumped me from no merit scholarships at many schools (at a 1920) to many options with a 2100/1400CR&M.
So, tldr, it sucked but it got me over 100k in institutional merit, soooooo SAT prep was probably the highest per-hour ROI I will ever have.
"So, tldr, it sucked but it got me over 100k in institutional merit, soooooo SAT prep was probably the highest per-hour ROI I will ever have. "
And that is why, despite how distasteful it can seem, HS parents and students MUST be informed that there MAY be BIG financial rewards to doing SAT prep- especially if it can push their kids over the NMF threshold # in their state.
CC parents and veteran posters- If we do NOT encourage students who DO want to go to college to prep for tests, ESPECIALLY the PSAT, then we are dong them harm. Lets not forget that this is the world they live in. They need this information sooner than later.
I’m still on CC 10 years after my DS graduated from HS and landed a full tuition scholarship, all because I learned of the importance of the PSAT from veteran CC posters . I’m trying to pay it forward.
So , who is with me?
Def although I think it needs to be stressed that PSAT isn’t the last opportunity to get good merit. My dad [who long story short has a number of problems] really disproportionately blew up about me not being near the cutoff in my state. I mean, high school was kind of a rough time, and I did what I could do. I ended up learning from the test and did a lot better on the SAT, which got me a lot of merit.
So while NM is a great program, it’s not the only path to merit.
My daughter’s top SAT score in addition to super high GPA etc. most likely gave the the best edge in her Vanderbilt RD acceptance.
Financial aid there was by far the best, coming in at half of the cost of UCLA (Regents, resident)
I tell her quite seriously that her 100 hours of prep … $2000/hour
That article sounded like click-bait - ‘learn the secrets of success’ Too bad that NMF got Dylan zero $ at Michigan. We live in an county close to Flint, and the poor kids at the local neighborhood center study for the ACT and SAT after school.
I mean Michigan is insanely competitive. High test scores usually won’t get you anything at schools that don’t need help attracting top students.
Michigan has started giving excellent aid to low income in staters so getting the scores to get in was hugely helpful to this kid. The HAIL Scholarsip "provides resources that remove some of the barriers proven to stop some students from applying to the university. For students who apply and are accepted, the HAIL provides four years of free tuition.
I agree ranking kids with 54 math question (eng/read too) set to purposefully trick you and base scholarships off of that GREAT LOL.
So, what is a kid to do then? Until the system changes better prep imo!!
My average kid (straight A’s but works hard for them not a brainiac) got a 1070, 1200, 1370 taking the SAT 3 times this school year it is all about the prep and how to answer the bs tricky questions.
So how do you account for kids that aren’t from super zips that receive top scores with no prep? And why are so many kids that are from super zips, that prep for years and invest thousands of dollars, still unable to break into the 99 percentile?
^ It’s not just about earning a 99-percentile NMSQT. You don’t need a 99-percentile score to get into a top tier college or to earn a full ride scholarship. Most full ride presidential scholarships – including Alabama’s worth $107,000 – require a 32 on the ACT. Alabama’s scholarship worth $71,000 requires a 30.
My takeaway from the piece is that it’s about far more than PSAT/SAT prep. The tone must have been hard to get right, but he nails it. It’ll become required reading at our next board meeting.
very Glad to hear that @Sidwellmom- that’s why I posted the article in the first place- to get the word out to parents that there ARE ways for smart students to reduce the cost of a college education.
these links to scholarship information by college, complied by CC parents, should also be added to the required reading list.
These lists has been compiled thanks to the efforts of many volunteer contributors at College Confidential:
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
"So how do you account for kids that aren’t from super zips that receive top scores with no prep? And why are so many kids that are from super zips, that prep for years and invest thousands of dollars, still unable to break into the 99 percentile? "
Uh, a students basic intelligence has a LOT to do with their ability to achieve hi tests scores.
Zipcode Demographics does not alter basic intellectual levels , which are greatly determined by genetics.
Yeah, there’s no substitute for a strong K-12 education. But prep is exaggerating the achievement gap that’s already present. It’s unfortunate the places where prep should be emphasized to help lower achieving students brush up on test format, grammar, math, and learn test tricks it is not. And the locales where prep is wholly unnecessary is where it’s most obsessive!
It’s not really about the cost of the prep. Merely knowing prep is a thing is over the head of low and middle income families. Understanding how much opportunity and money standardized tests represent isn’t on the radar of an average family. I also believe grade inflation is misleading a lot of average families.