<p>I prepped extensively for the PSAT without much parental prompting; my sole motivation was money. Unlike the SAT (which can be taken several times), the NMSQT is a one-shot deal junior year. Some of the colleges I was considering at the time offered scholarships of ~$20k/year for all 4 years for NMF. Even if I spent 100 hours preparing (the equivalent of about 40 practice tests, far more than I actually did), it would still come out to a “wage” of $80/hour or more. Sounded good to me ;)</p>
<p>I took the PSAT for practice sophomore year and got a 208. Over the next summer, took one practice test each week and studied my common mistakes (mostly in math). I started with Barron’s then moved to Kaplan when I ran out of tests.</p>
<p>Though I did end up comfortably above the NMSF cutoff for CA, there was another unanticipated benefit: I didn’t have to study for the SAT. Having prepped for the PSAT, I only took a couple practice tests before taking the SAT. Scored 2300+, which was a lovely surprise :)</p>
<p>I don’t understand why some students spend months prepping for the SAT but blow off the PSAT. The PSAT is cold hard cash if you get NMF! Why wouldn’t you prepare?</p>
<p>Warriordaughter, you are unusually mature, well informed and motivated. IRL (not on CC) most parents are clueless about what’s at stake with the PSAT, and therefore their kids are usually very unaware. My D took your approach, and prepped for both the PSAT and SAT at the same time. She took the PSAT in October and is signed up for the Dec. 7 SAT. She would’ve taken the SAT this Saturday if it didn’t conflict with a debate tournament.</p>
<p>D did a little prep for the soph PSAT, and a little more for the junior one (2 weeks ago). When I say “a little” I mean read we through and discussed tips/strategies in the SAT Blue Book, went over incorrect answers from soph PSAT, that sort of thing. She didn’t do a single practice test, to my knowledge. She needs to score about 20 points higher than her soph score to qualify for NMSF, assuming the cutoff is about the same next year. </p>
<p>Our HS offers the PSAT for a small fee to all 9-10-11 graders (9 is new this year), and it is during the school day so kids don’t “not show up”. There isn’t any organized prep though, that might have been nice.</p>
<p>D decided to wait for Jan SAT because she didn’t do much prep in summer and fall is too busy.</p>
<p>Son did no prep work but did take psat soph year along with everyone else at his school. Improved 27 points on psat junior year and is a current NMSF. Took an ACT prep class last spring and improved ACT 3 points on back to back Feb/April tests and then took SAT 2300+ in Jun. </p>
<p>Overall, if you attend a quality high school and you have a rigorous course load you should be fine. If not or if you are in a high score cutoff state then I would prep some.</p>
<p>Corinthian-- I agree that most people don’t understand the amount of money at stake, viewing the PSAT as just a practice SAT. At my high school, only a handful of juniors prepare for the PSAT while almost everyone does some form of SAT prep. Part of that might be that many are aiming for highly selective colleges that give no National Merit money.</p>
<p>(That is so funny about your daughter-- I also do debate Took the SAT on the only date that didn’t conflict with a tournament.)</p>
<p>warriordaughter, I loved your post! I will print it, laminate it and put it on the fridg for all my children to read! Can I have your permission to copy your post and send it on to a few friends? </p>
<p>I loved how you thought of your prep time as a wage!</p>
<p>warriordaughter, you left a zero off. If you receive a scholarship worth $80,000 for 100 hours’ work your wage is $800 per hour.</p>
<p>mathyone, I didn’t print the SAT shower curtain. They used to make one for sale, but I wasn’t able to find one and made one on my own. I really think the poster on the side of the fridge will be more helpful.</p>
<p>To me, it just sets a tone. It says, “This is important.” And if they walk by it for two years the kids will absorb some of the material without having to work at it.</p>
<p>EarlVanDorn: I put the Direct Hits books in the bathroom. A couple of minutes “multitasking” everyday made that study painless and Direct Hits makes the words memorable.</p>
<p>My 11th grader just took the PSAT. I also have a 7th grader. In her case, she would definitely not be ready for a practice test. It would probably just freak her out. She is on the same math track as her sister (taking Algebra in 7th grade) but she is not much of a reader. I feel like the best thing I can do for her right now is try to work on her vocabulary skills, since she is not picking up much by reading. Her Language Arts class at school does regular vocabulary exercises (Worldly Wise) but I want to supplement it. She desperately wants an iPhone, so I’m thinking of letting her have one on the condition that she downloads and uses a vocabulary app. I wish there was an app that would “lock” the phone until you correctly answer the SAT question of the day, lol.</p>
<p>I think you need to distinguish between the two different sorts of skills tested on the PSAT. The first is what they are actually trying to test–math/problem solving and reading/writing/vocab skills. It takes years to acquire these basic skills. Much of it is going to happen at school as they progress through the curriculum. If your child reads extensively outside of school, this is the most painless way to learn vocab. It also improves reading skills. These tests are pretty time limited. You need to be a strong, fast reader and that means a lot of reading over many years. I think that getting your child to read a lot and especially to read a variety of materials is the best preparation. Also, writing a lot is helpful. Look at what your child writes for school and take the opportunity to discuss anything that needs work. </p>
<p>In math, make sure your child really gets what is being taught at school. Look at the graded tests and make sure your child learns how to do the problems they got wrong. Take away the calculator, unless it is really needed for a problem–it’s just horrible for mental math skills and number sense. And participate in mathcounts or other math clubs/contests; they build skills in solving harder problems and also emphasize speed. </p>
<p>I’m really not convinced an SAT prep book is the best way to build any of the above skills.</p>
<p>I do think it is a good idea to go through an SAT vocab list, but if you already learned 80% of the vocab words through your reading, it’s much less daunting, and is something you can do in a summer or two, not 5 years (and in year 5 will you remember what you learned in year 1 if you don’t read a lot and see these words regularly?). But I also think that people overestimate the importance of the vocab lists in these tests. My daughter thought that 5 of the words she learned through studying an SAT vocab list appeared on the PSAT. So at most it got her 5 questions–but she felt she would have gotten most or all of those questions even if she hadn’t learned those 5 words. </p>
<p>The second thing being tested is how well you know the test format–types of questions, length of the sections etc. Once you have a good foundation in the basic skills, then you can worry about specific styles of questions and how you need to pace yourself. If you already learned all the math really well in school (which, as a top student trying for NMF, you really should have), you just need to review, practice solving the problems quickly and accurately, and figure out how to pace yourself. It takes years to learn the material they are testing, but I really don’t think it takes many years to learn the format and question types of this particular test.</p>
<p>KCTaxguy-- this is true. The student may also receive a NM-sponsored or corporate-sponsored scholarship if their institution does not offer NMF money. However, the amounts and hourly wage would be far less (for $2k and 100 hours of work, only $20/hour. Not bad but not eye-popping.)</p>
<p>The benefits of double-prepping for PSAT and SAT simultaneously, however, are undeniable. Kill two birds with one stone.</p>
<p>Mathyone, I second your recommendation for MathCounts. Both of my sons competed in middle school, where it was offered as an elective. Taking math twice daily gave them a great foundation. Our senior is NMSF and our freshman is very strong in math. Freshman took the PSAT last month and said he was surprised it wasn’t more difficult. (We’ll see if he still thinks that when he gets his score!) Corinthian and Warriordaughter - my sons are also doing speech/debate. So great for confidence and critical thinking.</p>
<p>I think U Chicago is $2k per year… $8k total.</p>
<p>Agree with outside reading being critical and is probably all that is necessary and I would not spend much time otherwise on this area. Math, I think the more practice questions you do and the more critical time reviewing the ones you missed is time well spent.</p>
<p>I agree that school math isn’t going to help much with SAT math. You have to get familiar with the types of questions included on the SAT and the way those questions are written. That includes being able to recognize the tricks, traps, and shortcuts, and not falling for the misleading/tempting wrong answers. Many of the questions are like brain teasers or puzzles rather than school math questions. There are a limited number of concepts covered, and a lot of them are pre-Algebra and basic Algebra, which a lot of higher math students might need to review. It doesn’t make sense prepping with math that isn’t on the test.
To learn SAT math, do SAT math.
My kids “earned” about $1000/hr for their prep. (Also, it was worth MY time “persuading” and “helping” them prep ;))
Kids who have done well in school and have tended to do well on tests are the ones who are in range for NM recognition. These skills have been built over years. But if you are looking for scholarships, it would be foolish not to prep with actual tests. Some smart kids will make it anyway, but a lot of kids who could have made it with prep will miss out by a few points because they didn’t take time to prep or thought it couldn’t help. Familiarity and practice with the types of questions on the test (and that goes for math, grammar, and reading) is what helps preppers over the cutoff.</p>
<p>My daughter did not prepare at all for the PSAT and I’m so disappointed. I didn’t know there were scholarship opportunities and she did quite well on the SAT (after preparing). In retrospect, I definitely think she might of made it. ANd she’s Hispanic so there’s that. The good news is that now I know for the next two! It does seem like the High Schools should make students (and parents) aware of the importance of a high PSAT score.</p>
<p>My daughter and I spent a concentrated 3 weeks prepping for the PSAT. She did 8 complete practice tests plus a few extra math sections. After each test or section, we reviewed any questions that she missed and made sure she understood what the correct answer was. It was hugely important to get the timing of the test down, plus she learned patterns of what types of errors/solutions were common on every test. She’s a great test taker who is incredible in verbal areas but only above average in math. Her hard work paid off - she is a NMSF. She would not have been without practice, judging from her score on the first practice test she took She is the only NMSF in our county - there were none in the two previous years. High schools around here just do not put any emphasis on the PSAT. Crazy when you think about the scholarship money at stake. </p>
<p>I encourage anyone who consistently scores in the 90s on standardized tests to really prepare for the PSAT.</p>