<p>We have the Big Blue CB SAT book, which includes examples of essays that earned a 4, 5, 6 -- but evaluating these essays is such a subjective thing. One bit of advice I've given DS1 is to use supporting examples from things he has read/discussed in school, in the news, etc. -- not just personal experience.</p>
<p>DS1 tests very well; the PSAT prep he did was to reduce his errors on a couple of specific areas (idioms, non-technical CR samples). He did no prep in math. Note: He analyzes what he missed -- after a couple of sections, it was clear where his strengths were. This is an important part of the process! It worked -- he will qualify as NMSF.</p>
<p>DS1 is looking for a specific set of scores to qualify for an automatic merit scholarship at one of his top choices. If he hits the mark the first time, I'm sure he'll be done.</p>
<p>Digmedia is oh so correct about the value of high ACT/SAT scores...while an ACT 30 wouldn't even hit the "consideration" pile at most top tier schools, at many State institutions, very high $$ scholarship packages are available starting at around 30 ACT composite (single sitting, not combination of several tests) And there are at least 1/2 dozen big State U's who will offer full rides plus (full ride meaning tuition, room, board, books , fees, and stipends for extras like laptops & study abroad) to National Merit finalists...so it is important to max out those scores, even if you're not planning to go to top tier, Ivies, etc. As a Natl Merit finalists, my D just received a letter from Univ of Okla offering her $78,000 scholarship, plus $1500 for a computer...those extra points on the test scores can make a BIG difference.</p>
<p>First son I paid for him to take a useless SAT review class.</p>
<p>Second son I just paid HIM to take the practice tests in the big blue College Board book. I paid him $15 per test - and he had to GO OVER all his answers (right and wrong ones). He did quite a few of them (my kids are always broke) and he scored really well (but maybe he would have anyway - this is not scientific research).</p>
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Plan: Get D to take a timed test. If she gets about 1500 (V and M), we will let her go her way. If not, we will show her the desk and set the timer.
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<p>Laserbrother--I realize everyone has different parenting styles. But I have to say that this kind of coerced behavior can really backfire. She sounds like a really together, focused, intelligent young woman. If you keep pushing like that, you may get results counter to what you're aiming at. Her self-motivation sounds fine. Imposing more from the outside can be overkill. I'm hoping, though, that you were joking.</p>
<p>Weenie--I like your style! That plan (paying kid instead of paying for class) would definitely have worked on at least 2 of my kids. D, not so much (she did not see that her problem was over-analyzing...and wouldn't take the suggestion from us. She did take the information, and suggestions as to how to overcome the problem, from a paid professional.)</p>
<p>I made D take SAT for practice her sophomore year. She scored very well, but not a shigh as she thought she should have. She borrowed the study manual from the library, took a couple practice tests end of her junior year, brought her score up 150 points, to top 2%. So it helped. Her. She applied for a few scholarships and received them, as well. The SAT prep that she did on her own really helped. But she decided when and how, not I.</p>
<p>This is only the March SAT, in your daughter's junior year. This will be her baseline score.</p>
<p>After she takes the test, she may find that her scores on some sections are high enough so that they won't hamper her chances of admission to the colleges she wants to apply to, but that other scores are not. At that point, she should decide when she wants to take the test again, and study for only those sections where she needs to improve.</p>
<p>When my daughter took the SAT the first time, she got math and writing scores high enough to meet her own standards, but she was disappointed with her critical reading score. Therefore, she spent some time with a review book and vocabulary book, focusing only on the critical reading section. Her score went up by 110 points. She didn't waste any time on math or writing because she didn't need to.</p>
<p>Studying now because it helps if you can get the score you're seeking out of the way early if possible. Otherwise, you know what to aim at with respect to improvements. If you're applying to some of the highly competitive colleges and/or gunning for merit aid, then a score that would be highly satisfactory for 90+ percent of the applicant pool isn't going to cut it for you.</p>
<p>And even the highly competitive schools that say one shouldn't overweight scores undercut themselves with the data they put out: every data set I've ever seen showed chances of admission decreasing with test scores. There are no guarantees about <em>anything</em> in high-end admissions but for HYPSM et al I'd want to see a 1540 (2320) or better before I allocated my fretting to other parts of the application.</p>
<p>They're not studying to learn the material - it's a tad too late for that. They study to figure out the tricks of the SAT. If they do enough practice tests (the ones that are actually from College Board) they start to figure out how to answer the questions. Does that make sense?</p>
<p>DS1 had 9th and 10th grade PSATs within 1 point of each other. He wanted his junior year PSAT to be the big leap, so that's when he prepared. CR went up 12, W went up 5. He wants his SAT to be at least as good as his PSAT. He also wants to make sure that he remembers to not only write down the Student Produced Responses on math, but also to bubble in EVERY one of them (so as to avoid getting an 'omit')... :0</p>
<p>Weenie makes an excellent point. None of D's coaching was about the material. It was all about test-taking technique. A large part up front being that she didn't have to get the math answers the "right" way as long as she was able to arrive at the correct answer by elimination and plugging in where applicable. And for the scores she was shooting for, leaving no unanswered questions, which required good test time management. And "guessing" intelligently when she had to do so.</p>