PSAT scores were emailed by the school today. D24 got a 1230. This is up from last year’s 1150.
Her reading was 710 and math 520. Her math foundation is weak, as she did poorly with virtual instruction, but I had hoped last year’s math tutoring would have helped more.
She completed Algebra 2 Honors last year and struggled all year. One inaffective tutor for 5 months and a much better one at the end of the year. The better tutor said D24’s biggest challenge is identifying the type of problem and starting it.
D24 is now in IB Math Applications and has a B, though she’s starting to struggle more with this unit.
I’m not sure the best path forward. Aggressive math tutoring for her current class? Double up on tutors and have one focus on foundation? Make her do a workload heavy prep class? Spend $$$$$ on custom prep? Or scrap it all and go test optional?
I want it to be her decision, but she doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. I want to phrase everything in an honest but supportive way. She wants to major in TBD humanities, probably film studies. Seems a shame to go TO and not be able to share a 700+ score.
My spouse’s and my position is basically: we don’t want her high school experience to be about college admissions, wow her math foundation must be really shaky, want her to reach her goals, re: college acceptances…
Not sure if this is a go big or go home situation.
Aside from the whole college admissions and standardized test scores issue, if she is capable of learning the math, she should. So I would go with a good tutor for math for her, for as long as she can benefit from it and you can afford it. Then have her try the SAT or ACT. After that first try, if she wants to prep for the test for a second time, that’s when test prep should come into play.
In a case like this, I bet that she has other achievements that show her verbal ability, so test optional may be your best choice.
Our son had a split like this in his SAT. The verbal part was 740 or so. Math was 590 (I know he didn’t crack 600)…for a 1330 total. This was his retake score. His first one was under 1200 total.
Our daughter had 1240 total…with her math being the higher score by a lot. She took the test twice and the two scores were within points of each other.
I wish we had encouraged her to take the ACT. I think it might have been a better test for her. Have you considered having your daughter take the ACT?
I’ll add…our kids both got accepted to the colleges of their choice. But this was in 2003 and 2006. So…their scores likely would not have gotten them to the colleges they attended (well…the music major would have been fine…).
Our kids did not have the option of going test optional.
I’ll add…my 1240 or so SAT kid was top 5% in her graduation class.
My two cents . . . it’s probably worth it to try both the ACT and the SAT next summer and see how she does. I’d especially be quite curious to see if the ACT is a better test for her, since it’s only 1/4 math, instead of 1/2 math. Once she’s tried both of the tests, there may be a clear difference in her scores on one versus the other, in which case she could get some more intensive prep for whichever test suits her strengths more. If she gives it a good try, and her scores aren’t up to the level that her grades are, then she can always go test optional.
Thank you. That approach makes sense. I often hear that taking SATs cold is a bad idea. Should I encourage Khan Academy first?
She really struggled with virtual learning and does not want virtual tutoring or prep. Unfortunately, it is hard to find available math tutors in my area - especially ones who know IB. She also needs a French tutor, and I cannot find an in person one, so already there will be one virtual session per week.
We agree she needs to learn the math. She needs to get through this year and next year, and it won’t get easier with a weak foundation.
There are many colleges which put little emphasis on test scores regardless of whether you submit them or not. The college will tell you whether the test scores are important on their common data set, part C7. So, at schools which say it is considered but not important, you can submit the score to show her strength without jeopardizing her chances of admission.
I think you are wise not to want her high school years to be about college admissions. We succeed in life based on what we do with our strengths, so it would be a mistake to have her spending her time remediating something which probably won’t be much if a factor in enabling her to succeed in achieving her life’s ambitions. It would probably be wiser to invest in experiences which will provide her with enrichment in her areas of interest and talent.
Thank you! It would be easier to walk away from test prep if she were also doing well in her math class. We’re almost worried about her score being so low. In elementary school, her standardized test scores matched pretty closely.
These scores (granted, PSAT) put her below 25th for math at some of her possible colleges, yet above 75th for reading. We’re not sure what to make of it…
I would say that at this point in the game, you want to focus on improving her application by showcasing her strengths. Yes, extended time definitely helps with math for those with slow processing speed, and yes, the test takes longer then, and is more tiring. Honestly, it sounds as if you’re better off planning to go test optional. Get her the tutoring that she needs to learn the material, and get ready to showcase her strengths in her application, rather than test prep to bring up a poor math score for a person who is strongly oriented towards a field that doesn’t require math.
She’s not alone with this profile . . . or with the opposite, i.e. high math and lower reading/writing. It’s more common than you might think. So, it would be a good idea to have at least some of her schools be ones which do holistic evaluation of students’ applications where she will be valued for her talents and strengths. Virtually all test optional schools do this. What she presents to colleges is a packet which helps them get to know who she is.
My oldest daughter was her class’s valedictorian. Her college essay was entitled, “The Dilemma of the Well Rounded Student”. Because she did well in everything, she had a hard time deciding what to focus on. The kid with 800 in Math and 500 in English knows where he’s headed. It sounds like your daughter too knows where she’s headed and what strengths she’ll build on. There are colleges which will see that and which will not be concerned about her Math score. (She might never have to take a math course in college.)
Personally, I would not worry about that PSAT score. I would focus more on her current classes, and making sure she gets the support she needs. In the meantime, I would make sure she gets the extra time accommodation for future standardized tests. Next spring or summer I would have her take both the ACT and SAT. If the scores look good, submit them. If not, don’t submit, and don’t give it a 2nd thought. I don’t think you need to go back at this time and try to strengthen her math base. Her math base may be good enough, it may just be that on standardized tests she is not doing great because with her slow processing it is taking her too long to recognize what type of question they are asking.
When there is such a large spread, I would suggest focusing on just her math for now. I honestly don’t believe the reading section goes up much even with practice.
I would instead suggest that she take as many sample test as possible (Khan or books), focusing specifically on the 2 math sections. Many believe that once a student has taken at least 10 practice tests, you can definitely see their scores improving.
Once you see progress with her math score, then I would suggest adding in writing section which can improve with practice. If you are serious about improving her score, I would suggest having her take sample tests every 2 weeks; then almost every week the month before her SAT date. Of course, she must take the time to understand the questions that she missed. Therefore, if she’s motivated, it’s not necessary to get a tutor or SAT prep.
There is an element of luck in SAT. The ones who scored near perfect math scores probably took so many practice tests that they have literally seen all different types of problems that can be used in the SAT.
rurca5 may help her determine which topics in algebra 2 (intermediate algebra) she needs to review (not just for test prep, but also in case she needs to take math in college for a general education requirement).
If it were my kid-- I’d stop worrying about test scores, and just focus on helping her conquer core math skills. She will need math for the rest of her life, regardless of her college major, and adults who think “I’m terrible at math” buy too much carpet and paint when they are decorating (they don’t trust their ability to multiply simple numbers) pay too much for car insurance, buy a three year warranty on a product which will be obsolete in 18 months, and end up paying a tax preparer $200 to do a simple return which would take an hour if she were confident in her math skills. And most critically- can’t evaluate the synopsis of the clinical trial their doctor wants them to read before signing on (or declining).
I was terrible at math growing up, and a tad math phobic. I had an intervention in grad school (a required course… it started at first grade and ended when we’d covered an entire semester of Calculus) and discovered I loved math. By the time my kids were in school, I came to realize that when you are good at math and love math you get great teachers and are surrounded by fun math (my kids all love math). When you are weak at math (as I was) you get lousy teachers who make every concept harder than it needs to be, and you are surrounded by other students who think math is a boring chore.
Is there a fun and energetic college kid near by? A math teacher your kid liked in grade school? A retired engineer in your neighborhood, or a stay at home parent looking to pick up some extra bucks who worked as an actuary or in computer science?
Someone who thinks math is fun will likely be able to cover some of the blank spots (and weak areas) in your D’s foundation.
Tackle the testing issue down the road- but see if you guys can come up with a creative way to help her now.
I took the compressed/accelerated math class pre-grad school because it was a condition of being accepted to the program I wanted to be in. I figured I’d grin and bear it, come out with a C (which was acceptable) and that would be the end of it.
Who knew that a gifted math teacher could make it fun and hilarious??? And I aced the final- which was not just a personal best (I had never gotten an A in math) but a very empowering way to move ahead in life.
That’s a big discrepancy. I’d probably get a math tutor first to be sure she is at the right level and is able to progress with her school math.
Fwiw, I do test prep for verbal and my tutoring partner does math. We have 100% noticed that many students who started high school in Covid appear to be behind. Test prep isn’t important in the grand scheme, but regular math skills are.
After she’s had some regular math tutoring, revisit the idea of test prep. There is no rush for your child. She has many opportunities to take the test in the summer or fall.
Her high score in the verbal sections doesn’t justify the time, money and stress involved with test prep, and test optional is here to stay for more and more schools. I personally would not submit a test score with that large a discrepancy unless it was required.
In the current environment of test optional is the test the issue or her math skills? Did she miss a great deal of algebra 1 and that is why she is struggling? does she need an evaluation to see what she is missing from algebra 1 and geometry and possibly address that so she can be more successful in her current math level and beyond or is this all moot because she will never take another math class?
The writing section still exists for the ACT. Why? Absolutely no idea. I tell all my students not to bother, unless they happen to be applying to one of the very few colleges that still require it: