@Happytimes2001 Ha ha yeah. Its a good school but thats in part because its in a very rich neighborhood (our county is the richest in the state). Our class is also over 20% Asian, and out of the 41 NMS Semifinalists, 31 were Asian. About half of the 41 Commended were Asian as well. It was common to take 16-18 AP classes among the competitive students, I took 16 AP classes personally. But honestly you have to get over the fact that you ain’t “the smart kid” and you gotta put in hella effort just to compare yourself to those people. It did push you to work hard though, not only in school but also extracurriculars.
College Application season had a lot of gossip and pressure to apply/ not apply to schools. It’s hard to think about going to a state flagship or even a T50 school because they’re considered safeties to most… so there are pluses and minuses.
How many were in shock when they discovered that having the stats that are in the top 25% of the admitted students does not automatically mean that the school is in any way a safety?
I’m also pretty sure that your state flagship is the college which the largest number of students from your school attend.
Reading about the atmosphere in your school come application season makes me really glad that my kid’s school (both faculty and parents) has a much more sane approach to the whole college application process than is typical for people in the community’s SES and education levels…
@tchit87 While , I totally respect the level of work that 16 AP classes involves, I’d never push my kids down that road. Nor would I have them spend excessive amounts of time on standardized tests.
We’re lucky our kids test very well without practice so it’s more a matter of timing and checking answers. We live in a state with a high index so getting NMF is based on getting only about three answers wrong. So you know that many kids are just as intelligent and get 5/6 wrong and miss the cut. I hope that doesn’t happen to my kids but if it does, that’s life.
In terms of applications, your school setting would make it difficult for most. Not only the top students whose expectations are probably higher than the results will be and for normal kids who don’t want to take 16 AP classes. I don’t think most schools would even offer that option in school.
Sadly, many of those kids are also going to be lacking in the EC’s dept as there is just no time to do it all. Hopefully, kids in your school chose the college that is right for them. There are some great state schools out there.
For me, I didn’t study or prepare either time, but I had already prepared for and taken the ACT which I think definitely helped. As a sophomore, I got a 1470 and as a Junior, it went up to a 1510. I improved in all areas a little but mostly in math; I think mostly because by Junior year I had finished Trig which was kinda helpful.
If you have high IQ, interest in academics and have decent test taking skills, you don’t have to spend too much time on standardized testing, if you aren’t then your chances of scoring high enough on PSAT to make NMSF are very low, no matter how much time you dedicate. That’s what I’ve observed in kids around us, most kids hit a block at commended, no matter how many hours they spend at prep centers and how many flash cards mommy make them do every day.
Average kids should focus on SAT or even better at ACT, which is easier to score at. This is where hard work can help you improve.
Our kid’s PSAT went up only 10 points from sophomore to junior year, but high enough for NMSF both times (1490 to 1500).
Interestingly, they made 5 or 6 total mistakes in 2018, but only 2 in 2019, which we attribute to a slight bit more maturity in being willing to go over the answers more carefully. All but one error both times were silly mistakes.
@bgbg4us, I completely agree. Was clueless with son #1. Poor son #3 is already sick of NMF conversations at the dinner table, and he’s only in middle school!
My son went up from a 203 to a 224! He did Testive for three months prior to PSAT and the ACT, which was 35. Very happy. I’m glad his 10th grade was “low” enough to make him realize he had to work some. He didn’t take for granted he would just make it organically.
My kids scores went up 120 points total. Was a 97/98% as a Sophomore and 99% as a Junior. SI went up roughly 15 points. Don’t remember last years exact number.
Last year, math and English were exactly the same. This year English was stronger. I think the test ( curve) had something to do with it.
My Junior’s score went up 90 points. 97/99 to 99/99. SI increased 16 points. He did SAT/ACT prep in the summer, finished those tests in Sept and ended with the PSAT. He worked with a tutor and nearly all of his improvement was in reading. For those parents with STEM kids that trip up on the reading, I strongly recommend a personal tutor. Those kids don’t have trouble with reading as a skill, they just need some pointers on how to take that particular section of the test.
Seems like every kid has some issue. My kid’s issue is timing. Always spends too much time somewhere then runs out of time. Is working on having time to review ( the questions where they are intentionally trying to trip you up).
My daughter’s score went up 30 points (1460 to 1490). No prep at all for first, minimal prep for second (she did a handful of practice tests beforehand in the weeks leading up to test),