<p>In our district, it’s because of senior college apps. The GCs already are under the gun to process lots of apps and letters by college deadlines in Dec and Jan, so they delay delivery of the PSAT scores until the new year, when all the college hoopla has died down for the GCs. I can see the thinking, but I’m not patient. 
Our school has a special mtg to go over how to read the test scores and what they mean.</p>
<p>Sorry folks, we were all looking at last year’s scores ;)</p>
<p>What happened - S went to ask his GC yesterday about both PLAN and PSAT scores.
She apparently told him she does not have neither yet. I have heard on this thread, I believe, that PLAN scores were back.
Anyway, later in the evening there was an e-mail from her saying that while she has not received any scores yet, there is this website that you can go to, that somehow links you with the collegeboard and you can find your score online. So S did and indeed found the scores - what we forgot to look at was the date Later in the evening, after already posting here, I was thinking it over and suddenly it has dawned on me - what are the chances of having exactly the same score? And exactly the same math subscore (the only one I remembered from last year). So I asked S to check again and indeed, those were 2009 scores.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, and I can go back to my posts to check it, last year we did get the scores before Christmas. They were also saying they do not have them, because GC have to meet with the kids and explain the significance of the score. But I happened to be in the guidance office inquiring about another matter, S asked about it and since I was there, I was able to sign something (that we understand the process or something like that) and he got hos scores. ’
Off the check the exact time of my last year’s posting :)</p>
<p>LOL, Kelowna. In that case, fingers crossed that the score IS higher!</p>
<p>Can’t find that post, I am not a strong searcher ;)</p>
<p>In PSAT years past, I remember my older D getting her scores back the “traditional” way in our school in her sophomore year, which was after winter break via her English class. Her junior year I was busting, because the chatter on CC was that scores were in and I knew that she would be in the NMSF ballpark. I ended up emailing the GC (who is a doll!) and asking if I could just have the code to access the scores online. D had gotten an email saying her scores were available online but she needed the access code. They gave it to us & we found her very happy score :)</p>
<p>D’13 just stumbled across the scores last year as she saw others with the sheets & went and asked. Guess I’ll tell her to visit the guidance office after one of her exams next week.</p>
<p>Kelowna: the PLAN was given at different times across the country which is why some people have already gotten them.</p>
<p>As for why schools don’t just give out the scores: I know it’s partly because of senior app crunch time, but if you read on CC there are some schools that don’t give them out till spring and they’re tightly guarded like government secrets. To me, that is wrong because if you have a kid who will likely be an NMSF, the college search can be dramatically different once you have that info.</p>
<p>Thanks, that makes a lot of sense and in 2 years I’ll be very happy GC is focusing on S1’s college applications and I’ll be more patient about waiting for S2’s 10th grade scores.
I guess I’ll have to re-learn the college search system for S3 & 4 since they are in kindergarden, things are so different now and much more intense then when DH and I did this in the Stone Age. I wonder what it will be like in another 10 years.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone will ever accused S’13 of working too hard. AP World History poster was due today (major project) and he started it last night AFTER musical rehearsal AND 5 mile run AND shower AND catching the end of The Sing-Off. Then he quit about 10pm claiming he was tired. He did get up at 6am to finish. It wasn’t perfect, but it was done!! He is the king of “good enough.”</p>
<p>My daughter got her PSAT score in the mail today. It was mailed from her high school. This is our first time down this road (she’s a sophomore- I guess all the kids on here are? But some of your kids had taken this before? Why?) and it was exciting to get them. I think she did pretty well. I am not sure how much to expect her scores to move from this time to next time.</p>
<p>vandygrad 87–some students take the PSAT as freshmen. At my kids’ school, they then take the PLAN as sophomores.</p>
<p>Mom24boys–I have just figured out that you are the mom to 4 boys. That is quite a relief, and I’m sure much more manageable than being a mom of 24 boys.</p>
<p>To all who are eager to receive the PLAN results–I didn’t find the PLAN results to be very helpful. It is on a scale of 32, not 36, so not directly comparable to the ACT. (The PLAN people say that PLAN estimates what ACT score a student would receive if he took the ACT as a sophomore. The PLAN materials say it is less helpful at higher score levels, which is true.) Missing one question on reading yields a score of 27, which doesn’t seem right. The only useful info that the PLAN provides, in my opinion, is a general idea of how your student compares to other 10th-graders on this test and an idea of what areas your student might need to focus on if he or she does poorly on a particular section.</p>
<p>Hi VandyGrad! Our HS currently encourages the certified gifted kids to take the PSATs as freshman and sophomores for practice before they “count” for National Merit in Junior year. This was a change from when my D’10 was there and they only suggested it as practice in sophomore year. I’m sure they’d like to see their NMSF numbers go up…</p>
<p>I’m not at home so I can’t tell you for sure, but I’m pretty sure that D’10’s scores jumped from 189 (or 192) sophomore year to 221 her junior year. Primarily due to a jump in math scores once she finished covering the material at the end of sophomore year.</p>
<p>Schokolade: oh, the anguish that 1 missed question on reading caused! D got a 36 on the English section but a 27 on the reading section. Really wound her clock ;)</p>
<p>Wow RobD, that was a huge jump in her scores. Math was definitely the area that was weakest for my daughter so hopefully we will see a similar jump in her score from this year to next.</p>
<p>I was snorting with laughter over the idea of mom24boys having 24 boys until I thought of Michelle Duggar… I guess what I used to think would be impossible might not be. :-0</p>
<p>Got PSAT scores in the mail today - all I’m gonna say is that there is plenty of time and room for improvement! We were actually looking at sat prep courses being offered in some interesting locales next summer (London, new York). But I am worried that it might be too early if he isn’t going to be taking the sat until the following spring (and no, he could study for the next ten years and still not be in NM range, so we culled care less about the official PSAT in junior year)</p>
<p>Schocolade - thanks for the info about the PLAN. I am not familiar with the test at all and S took it for the first time . But from what you are writing, the grading is really odd.
I was hoping to gain some info from this test as to the projected ACT score. We are contemplaiting for S to take ACT at the end of this academic year for reasons I have wrote about eariler.
S did take PSAT as a freshman, as his school does allow for it, albeit it is not advertised. But anyone that pays can take it. The school suggests all sophomores take it for practice, all junior take it for real. But you still have to pay.
PLAN was free and not really advertised. Must be something the district uses for their secret purpose
Last night, when we thought S’s score did not change from the previous year, was quite an eye opener for all in the house, including DS. We are so used to him scoring high and when there is no improvement we think of it as a failure. Who knows what his score will turn out to be - but last night was a GREAT teaching moment.</p>
<p>I was snorting with laughter over the idea of mom24boys having 24 boys until I thought of Michelle Duggar… I guess what I used to think would be impossible might not be. :-0 </p>
<p>It is impossible in this house, I could not imagine having any bit of sanity left. All four of my boys are 2E kind of kids. (Twice exceptional ie they are gifted to highly gifted and also have some kind of disability.) I am not Michelle Duggar - any resemblance in cyber space is due to my possibly poor attempt at a clever name.</p>
<p>S school just started letting Freshman take the PSATs this year if they pay. The school pays for sophmores and juniors. No one offers PLAN yet around here, but as the ACT is getting more and more popular on the East Coast I think that will change in the next 1-2 years.</p>
<p>Mom24boys - do you train them to clean?
If yes, can you share any secrets???
I have a boy and a girl, and absolutely can’t imagine having 4 boys and a husband!</p>
<p>Well, I confirmed our school received the PSAT scores but they have no estimated date of release to students or how they are distributing (by hand, by mail).</p>
<p>No reason for them to delay as our school is super small and I don’t think any conference with kids is required when distributing.</p>
<p>I have a 2E kid and these test schools are pivotal in deciding if we will have another (and costly) psych/ed done in order to request more time for SAT/ACT and try to get a 504 for college. As of now we are learning to not go that route, but if scores aren’t reflective of his ability of if he may be close for Natl Merit…</p>
<p>Longhaul, good luck. We also are at a relatively small school, and the kids take the PSAT in freshman and sophomore years, so by junior year, you really don’t need a mtg; if you don’t know what the scores mean, you just haven’t been paying attention! I argued it big time when ds1 was a junior and got nowhere. I think for juniors who are in NMSF range, it’s good to know before winter break. I know we spent that time talking about school visits, etc., and it would have been good to know whether we needed to add some full-ride schools to the mix based on scores. We didn’t, lol!</p>
<p>Got an e-mail reply – our PSAT scores will be mailed next week. No idea why they sit on them. Less than 50 kids took them.</p>
<p>And while I’m complaining, why doesn’t the score just auto map to the kids college board account? Why does a registered college board student have to input a manual number from the score report? </p>
<p>I guess I’m also anxious because the seniors I was helping with college research no longer need me. So, in search of students to get me CC fix.</p>
<p>Regarding the writing. We purchased Inspiration software for my children when they were in 3rd/5th grade. Both still use it today to manage their projects. It really helps my son who has a LD and has a hard time organizing. My D13 uses it even more becaue it enables her to do a bit at a time. She is pretty good at time manangement so she never really writes a paper in one night. </p>
<p>I would really recommend this software. Many school districts now have it. I know my children can use it through their school now. </p>
<p>I no longer review papers for D13. She is a strong writer and I am too critical- a recipe for disaster in our relationship. I also don’t review for my S15 but for different reasons. His papers are rough but there is no need for me to invest time to review if he won’t take suggestions and argues. </p>
<p>At some point kids need to stand on their own. I am starting to think that as a generation of parents we do a bit too much for our children. Could be the endless series of interviews I have been conducting on bright kids from top LAC’s who appear to need a diaper change not a job…sigh…</p>