If you use a VPN (virtual private network) on your computer or phone, it will change your IP address - so you can change it to say a VPN in Massachusetts to make it look like you’re logging in from the East Coast rather than the south. We were able to get her AP scores early that way and those were through college board, so I am assuming it would work for the PSAT as well.
LOL. Do you all open Christmas presents on Christmas Eve too? 
@eb23282 Forget Christmas Eve. As a kid I was the master of finding gifts hidden around the house. (yet I was still excited for Christmas morning.)
Another way I learned from a Parent of thread is the “Puffin Lite” app on the phone. I sure hope it works on Monday. I don’t know how to do the VPN thing.
@BingeWatcher can you please explain specifically how downloading the “Puffin Browser Lite” app will help with accessing PSAT scores? Sorry I’m being dense but I can’t make the connection.
@sherimba03 It helps if the release date for your state is not on Monday. Puffin used to be free and I used it a few years ago to get early AP Results. You can mask your location with the browser. If College Board can’t see your location, it defaults to the earliest release date (at least it used to). You have to pay for it now, and I didn’t care that much last year.
I tried to add the website but it was flagged - if you don’t know how to use a VPN and want to get scores on the first date available: google early psat scores and use that site on the 9th
@sherimba03 I went to app store on my iphone and downloaded “Puffin Browser Lite” which is free, the Puffin Browser Pro is 4.99. Once I had the app on my phone I went to College Board website to the place you put in username and password. I will put that info in Monday morning and hopefully get D’s scores. I have a Chromebook and have not figured out how to do the VPN on it.
Thanks @3kids2dogs I tried it and it had all of D’s previous tests!
@mm5678 A big congratulations to your D!!!
@homerdog we are Elon fans, my son is now there as a freshman. We had never heard of it until it kept popping up as alternates in our research on mid atlantic area schools. First visit…wow. Elon is just REALLY good at selling themselves and I honestly think they have the leadership and programs in place that it’s not just a sales job. Their presentations and materials were the best out of all schools we visited, by far. I don’t know how to put it into words, other than that their mission and purpose (Engaged Learning) is very clear, from sales presentations to reality. And some of their features fit my son…for example, strong advising in an Elon 101 class required for all first semester freshman. A college coffee every Tuesday morning where no classes are scheduled and it is a chance to mingle with staff. Strong mentoring. Strong experiential learning components. Fellows programs (like their Honors, I think) that have additional mentoring and scholarships.
Then as we started mentioning Elon, the few here (Ohio) that had heard of it also raved and we only heard “LOVE” reports from people who had gone there, or people who worked at colleges and were familiar with smaller schools.
Elon has been really focused in the past several years on raising their reputation, and it’s working…this year they just made it into the US News national category, out of the regional category. There is actually a book about it I guess, “Transforming a College”. Many describe Elon as up and coming.
All of that said, does it stack up academically to Wake or Davidson? They are not in the same league in terms of stats and admittance rates, I can say that. Elon is also not diverse. They are trying, but as a smallish school in rural NC the work is cut out for them (not sure of diversity at Davidson, imagine it may have the same struggle). At least one survey has ranked Elon #1 in NC for post grad employment (which surprised me, there is hefty competition with Wake/UNC/Duke/Davidson!)
We personally were looking for a mid sized school where DS could explore and thrive, be engaged and not fall through the cracks so to speak…so not necessarily looking for the highest academically ranked that he could squeeze into. Interestingly enough, since you’re from Chicago, his top two choices were Loyola Chicago and Elon. They are not similar, at all, but I could see how each made sense for my son. After going to both admitted student weekends, he knew Elon was the one for sure and is very happy there.
Lastly, Elon seems to really be targeting NE/NJ/NY and this year I believe NJ is their highest state of enrollment. I’m sure this is part of the strategic plan to raise their status. I think it could seem, especially if you are from those areas, as if Elon is completely filled with NE preppy rich kids, and yes, there are plenty, but there are also plenty of kids from around the country and world. My son (while white) is not rich or preppy, or into Vineyard Vines or sports, and had no problem finding his people and feels at home there.
S21 didn’t take the PSAT, but D23’s scores showed up today in the school’s grading portal (two days before we would have seen them otherwise as we are on the East Coast so scores for us come out on Monday). Future preparation needs are pretty clear since her verbal is 110 higher than her math. 
@nichols51, My D also had a huge discrepency (verbal 170 points higher) on the PSAT10. The school just released her PSAT composite …no breakdown yet…but I suspect a similar thing this year, While her score did come up, not as high as we were hoping, and I’m sure math will be the lagging score.
She’s sitting in the SAT at this moment! (Good luck to all the kids of parents on this thread doing the same!) . Getting the last PSAT score was a wake-up call and shook her up for a couple of days. I think she just thought the PSAT10 was a fluke. Glad she had a little time to get her confidence back up a bit before taking the test today… she was smiling and calm this morning after a good nights sleep (lights out at 9:30) and a big-ish breakfast.
She had the lowest score of all her high-academic friends (I know, I know, they shouldn’t reveal scores but they do. And for the most part, they are fellow-sympathizers, not competitors.) But at least, FINALLY she’s getting more serious and has been prepping 30-60 minutes on Khan most nights for the last month in preparation for today’s SAT. So I’m hoping to see at least a moderate jump in the SAT from the October PSAT. I think, armed with the analysis of her strengths and weaknesses on both the PSAT and the SAT she’ll have an accurate baseling for studying for the March test.
I think she’ll be motivated to keep up the prep through the winter bacause she hasn’t found any low-match/safely schools that she likes at all ! Definately likes the more selective schools we’ve visited. Part of the problem is, the likelies are either too small (fewer than 2000 students), too large, too close (local) or too far. Or have an ugly campus. (Can I say she’s picky ) Grades are fine; ECs are not top-of-the-line, but reasonably solid…it’s the math scores that are the red flag. She has made solid "A"s in all her honors math classes (in pre-calc/trig now) so I think it’s just a matter of review, review, review, and get used to the scramble of mixed-math questions thrown out in quick succession.
Anybody have opinions on what is the most helpful SAT math prep book ? D will continue to do Khan academy but I think it would probably be a good idea to alternate Khan and another type of prep to cover all the bases. She already has Erica Meltzer for ER. Also, has anyone used another online prep method? I doubt we could find a local SAT tutor in our small community. My husband is great with math, but doesn’t necessarily know anything about SAT testing strategy. Plus, he’s her dad ;0…you know how that goes…
@inthegarden S19 used PWN the Math for the SAT and went from a 710 to an 800. He did that whole book though! And, of course, anyone who gets an 800 got a little lucky on the day of the test.
I hear you about not finding likelies that are exciting to D. I’ve thrown out a few -
Santa Clara (honestly too far to go to CA but will most likely stay on the list plus we have the Catholic issue and we aren’t religious at all),
Villanova (same Jesuit issue)
Denison (I think she’d like it but I hear the food is bad and kids go there from our school that just aren’t great students which affects D’s attitude towards the school),
Wisconsin (too big)
Elon (haven’t brought this one up with her yet but I have a feeling when she sees that everyone from our school gets in even with no honors classes and a B average/low ACT scores, that she will balk)
SMU (too Greek even for her, the kids we know there all say they need cars and it’s hard to get the classes they need, freshman retention rate doesn’t look good)
St. Olaf (maybe too religious, no big school spirit aspect)
Safeties are just plain hard if the student doesn’t want big state school.
We had this problem with S19 as well. D21 really needs her ACT or SAT score to go up. That’s all there is to it.
@inthegarden D21 is taking the SAt for the 2nd time today. She was 130 points higher on Verbal than math so we’re hoping to bring math up for a good Her dad is actually proctoring the test today too. He teaches and tutors- but forget about tutoring her!!! Talk about oil and water!! Lol. D did some Khan, but it was tough with school and job. If math isn’t high enough, she’s already asked for a math tutor to take one last time, probably in March.
@TS0104 We’ve been looking at Elon lately…D didn’t want south, but a couple N.C. schools have caught her eye. She wants a D1 fball school right now (wasn’t even on the radar 6 months ago!). Do kids go to the games at Elon?
@homerdog SCU’s student body is only about half Catholic, if I recall, and generally more diverse. First thing they mention at info session is that demonstrated interest is important to them.
Villanova is not Jesuit; I think Benedictine, and generally more east-coast-Catholic-culture in vibe compared to SCU.
If you are looking at SMU and some mid-size Catholics (in spite of the religion angle), TCU might be a low match. I know some (non-religious) students who love it there. Other mid-size, somewhat less-selective options: U Denver (not religious), Miami OH (public), and a few more Jesuit: Gonzaga (could be a safety), LMU, USD (possible low matches).
@evergreen5 super helpful Thank you! TCU just having “Christian” in the name is an issue for her. And the two kids we know there are uber Christian. I know it’s just one data point though. I’ll look into it more. Not sure if the southern Greek thing is an issue there too.
I do think she’d like Santa Clara. We have a friend with a son there. D has signed up for their mailing list but I’m not sure how else to show interest for now. The rep didn’t come to our school.
Miami. Ugh. I think that’s a fit for her in many ways but it’s basically an extension of our high school for the average student. If she ends up at a “safer” school, it will need to be one that’s different from the crowd. And I should look at Gonzaga and USD. I’ve had people mention those to me too.
@homerdog how conservative would you say Miami Oh is? I’ve thought it might be interesting for D, but i’ve Read it leans more conservative. D is not a super political kid, but definitely leans liberal so I worried Miami might not fit.
@NJWrestlingmom Nah. I don’t think Miami is particularly conservative. Plus, it’s a pretty big school so there definitely all political views there. I would just say it’s suburban mostly-Midwestern kids and a decent percentage of them with money. I’ve heard campus is stunning. Kids we know there are happy and get jobs after graduation. Not a lot of downside for a safety. It’s just that, from here, too many kids go there.
And I know it will sound like D has an attitude about it but she would think “why did she bother” with having an all honors/AP schedule and stressing herself out for four years to go somewhere where it seems everyone gets in from our high school. Of course, she was placed into these types of classes and it’s where she belongs but, coming from a 16 year old, that’s just how she sees the situation. I can tell her over and over that there are students like her at every college (which of course is true) but it’s not going to stick. I have a better chance of convincing her to add a school like Wisconsin (where she knows some of her academic peers will go) or to go to a school outside the midwest where she won’t be with a big flock from her high school. I know this does not paint her in a positive light but just being honest. I think a lot of students have her same attitude but people don’t want to admit it.
@homerdog – what about Butler as a safety? My D18 has a friend there who really likes it. It’s very pre-professional like Elon.
Also, does she have any interest in women’s colleges? I’m thinking of Mt. Holyoke - not exactly safety but could be match.
Btw, I have a niece and nephew who went to Miami (OH) and they both loved it.
University of Miami in Florida might be a match? It’s got school spirit but not a big school. Coral Gables is amazing.