The Honors English teacher at D’s school makes her class very difficult with a tough grading policy. And D is a very good essay writer. D is doing relatively well, but the effort and time commitment for this one class dwarfs the other classes.
Many many moons ago when I was in HS it was standard to take the PSAT in 10th grade. At my D18 high school they advised her not to take it until she completed her 10th grade math. My D21 is a taking the same 10th grade math course in 9th grade as D18 took in 10th grade. What is the collective experience of folks here with regards to when to take the PSATs.
Hello @burghdad, for my D I want her to take the PSAT every year. We are AUTO merit chasers…so any exposure to SAT or PSAT can’t hurt.
Our school district has the kids take PSAT 8/9 in both 8th and 9th grade and PSAT in 10th. Personally I would not care it my kid has not reached the level of math yet…
@burghdad Both of our kids took ACTs and SATs in middle school through Northwestern’s gifted program. The scores do not count unless you take them in 10th grade or later. We had them take them just to get used to the format and to get used to sitting for such a long test. The PSAT in 10th grade won’t count for anything either. Only the one in 11th grade is used for NMF so I say take it. I just wouldn’t put any pressure on her and don’t have her study. It’s not about doing well, it’s about being familiar with the test.
Our school gives the kids the PSAT 8/9 in ninth, the PSAT in 10th and 11th. It’s just a way for the district to track how the kids are doing but it’s not really used for anything other than a benchmark. Of course, the 11th grade test help kids figure out their strengths and weaknesses for the SAT.
@homerdog and @BingeWatcher thanks so much for the advice at dinner tonight I already informed my D21 that she is taking psat in 9th grade
Some of S21s classmates have already started meeting with a college coach. Are any of you starting that early?
I have been considering it for him because I think it may be more of a challenge to find a good fit for him than for his brother. S21 will not be an Ivy contender and I am worried that he will fall through the cracks if he goes to a big state school. At the same time, he has same GC as S18 who has been wonderful and I feel like we have learned a lot going through this process. And we have the CC community to help!
Any thoughts on if there are situations where college coaches can help, or is it a waste of money?
My D18 had no idea what she wanted to do until the summer between sophomore and junior year. Once she figured that out, she hit the ground running. Finding colleges was straightforward after that. We didn’t feel the need for a college coach. My D21 doesn’t know what she wants to do yet, and that’s okay. I, too, learned a lot the first time around with D18.
I am not sure what a college coach might do that you yourself can’t (for free through CC or Google). Make sure he takes a good slate of college prep classes (whatever they are in your high school) and does his best on the standardized tests. That will keep a lot of doors open. Then, visit different campuses to see about size, etc.
That’s just my opinion. 
@homerdog - S21 has been going in to see the teacher at lunch for extra help which apparently hasn’t made a difference. The class is taught very similarlly to yours, class time focuses on labs with the rest at home on their own. H emailed the teacher for a meeting so one of us will go in next week with S21 and see how this can be salvaged 
I can’t believe the first semester is almost behind us. D21 has her finals in two weeks. The end of next week is called Review Days so it’s used to cover topics throughout the semester. She will only have 5 finals since there isn’t a formal final for Health or Art so that’s a plus. So far she’s still maintaining all A’s even in HBio & HGeometry. Let’s hope they stick.
@Momma2018 I did have a college counselor who I bounced ideas off of at this stage of the game for DS17. Haven’t thought of using her yet for DS21, because he doesn’t really have any idea what major or type of college he’ll want at this stage. (For DS17 I could have guessed the 2 majors he’d be deciding between back in 5th grade or earlier.)
The college counselor I used for DS17 charged by the hour, and it wasn’t more than a couple emails a year until 12th grade. I don’t like the big-ticket full-package arrangements.
The advice I got from her back then wasn’t about colleges (too early) or classes (the high school GC knew more about the offerings). It was more about summer options and mainly only because he already knew the direction he wanted to go. I did probably ask about testing, because he did some testing early.
I had talked with her earlier because he was looking for more challenge in some of the pre-high school years, and she also does counseling for that sort of thing.
@EGHopeful Wow, so soon! Our end of the semester isn’t until Jan. 19.
So, I have been busy creating spreadsheets and visiting colleges with S19 in mind. Been making S21 come along on the visits. Suddenly occurred to me that there might be a thread here for the 21er parents. And here you guys are!
At this point in time, S21 wants to do graphic design. But not at an art-only school. He’d like to have more options available. So, I have extended the spreadsheet and started checking out the whole art major thing. Glad I did. I knew nothing about high school kids having to do portfolio reviews. Now that I know, I can steer him in the right direction. And I’m looking to see what kind of summer programs might be available for him to “try it out” a bit more.
He is already taking art as his elective and intends to continue that moving forward. And he is following in S19’s and my footsteps in that he is in the higher English/history classes and regular math/science. Doing well in all. So we’ll see.
@InfiniteWaves I know a very accomplished young woman who wants to pursue graphic design and animation and enrolled this year at UT-Dallas. She got a fantastic merit scholarship and is very happy there.
Well, PSAT 8/9 scores are up. went down 20 points in math and up 10 points in verbal from 8th grade PSAT 8/9.
She is nothing if not consistent.
S21 has no school until Jan 2. They cancelled classes for the whole week because of smoke from the Thomas fire. His Physics 1 teacher sent a packet of work online. That is the only homework he knows of so far. The total will be 7 days missed, and they don’t have to make them up.
We are down in Pasadena to meet S17 and escape the smoke.
Prayers for you @Ynotgo and all that are effected.
@BingeWatcher PSAT 8/9 reported here too. Same as last year. Whatever. If there’s anything I’ve learned from S19, it’s that you have to study for these tests even if you are a good student. Well, at least in my family you do. D21 will be fine. We will do the same thing we did with S19. Figure out if ACT or SAT is best and then study all summer before junior year. Take a real crack at the test as a junior in the fall.
@Ynotgo, prayers for all affected!
What is a decent PSAT/NMSQT for a Freshman who is in Honors English and Common Core Algebra (and is no math wiz)?
We don’t know how to read her result. Is she being compared to Sophomores and Juniors?
My other daughter (2018) is a high achiever but didn’t take the PSAT until later.
@astro77, no I don’t consider it as compared to sophomores/ juniors, though there might be a scaled predictor that gives an idea where they might be in the future. We just look to compare her personal growth…
Thanks it’s hard for her to look at her scores, and not compare them to her Senior sister’s SAT scores!