My daughter is in 10th grade, She took the ACT in 7th grade for Duke tip. 21 math, 20 science, 18 reading, 19 English. 20 composite. PSAT 8/9 in 8th grade, 600 reading writing, 530 math. 9th grade 600 reading writing, 570 math. PSAT 10, 640 reading writing and 590 math. She is taking algebra 2 honors now and precalc honors next year. With some decent prep how much do you think she can improve? Do students typically stay in the same percentile between psat and sat?
In my experience it depends on the student and the approach to preparing for the tests. D1 used a tutor and improved from 30 to 35. D2 used the same tutor/approach and only gained 30 points on the SAT. Both improved in terms of percentage relative to the PSAT.
I am an SAT tutor. With some smart prep she can definitely make significant improvements in her scores. I’ve had students with similar 10th grade scores improve by 200-300 points or so (combined). It depends on her desire and effort. Btw, I don’t pay much attention to “percentile” on the SAT – it’s complicated, misleading, and some argue inaccurate. It’s the scores that matter.
I can only comment on the ACT and loosely on the PSAT. With the ACT, good scores come with 1) practice and 2) age. Practice of course improves the score, find out the best way to practice for your daughter whether it be a test every other day (what I did) or learning material that is being missed because of a gap in knowledge (using a prep book and doing practices instead of mock-tests). Secondly addressing the PSAT, excuse me but it is real just crap when linking between the ACT score and PSAT score. My PSAT scores were 1250 Soph, 1370 Junior while ACT scores were 32 first try junior and 34 second try junior. As you can see a 1250 or even a 1370 =/ a 32 or 34 on the ACT. They are two entirely different tests. Notice the improvement over time between both PSAT and ACT, I stress the importance of understanding that scores will improve over a span of time. To conclude, I will leave some tips, 1) don’t rely on previous scores more than a year old they will really change with age 2) just off my own experience try taking the tests during the academic year, the mind has a school mode and a summer/break mode 3) study for the tests during the summer, start school for about a month while lightly studying, then take it. Your daughters scores look to be improving, have confidence and good luck.