<p>My son has the large block answer sheet as an SAT accommodation. He recently took the PSAT and was given the sheet, but said the pages that they spoke about in the instructions did not match what he had. For example, they would say "turn to page 2 and blah blah blah" and he did not have the same things on page 2. He is wondering whether there was some mistake in the papers he was given, or if the large block answer sheet is actually more harm than good because the test-taker has to adjust for discrepancies in pagination and figure it out in real time. Does anybody know anything more about this?</p>
<p>Fieldsports asks a very fair question and is looking for help. Fieldsports, my suggestion is to actually call the Collegeboard and ask to talk to one of the specialists who is knowledgeable about the specific accommodation that your son is getting. I’ve called in the past with questions and they have been very helpful and understanding.</p>
<p>You are probably right. I think there may have been a mistake in the administration – if the rest of the group has the regular answer sheets, and the administrator is reading instructions that were meant for them, that could be the problem. But these problems may be common. My son took the full-length SAT previously, through the Johns Hopkins Talent Search, at a different school, and on test day they had no idea he was supposed to be accommodated and did not accommodate. Despite having been registered for accommodations months in advance. We spoke with Princeton about that and Princeton has no idea why. Evidently, there is no real followup after these lapses. And I should hope a kid would listen to the instructions and follow along, no matter how bright the kid is, and be justifiably concerned about whether discrepancies in pagination are a red flag for a set of mismatched materials that will not score accurately.</p>
<p>Wasn’t meant to be nasty.
The directions are consistent from test to test. They do not change.</p>
<p>As a result, it’s one of those things you should memorize when preparing for the sat/act so you don’t need to think about or take time to read when you’re actually going through the real exam. This also prevents something from jumping out at you.
I thought that this goes without saying. </p>
<p>With regards to the op’s situation, if you already understand what the directions are going to say going into the test, this has no potential to throw you off. Even if the pages numbers are a little bit different, the format is the same and what you’re supposed to do will be obvious.</p>