<p>I’m bumping because this is of particular interest to our situation. My daughter, currently a sophomore, will be taking the PSAT for the third time (this time counts for NMS). She scored 180 as a Frosh (no prep) & 211 as a Soph (minimal prep). We are thinking of a Princeton Review SAT prep course that runs from late August - early October (30 hours) and taking the SAT on October 6th (and of course the PSAT on October 17th). Would anyone advise that route, or taking the SAT after the PSAT (November 3rd)?</p>
<p>@rockfishdg - This approach certainly helped my DS. Since he prepared for SAT, the PSAT was a shoo-in and also scored good on SAT for his college list. I do not know much about PR sat prep course as my ds self-prepared by taking practice tests from blue book and other books in the market.</p>
<p>Junior here- I did this and it worked out fantastic! I studied pretty hard since I just wanted to take the SAT once and be done with it. Did it, and since the PSAT is just two weeks after, my prep totally paid off and I did well on the PSAT, which does count for national merit! </p>
<p>It’s not that much money, but a big boost to your resume since only the top 2% in the nation get it :)</p>
<p>Both my Ds did the Rockfish technique. The school encouraged kids in the honors classes to take the PSAT as sophomores. One D was a NMS; one was not. I can tell you that both my kids retook the SAT at the May sitting in junior year and did better on that SAT than the one they took in October. The D who did not make NMS did substantially better.</p>
<p>My point is that I’d definitely take the SAT one more time at the end of junior year.</p>
<p>Either Oct or Nov seems fine for the SAT. You won’t find out PSAT results in time for either, you’d have to wait for at least the Jan sitting to gain insight from the PSAT. But having taken the PSAT twice already, I don’t think she’ll be surprised by anything on the SAT (just longer, tougher math and the essay).</p>
<p>The only thing I’d change is saving money on the prep course and self-studying using the xiggi or silverturtle method (on the SAT prep forum). Of course I understand that some kids are OK with self-study and others do better with classes, but I’ve also known a lot of people that spend the money and find it wasn’t really worth it.</p>
<p>Interesting comments. My D took the PSAT this year as a sophomore and scored a 188. A good score, but we thought she could do better. She took the SAT in March and scored 2100. I’m hoping that means she might be able to reach NMF, but know she’d need a big improvement in PSAT scores. She hasn’t done any prep. We can’t afford a private tutor; any prep suggestions that aren’t extremely expensive?</p>
<p>pittpride, you should look into the college board’s blue book! 
it has about 10 practice tests. that’s basically how I studied- uber helpful and about $20!</p>
<p>pittpride, see my post above.</p>
<p>You need the CB Official SAT Study Guide (blue book), solutions to the questions (available on the CB website:</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to the Official SAT Study Guide Book Owner’s Area](<a href=“SAT Study Guide – SAT Suite | College Board”>SAT Study Guide – SAT Suite | College Board)</p>
<p>or Tutor Ted’s book). The blue book are the only practice tests that should be used as they are actual past SAT tests. You need other books for strategies: Maximum SAT, Grubbers, etc.</p>
<p>…I got grubbers and it definitely didn’t help me. I got a 2320 on my SAT (not perfect, but not that bad) and I’d say the thing that helped me the most was going over each and every problem that I missed after I did a practice section and identifying the patterns in the test questions. It has to be standardized, so college board has to make sure it’s the same type of test/same caliber each time!</p>
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<p>Yes, that’s why I emphasized need for the solutions; the BB only tells which answer is correct, which isn’t enough if you’ve missed it.</p>
<p>Good to have your input on Grubbers, I’m not pushing them, just giving examples of the types of books used for test strategies.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. And bluenotebook 2320, not bad, ummmm no I’d say that’s fantastic. We’ll see what D can do over summer and try fall SAT and PSAT. If she can get over 700 on each section we’ll call it quits. Currently she has 2100, but only 660 on CR.</p>
<p>The approach of prepping for PSAT/SAT at the same time is a great one, so absolutely go that route. It’s less time/effort/stress for your daughter than spreading it out, and she can do the bulk of the work over the summer.</p>
<p>What I don’t recommend is the Princeton Review course! They don’t use official College Board materials and for me, that’s the cardinal sin of test prep. Look for other options in your area or consider tutoring. One of my current students went through Princeton Review’s small group class three times and managed to raise his score all of 150 points. </p>
<p>Everyone else’s advice for self prep is very good, too. Many students do a wonderful job on their own, and in every circumstance practice is the key to improving your score. If you can tolerate a tiny bit of self promotion, I just signed up for a really cool Facebook tutoring app. The promotional rate is a MAD bargain (only $15/month), and it gives kids a way to ask a tutor a specific question they’re stuck on without having to spring for the cost of a full hour with me. It’s really perfect for self preppers. If you’re at all interested, PM (private message) me and I’ll send you the information. I don’t like “selling” here (and I know parents/students hate that too), but it’s just such a great idea I hope you’ll forgive me Best of luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>The only bad thing about doing the SAT the weekend prior to the PSAT is that you may do better on the SAT (and will get those scores sooner) than you do on the PSAT and then be disappointed. This happened to my daughter her junior year. If she had only duplicated her SAT score on the PSAT she would have been NMF. Didn’t happen. I don’t think it was because she was burned out from taking two tests in less than a week. I just think there is some luck involved. The good thing is that while it would be nice to score in the NMF range on the PSAT, having good SAT scores will still get you recognition and possibly merit scholarships even if you didn’t hit the numbers on the PSAT date.</p>
<p>entomom, the blue book has detailed answers to each question in each test online with purchase! :)</p>
<p>If you buy it, I’d really make sure you understand why a question is wrong. It’s like a mock final for a class- you know the actual test is going to be really similar, so it’s important to have those concepts down. </p>
<p>thanks pittpride! CR is definitely the hardest to improve, but it’s all about those patterns.</p>
<p>Apollo6, yeah, there definitely is- the PSAT is usually harder than the SAT, in my opinion (or at least the curve is way worse due to fewer questions). I know lots of people who dropped way down on the PSAT in comparison to their SAT score, but a lot of them said they might not have done how they did without studying prior. </p>
<p>My advice? It’s really important to build a schedule for studying by yourself and have dates by which you start exploring different sections (regardless of whether or not you choose to start tackling the entire test at one go, though it’s extremely important to be able to take it in a single sitting near the last 4-5 weeks).</p>
<p>Any advice for the midwest kids? D14 is planning on self-studying for September ACT. Will this help at all as prep for PSAT?</p>
<p>@MImama The ACT and PSAT are VERY different tests, so prepping for one only marginally helps with the other. The math concepts are mostly the same (but no trig on PSAT), but the way the questions are asked are very different. ACT English and some parts of the PSAT multiple choice writing, as well as the reading passages sections are similar, but again the way the questions are asked is different. Vocabulary isn’t much of an issue on the ACT, but important on SAT/PSAT. Hope that helps a bit!</p>
<p>Thanks. I will make sure she’s aware of the differences, and preps for both tests.</p>
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<p>Yes, I stated that in the post above yours:</p>
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<p>I’ve been around this block a couple of times ;).</p>