<p>Can anyone recommend a prep course for the PSAT; either on-line or a book?</p>
<p>Back in the last century when I used to teach SAT, GRE, and GMAT prep courses, we used Princeton Review materials for strategy and official College Board materials for test examples.</p>
<p>A more important question to ask though, is why you want a PSAT prep course in the first place. If your child has consistently scored well on standardized tests in school (say top 5%), then there may be the possibility of ending up in the top 2% of your state which means some kind of NM recognition. In which case prep may be worthwhile. For everyone else, frankly, it is dumb to spend time prepping the PSAT. They are better off sleeping in on test day and going straight to ACT or SAT prep.</p>
<p>Happykid is a lousy tester. Always has been. On PSAT day we will have breakfast at her favorite diner with one or two lousy-testing pals while the rest of the 11th graders at their school are gnawing on their No. 2 pencils. When she knows where she wants to apply to college if (and only if) those institutions require an exam for admission we will consider test prep.</p>
<p>Interesting perspective, happymomof1. My D tests horribly, but I think that taking a test that will be totally meaningless for her (if she gets in the top 1%, you can call an ambulance for me) will help with her test anxiety for the SATs. In other words, I am hoping she will do better than expected due to decreased nervousness (that's her problem-anxiety) and be less nervous for the tests that actually count.</p>
<p>A few years ago, my D took a Princeton Review course that covered both PSAT and SAT prep. It didn't cost much more than the SAT prep course.</p>
<p>READ, READ, READ, and READ. That's better use of time and money than taking a prep course. </p>
<p>Only reason to prep for the PSAT is if you are angling for a National Merit award when you take the test as a junior. D used SAT prep material. Blue Book (from College Board) is a great collection of materials to work on.</p>
<p>TokenAdult is right (as usual) on this. When we look at our kids' peers who are very smart and get good grades but somehow don't test as high as expected we always notice they are not big readers.</p>
<p>I'm with Queen's Mom. S is not a good test-taker, and the more exposure he has to the format, the better off he'll be. He's not a reader, and that isn't going to change in the next few months, alas. We'll be doing practice tests at home beforehand, for both the PSAT and SAT (and ACT).</p>
<p>son was/ is a good reader but not so good at following directions when under pressure, and we were hoping for NMF $$, so after seeing his sophomore PSAT scores, which were just below the state cut off, he did a few hours of tutoring with Ivy West.[ caveat- this was in the "old" SAT days circa 2004, so it may not be applicable now, since analogies are now a thing of the past.]</p>
<p>Use xiggi's method, see my posts on this page for a summary:</p>
<p>For the PSAT, the math is easier and there's no essay, otherwise what you study is the exactly the same.</p>
<p>I think the PSAT can be useful for exactly the reason Queen's Mom says, and also because analyzing one's mistakes on the PSAT can help with SAT prep. And I suppose that preparing for the PSAT can be decent practice for preparing for the SAT (and constitutes early SAT prep in any event). But there is NO REASON IN THE WORLD to pay for a course to prepare for the PSAT.</p>
<p>I really disagree with prepping for the PSAT (unless, as noted above, the National Merit money is essential). It just starts the pressure that much sooner and elevates a true preliminary diagnostic test to an unwarranted level of importance. Take it cold, and worry about SAT.</p>
<p>Prepping for the PSAT IS prepping for the SAT, with the 2 exceptions I noted earlier. This doesn't have to be a long, drawn out process, my D prepped for the PSAT/SAT in the fall of Jr year, took the PSAT in Oct, the SAT in Jan and was done. That left the spring open for APs & SAT IIs, and another shot at the SAT if necessary.</p>
<p>p.s. take the PSAT w/o prep Sop year to determine what to concentrate on for studying later.</p>
<p>I think it is better to prep for SAT in winter of junior year for June test or summer before senior year for October test. There was absolutely no prepping for PSAT either the private day or boarding schools my kids attended. Simply no point. January SAT (junior) was taken without prep (in most cases).</p>
<p>Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree, must be my public school mentality coming through ;). </p>
<p>Having the testing finished at the end of Jr year leaves summer open for other activities and a "known" SAT score helps with the development of a realistic college list by the time application season starts.</p>
<p>I'm sure that the merit of ANY testing strategy depends largely on personal circumstances, thus the benefit of providing differing POVs.</p>
<p>With your indulgence, I'd like to add my two cents in this discussion. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Taking the PSAT cold in 11th grade is one of the worst advice one could receive. Thinking that the material covered in middle and high school will help most students doing well on the PSAT is bound to lead to many disappointments.</p></li>
<li><p>While it is CRUCIAL to prepare for the PSAT, it is absolutely not essential (nor recommended) to take a preparation class, especially one from an outfit such as Princeton Review or Kaplan. </p></li>
<li><p>The biggest dividends in any preparation for the SAT or the PSAT will come from starting as early as possible in high school. A good preparation in 9th or 10th will eliminate most problems with standardized tests in 11th grade --when time should be devoted on things more important than the SAT or the ACT. </p></li>
<li><p>Inasmuch as READ, READ, READ is a great advice, it won't do a whole lot of good for students who are already in high schools. Students who are voracious readers do well on the SAT, but that is because they spent MOST of their young life honing their critical reading skills. Trying to play catch up in 10th or 11th grade is simply not a wise investment in time and effort. Great readers might afford to spend little time preparing for the SAT, but regular students are better off dedicating themselves to a more direct preparation. </p></li>
<li><p>With all this said, what should someone really do? It's very, very simple and The College Board makes it very easy. Purchase the official Real SAT Tests book (the Blue Book) ... AND check The College Board online store. Contrary to their policies for the SAT, the non-profit organization DOES make many past tests available at a bargain price of 3.00 per test. Purchasing the last 4 years (8 tests) will cost $24.00. Add 15 dollars for the Blue Book (at Walmart) and for less than 40.00, you are all set. </p></li>
<li><p>During 9th grade, have the student take ONE section a week while working through the PSAT official tests. This represents less than 30 minutes a week and will help with HS grammar. In the beginning of 10th grade, repeat a few tests and take that year's PSAT for practice. After taking the PSAT in 10th grade, go through the Blue Book in the months before the official PSAT (11th grade) and take the SAT in October through January, reserving the remaining months for SAT Subject Tests. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Well, that is IT. :)</p>
<p>xiggi,
Thanks for the sage advice. I never knew there were PSAT tests available, very timely information for a 10th grader!</p>
<p>some schools offer or even require 10th graders to take the PSAT, just to help them get used to it and be ready for the "real" one .</p>
<p>Xiggi, you are the test prep guru but with all due respect I disagree that HS kids who are not readers won't benefit from time spent reading. If a HS sophomore can't work their way through an editorial in the WSJ or an article in the Economist without help, all the testing techniques and drills in the world aren't going to do much to meaningfully help this kid beyond raising a score 30 points or so.</p>
<p>Read, read read. The test prep companies play off parental anxieties; the parents play off each other; the kids pick up on the anxiety and decide "I'm not a good test taker". All of this feeds the need for more test prep. </p>
<p>Parents in my community who couldn't spare thirty minutes a week when the kid was young to get to the public library suddenly can find the time to drive the kid around to private test tutors and Kaplan courses and special Saturday "drill days" and what not, at a cost of thousands of bucks. Even not-so-enthusiastic readers can learn to wade through a well-written but dense article given the same amount of time that's being devoted to prep. Sit down with your kid; read the same article and then talk about it. After a month of this, your kids reading comprehension goes up. It's like magic and doesn't cost a nickel (well, if you have to go out an buy a copy of the Economist or WSJ or NYTimes or New Yorker I guess it costs more than a nickel but you get my point.)</p>
<p>xiggi,
Wanted to say thanks for all your advice in your "legendary" thread as well as this one. My twin 11th graders have started using your method and working their way through the Blue Book. When I just read your advice about the PSAT's I didn't even realize that past tests were available. I just ordered the most recent four tests. :) My kids take your advice much more seriously than mine, of course.</p>
<p>Blossom, I think you also gave great advice about ways in which we can help our kids improve their critical reading skills.</p>