<p>Per Xiggi's suggestion: I searched high, low, and inside out and couldn't find any past PSAT exams for sale on the college board site. Did anyone else? Can you throw me a hint as to where they would be?</p>
<p>starbright, use this link and look on the right column which says "Educator Bestsellers." You will see listings for a number of the past PSAT administration booklets.
CollegeBoard</a> Bestsellers</p>
<p>This thread is scary.</p>
<p>MOWC, I'd take a different perspective. Our approach with D1 was to use the Xiggi method in August before her junior year. She prepped for both the PSAT AND the October SAT at the same time. One month; one prep; two tests. She scored high enough on one of the SAT subsections that she never had to prep for that one again, and just fine-tuned for her junior spring.</p>
<p>Two benefits, both critical to a junior. She did well enough on the PSAT to qualify for NMS and highly selective summer programs (where PSAT's were a gating factor), and she eliminated the need to prep during the academic year - a huge benefit in a junior year filled with AP courses, SAT2 tests, etc.</p>
<p>For our D, this actually reduced her stress significantly relative to her peers (highly competitive boarding school).</p>
<p>Thanks for the link to the store. I found the old PSAT tests, but I was hoping to find the old SAT tests (other than the blue book) and old SAT subject tests for the Math II. Does anyone have a link?</p>
<p>What Xiggi has told is excellent advice.</p>
<p>I will add read NY times every day from early childhood. It is the best one can do for kids buying newspaper subscription. With just $40 books and NY times, one can get perfect score easily.</p>
<p>And to be honest, I started reading NY timesonly as an adult. English is not my mothetongue. So I am not good at it.</p>
<p>Momof3sons- wow, thanks a ton! That was easy with your link.</p>
<p>Momofwildchild- I totally agree.</p>
<p>I thought I'd buy some psats and ask my D about following Xiggis' advice (which I love). I told her about it and D just rolled her eyes. I could be disappointed or proud (depending upon how you look at it!) that she's just not the kind of kid that would study a few years in advance because her mom suggests it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
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.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Blosson, please do not think I disagree with you on this issue. I DO believe that reading is very valuable and a great tool to increase scores on standardized tests. In a perfect world, a student would balance several different approaches that complement one another. However, a sad reality is that students often expect immediate and tangible results in exchange of minimal efforts --often caused by a smorgasbord of conflicting pressures for precious time. </p>
<p>It is for this reason that I prefer to recommend working through small sections and spending a few minutes a week towards building small blocks of knowledge that are specific to the SAT. For the record, such efforts are highly individualized, and it would be a mistake to believe everyone needs to slave through dozens of practice tests. For some, all that is needed to reach his or her TRUE potential is one or two review sessions. </p>
<p>I hope that this is not viewed as a *scary *proposal. :)</p>
<p>OK, how do you get the answers to the old PSAT tests? There are only the booklets. No answers. And even if you get the answers, how do you calculate a score?</p>
<p>I am sure it is something completely obvious that I am missing. Please enlighten me.</p>
<p>I just think linking the words "prep" and "PSAT" elevates the status of that test more than it should be elevated. (again, there are exceptions for those who are counting on NMS money or, perhaps, entry into a summer program) Maybe I have a minority perspective, but neither of my kids earned NMS and one of them didn't even take PSAT junior year due to some reasons unique to his situation at the time. My experience with my kids (he did take it soph year) was that the SAT scores were quite a bit higher than PSAT anyway. I think the whole pressure of the standardized test scores is out of control. Neither of my kids prepped for SAT to any significant degree- D took a course at her boarding school that was so bad that the company was fired and WildChild basically refused to prep, despite my ranting and raving about how it was necessary. He DOES fully understand that he has to prep extensively for LSAT and is doing so. Both of my kids have had very successful college results- both in admissions and performance while attending.</p>
<p>My rising junior reads plenty and will probably do well on the verbal part of the SAT. The math is more open to question. He's good at math in theory, but forgets formulas and methods pretty quickly. If it's a multiple choice question and he has time he'll figure out the right answer, but he dies on the fill in questions. We'll see how he does, but I figure the PSAT should give him a look at either how much he wants to study for the SAT, or if he doesn't study, which colleges he can cross of the non-existent list. At anyrate there is no way I could get him to study for an SAT now, but he's willing to do a bit for the PSAT since he knows it's comeing up soon.</p>
<p>thanks also for the tip on the past PSAT tests. I am also looking for the answer to Queen's Mom's question about corresponding answers/scales for these tests. My D is doing some PSAT prep, but it is mostly as a precursor to SAT prep. She isn't a natural high scorer on standardized tests and so is going through a Kaplan PSAT book now. Similar to the SAT advice here, I would like to go to using a few of the "real" tests for more accuracy.</p>
<p>d did not test prep for psat but did very well on the test. she's an avid reader.......lots of fiction. </p>
<p>ds.....well.......that's another story. when he does read.......he prefers non-fiction. some test prep for him.........might be a good thing. it's likely online or cd rom type of prep is something he'd prefer.</p>
<p>both kids are natural high scorers on standardized tests but ds is showing some interest in doing well and sounds like he wants to do some prep.</p>
<p>xiggi - thanks for the tips.</p>
<p>I'm pretty much with MofWC on this one. My oldest "prepped" for the PSAT by using a CB prep book and spending about 1/2 hour taking practice questions to be familar with the test set-up ... and "prepped" for the SATs in virtually the same manner except this time the "prep" took longer (but fit between breakfast and lunch). It was totally up to her but if she had asked I totally agreed with her approach ... she got a handle on how the test runs and spent time others spent on prep studying, reading, or playing ... all more useful uses of time then prepping IMO.</p>
<p>PSAT is a very important test. My D. could not apply to one of the college programs of her interest because applicants were required to be at least National Semifinalist, and they had to be Finalists to get accepted. There is also Merit Scholarship for Finalist. My D. did not prepare for PSAT at all. Fortunately, she got accepted to similar program at another college that did not have a requirement of being Semifinalist. Having this experience, I advise taking PSAT more seriously. My D. would if she knew that PSAT score bares such an importance.</p>
<p>I have said this before so apologies to others who have heard me drone on about this. I have a very healthy respect for the PSAT and am always sad when I read a post or hear a parent say "I wish I had known how important it was...." when they get serious about college applications but it is past Oct. of their Junior year. In this day and age, with college applications as competitive as they are, having NMSF or NM commended on the record is certainly a good thing. Many colleges love to boast about how many NMF's they have, even if they don't award scholarship money to the students. The NMSF opens lots of doors. If nothing else, it certainly doesn't close any doors to have it. </p>
<p>While I am not sure I agree with the need to start studying and drilling in freshman or sophomore year, prepping for the jr yr PSAT is a VERY GOOD thing to do. There are different levels of "preparing". I was pretty clueless about the benefits of the NMSF award until after older s achieved it. When we saw that younger s's performance on the PSAT in 9th and 10th (offered to all students as "practice" in their HS) were putting him on track for good scores, we decided to pursue his prepping for it. It was suggested that he also to take the SAT the next month, thus combining prepping for the PSAT/SAT all at once. I was initially against his taking the SAT in Nov of his jr year, believing, as many do, that it'd be better to take it at the end of his jr year. I was wrong. He was glad to have sharpened his test-taking skills and to have gotten both tests out of the way. He figured if he didnt do well on the Nov SAT he could always retake. (In fact, he had signed up to take it again in May at the end of his jr year, but when the time rolled around, he just really didnt want to have to prep all over again, so he refunded me the $46 or so I spent on his registration and played frisbee the day of the spring SAT). Fortunately, he did well on both the PSAT and Nov. SAT, and never retook the SAT. He was done by Nov of his jr yr., and when his friends were stressing out at the end of jr year and again in fall of sr year studying and prepping for the SAT while also taking exams, APs, SAT IIs, doing college apps and what have you, he was putting his energies elsewhere (which in his case amounted to video games, a job, frisbee and college applications, LOL).</p>
<p>Younger s wasn't sure where he wanted to go to school. Many of the schools older s considered didn't offer merit $$. That said, both s's saw the benefits of being a NMF. Schools do pay attention to this. They do. Really.Younger s ended up choosing a school that offered him a very, very generous merit scholarship (plus $2k/yr additionally on top of it for being a NM Scholar). I have no doubt that being a NMSF helped his overall profile and weighed into his being offered the big scholarship he ultimately accepted. Having the NMSF status kept his options open. Why not go for it if it is within reach?</p>
<p>I am not suggesting that a student whose practice scores are way below what might make the NMSF in reach stress out and overdo it trying for something that is unreasonable or likely unreachable, but if they are close or have the potential, why not put in the extra effort?? Twenty-twenty hindsight is not fun. A pound of effort, IMO is much better than a ton of regret.</p>
<p>JYm, I don't think anyone disagrees with you that PSAT can be important to a kid either financially or as a door opener. The question is do you take it seriously by spending money on a review course and buying materials from the test prep industry folks (who of course, love to hype how important the test is) or do you spend that same time reading and actually engaging in the kind of activities that improve your score because YOU"RE ACTUALLY LEARNING SOMETHING besides test taking skills.</p>
<p>It amazes me the effort people will put into getting a higher number, but those same people seem flummoxed at the thought that reading challenging material or debating an issue with a smart, verbally adept person, or working through a difficult chart in a magazine article will improve your analytical and quantitative skills. </p>
<p>Any public libary will have copies of the FT or the Economist. If your kid can slog through an article on the trade imbalance with China (and understand the graphics) or why the dollar went down vs. the Euro last year-- you are halfway home to a higher math score on the PSAT. The real world is a lot more interesting than a test prep class.</p>
<p>blossom,
Your post reminds me of that age-old question that people ask college admissions counselors-- "Which is better-- an A in an Honors class or a B in an AP class?" to which they answer "An A in an AP class".</p>
<p>I don't see the choice to prep for standardized testing vs reading magazine articles as a mater of "either-or". They should do both. Just not to excess. Maybe understanding the economics of the foreign stock market will help figure out how to do a math problem, but not necessarily how to get the problems done quickly and accurately in a tight time frame. These are different skills, IMO. Content knowledge and problem-solving knowledge are both useful kinds of information and skills to have.</p>
<p>blossom-
As a follow up-- I apologize for post #37 being so long, but it looks like your response was only to my first paragraph. Do long-winded posts qualify as reading material for PSAT prep? :)</p>