<p>My kid took both of these through his hs this year as a 10th grader. If anyone has a son or daughter who has taken both, is it usual to have a large discrepancy between the scores? I used the conversion chart and it looks like my son scored 30-50 points higher on the ACT in each section (comparing only the grammer, math, and reading sections, since science is not on the SAT). My son had not prepped for either test (he is a 10th grader), so his scores are what they are walking in cold.</p>
<p>I took the PLAN in 10th grade and then the PSAT in 11th. The score I got for the PLAN indicated that I should have gotten over 200 points lower on my PSAT than I actually did. Part of that, I'm sure, was just due to having gone through another year of school, but it's still a fairly large change.</p>
<p>That is interesting. My son took both tests as a tenth grader. My son seemed to score at a minimum (I say that because there is a range on the conversion chart) of 120 points higher on the English, math, and reading sections on the PLAN. If you look at percentages of peers (other 10th graders) who scored better/worse than you did, my son was in a higher percentage on all sections on the PLAN than on the PSAT.</p>
<p>My son took PLAN in 10th grade and PSAT in 11th. PLAN said projected ACT score would be 27-31 (it was 30 and he was satisfied with that score so did not re-take). PSAT was 199 (missed Commended by 1 point!). He actually scored only 1860 on the actual SAT as his writing score was very low (he has a writing learning disorder and took the test w/o accommodations). The PSAT projected the SAT score to be 1990. He didn't bother to re-take the SAT because he was satisfied with the ACT score. Son told me that the SAT made his head hurt with switching from section to section and ACT was just much easier to follow and "stay with." So, to summarize, the PLAN was dead on with the projected score and was higher than what the PSAT projected score was, percentile-wise.</p>
<p>Hi NE- Mom. For a percentage of kids, there really is a difference in results when comparing ACT vs. SAT scores. My kid was one of them. For most kids, the difference is negligible.
She scored about 130 points higher on ACT than SAT- with alot less stress on the ACT.
again- they are 2 different type tests. and may play into the learning strengths of the individual kid. My kid never took the PLAN, as we were not an ACT savvy household when my kid was a HS soph.
but I could have saved her alot of aggravation if we concentrated on the ACT earlier in her HS career.</p>
<p>JT- I am just reading your post. The SAT made my kids head feel numb. She would come out of Kaplan practice tests- white as a ghost- could hardly speak- and would say her head felt numb. For some kids- this type of test has a physical affect.
The ACT did not have any of the physical effects that the SAT had.
It is not nerves- as she reacted like this after practice tests- and she had no ill feelings after the ACT- which she willingly took 3 times- as she was trying to raise her overall score. (which she did).</p>
<p>jtandmamom, thanks, this is helpful info. Did your son prep at all to get the projected ACT score, and it so, how did he prep for the tests? Did he prep for the SAT, ACT, both, or not prep at all? Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi Marny, it is good to hear from you! I am going to send a PM to you! Thanks for your input. I know that you are a huge ACT fan! How much prep work did your D put into the SAT and ACT?</p>
<p>For the SAT- she went the nine yards- Kaplan prep classes- homework etc.
For the ACT, she got the ACT prep book, did the 2 or three sample tests to familiarize herself with format- as it is different than the SAT. And that was about it - no hard core studying for the ACT.
again- d was a pretty average HS student B+ grades. No honors or AP but college prep courses including 5 yrs. language, chem and the usually classes. Not too much fluff in her schedule. I would have expected her to get 1000-1100 on SAT's (v and m). Her SAT was more like low 900's. Her ACT was around 1060 (23 ACT). The ACT grade seemed a better reflection of her abilities. And it didn't "make her head numb".</p>
<p>Since PSAT is designed for 11th grade and ACT PLAN is designed for 10th grade, one would guess most of 10th grade should have a high score in PLAN than PSAT. </p>
<p>What is the coversion factor? My DS took both as 10th grader. How could you tell one do better in one over the other? DS's PSAT is at 195ish. His ACT PLAN composite is at mid 20s, which is at 98% of country but only 86% at his HS. His ACT explore, for reference, was 25/25.</p>
<p>Dad II, but the PSAT tells you the % that your kid is in for 10th graders, as does the PLAN. You are being compared with your peers (other 10th graders). I guess there could be a problem if one has not had the math classes required for the particular tests, but for my son that would not be an issue to consider.</p>
<p>Hi NE-Mom - son did not prep for any of the tests. I didn't even know he was taking the PLAN or the PSAT until the days of the test (not a happy mom b/c I think he could have made Commended at least if he had done some prep work for PSAT). He figured with the PLAN showing the projected score that it did that he was fine without doing anything extra for the score on the actual ACT. For the SAT, he reviewed basic algebra b/c the PSAT showed a slight weakness in that area, but he refused to do a program and didn't want to take the time to work through the practice tests. Same thing for the actual ACT (of course he had just reviewed basic algebra for the SAT) - he didn't do any real prep work and was satisfied with the test result so didn't want to retake (I can't really blame him with finals, AP exams and end of school year activities all going on at the same time). </p>
<p>Son #2 just took the SAT this past weekend as practice (he's a Duke Scholar with the 7th grade Talent Identification Program) and he's realized that this will show him where he needs to work for the PSAT, PLAN, ACT and SAT. A quick aside - he actually came out and told me he needs to work on his vocabulary because he didn't know so many of the words on the test - miracle of miracles he's reading outside of class again!! I think taking the tests before they actually count can be a really good planning tool to show where the kids need to concentrate their efforts for prep for the ACT/SAT when they count most. </p>
<p>Marny1, I think son #2 will find the ACT the best choice also. We'll walk him through all of it after he's taken the PLAN to see. If it's a better fit for him, we'll concentrate on the ACT and probably skip the SAT altogether (unless by some miracle he makes NMSF on the PSAT). I just think the ACT tests the student's knowledge rather than their test-taking abilities. They are definitely 2 different types of tests!</p>
<p>The PLAN is taken by everyone (not nationally, but everyone in a school/district). The PSAT is taken only by potential college applicants. I wonder whether the groups against which the tests are normed matters. If you used the ACT/SAT conversion chart, that chart would apply to potential college applicants only (Except in Illinois, where everyone takes the ACT as juniors).</p>
<p>But I agree with others, the tests are different and individuals can score differently. Years ago my husband and I both took each, and one of us scored MUCH better on the ACT and the other of us scored MUCH better on the SAT.</p>
<p>Please be patient with me. I have not been able to get onto the parent forum using AOL for a few days. Also, I did respond to a couple of PMs, but since I have not heard back, I just think that you might not have gotten my PMs. I just want you to know that I did respond!</p>
<p>My questions: As treetopleaf might be suggesting, in some states the PLAN might be taken by every high school student. I have read that this is the case in 2 or 3 states. If so, I wonder if comparing scores across tests by percentiles is assuming a demographically similar test taking population, and would this be the case? I can tell you that my own son's percentiles were higher on the PLAN.</p>
<p>How can one convert the PLAN score to compare it with the SAT, or PSAT? Any way of doing so? The PLAN is out of 32 rather than 36 points (the ACT is out of 36). I am trying to predict for sure, which test is better for my child.</p>
<p>My son just took both (he's a 10th grader also). I would like to know the conversion as well. </p>
<p>Both my older sons took PSAT only. The school has changed from giving PSAT both 10th and 11th to now Plan in 10th and PSAT in 11th (but we signed him up for PSAT through the district to take test on a Saturday). </p>
<p>My youngest also did much better on the Plan (99th percentile vrs. 93rd). I'm thinking we may just concentrate on the ACT.</p>
<p>Marny, I hope the predictor is correct!! It said he should get a 29-34 - we'd be ok with that ;)</p>
<p>Both my D's PSAT & PLAN were pretty much dead-on indicators of her performance on the actual SAT & ACT. She did not prep for any of the tests, other than doing some problems in the booklets they sent. You can take the PSAT score & multiply by 10 to get a rough idea of the expected SAT. The PLAN has an expected score range. D got the top score in her expected range. You can find SAT/ACT conversion tables on the web, and you can use these expected scores to figure out which test might work better for your child. My D did much better on the ACT than the SAT (about 200-250 points better on the ACT after conversion).</p>
<p>kelsmom, thank you. I do know about the x10, and conversion charts. I think that my son is better off going with the ACT, but wish I could translate the PLAN into an ACT score the way you can do it for the PSAT.</p>
<p>Not to be politically incorrect, but isn't it the true that the SAT/ACT conversions are based on percentile rankings, and the ACT is primarily administered in the midwest where the education system is not half as strong as on the coasts?</p>
<p>You can figure out an expected ACT from the PLAN. There is an expected ACT score range listed on the PLAN. My D's was a 4 point range; that's probably standard. If you want to make sure the ACT score is at least as high as the upper number in that range, just try to get your kid to do some prep work.</p>
<p>keshira, I don't know if it's politically incorrect ...but it is factually incorrect. ;) The concordance is based on individual students who took both tests , and remember - the concordance most often cited is the Collegeboard's own.</p>
<p>Here's some research for you. Also from collegeboard, the SAT folks- </p>