<p>I'm putting this in the Parents Forum so I hope I can benefit from other parents experience. My son is a sophomore. He has a 4.25 GPA which will go up when an AP Chemistry research paper is graded. He has the first B's of his life this year. Two but they're in AP courses and they are 91's. Our county grades A's as 93 or higher. He took only one AP freshman year and he's taking 5 AP's this year. He's in the computer club, robotics club and an Eagle Scout. He wants to go to UVA or another top school. He'll need at least a 2000 on the SAT's. We're in VA. </p>
<p>He just came home with a 150 on his PSAT! He did not do any prep for it. I've used the search button here and can't find the answers I'm looking for. He had heard if he left an answer blank it could not hurt his score. He did not answer 38 questions! Is this true? He got 18 questions wrong. Would it not have been better to use the process of elimination to find an answer? Is it possible to gain 500 points in a year's time?</p>
<p>Maybe, especially if the issue was leaving answers blank when he had a good shot at getting them right. He may just need to get accustomed to the test format. Some time when he’s not too busy with real schoolwork have him take a practice test at home. After that you’ll know more. Good luck!</p>
<p>Big mistake to leave so many questions blank, if he could have narrowed the choices down at all. Yes, wrong answers count as a fractional negative, but you need correct answers to bring your score UP. </p>
<p>Many students in our area take SAT prep courses and believe they help tremendously. My kids, however, are more self-motivated and would have found it irritating to sit through a class (so I wasn’t going to pay hundreds of $ for it!), instead, if you go to college board dot org’s website, Select SAT from the menu across the top and then Select ‘practice’, you will see that they offer several options for improving your familiarity with the tests and types of questions. Some of these options are free (question a day emailed to you) and others have a cost. For about $70 you can sign up for their online course which includes a bunch of practice tests, descriptions/samples of types of problems, essay pointers as well as the option to practice essays and have them ‘scored’ by computer. This is the only prep my kids did and they both did quite well on the SATs. If your son goes this route, I’d encourage him to take some of the practice tests on paper especially as the test approaches as there is a difference in speed between clicking on computer and filling in the circle. (Can’t remember if we bought the book or if they were able to print out and the online tests for this?) You/he will be able to see scores from the practice tests and have a sense of where he needs to improve and what scores he is capable of.</p>
<p>It sounds like your son is a very good student who wasn’t familiar enough with the test. I suggest getting a test prep book or two, and taking a practice test or two. Have him mark the questions he has any uncertainty about, and words he doesn’t know. Then go through these, and any others he got wrong. It should be pretty evident what he needs to work on, and you can plan how to address it. If he’s in calculus, he probably needs to review of the math he’s left behind. If he’s missing questions due to vocab or trying to maximize his score, probably a good idea to make a long term plan for working through the vocab lists. My daughter worked in the Barrons PSAT book (summer before sophomore year) and the Barrons SAT book (summer before junior year), so it doesn’t have to cost much (I spent maybe $30 total). We both felt that a class would be a waste of time for her, because we felt it would be aimed too low and she’d just waste time hearing stuff she already knew. If he’s too busy to prep during the school year, he should be able to do it this summer, provided he is able to spend regular time on it.</p>
<p>PSATs dont’ mean anything except for National Merit consideration. But it could be indicative of how he’d do on the SAT.</p>
<p>I’d recommend either self study via some books or a prep course. There are defintely strategies for maximizing results.</p>
<p>That said, so far, as a sophomore, no harm, no foul. There are also test optional schools if it turns out that he’s just not a standardized test taker. There is also the ACT and some kids do better on that.</p>
<p>My guess is that after going over the scoring system, understanding when it’s advisable to guess, and doing a few practice exams, this kid’s score will come up substantially.</p>
<p>Yes, my thinking was he should not have left so many questions blank. Everyone in the family has always done well on SAT’s and went to good to great schools. The fact is he’s a MUCH better student than I ever was. Very self motivated. I know I always answered every question. I thought he would get National Merit scores. I guess he’ll be working on test prep books. He already signed up for the SAT question of the day. Sigh.</p>
<p>Your son should get on the College Board website and start doing the SAT Question of the Day. Get the Official Guide to the SAT put out by the College Board and the Kaplan PSAT prep book and work through them (the entire books) next summer. Getting familiar with the concepts tested, the way the questions are written, the tricks/traps and shortcuts-- especially in math and writing-- is the key to success.
Your son was misinformed about how the test is scored/guessing. Yes, there is a small penalty for wrong answers, but he can’t get any points for questions he doesn’t answer! Top students must aim to answer all questions correctly. If he is really serious about increasing his score by 50+ points, he needs to train for the test next summer like an athlete would train for the Olympics.
(I have been doing test prep since 2004.)</p>
<p>If you are still thinking your son may get national merit, he has a lot of work to do. You can find last year’s national merit cutoff scores here:
[FairTest</a> Press Release: National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Scores Vary Greatly State-By State | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/fairtest-press-release-national-merit-scholarship-2013]FairTest”>http://www.fairtest.org/fairtest-press-release-national-merit-scholarship-2013)
200 is not nearly high enough. In VA, the cutoff for the class of 2014 was 222 (it does fluctuate a little from year to year). If you look at the scoring charts, that means your son can only miss roughly 6 questions on the whole exam. So aside from the issue that he didn’t understand the scoring system, he got way too many questions that he did answer wrong.</p>
<p>Yes. I knew he needed about a 220 to be in the running. The school did nothing to prepare the students. He received the results in AP History class. Many of the students near him received scores below his. A girl he talked to, another good student, got 140. He heard a friend got a 220. That particular boy is awesome in every aspect so I’m glad. I just found another thread on CC that was some consolation. He’ll be studying the guides next summer.</p>
<p>Secondly, forget about AP and school performance. At least in terms of reference to the SAT. They are entirely different animals. The SAT and PSAT are all about critical thinking and not about the rote memorization that defines most HS busywork. </p>
<p>Thirdly, relax and develop a long term plan based on using official released tests. Stick to College Board material for tests. Use the prep books for the anti-dummy strategies in the very beginning, and then move on through dedicated practices. Stay away from the faddish books and stick to the classics.</p>
<p>Oh well, take your time and all will be well.</p>
<p>PS Well prepared students do not have to leave blanks and do not have to … guess. ;)</p>
<p>I know you don’t mean to do it, but stop comparing your son’s results/accomplishments with other family members. How other family members did on their grades, ECs, SAT should have no bearing on your son. It had taken me many years to learn this lesson and I still have to remind myself.</p>
<p>Your son sounds like a good student who is either unfamiliar with the PSAT, didn’t take it seriously in his sophomore year, or simply isn’t a good test taker. Have him study over the summer and see what happens next year.</p>
<p>Here is a link to scoring for the SAT. You need to accumulate points by answering questions correctly. There are different philosophies on how to eliminate answers and when to guess. Some of that comes with practice. </p>
<p>The schools typically don’t do any type of prep for the PSAT. You can have him sign up for a prep class or go to the college board website and he can sign up for the daily questions, get as SAT prep book and review.</p>
<p>“PS Well prepared students do not have to leave blanks and do not have to … guess” That’s an…interesting… statement, considering that the vast majority of NMF’s did not know the answer to every single question. This boy has a long way to go and I doubt he will be completely sure of every single question next year. That doesn’t mean he cannot get a very high score and become a NMF. Well-prepared students understand how the test is scored and when it is to their advantage to guess.</p>
<p>Have him start working on vocabulary now. It takes the longest to improve. Direct Hits are good. The Barron’s 3000 words are ok, but tedious. Have him jot downs unfamiliar words he comes across in his reading. When he does practice tests, have him look over the answers and be able to explain why his answer was wrong or right. That will help him see the patterns of the SAT.</p>
<p>He probably left too many blank. To some extent, learning how to take the SAT/PSAT is important. You may wish to get him a few sessions with a one on one SAT tutor before the PSAT next fall. The money may be worth spending if he has a shot at National Merit consideration, especially with his high grades. IMHO, that might be a better expenditure than a class. I would bet it is the test taking strategy and understanding what they are looking for that may make a difference.</p>
<p>My middle son went up substantially from the unprepared 10th grade PSAT to the 11th grade PSAT and the SAT.</p>
<p>I would suggest looking at the actual PSAT he took (if it’s released?) and a practice test or two. How many questions is he missing due to not knowing the words? Then you need to decide what the goal is. If he simply wants to get a 200 (but note that is only about average for UVa), then he may not need to spend long hours studying vocab. If he wants his best shot at NMF, or to maximize his SAT scores for scholarships, then he should start working on vocab. </p>
<p>When my daughter did this, she already had a very good vocabulary. She worked her way through the word list over the summer. I think that was the most time-consuming part of her prep. I asked her how many words she had learned from the list appeared on the PSAT, and she thought about 5. So she might have gotten 5 extra questions right due to all that study. But the thing is, she also felt that she would likely have been able to answer the questions even if she hadn’t known those words. If you know all but one of the words in a question, you can usually figure out enough to make a very good guess. So, it’s very possible that she really only benefited one or two questions from all that studying. Which in her case wouldn’t have mattered anyhow. Whether this is worth it to you, you need to decide. The way I look at it, the real benefit of studying the vocab is that it will help with college level reading. A few extra SAT points is just a side benefit. </p>
<p>If your son isn’t an avid reader and doesn’t have a great vocabulary, he’ll probably get a lot more out of studying the vocab. I am just inferring that he probably already has a very strong vocabulary from his load of 5 APs as a sophomore.</p>
<p>I would just focus on the SAT. Students can be offered plenty on scholarship money
Without being a NMF. The good news is he took it in 10th grade so you now have a base
To work from. I had my 9th grader take the PSAT this year for that very reason. He hasn’t
Got his scores back yet but we plan on using the score to see where he’s at and then we will
Have an idea how much prep he may need for the SAT. Your son has lots of time between now
And next fall to raise his score. A little work each week should increase his score a lot.</p>
<p>Also while I’m not sure if this will help but our school has the kids
Go to a website. Number2.com and they have to learn 25 new words each
Week. Its a free SAT prep site that keeps track of the words you learn.</p>