<p>My S attends a "progressive" school that proudly states they don't, ever, "teach to a test." Most of the time, I am happy about this. Approaching the SATs however, calls for a different method. S just successfully self-studied for the SAT II Biology test (he thought it was "easy", we'll see....) so I know he can self-study. My question is...since he is going to start studying late summer and continue, in a very low-key way, through Sophmore year, and since it seems that there is general agreement that the best way to study is to take as many real tests as possible...should he start with the College Board PSAT prep information, do all the PSAT tests he can find and not deal with the SAT tests until the summer after Sophmore year? Any ideas on an approach for him would be most appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>being a sophmore myself, I suggest the following things:
First, to take a look at his PSAT score from this year and then to determine his ares of strength and weakness.
Then, to pick up an SAT prep book(preferably the college board one) and read how they expect questions to be answered. After he learns the strategies, he should practice as much as possible(the college board book has 8 tests), again preferably using tests from the college board. You can also sign him up for the college board online class, which will give him a further 6 practice examinations.</p>
<p>Alternatively(this is what I did), he may decide that he wants to save material from college board until later in his high school career. If that is the case, he should pick up other SAT books(For math help-Barron's, for Writing help-Princeton Review, for Reading-if your son finds something please tell me :) ). He should read these books and take the practice examinations in the end to see if he better mastered the needed skills.</p>
<p>Doing this, entering junior year, I am currently scoring 2150 (650 CR, 800 Math, 740 Writing)
Hopefully this helps.....</p>
<p>P.S. In case your son scores lower than 2000 on his tests, you may want to enroll him in an official SAT class(Kaplan's, PR, etc.) although this alternative may prove costly and there are no guarantees.</p>
<p>3x,
This is the perfect time to ask, as it gives you son time to plan his testing schedule, most people start way too late and get crunched for time. You may want to have your son just take the sophmore PSAT without prep to see where his strengths and weaknesses are. If you do want to start low level studying, I'd say you're on the right track to do real PSAT tests and make sure he knows why he got answers right and wrong. The problem is there aren't many good PSAT books published, that's why Xiggi recommends just using SAT guides and gear down the math and ignore the essay parts. One thing that he can do starting now that would be a great help is to start looking up any words he runs across in his reading that he doesn't know and make flash cards. It really helps to pick up vocabulary over time rather than trying to memorize words in a couple of months.</p>
<p>My D followed Xiggi's method (which it sounds like you already know about) and had great results. She took the sophmore PSAT cold and got just below 200. She had planned to study the summer before junior year but got hung up with other activities and really only studied the month before the October test. She used the CB blue book of tests, Testmaster's solutions to the tests and Maximum SAT (for strategies). She did the SAT question of the day (on PR??) and made flash cards of new vocabulary she picked up. She increased her PSAT by 30 points. Studied somemore over Christmas break (essays & harder math), took the Jan SAT and got the equivalent of 100 points higher than the PSAT.</p>
<p>I don't think you have to study separately for the PSAT and SAT (except for the essay and higher level of math). I definitely recommend taking a fall or winter SAT as that gives plenty of time for retesting in the spring if necessary. If you son is taking any AP classes, I highly recommend reserving the May sitting of the SAT for the SATII's that correspond with the AP tests. This way there is no additional studying for the two tests; my D didn't even like taking the June SATII as she had to review what she'd learned for the May AP. It's great that your son is taking his SATII's early and not leaving them all for the end of junior/senior year, having all of his scores early will help him to pick an appropriate list of schools to apply to. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks so much, crosscurrent and entomom, for your input. Crosscurrent, I think the idea of waiting on the College Board material until after Sophomore year is brilliant. I will hunt down the books you suggested and get him going on those and I'll let you know if I find any good reading material! He loves military history so I know I can get him to read that. My suggestion is that if you have any specific interests, just get books about that. Entomom, thanks for your support and advice. I have indeed read about Xiggi's method. I'll get the Testmasters book and Maximum SAT and have them ready to go when he is ready to really get rolling. His school is actually on their way to eliminating APs (they REALLY hate teaching to tests) but he will be on their toughest track. I thought he might do the World History SAT II next year since he loves history and had such a great experience self-studying for the Bio. I suggested he do the tests so early because Junior year is stressful enough without adding three SAT IIs to the mix. Thanks again for all your help.</p>
<p>i would suggest not to get any other books than the collegeboard offical SAT book and grammatix
maybe a vocab book like PR's Word Smart if he is bad in CR
the reason is because every book i have bought other than the aforementioned books has gone to waste and i feel like i wasted my parents money getting those books
if he gets bellow 200 on his PSAT sophmore year, dont worry
i got a 164 sophmore year and then pulled it up to a 202 junior year without any prep classes at all
if ur son has the motivation to get a high score he probably will end up with one
practice is the key in SAT type tests, so as long as he practices, he will eventually reach his goal score</p>
<p>Thanks hannaq - that sounds like good advice. I've seen plenty of arguments back and forth on this board about grammatix and am glad to hear you thought it was a good investment. He is weakest in CR so I like the idea of Word Smart too. Thanks again - I loving hearing the voices of experience on this board...</p>
<p>Personally I think the best advice for the verbal section is to read. It doesn't have to be fancy reading - my kid got an 800 on the CR - he reads sci-fi and fantasy - probably a book a week. That's the best way to build up your vocabulary and to learn to read faster. </p>
<p>Since the writing section may count for more by the time your son takes the test, I think I might practice the writing section - at least for my son - this was the hardest part, they don't do a lot of half hour essays on open topics at his school.</p>
<p>3x, Check this thread for a list of essay pointers I posted. Your son won't need it for awhile, but it seems to be a straight forward, common sense guide to writing the essay, my D found it very helpful.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=198241%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=198241</a></p>
<p>mathmom, I definitely agree about the importance of reading and the writing practice. Thanks. Also, thanks for the great link entomom. I printed out the information and will put it in a binder for him to look at when he gets started. This board is amazing!</p>