Is practicing SAT tests a good strategy for PSAT testing?
Yes, the PSAT is supposed to be a Junior version of the SAT. Same format, question types, etc., just not as difficult.
My D had taken the SAT in 7th and 8th grade so she did nothing to prep for PSAT in 10th and I didn’t hear of any surprises.
She’s currently doing joint prep for PSAT and November SAT Using SAT prep books
Thanks for the prompt response. This helps. My D is taking the PSAT in October.
The PSAT is slightly shorter than the SAT and a little less difficult. But it’s effectively just the same as the SAT.
I advise your child not to use up all the official practice tests prepping for the PSAT. Save most of them for the real thing, particularly test 10 and 9.
A good strategy (in normal times) is to link the PSAT and SAT tests together. My DS took the Nov SAT right after the PSAT. His SAT was a disappointing score so he retook in December. Then he was done. If his school didn’t have a mandatory ACT, his time spent on standardized tests would have been relatively short compared to other high scorers.
@Eeyore123 , I am not sure I agree with that. I am a test prep tutor. The PSAT is taken in October. Most students will benefit from the extra time to learn and prep, with the results of the PSAT in hand, before taking the test in March or May.
I always advocate for students taking the test once if possible. Why not be well prepared and do that, rather than being less prepared and possibly having to waste a lot of precious time and money doing it twice?
@yugefamily like @Eeyore123 's child, mine used SAT tests to prep for the PSAT in junior year as well as completing the PSAT practice test the college board provides. She took both tests simultaneously which was fine in her case because she had completed all of the math content that might appear on the SAT. Had that not been the case, I would have advised her to wait.
For both of my kids, we did what @lindagaf recommends - practice on practice tests under timed conditions until you reach your target score and then take the test for real.
@mamaedefamilia mentioned the math content on the SAT. Could someone please clarify what math is covered on the PSAT and what math is covered on the SAT? If they are not the same, how do they differ? Is pre-calc covered on them?
@Lindagaf I had an assumption that I should have stated. It is is the only valid reasons to prep for the PSAT is if you are in the NMSF or NHRP range. For the test takers in the NMSF rage, there is no reason that shouldn’t try the Nov/Dec and be done with the process.
I think if your child has been through the relevant math, it makes a ton of sense to prep for the SAT/PSAT and be done. My daughter took the ACT as well. She took Calc as a sophomore, so there wasn’t going to be any additional content in her junior year class. She took SAT, PSAT and ACT all in the fall of junior year once and was done. It was a huge relief to be done with testing as junior year had enough stress.
Our school didn’t do much (if any) prep for PSAT. Everyone just pretty much showed up and used it as an intro to the big event. My kid took SAT last spring and will have another go at it this fall- if the virus cooperates.
If the tests are “effectively the same”, why is preparing for and taking both in close proximity a bad idea? Why would X hours studying in February or March be better than the same X hours in August and September? Especially now, with summer activities shut down, many students have free time.
I know my D has a lot more time prepping right now than she will in the Spring with 1 DE and 4 AP courses worth of schoolwork.
I don’t recall my D getting any “results” from the PSAT other than a score and topic breakdown - not sure how having this in hand helps with the SAT.
I suppose if you’re still taking school classes Junior year that cover material on the SAT for the first time, it makes sense to wait.
@RichInPitt , because their brains are still maturing and learning.
In my experience, the majority of students do better on the tests when they have enough time to prepare. Yes, a kid can prepare beginning in, let’s say, August, sit the PSAT in October, and take the SAT in November. Does anyone do that? I’ve never met anyone yet, but it’s likely that the student who is that incentivized doesn’t need my help anyway.
Any kid who wants to prep now is welcome to. But there are many students who don’t do well prepping in the summer. Their minds are on “vacation” and I’ve had plenty of students tell me that they prefer the idea of prepping during the school year.
Maybe the PSAT wasn’t helpful to your daughter, but it is useful to me when I am viewing it in context of a student’s problem areas on the test. I am looking at the specific types of questions they get wrong, not just the number wrong in a section. If I can see that a kid got most questions in grammar and usage wrong, that’s useful information. This information is available to anyone who takes the test, but not many look at it or try to use it properly.
Again, this is in my experience. My experience doesn’t have to apply to every kid. Each of my kids took the test once. My D didn’t like the ACT and did only the SAT. My son took both. They were ready when they took the tests. They both got high scores.
I see so many students who come to me after they’ve already taken the test. I also see a lot of students who plan to take it twice from the get go. To each his own, but in my opinion, a student should just take it when they are prepared. For most kids, that is not in November, right after the PSAT.
@Lindagaf I’ll chime in with my S22. He’s got the PSAT Oct 14, SAT Nov 7. He has been doing SAT prep over the summer, so doing the SAT after the PSAT made sense for him. And if he doesn’t get as a good a score as he thinks he can, plenty of opportunities thereafter.
Coronavirus willing, that is.
Brand new to the forum, so still learning – but yes, my daughter did exactly that. She’s a strong student, and her guidance counselor suggested she prep for the tests in the summer before junior year. (She’s currently a junior.)
So, she took PSAT, SAT and ACT all within a couple months of each other in the fall. It was crazy to get seats in the summer in these Covid times, so her school offered school-day testing in the fall. Figured we should take advantage of it.
We knew from the pre-ACT and the PSAT-10 in sophomore year (which her school makes everyone take) that the ACT was her much stronger test.
And indeed, her PSAT this past fall was 1430, probably just missing the cutoff for National Merit Semifinalist (we’re in Georgia). She’ll likely get Commended Scholar, though.
Her SAT was 1420, but her ACT was 36. So she’s calling it done! It’s a huge relief to have that off her plate by fall of junior year.
(She’s in Calc BC this year, so she had sufficient math instruction by the end of sophomore year – clearly that makes a difference, too.)
So I think this strategy can work for some kids. To prep, she just took a bunch of timed practice tests in August and September.
Well, now you have. (1500 and 1580) I suspect the others above who did the same are part of a large group, including many of my D’s classmates.