<p>I'm new. My "D" will be a junior next year. Will she take the SAT in her junior or senior year? What is typical in high schools these days? If her high school characteristically administers the SAT in her senior year would it be a good idea to take it twice, once as a junior and once as a senior? I'm told scores typically improve the second time around. Does anyone have any experiance with the prep courses $$$$$$ offered.. if so ..are they worth it? Thanks!</p>
<p>How did your d do on her PSAT? If her scores were fairly decent, I would suggest she take the SAT in the spring and see how she does. If she doesn't do as well on it as hoped, it still gives her plenty of time to take it again before college applications are due. We didn't invest in any of the prep courses, but dd did buy one of those big books with practice exams. Here's a hint about those books, though. You have to actually open them for them to help. DD did fine on her SAT, but did better on the ACT. Who knows ... had she actually used the tip from above about opening the book, it may have helped. ;)</p>
<p>I think the most "typical" time is May of Junior year. Some take it earlier. I would not suggest waiting until Senior year. The Junior results give you an idea of where she fits in terms of various school's admitted class profiles - crucial information.</p>
<p>Although I didn't learn of it before DS took the SAT, I would have used the "xiggi method." You can find it here on the SAT threads.</p>
<p>Samazon,
Your daughter may need to take SAT Subject tests as well, and they CANNOT be taken on the same day as the SAT. So you need to factor that in to decisions about when and how many times to take the SAT. My son is a senior this year, and he scheduled his first SAT in march of his Jr. year, took 2 SAT subject tests in May, after the Ap tests for those subjects, and 2 more in June right after the finals for those subjects. He took the SAT again this past Oct. Another important thing to keep in mind is that the best time for taking the subject tests is when the material is f still fresh in her mind, the only exception is Math, which if she is taking a 4th year of math, should probably be taken in Oct, Nov, or Dec of her Senior year, depending on whether she is applying EA or ED to any colleges.</p>
<p>Welcome to CC, Samazon!</p>
<p>SATIs can be taken at any time. The spring (March) of junior year is a good time to take them b/c, if necessary, your D can do some prep in specific areas in time to take them again in the fall.</p>
<p>SATIIs in the sciences should be taken right after having taken that specific subject, e.g., D took biology her sophomore year, so she took the SATII in June after completing the course. Math SATIIs can be taken in either June or the fall; again, if taken in June, your D could retake them in the fall.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>A student is better off taking the SAT's at least once in Junior year, so that she can evaluate where she is at and what needs to be worked on, and then decide whether to take again or not. If she takes the SAT for the first time in October of her Senior year, she will be unable to prepare for a retake, especially if she wants to apply EA or ED.</p>
<p>As a Junior, your D may be also taking AP tests in May, and SAT subject tests in June, so she may want to consider taking the SAT in March or April.</p>
<p>I'm always of the opinion that a student who has completed AlgII Soph year should prep prior to Jr year and test that fall. Prepping then can also: 1) a high score on the psat which can translate into free money at a lot of very good schools (but not HYPSM); 2) taking the SAT in fall Jr year, and scoring high and the kid is done. But, the SAT can always be repeated in March Jr year, and fall of senior year, if necessary. Suggest saving May and June Jr year for Subject Tests.</p>
<p>Something to consider: This summer, have your D prep for the PSAT, to be given in October of her junior year, and also spend some time taking a couple of practice SATs. Then, she can take the PSAT and the SAT the same month, October. If she does well, great. If not, she can prep some more and do another SAT in the spring.</p>
<p>I wish I had thought of this earlier. My D took a short "PSAT Clinic" given by Princeton Review (four sessions). She was able to pull up her PSAT score 19 points, enough to score in the NMSF range. I bet if she had also taken the SAT, she would have scored pretty well and then she would be all finished!</p>
<p>Now, she's prepping for the SAT, having forgotten everything from the PSAT in the fall, as she puts it. Just something to consider.</p>
<p>As I understand it, the math on the SAT is slightly harder than on the PSAT, and of course there is an essay to write on the SAT.</p>
<p>If you go to collegeboard.com, they will email you a sample SAT question every day. This seems like a painless way to prepare.</p>
<p>I wish we'd had our daughter start taking it earlier. Seems like at our school students who started taking it their freshman & soph. years improved about 200-250 points by the time they were seniors. Now maybe they would have scored this anyway, but seemed like their scores were moderately higher (given their grades) than those who waited to spring of junior year to start taking it.</p>
<p>i agree with taking PSAT/SAT in early October! Not only does it give you more bang for your preparation buck and some framework from which to plan college options, but it also allows the kids to prep at a relatively 'calm' time. The months of August and September of Junior year are less hectic than spring at many homes as college tours are often under way by spring!</p>
<p>Lots of juniors take it April 1. It might not be too late to register (but you will pay a late fee). Pay close attention to registration dates - they well before the test dates.</p>
<p>I paid for a review class for son #1. He thought it stunk. (That seems to be a general concensus.) Son #2 - I'm just paying him to take the practice tests AND go over EVERY answer (that's the hard part). Use the Blue book from College Board.</p>
<p>"I paid for a review class for son #1. He thought it stunk. (That seems to be a general consensus.)"</p>
<p>Hmmm. This comment is disturbing considering what a PSAT/SAT prep course costs. This Prep people sure do talk a good game with scores rising 100 or so points as a result. Any other opinions on $$$ these courses.</p>
<p>samazon:
Try to read some of xiggi's posts on the forum about the SAT. My reading of them is that a lot depends on the teacher of the prep course. Some are good, some are bad - regardless of what it costs. Apparently (and, again this is my reading of it) maximum progress will be made by simply taking the tests and going over the answers, trying to understand the various strategies behind the answers. So I guess one important question of the prep courses is, how many actual practice exams will they be doing?</p>
<p>I also understand that the best review book is the one from Collegeboard, since they're the ones that write the exams.</p>