<p>My youngest son just brought home his PSAT scores, which were significantly higher than he expected for various reasons. (Absolute lack of preparation being one of them) His scores were not quite high enough for national merit (96th percentile) but given his test taking history that is not something we were contemplating anyway. </p>
<p>What I'm curious about is how actually predictive junior year PSAT scores are for the real SAT. He is taking the ACT on Feb 9 and the SAT in April.</p>
<p>If his real SAT scores are in the same vicinity as his PSAT he would be pretty much in the top quartile of scores for the schools he is considering, which are mostly LACs (not of the AWS caliber though) where he could possibly play soccer.</p>
<p>He plans to take a few practice tests for both the ACT and the SAT but would love to not take a review course like a lot of his friends will be doing. His club soccer team will be travelling heavily in the coming months and he would love not to have the set time obligation.</p>
<p>From our experience, taking a few practice tests is all it takes to be well prepared for the "real thing", unless the child truly does not understand the material.</p>
<p>On his PSAT Score Report, there is a predictive section, I recall. The bottom line is that some kids go up, others go down. One big difference is that the SAT, with its three parts, is an endurance test and some kids poop out. Also, the writing section can be challenging, and the SAT math is harder.</p>
<p>I know there are threads on this if you want to search for more responses. In my son's case, it was almost an exact correlation, even across the 3 sections of the test. He didn't study for either test, although he spent about 90 minutes doing the practice exam in the pamphlet the night before he took the SAT. </p>
<p>One thing I've learned since is that the Writing test is fairly easy to prepare for because there's a good chance that a formulaic essay will get a good score. The essay is not an element of the PSAT but makes a significant difference in the SAT. You can research essay strategies, but I think the nutshell version is that you need a thesis paragraph, then supporting examples drawn from 1) history, 2) literature, and 3) one's life, and then a concluding paragraph. My personal theory is that quantity is highly prized, while beautiful and perfect writing cannot make up for brevity.</p>
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One big difference is that the SAT, with its three parts, is an endurance test and some kids poop out.
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<p>A key truth. Make sure your son gets good sleep the night before and eats a hearty breakfast. Usually the kids go from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and they are absolutely starving by the time noon rolls around.</p>
<p>My son's SAT scores overall were slightly lower, but only because of the writing section. No matter how much he practiced he still couldn't write a wonderful essay in 25 minutes and I doubt anyone could read his handwriting either. One year's PSAT were higher in math, one year lower.</p>
<p>BTW, it might be helpful for kids to know that the "supporting examples" do not in any way have to be true or factually correct, even if they are supposedly from "history". They just have to make sense in the context of the essay.</p>
<p>My son got exactly the same on the Writing and the CR from PSAT to SAT, but his Math went up considerably. He had made stupid mistakes on the PSAT, and because it's so short, each mistake cost him big time.</p>
<p>^very impressive.
I found the PSAT to be a good predicter of the SAT, but then again I took my junior year PSAT after I had taken the SAT sophomore year, so it may be cyclical. Anway,
PSAT M 63 CR 80 W 78 --> 143/221
SAT M 680 CR 750 (HA! 800, riiiight) W 800 --> 1430/2230
Basically the same. I would have your son get a prep book for math. Good luck!</p>
<p>All three of my kids put in time studying for the SAT. They all went up considerably. However, it was the math score that truly increased because they spent time figuring out how to complete the most difficult math problems and refused to give up.
As for the critical reading, it is difficult to increase a score that is developed over time from acquiring vocabulary and comprehension. </p>
<p>Just know that the fancy private prep schools begin kids with practice tests from their freshman year on.</p>
<p>My D refused to retake the SAT after sitting through it once. Fortunately her score was toward the high end of the PSAT "predicted range" so no harm done. The longish "new SAT" can be draining --- just something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>BTW, it might be helpful for kids to know that the "supporting examples" do not in any way have to be true or factually correct, even if they are supposedly from "history". They just have to make sense in the context of the essay.
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Very true. I made up fake countries in my essay, reasons for events that weren't true, and people in history that weren't real. And got a 12 on it, which came as a bit of a suprise because I had all my friends telling me I would get a 0 because I made things up in it.</p>
<p>I just checked and our son's PSAT and SAT math scores were exactly the same(75/750). On the verbal his SAT score was a bit higher(64/700). That seems like quite good correlation to me.</p>
<p>He too did not study for either test other than do the problems in the booklet ETS sent him after he signed up for the SAT test sr year. BTW, his jr yr SAT score was 50-100 points lower.</p>
<p>CR up 6(0), Math down 2(0), Writing up 2(0). Seems within reason. No real prep for SAT. (If I remember correctly, she started reading weekly news magazines.)</p>