<p>ACT = 33 (Sophomore Year) (cold - no studying)
PSAT = 226 (Junior Year) (cold - no studying)</p>
<p>Scheduled for SAT in March. Should he 'study' or do any preparation?</p>
<p>I think he should do whatever works best for him, and it looks like he's doing very well with his current habits, so I'd say stick to it. He can take it again if the first time doesn't go as expected. Perhaps with studying though, he could do even better.</p>
<p>He should practice writing the SAT style essay. Icky prompts - 25 minutes to come up with something. Otherwise he'll probably do fine. Mathson had an 80 on PSAT writing section, but never broke 690 on the SAT.</p>
<p>Otherwise I agree. He should look at the PSAT report and see if there is any particular kind of question he got wrong and perhaps do a little targeted practicing, but he's likely to do quite well no matter what.</p>
<p>I wouldnt say studying, but he definetly should prep.</p>
<p>do at least one timed practice test to get a feel for what it will be like writing an essay and then doing 9 sections with only two 5-min breaks</p>
<p>"PSAT = 226 (Junior Year) (cold - no studying)"</p>
<p>Your son has been studying for the SAT since the day you signed him up for raw American education. It's an academic test- he's quite familiar with the academics I presume?</p>
<p>yes, it is an academic test. </p>
<p>when people say they didn't study for the SAT, they mean they never looked at a prep book in advance or worked on a practice test.</p>
<p>I think if he figures out his areas of weakness (if any) and works on those, he'll do even better than he already has.</p>
<p>There's definitely no reason for him to stress out over these tests, but a little review couldn't hurt either--especially on the essays.</p>
<p>If nothing else, have him practice the essay. The first time I took the SAT I went into the essay cold with no practice. I oh-so naively assumed that because I know I'm a good writer, that would come across just fine on the SAT. Nothing is farther from the truth. It's a really good idea to practice writing the essay in the SAT style and under the time limit. It will help eliminate some of the stress of writing the essay, because he will be used to the time constraint and type of prompt.</p>
<p>He would be foolish not too -- but many kids are foolish. Merit scholarships tend to go to the highest test takers. High testers can also receive likely letters (from those colleges that send them). </p>
<p>A few hours of prep could pay big $$ dividends, even a full ride.</p>
<p>Definitely prepare! For the exact reasons stated above.</p>
<p>Well, he looks like he will be National Merit in any state, and he already does have the supporting SAT/ACT.
Let me just say that my daughter's friend took the ACT a third time for fun, actually studied for it due to an emergency and her family had to leave town for about a week and she had time on her hands and so she looked at the ACT prep book, and she got the top score on the ACT. As a consequence, she is getting offers of 'free rides' all over the place.</p>
<p>Whatever stockmom's son would gain from the time saved by <em>not</em> putting even a few days into prep work will not be worth it at all if he doesn't score well enough (whatever that number is for him) to avoid taking the test again.</p>
<p>Once DD1 and DD2 had pulled in good PSAT scores I didn't worry about them studying for the SAT. Students have multiple chances at matching their PSAT scores while they only have one shot at National Merit. If your son has done that well on the ACT and SAT he will do well again. I wouldn't worry.</p>
<p>I know exactly what she means- and I am telling her that no one studies the test "cold" because "prepping for the SAT" is simply something Americans contrast with school because it seemingly compensates for our out-come based education system. </p>
<p>Perhaps the "No child-left behind" program wasn't much of a success after all.</p>
<p>Yes. I'm sure he'll do fine on the SAT but by taking a couple practice tests could get him a 2320 instead of a 2260.</p>
<p>If he's in an advanced math class, he might not be used to basic problem solving that will be on the test. ACT math is more advanced than SAT math - so if he's better at harder, more advanced problems - he might make silly mistakes on the SAT math. And the SAT math is basically just knowing the little tricks and formulas.</p>
<p>I would say just get him a collegeboard SAT prep book and ask him to go through it. I would suggest a full practice test 1 week prior to taking the actual test. Preferably on a SAturday morning at the time he will be taking the actual test. Doing it 2 saturdays before as well will be helpful.
It will help him get used to sitting for 4hrs to take a test as well.</p>
<p>But then again if he already knows what school he wants to go to (and isn't trying to go to an Ivy where he'll need all the help he can get) then he doesn't need to...</p>
<p>What is the score breakdown for 2260? If there is one particular section that he is not good at then concentrate on studying that one. Buy a Blue Book and have him do one simulated full test and see the score including the essay. 2400 or closed to it is very impressive in a college application.</p>