Dear all,
My son is. Sophomore in high school and just got his PSAT score, which is at 1200.
I was wondering if this score is good enough to hope he can raise it to 1400 for the SAT next year. Also what would be the best strategies, I.e. what does he need to do to raise it to that level. To get this score he did not prepare at all but he would like to start preparing . Just not sure when and where to start.
He would like to get into Purdue Computers Science.
If something similar was already asked on the forum please post a link. Thanks a lot!
A lot depends on the reason for the difference between his score, and what you think it should be. Sometimes test-taking strategy is an issue, sometimes silly mistakes, sometimes weaknesses in certain areas. So in some cases it can be significantly improved, in other cases it cannot. If you believe that it is not representative of his true ability, I’d suggest looking into test prep classes or books. For example our HS ran an SAT prep class (6 Saturday mornings-- 3 with timed practice SATs and three with strategy and other informational sessions) that was pretty affordable – around $200 as I recall. You can also work with books and timed practices for much less $.
It’s hard to know. My kids didn’t study to improve their scores. Oldest had a very high score to begin with and it remained virtually unchanged. Younger son had a score that went up a lot just from knowing more. I know his first score was around 180 (out of 240) and his second score was good enough for National Merit Commended but not for National Merit (which in NY I think required a score over 215 at the time.)
1200 is an excellent score for the sophomore PSAT and mid range for Purdue. With maturity, having taken the test before and some Khan Academy prep he can easily go up 100-200 points. My daughters score went up 160 point between sophomore and junior year with little prep. Khan Academy is a great place to start,
Thank you very much or the advice. I think he’ll start at Kahn’s Academy in the summer, or maybe during the Spring Semester. School is very challenging not sure where he can fit SAT prep, but he has to.
I am a first generation immigrant and I absolutely believe scores (any scores, anything you do) can be improved by preparation. Even careless mistakes will be made less if one is well practiced, it’s going to become automatic.
I always thought about myself that maybe I’m not the smartest around, but I can outwork anyone, and I never give up and I got further in life than smarter classmates that had less mental toughness. So looking for best strategies for son to get to around 1400 and make sure he’s admitted to his school. Not sure if taking a paid SAT prep course is necessary, is Sylvan an option, how early does he need to start preparing, how many hours etc. Still researching.
I agree that prepping can help. Many students find that there is math material on the test they havent covered in school the first time they take it but that they have a year later.
Can you look at the PSAT and see what you missed? For students with limited time, that can really make studying more efficient.
Practice is the key to mastering the SAT. I’m the Mom of a freshman at Notre Dame and a high school junior. The key is having the kids take ownership of their studies without parents nagging or putting too much pressure on them. It’s a balancing act. I have a vey unmotivated daughter who is currently a junior. I was hoping her PSAT score would motivate her to study. Khan Academy is the perfect place to start this summer. He’s only a sophomore. No one wants to spend 2 years preparing for a test that you can still be taking the Fall of your senior year. If he really wants to go to Purdue, go to the Common Data set for Purdue for 2016-2017. It will show the stats for the incoming application pool from last year. If you are out of state you need to have stats on the higher end. He’s only a sophomore so you have lots of time.
Thanks so much for the advice . He is very motivated. I don’t need to nag him and he always listens to what advice I give. If anything, I need to calm him down and encourage him tell him he’s dong great etc etc .
He’s in a competitive high school , although public, and he never feels good enough because of the pressure and because he’s not the best, he’s just hangs on behind the many “geniuses”. He was unhappy with his score. When I told him but did you see it says it’s 92 percentile so it’s good. He replied angrily that then 92 percent of people are forking stupid because a lot of his classmates got 1300 or above. I highly doubt it that everyone got above 1300. Sure some did but not “a lot”. And you don’t even know if they reported the real scores to you dude. Did you do a scientific poll or something? That’s how it is him putting pressure and me trying to calm him down and show him he’s doing ok.
Great tip to looking at what exactly he missed . Also indeed he had said when he took the test that some questions were from math topics that weren’t yet covered in school at the time.
My kid had a 1240 last year (sophomore), did Khan Academy all summer, and this year scored 1220. So Khan Academy is not a panacea. Some people get great results with it, but the kid himself has to be motivated and you need to stay involved. Different things work with different kids.
The different approach we are taking for SAT/ACT prep is that I am sitting with him for full length practice tests, then we go over the answer key together and find his weak spots and drill on questions of those types. I don’t know if this will work, but it can’t hurt, right? I think the Khan was just too isolated and solitary for my social/gregarious kid, and while he did the problems he didn’t commit them to memory very well.
This is all my attempt to not have to shell out money for SAT classes or tutors. Hopefully approach #2 works.
Oh man, I was really hoping I didn’t need to sit with him, but I might need to do that. Thanks for the tip. I help him with Chemistry this year and I am ready to shoot myself, almost every freaking night I come from work and need to do chemistry. Probably watch how he does on the tests and if they don’t improve after a while, step in?
What kind of math has your son had? A lot of sophomores have not completed algebra 2 and trig at the time of the PSAT. Having that course completed by end of 10th grade means that the math portion of the junior year PSAT will likely rise.
Our local community college had a good prep class that was about $500. Friends were spending $2,000+ for private tutors and we just couldn’t do that. My son and our neighbor’s son (currently a Purdue freshman) carpooled for 8 Sundays leading up the test and both did pretty well.
I feel your pain with the homework help - my husband is a teacher and tutor and my son almost didn’t live to complete high school after some homework help sessions! LOL if it’s in the budget, they definitely respond better to non-parental tutors! The guidance office at your high school can probably help you locate some local.
My kid’s problem with the math was that he’s in advanced classes now and he had forgotten a lot of the more basic questions that the test covered. Khan was supposed to help with that. All summer long when he was home I would text him during the day to tell him to do his Khan. He would watch a video, do a couple math problems, then do his own thing for the rest of the day. I suspect he gamed it to make it look like he was paying more attention and doing more work than he actually was.
But, as I say, I have heard a lot of people say that Khan worked for them. Don’t assume it won’t work, if your kid is motivated. But have a plan in place to gauge how he’s doing towards the end of the summer, and an alternate. Community college prep courses can be great.
We’ve used Kahn before and it helps but my younger D seems to respond better with live coaching so we are going to look into a prep class/tutor for her SAT next year. She struggles with timed test and always has, she didn’t finish her PSAT exam and ran out of time. She has her thee target schools and they all are around the same SAT score for admission so she is motivated by those three schools. Good grades but just not a good time test taker and never has been.
He should get the Official SAT Study Guide, put out by the College Board. Take timed tests at home on Saturday mornings (or whenever he has a chunk of free time. He could wait until summer if he is overwhelmed right now). Use the bubble answer sheets. Make it as realistic as possible. Then ANALYZE each mistake. Don’t just check answers. He needs to ask himself “What is this question testing? Why was I tempted by that particular wrong answer choice? What do I need to remember to get this type of question correct next time?” etc. He will start to get familiar with how the questions are written (which is different from questions on tests at school). He will see the same topics in similar types of questions. He will become aware of those “tempting wrong answers.” In math and in the English grammar/usage section, there are a limited number of concepts tested. Study those concepts. General reviews aren’t that useful. Study what is on the test. There is a lot of free practice online, but I recommend using paper tests/bubble sheets. If he finishes the College Board book, go through another practice book, like Kaplan. Practice. Analyze. Practice. Analyze…Good luck! (Fwiw, I have been doing test prep since 2004.)