D will be a rising junior. Starting to think about SAT prep. But in a bit of quandary about WHEN she should start. The private and on line companies I’ve contacted all emphatically say this summer. However, seems like kids score their best later into Junior year. The summer sounds appealing as there is more time than the school year but I would think kids get burned out from studying for them if they start so soon? My daughter is so stressed with homework/tests that I haven’t even brought this up with her yet. However, I know her. She will want to take the approach her friends are taking. If they are starting to study later in Junior year (which I suspect) she will too. She did take the PSATs and PreAct in 10th grade with no prep and it is evident the scores will need to come up. Any advice?? Thank you!
Our S19 studied from June-Aug and took the Aug SAT before junior year and was one and done. Our D21 will go with that same plan. If a student has had algebra 2 and trig, they are ready to go. Studying during junior year for these tests is difficult with a heavy class load and ECs. Getting a jump on it makes sense. Even if your D needs to take the tests a few times in the fall before hitting a score that seems to be her max, it’s worth it. Plus, then, you can have your college list more buttoned up because you know the score she’s working with.
Our son started test prep just before school started Junior year, took in October and was also one and done. With our daughter, I don’t know what we’ll do. We’ll have to see where she is with math and whether more time would be beneficial. I think it makes sense to start in the summer before Junior year at the very least to get a baseline.
@Peachpie9 Speaking as an SAT tutor, summer is a good time to start prep. As you mentioned, your daughter is stressed with school right now. Do you think she will be less stressed during Junior year when classes are harder? Do you think she will have more time for prep then? Summer is nice because there are fewer distractions.
Also, while it is true that many students do better toward the end of their Junior year, I think that is largely due to the fact that students are more familiar with the test by then. I should also note that tutoring can be quite an extended process. If you start during the summer, it will often extend past the end of the summer.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.
Summer is a great time for Test prep. Junior year is going to be quite intense anyways, so no point in adding Test prep stress in the mix. The idea is to start after finishing Algebra and Precalc (maybe?), History etc. This will also prep her for PSAT in junior year, which is considered for National merit. She can test beginning of Junior year and once more in Spring or summer after Junior year.
I’d agree that summer prep and a fall test date avoids conflicts with AP, Subject tests, and general school-year challenges that seem to ramp up in the Spring. Plus college visits.
It also leaves the Spring for re-test and Fall Senior year as a last chance if needed.
Our plan is to prep for PSAT/SAT as a pair in Oct/early Nov, leaving March as a contingency date and the following fall if desperately needed.
Thank you everyone for the helpful points! Sounds like the summer it is. Now hopefully my daughter will be on board!
Give her a break then start this summer. My sons friends took the act in the fall of junior year and most were done…my son took it later junior year and wish he used that summer prepping since as stated didn’t have enough sufficient time to study etc.He took it a total of 3 times. Getting a tutor to isolate what you child’s needs are and focus on those if you can afford it is awesome. We found graduate students doing prep for much less then the big names and well worth it. So if she has a psat (many do poorly on it BTW) and it has subset scores use that as a guideline.