<p>IMO you should use the Official Guide to prep hard in the summer. If you finish all of those tests (minus the essays) and want more, work through some other prep books (after the Official Guide, I like Kaplan). Thoroughly examine all missed questions. If math is weak, review the necessary concepts and sort the questions by types. Since the official guide has answers but no solutions/explanations, you might want to get a solutions manual–I have Tutor Ted’s.</p>
<p>It won’t hurt to take the Oct. SAT, but I don’t recommend it. Why pay $50 for one test when you can get a whole book of them for around $20? Just do more practice tests at home.</p>
<p>I don’t work on the SAT essay until after the PSAT. Spend some time concentrating on the essay during Xmas break, take a few more practice tests, and do the January or March SAT.
Prep well, and you’ll be finished.
(I have been doing PSAT/SAT prep for 9 years, mostly for students aiming for NMF.)</p>
<p>Just bookmarking, as I have the same question. D did very well on the PLAN test, and I’m considering having her take the ACT in September, then PSAT in October, then SAT in November. Would love to be done by then, but she would have time to retake SAT or ACT at least once more during a time when her schedule allows.</p>
<p>crepes - I really don’t think taking SAT a week before PSAT improves (or hurts) NMSF chances. Your D will not have SAT results by the time your D takes PSAT so it won’t help you much. The real question, in my mind, is whether your D will be ready to take the exams. The only concern I would have about the back-to-back testing schedule is, as you may know, SAT is a loooong, physically demanding test. You should think about how your D will react to taking another test so soon after SAT.</p>
<p>Fwiw, this discussion is mixing up issues. This is what the OP posted:</p>
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<p>The real question is about the benefits and value of taking the SAT in preparation of the PSAT. It was not about taking the October SAT and be done with the exercise.</p>
<p>Fwiw, I have always recommended to focus on the October testing dates for both the SAT and PSAT, but that was in a different context. A context that includes BEING TOTALLY ready by the end of the summer before the Junior year, and then have a bit over one more year to dig into the AP boondoggle and the SAT Subject Tests. </p>
<p>In this case, spending an additional morning slaving over a SAT makes no sense IF IT SERVES ONLY as a prep for the PSAT. Better use of time and money would entail simply spending the same hours working through 2 of the last PSAT at home while sipping hot cocoa! </p>
<p>As a last tidbit, it is hardly universal that the administration of the PSAT (usually in school) is similar to a Saturday SAT (could be at a different school.) For a student who has taken the test before, I see no value in getting through the same ordeal for … practice purposes. With the state of the web today, using official administrations for practices makes no sense. The tests are widely available as well as timely discussions about what was tested … right here on College Confidential.</p>
<p>PS There are 10-14 days between the PSAT and SAT dates in 2013.</p>
<p>Aiming for NMSF is important (in relation to SAT) since it automatically qualifies you for many merit scholarships. Taking October SAT followed by PSAT worked for my son. Incidentally, he didn’t even have to take SAT again since he hit his goal with the October SAT score.</p>
<p>So there’s a real range of opinions here, with parents of kids who have done it and achieved their NMSF goal, some with the added bonus of being done with the SAT. There are others who see it as a waste of time and money especially because it doesn’t work as a true practice test–the student won’t have the scores back in time to review material before the PSAT. And it could be too tiring as well.</p>
<p>For the student in question, the SAT and PSAT would be in different schools–her school is not a regular test center, but the PSAT will be given for students there, on Wednesday Oct 16–that’s where she took it last year as a sophomore. Whenever she takes the SAT it will be at one of 2 schools where she’s taken SAT Subject tests so it wouldn’t be completely unfamiliar.</p>
<p>I guess that one factor I haven’t considered is the student’s own preference–some students may jump at the idea but if I suggest it and she’s very resistant or even recoils in horror then that could make it a strategy that wouldn’t work.</p>
<p>I was just looking at her school’s guidance counselor’s advice sheet for Juniors and it says to take the SAT in May which is a bit late for my taste! I’ve seen a number of posts suggesting that the November right after PSAT is a good time (whether the NMSF issue is in question or not).</p>
<p>Adding one more opinion here. My son prepped during summer prior to Jr year with plan to take SAT in Oct and retake in Dec. I had hoped to have the answers to the Oct exam back early enough to prep for Dec SAT but the score report arrived the night before the Dec exam. </p>
<p>He was not aiming for NMSF but did achieve commended, which represented a nice improvement over his 10th grade PSAT score. I agree with Xiggi’s reasoning on the scheduling and will add that the timing of each student’s ECs should also influence the exam scheduling, assuming there is any seasonality to the ECs. </p>
<p>Our HS suggests the Jan Jr year exam as the first SAT date but that exam date always falls a day or two after the end of midterms, so less than ideal IMHO. I was grateful this spring to not have the added stress of SAT Is.</p>
<p>We did something a little different. My son took the SAT in June of sophomore year. (He’s heading into junior year) Since he didn’t do PSAT in sophomore year, I felt it was important to have a baseline before the real PSAT, and it was indeed helpful, as we got the breakdown of questions missed and type of question, so when he’s finally ready to study, we’ll know where to focus. I was also “test driving” his accommodations; they will be tweaked next time he takes the SAT. I wasn’t sure it would be good if he scored low but he did well enough that it will look fine on his applications (assuming he scores higher the next time he takes it).</p>
<p>OHMom- Just Googled it-- From the PSAT website:
“On average, students taking the PSAT/NMSQT as sophomores and again as juniors have junior year PSAT/NMSQT scores that are 3.3 points higher in critical reading, 4.0 points higher in math, and 3.3 points higher in writing skills. However, these are averages: some students earn scores in their junior year that are significantly higher; others
receive lower scores.”</p>
<p>Be aware that, if your kid is already at the high end of the scale, the increase is likely to be less–those last few points are harder to come by. FWIW, 3 of my kids had increases of 6-9 points altogether (2-3 points a section) after prepping hard for the junior test. (They also prepped some for the soph test, so started with very good scores.)</p>
<p>Regarding the January SAT–this would work better for students whose first semester ends in December (as ours does).</p>
<p>That average increase may have been without any extra prep. If they are on the high end after soph year, they may only need a few more points to get to NMSF. My D’s prepping for the SAT over the summer gained her 1 extra pt on the CR part of the PSAT, but 5 on the Math and 12 on the writing. She had focused on the writing prep, and that turned out to be her highest part of the SAT.</p>
<p>Thanks. She’s about 20 points away and writing was the low one. Over sophomore year she did a ton of writing for English and Euro, and completed Alg 2. So maybe those alone will account for a rise but she’s prepping too, just not a ton.</p>
<p>Her ACT essay got an 8 (of 12) and that was at the end of the school year. In fact her overall ACT was about the same as her PSAT on the concordance scale, so that may suggest a decent bit of additional prep is needed if she wants NMSF.</p>
<p>You only get one shot at the NM PSAT - October of Junior year. You can sit for the SAT as many time as you want. Practice, practice and practice some more.</p>
<p>For kids who will work hard prepping for the actual SAT in early October, they will be ready for the PSAT a week later.</p>
<p>Then you sit for the SAT again in November or January . . . Bam!</p>