<p>I was wondering if any of you could dust off the cobwebs and try to recall what your then 7th grader received in either test ( with or without any type of prep) and what they have recently received as high school Sophomores or above. If they scored appreciably better, what methods ( books, classes, etc..) if any, did they use to prepare?</p>
<p>I have a Sophomore who received an ACT 28 as a 7th grader (no prep)
SAT 2010 as an 8th grader( no prep)<br>
SAT 2060 Freshman ( no prep)
PSAT 211 Freshman ( no prep)</p>
<p>We are trying to decide if prep is worth it and what really works. She does not intend to take any more tests until Junior year.</p>
<p>D1 (now in college) scored the following with the only prep being a thick study guide:</p>
<p>7th grade SAT: 1360-1400
Jr PSAT: 205-210ish
SAT superscore: 2170</p>
<p>The big uplift was in the Reading & writing, which went from high 300s/low 400s to low 700s in HS. Math was 560 first time; 730 final. </p>
<p>I think the major reason for the uplift was higher level reading and increased maturity. Math was higher because she had geometry in 8th grade. </p>
<p>Looking forward to S1, who scored 590 in Math in 7th grade. He’s taking PSAT next month as a sophomore. Unlike his sister, he’s not a voracious reader, so a prep class may help on that end. He’s a math whiz, so I’m not worried about that section.</p>
<p>D2 had a 2000 in 8th grade (she did a small amount of prep on the math, I would guess maybe 2 hours). M 620, Cr 740, Wr 640.</p>
<p>She is a senior in high school. 233 PSAT in 11th grade (so National Merit Semi-Finalist, and would have made it in any state). SAT superscore is 2380 (M 780, CR 800, Wr 800, from 2 sittings). She absolutely did prep for both the PSAT and SAT. I would especially recommend prep for the PSAT (that is what drives NMSF status, and almost all semi-finalists go on to be finalists).</p>
<p>She used a couple of different books:
The book that the college board themselves sells, “The Official SAT Study Guide”. We especially liked it because it has a lot of sample tests.
She used math books by a guy named Gruber (can’t find the books, I think we gave them to someone).<br>
Per the CC threads on this, the top recommendation for math prep is for Gruber. There is something recommended for CR, but I can’t recall what it is… we could not find it, out of print (Rocket something? Really can’t recall…)</p>
<p>All of her prep was with books. She read the sections of the book, then took practice tests. Usually she and I went over the ones she missed and discussed them. She made some flash cards (but her main one said “Don’t be a stupid rat!”, and she put hash marks on it every time she felt she had just made a dumb mistake). We set aside a couple of hours on Sundays before dinner (about 3:00 - 5:00) for several weeks before the tests. She did some practice essays and I “critiqued” those (and she made some flashcards with those reminders, too). Although we did not do the essays before the PSAT (no need, no essay).</p>
<p>She took the ACT after doing exactly one practice test. Got a 35.</p>
<p>So… she is obviously a very strong tester. But I think the prep has been important for her. You CAN study for and achieve a very high score on the SAT. They tend to ask the same questions (with different prompts, but the same question) again and again.</p>
<p>Have you heard of the “Xiggi method”? A lot of people swear by this.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for sharing. I figured the practice tests were the best way to prepare and that it needed to be done consistently over several weeks.</p>
<p>When you said “dust off the cobwebs” I thought you were going to say what were OUR scores (I still remember!).</p>
<p>My kids had no reason to take either one in middle school. It wasn’t offered by their school, that’s for sure. Other than applying to a program like CTY, why take one in middle school?</p>
<p>S1 did take several math practice exams before he took it in 7th grade, as his goal was to beat his sister’s. I had him look at the question types for the reading & writing sections, so he at least was familiar, but he didn’t take any exams. Shockingly he scored an 8 on the essay, which he didn’t understand how.</p>
<p>ohiobassmom – I like this explanation from Northwestern University’s Midwest Academic Talent Search: “Imagine that youre measuring a roomful of kids with a yardstick. Thats fine for the kids who are shorter than three feet, but for those who are taller, the yardstick is an inadequate tool. The same is true for gifted kidsto measure their abilities, you need a better tool than a grade-level test, one that can measure above that 99th percentile where the yardstick ends.”</p>
<p>My kid took it initially so she could apply to CTY (although she took it through Northwestern’s program, mentioned above), but ended up using the scores to get into the Davidson Institute for Talent Development THINK summer program. She attended for two summers, and it was the high point of her life to date (honestly). So I am really glad we had her take it even though I wasn’t sure what all the benefits might be at the time. She never did go to CTY…</p>
<p>Based on her scores she also got access to an online community run partially by Johns Hopkins called “Cogito”, which is a GT site – she found some very good friends there at a time where she didn’t know too many kids like herself. One, who lives in our city, is still a close friend of hers to this day. So that was another worthwhile results for us.</p>
<p>Our school offered the Duke TIP testing program to the kids in the gifted class so D took the ACT because she did not want to write the SAT essay. She was the only kid in the district to achieve “Grand Recognition” and her counterparts who took the SAT ( their choosing) only received state level recognition. They claimed it was because the ACT was easier. She then took the SAT in 8th for the John’s Hopkins CTY mainly to prove to herself she could also score well and as a practice since middle school grades are thrown out and don’t go on the HS record. Wish we could afford the CTY programs as they looked very interesting compared to the Duke classes.</p>
<p>S1 - SAT 7th grade 670/680
SAT 8th grade 690/690
PSAT 10th grade ca 230 (80 in writing, which he never got close to on SAT)
PSAT 11th grade 235
SAT11th grade 800/740/690 (2230)
SAT 11th grade 800/760/690 (2250)
no prep for any of it beyond looking at the materials they send you and trying to improve writing score unsuccessfully with quite a few practice essays.</p>
<p>S2 - SAT 7th grade - 530/500
SAT 8th grade - 620/560/490 (1670)
PSAT 10th grade can’t find but total was ca. 185
PSAT 11th grade - 75/68/63 (206)
SAT 11th grade 790/670/670 (2130)
SAT 12th grade 790/690/630 (2110)
Again no real studying. </p>
<p>The best predictor of future scores is probably the percentile they were in in 7th grade. My youngest for example was in 98th percentile in middle school. 2130 (his high school best score) is about 97th percentile for seniors and his superscore was 98th percentile.</p>
<p>Aside from CTY the best reason for taking the test for my older son it was a wake up call to the school - in high school no one ever questioned his readiness for more advanced high school classes. Some high school academic summer programs ask for PSAT or SAT scores.</p>
<p>For younger son who often had odd struggles in school, especially with memorization tasks, it was validation that he actually had a lot of potential.</p>
<p>@ mathmom- do you mean the percentile among all tested or among the 7th graders tested? D took the ACT so should I just look at the old report and check the composite percentile for all 7th grade test takers?</p>
<p>Here is a link for the Davidson THINK program. It is for students age 13 - 16. D2 actually went after 9th & 10th grade (and is dismal that she could not go again after 11th…).</p>
<p>I was just checking it out and it looks super. The Duke TIP programs never appealed to D as she is more interested in computer science, physics and math. The CTY programs look good as does the Stanford EPGY but both are really expensive. The THINK program offers university credit and seems lower key and less expensivre. D doesn’t really want to fill up a day with skits and arts and crafts so the THINK program seems more to her taste. She is just 15 now so she would still be eligible. Can’t wait to see the course offerings for 2013.</p>
<p>The Cogito web site looks very interesting. We do receive Imagine magazine and D does seem to enjoy that especially when the issue has a science focus.</p>
<p>I mean the percentile for their age group. As you can see both my kids, but the younger one especially, had a huge improvement in scores over the years.</p>
<p>Thanks mathmom. I had to dig through the files but finally found the actual Duke TIP score report which broke down the percentiles for the 7th graders only. She actually scored fairly well with the lowest at 95% for the English and at 99% for the composite. I hope this trend will continue . Just showed the THINK institute info to her as well as the Cogito web site. The CC parents forum has so much information!</p>
<p>I would not call THINK low key by any stretch… they complete the work of two college courses in 3 weeks, and they mean it. The kids are working academically all day and all evenng (sometimes really late at night – I know my D was up with her friends studying until 1 am more than once). They have some weekend breaks (maybe hiking or a ball game), but it is VERY intense. The kids get a lot of academic support, but it is not for a someone who does not want a very academic experience. My D came home exhausted (but thrilled) both times… She asked me after the first year if college would be like this, and said she didn’t think she could keep up that pace for 4 years! I said usually not THAT intense. But now that she is college searching, I can see that she is looking to some extent to replicate that experience.</p>
<p>Also… D was not so excited about the second summer’s course offerings, but went anyway because she loved the first year so much. It turned out fine, and she ended up really liking her courses even though she was a little “meh” about the choices to start with.</p>
<p>Ehhh… I don’t know that these tests tell the whole story. First of all, the kids aren’t supposed to study for these tests in middle school. Just take them to see how they do. My kids both did great taking thhe SAT in 7th grade; they “only” got state recognition (a previous poster made that distinction sound like was a bad thing), and have gone on to have a wonderful high school career. The thing no test can tell you is creative IQ and the willpower of the individual. The reason colleges use GPAs and ECs is because that information tells a lot more about an individual’s ability over a four year span versus a random Saturday morning.</p>
. Just showed the THINK institute info to her as well as the Cogito web site. The CC parents forum has so much information!</p>