What Does "No Prep" Mean?

[xiggi]

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Y’know, xiggi, I think if there were a problem taking the test in a timely manner, or struggling over questions, that you’d have a point. That is, for students that have that problem, I might agree, if they have a goal of having a particular score. In our case, I and later my son always had extra time leftover on the test. My point was that while we theoretically <em>could</em> have done some sort of prep and gotten higher scores, it’s not a family value in our home to spend time on the SAT, or on prep for it. We value our time differently.

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<p>TrinSf, I was trying to make a point about the value of learning time management and espeically learning to skip questions that could represent timesinks. While I do not like to quote posts from years ago, I was making a reference to what you posted in 2005. If I misread your original posts, please accept my apologies.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/109382-oh-good-lord-sat-scores-back-retake-give-up-next-year.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/109382-oh-good-lord-sat-scores-back-retake-give-up-next-year.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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In March 2005, he took the SAT for the first time, and got 740 Crit Reading, 650 Math, 690 Writing. Since this is low, he retook in October, expecting to increase his Math substantially. (The first time, he got “stuck” on a question and wasted time.) We had every reason to expect he’d do well, but he didn’t get enough sleep, etc, and choked. October scores: 690 Reading, 670 Math, 660 Writing.

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<p>By the way, congratulations on the scholarship that allows your son to attend Reed without parental contributions. However, when it comes to scholarships, and especially non-need based financial aid, the SAT and ACT scores take a heightened relevance as the bar gas been raised in prior years. For some students and their families, it seems that a small effort in maximizing the chances of high score represent one of the wisest investment. Getting that ACT from 31 to 35 or that SAT from 720 to 780 might represent the difference between a few dollars and a half or full ride. </p>

<p>And, fwiw, I was not talking about extensive and expensive test preparation nor utterly silly word lists, but about something different. Something that is appropriate to the individual needs of candidates, not a one size fits all.</p>