What is the best timing for SAT test prep?

Parents Forum
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<p>My D is a sophomore, and we plan for her to do some type of SAT prep class, and are trying to decide when would be the best timing. Is it too soon to take a prep class the summer before junior year, preparing for the October SAT?</p>

<p>Her older brother took an SAT prep class the fall of junior year, preparing for the December SAT. I slightly regret not having had him start sooner, to have completed more of the prep class before the junior PSAT, as he narrowly missed the cutoff for NMSF status. That won't be an issue for D, as she won't be a NMSF contender. Even with SAT prep, his Dec SAT score was below his PSAT score, but he retook in March without any additional prep and did better. Then in April did much better on the ACT, without any special ACT prep, and was done with ACT/SAT testing.</p>

<p>Do Top 50-100ish schools care at all about NM Commended? Is it worth having a prep class completed before junior year October to increase chances of making Commended?</p>

<p>D tends to be quite busy during the school year with activities, so taking a prep class during the summer has some advantages over taking it during the school year. Pre-junior summer seems like it may be too early, but pre-senior summer seems like it would be too late, and wouldn't allow time for retakes if needed. Sophomore PSAT scores came back somewhat disappointing, especially in math. She is taking Algebra II now, and will take Pre-Calc junior year.</p>

<p>Oct, Nov, Dec, and Mar are the most viable test dates, as Jan has typically been right in the middle of midterms, May right in the middle of APs, and June right in the middle of finals for her HS. </p>

<p>How much benefit is there to having more of junior year under her belt before attempting the SAT? I'm wondering whether to have her prep for the Oct, Dec or Mar test date.</p>

<p>It may seem early to be worrying about this, but I'm trying to schedule some other things for the upcoming summer, which could be impacted by whether or not we were trying to also fit in summer test prep.</p>

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<p>Why bother with a test prep class?</p>

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<p>Not a big fan of prep courses, and my S did not do it. But my D did, for the ACT, and it seemed to help quite a bit. We also found that finishing junior year helped both of them (comparing mid-junior year testing with early senior year. But what really seemed to work for both of them was taking twice close together (September and then October of senior year), so the prep (on their own at this point) was cumulative.</p>

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<p>i think it might be a little too soon. that’s what i did, and when it came time for like the october sat (somewhere around then) i did worse than what i wanted. but i kind of went into the sat without any real practice since then, so if your child doesn’t do what i did, she’ll be fine. </p>

<p>i also narrowly missed the cutoff; i got a 217, and the score needed was 218 because i live in stupid california with all those high achievers =/</p>

<p>i’m not sure how valuable NM commended is. i did put that on my commonapp</p>

<p>taking the sat in may is not recommended. i have a friend who had to take the sat and act in may, along with like her 4 ap classes. she didn’t do too well. </p>

<p>in my opinion, school does not help at all for the sat. the writing section is all grammar and vocab, stuff we learned in elementary school. the math is also very very basic, again stuff i learned along time ago. critical reading isn’t something learned in school but developed over a lifetime.</p>

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<p>You should probably think about having her take the exam in March of her Junior year and work backwards as far as timing goes. The March exam does not interfere with AP exams later in the year but still allows her the added high school experience beyond the Fall exam dates. She should also start to think about what subject tests she will take and time them so that they coordinate near when she takes (and is prepared) for finals in those subjects. </p>

<p>I think the longer test prep courses (less classes per week) may be better as she will have time to let things soak in and can identify/correct areas of weakness. </p>

<p>Don’t forget that test scores are only one aspect of her application. The essay is where she actually has more control and can really make or break her chances to selective schools. Also, have her take as rigorous course schedule as she can handle for the next two years to show prospective colleges how serious she is about school.</p>

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<p>D1 took her first SAT March of junior year, then May or June again and then all other subject and AP tests. In hind sight, it was too much. But nevertheless, she finished all testing by end of junior year. </p>

<p>D2 is now a junior, and not a good tester compared to D1. We started prepping her in fall, took her first test in Nov, got so nervous she was sick to her stomach. She needs another 100 points so she is taking it again Jan. We decided on Jan because she is finished with her finals in school, has full 2 weeks off without any ECs or schoolwork, and things would tend to be a bit slower in Jan when school starts. This fall, she didn’t have time to take too many full practice tests, even though she could do each section well one at a time, she would run out of steam after 3 hours. In the last few weeks she has been practicing with real tests and getting expected scores. Her tutors feel all that practice would just make her feel more confident on the test day. </p>

<p>Not every kid needs prepping, some kids tend to do well on standardized tests, D2 is not one of them. Unfortunately, most schools she is interested in all list SAT as very important part of application. There is a difference in score whether someone is prepped or not (I have seen it in my own kid and niece/nephews), that’s why I don’t think it’s a fair measurement of applicants. </p>

<p>It’s good you are thinking ahead, you are not too early in planning out testing schedule for your kid. In some communities, if you want private tutoring, you may need to book them months ahead of time.</p>

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<p>I think it’s a good idea to start test prep the summer before junior year if the student is willing. I had a similar situation to yours with my oldest daughter. She was very busy with a competive sport during the school year, so she took an SAT prep class over the summer and took the SAT in October and March. </p>

<p>If your daughter takes the course over the summer, she will still need to do some additional prep right before the October test. I don’t know why Collegboard doesn’t offer a September SAT.</p>

<p>I think it’s a good idea to start early. That allows time to retake the test, get additional tutoring, or try the ACT. It also gives you a realistic score to plan college visits around, and puts the kid in a better position to consider applying early to schools. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about NM commendation. It’s nice if you daughter gets it, but I’m not sure how much it helps. Taking a summer prep course will help her chances to get it, however.</p>

<p>It’s great you found CC so early. There’s a ton of helpful information here. Good luck.</p>

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<p>In our family we did the home prep route. Buy a bunch of prep books, read for strategies, cut out the practice tests, do them one by one, section by section, first open book untimed, then closed book, then timed. Works well.</p>

<p>Works best when there is no time conflict with school work, such as summer break. Once they have it down, doing a section or two a few days before the actual test is a great refresher.</p>

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<p>sacchi;</p>

<p>I don’t think the summer before junior year is too early for a SAT class. It is what my son did. I did try to find as late a summer class for him as possible. I felt the timing was best in that it did not interfere with school, both his classes and ECs, which keep him very busy once school begins.</p>

<p>I also felt the timing was good as it helped with the PSAT. Taking timed SAT tests certainly made the shorter PSAT test seem easier. After taking the class, he moved to taking practice PSATs, took a break and is now taking practice SATs for an SAT this spring. I felt a second semester junior year SAT was best for him in that he would have more of the benefit of his junior year behind him, particularly more math. </p>

<p>As for why bothering with a prep class, there is no shortage of debate as the cost/benefit. My son generally tests well, but based on last years score, I felt he might be on the edge of making NMSF, so every additonal question right could make the difference for him. Also, he has so many distractions at home, the class for us represented a means to structure study time and test taking time outside the home without the distractions. </p>

<p>Good luck</p>

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<p>Taking the SAT early is good from a confidence and experience standpoint. I question the tangible difference it makes to the score though. I believe the extra year of maturity and physical brain development will contribute more to a higher score than simply taking the test a year earlier and prepping for it.</p>

<p>Junior year can be the worst from a stress standpoint. It’s all in the child’s response. My sons liked the standardized tests packed in a short period of time. That meant less prep time, and more time to enjoy life. Balance can be a hard thing to achieve. </p>

<p>If your D is enthused on her own, for her own ambitions, I think the early test prep is worth the time and energy. If she requires a lot of encouragement, it may still be beneficial, just temper your expectations of the course. She may do well simply because she knows more and has settled down a little.</p>

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<p>A slow and non-intensive preparation from January through the PSAT Junior test should yield the best results. And, fwiw, avoid SAT group classes</p>

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<p>I don’t agree with the feelings against SAT group classes.</p>

<p>Both of my kids took a relatively inexpensive SAT prep class offered by our school system during the summer before 11th grade. Both thought the course was of value in preparing them for the format and content of the SAT and PSAT. The PSAT may be particularly important here because you get only one shot at it – something that’s important for students who might score high enough to be National Merit Semifinalists.</p>

<p>Beyond that, the best preparation is the SAT itself. I don’t think anything can substitute for the experience of the sheer length of the current version, and here the PSAT, which is shorter, can be deceiving. </p>

<p>I think students should plan to take the SAT twice, preferably with both tests during junior year. If the first score turns out to be satisfactory (as happened with one of my kids), there is no need to take it a second time. If the first score is disappointing, the student can review what went wrong and take it again. If something goes wrong (snowstorm, illness, power failure at the test center, etc.) or if the student still feels there is a potential for improvement after the second test, taking the SAT a third time as a senior is still possible. </p>

<p>Beyond allowing for unexpected problems that may interfere with taking the test, an advantage of taking it as a junior is that the student has scores in hand when making lists of colleges to apply to.</p>

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<p>^^^ I agree.</p>

<p>Here - three kids and three different approaches:</p>

<p>Kid one - strong student and strong test taker prepped on her own paying particular attention to areas of weakness. Has since said that she wished that she had taken a SAT prep course. (She missed the National Merit cut-off by one point.)</p>

<p>Kid two - took a prep course offered at school junior year with a short refresher course in the spring of that year. Taking the course on top of school, homework, ecs, etc., meant that the SAT course got as little attention as he could possibly give it. I can’t say it was a total waste as he would not have prepped at all, but overall he made it not worth his while.</p>

<p>Kid three - strong student and strong test taker. Took SAT prep course the summer between sophomore and junior year. I think she attended sessions 2-3 times a week for about a month. No stress and she actually worked through the homework given, as she had no other homework at the time.</p>

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<p>One of the good things about the test prep company (Test Masters) chosen by kid 3 is that each Sat and Sun a practice SAT was offered at a central location and students could sign up (for free) as many times as they wanted for six months following the course. Daughter finished the course at the end of July and then took practice SATs 3-5 times over the next six months - a couple in the fall before her junior year PSAT and then a couple more scattered over the months prior to taking an official SAT. The practice tests helped with her timing, testing in a group setting, working with different testing monitors, and of course the SAT itself. (Not perfect, since you couldn’t see why you got something wrong without going back to the center and pulling the SAT given - which my kid never bothered to do). She did qualify (junior year PSAT) for National Merit Finalist and “owned” the SAT spring of junior year. Did the test prep help? We all think so. Would she have gotten as much from the course taking it during the school year? Nope. Like my son - too busy to throw herself into wholeheartedly. Would she have taken the practice tests on her own? Maybe, but the group setting mimics the SAT, which is a form of practice in and of itself. (Some kids took those SAT practice test each weekend during the time allowed - seriously.)</p>

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<p>Hi, I am of the opinion that SAT prep courses are generally helpful for students who will do their part, e.g., do the practice tests multiple times to prepare for the actual SAT tests.</p>

<p>I found that having sonny start January of his sophomore year was good timing. He did Saturday classes for 4 months or so and did a number of practices tests. He then took his first SAT end of Sophomore year (May) and scored his highest SAT I Math (in the 700s) in this first of two SAT Is taken (second one taken in Junior year). By the way, the SAT prep tutor he got was especially strong in Math and seemed to emphasize that in classes so Math turned out to be his highest score.</p>

<p>Sonny did not study during summer between Sophomore and Junior year, so he basically stayed the same in scores (math around the same, the other two CR and Writing, were up around 20-30 points in the high 600s. He was on the Commended list for New York (one of the higher scoring states for PSAT scores). If he had been more dedicated, I know he could have gotten higher scores. However, he got busy with ECs and course work and indicated he had no intention of doing many more preps after his study course (Kaplan) in Spring sophomore year.</p>

<p>A friend of mine (Asian) signed her daughter up for an entire summer of SAT preparation. Classes began at 8 or 9 AM and went on until 11PM. Classes were held even on July 4th, with homework or classes even over the weekend. So it was 7 days a week for 14-15 hours a day. Her daughter went from low 500s (pre-prep) per SAT I test to approx. 2200 total for all 3 SAT tests at the end of the prep course. Surprise, right? Of course not, with that kind of studying and commitment, these demanding SAT prep classes are especially powerful in bringing about good score results. But I honestly cannot imagine studying like that. Sonny would have balked at that kind of “military-type” drilling.</p>

<p>However, prep courses do make a difference when the student attends classes and practices the work given. This I have no doubt.</p>

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<p>The following worked very well with ds. </p>

<p>I think the prep classes are not really all that great. He did study all the test prep books, working out all the practice problems. The goal is to do one test every non-working day. Go over all the practice tests, create vocab cards from all lists, and go over them. Go over all the tests results. Even if the answer is correct, make sure you go over the answer sheets. For wrong answers, make sure you go over and see if there are any trends. If any particular score is behind others (example: CR is 100 below the others), then buy a book just on CR and work through it until you get the score back. This is a great summer time activity! Fun to track your score improve. If you a little geeky, trend the score in neat excel sheet and watch it improve! Make sure someone score the essay!</p>

<p>The timeline for a 10th grader: Work diligently through the summer. If test scores are approximately around 2200, you have great chance to be a national merit scholar. Right after the Junior school year, watch out for any free testing for PSAT and take it. Monitor the score. In October second/third week, take PSAT. Study some more. Take your first official SAT in December. If you did your homework, then your first try should be a great score. Stop if you are happy. If not take it again in May. But goal should be to take it one time in December and score good and move to SATIIs. SATIIs, you take them in June. This will get all test taking out of the way, by the time junior year summer comes along.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all of the feedback. </p>

<p>We will have D do some type of paid test prep, but not sure which of class, small group, or individual. It’s not for everyone, but I think the scheduled nature of paid test prep will be helpful in making sure that the work is done, rather than just letting it slide until “later”.</p>

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<p>Agreed, Sacchi,</p>

<p>GL with the prep for your kid (and yourself)!</p>

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<p>Although SAT Subject Tests are typically taken in May or June of junior year, some students may be best prepared to take these tests in some subjects as sophomores (or in rare cases, as freshmen).</p>

<p>For example, the Math II test is best taken at the end of precalculus. Much of what’s on the test is covered in a typical precalculus course and will be freshest in the student’s mind at that point. A student who completes precalculus as a sophomore would be well advised to take Math II at the end of sophomore year, rather than junior year.</p>

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<p>Agree - again. D took Honors Biology as a freshman. She had no interest in Biology 2 or AP Biology, so knew that waiting a couple of years to take a Bio SAT II would not be a great idea. She waited until June to take it and went through a prep book on her own before the test. The prep book with practice tests indicated that her freshman bio class had prepared her well; if her prep time had shown gaps in knowledge, etc., she would not have taken it. Later she was glad she had done it - as junior year has so much testing and she had at least one out of the way. Might have done the same for chemistry at the end of sophomore year, but her teacher was not all that great and daughter knew she’d be in over her head.</p>