worried, discouraged freaked out about low SATs

<p>My daughter is a junior. She took the PSAT last year unofficially, and then just recently officially. Her Scores both times were incredibly low. all three numbers in the lo 40's. </p>

<p>She is a decent but not stellar student, approximately 3.5 gpa and has had taken honors math and science since freshman year at a very good school. She just seems to tank on tests. She is totally fighting me on taking any prep course, and is reluctantly agreeing to work an online or computer prep and do practice with me.</p>

<p>She is a bright kid, and a varsity athlete, but just not very bookish. We know she isn't going to Harvard, but I just hate the idea that this one stupid test is going to determine so much.</p>

<p>I sure could use some support, encouragement, ideas, something.</p>

<p>strykermom, look for posts talking about the ACT alternative. Some kids, including my D, did better on that test. There are many colleges that are test-optional, too. What kind of college and what possible major is your daughter looking for? Was there a chance that she did not think the PSAT was that important and did not try her best? It happened to mine.</p>

<p>There are lots of great schools that don't require the SATs: <a href="http://www.fairtest.org/optinit.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fairtest.org/optinit.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Having said that, you should really figure out what's up. Does she have trouble with the actual material? The time constraints? Anxiety? Bubbling? Or is something else going on? Does she have trouble with all tests or just SAT-like standardized tests? </p>

<p>Has your daughter talked to you about what she feels the problem is? Does she have a sense of what's going wrong? That's where you should start, I think. </p>

<p>Practicing with you should be great, too. You can hopefully figure out where she's facing problems and work to solve them. Some of those test prep courses are pretty worthless, even though they charge thousands. A private test prep tutor may be very helpful, especially if you find you and your daughter get frustrated working on the material together.</p>

<p>Everything will work out fine. Figure out what the problem is and do your best to solve it. Start looking through those SAT optional schools now. There are some really good schools on the list. Does your daughter have any idea about the types of colleges she may be interested in?</p>

<p>My daughter also had low PSATs although she is doing well in college prep courses, is a varsity athlete, and successful in her part time employment. I have to focus on the latter qualities; those are indicators that she is not going to be living at home for the next 20 years! Unfortunately, because the stupid tests do count at many colleges (and certainly there are colleges that don't require - <a href="http://www.fairtest.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.fairtest.org&lt;/a&gt;) she is in a prep class. I think it forces her to keep doing sample problems and I know she wouldn't take the time if she was doing it on her own. If you can afford it, sign your daughter up with a prep course or tutor that other people recommend highly.</p>

<p>Did she finish the test?</p>

<p>I'd encourage her to take the ACT too. It's a different test, and some kids do better on one than the other.</p>

<p>I agree that the test prep classes may help her get her scores up and that she should try the ACT too. You need to get a feeling for why the scores aren't better. Does she have test panic (while you may have seen that in her GPA before now, it could be that she's panicking about these tests because they mean so much)? Is there any reason why she might intentionally be blowing the test (hard to believe, but still needs to be ruled out)? Is her high school really giving her preparation, or is her GPA not an accurate reflection of her college preparation (criminal, but some schools do inflate grades and push kids through, and some schools just aren't as competitive as others)? Some things you can fix, and some things you can't. Practice tests will help a lot. Most of the schools will take her highest scores so these scores don't have to be fatal.</p>

<p>Life is full of opportunities for all kids. While this Board has many of the families that are Ivy and top-50 oriented, there are many other very good colleges in this country. I'm a product of a state university from a blue collar family, and have done just fine in life. I work with some people from the top universities and with some people from smaller institutions that I've never heard of before. We all ended up with the same Fortune 500, and the only difference between us is that the Ivy-grads always put their diplomas on the walls of their offices. If they've proven to be good performers, people are impressed. If they aren't good performers or have personality defects, their coworkers laugh about it and view them the same as those folks who relive their glory days in high school forever. I've seen that having that Ivy degree isn't a guarantee of good performance. I'm sure there are other companies, grad schools and social events where the Ivy degree is a door-opener, but this is a big country. </p>

<p>Like any kid, your daughter will be putting together an application package with her test scores, GPA, activities, essay, etc. She won't be applying to schools that look for high SATs, but her total package may still give her good options for easy admin and some reach schools.</p>

<p>We have a young lawyer who told me that he barely got through high school (low scores and grades, troubled family, wasn't sure he'd have the money for college and nobody taking much time to encourage him). He went to a very cheap "lower tier" university nearby, which actually has a pretty good reputation among employers for turning out hard workers with solid training. He said he started off slowly in college, but found it very interesting. He then decided he wanted to be a criminal lawyer based on a tv show, and took the college's $100 weekend LSAT training class as his only LSAT prep. He jokes that he squeaked into a "third tier" school. He was in the middle of the pack at law school. We hired him for a particular slot, and he now works in an office next to a Harvard grad (not criminal lawyers), making the same money under our company's salary structure and doing the same work. As one of my own kids say, it's not about winning at high school or college or even grad school, it's about winning at life. This young lawyer is a winner.</p>

<p>Maybe she's balking at taking test prep because she thinks it means that you and others think that she's not smart enough to do well on the test on her own. I know a lot of kids who thought that.</p>

<p>Perhaps you can talk to her about the test prep as similar to the coach on her varsity team. You make the team based upon some degree of natural talent and desire. The coach then hones those talents that you already have, showing you techniques to handle tasks necessary for the game you're playing (but maybe not necessary for any other sport), giving you exercises to improve your strength and stamina. You learn the basic rules of the game, and the finer points as well. And then you have practices. A varsity athlete doesn’t say, "I'm good enough now, so I don't have to go to practice. See you on the day of the big game." </p>

<p>The SAT is just like that. More than just knowing the information, there are techniques for taking the test. How to read the questions. What they're really asking you about. What and when to skip questions. How to make sure that if you've skipped a question, you fill in the answers in the answer sheet for the correct questions below it. (You'd be surprised about how many low scores are due to bubbling errors, like filling in Q34 with the answer for Q35 because you forgot you skipped one.) How to deal with test anxiety. </p>

<p>Then there are the practices. Just as with anything else, the more you practice and the more familiar you are with the test, the better you'll do. ("Oh, yeah, I remember a question like this. Here's the approach.")</p>

<p>And the SAT itself is the "big game."</p>

<p>No one is born knowing how to take these tests. If she approaches it like a varsity athlete, with the test prep as her coach, rather than as an indication of inability, maybe she'll be more accepting of it.</p>

<p>(I also second the suggestion of the ACT, but with prep along the same lines as the coach.)</p>

<p>Chedva - That's brilliant. I know a few kids who can really benefit from your analogy.</p>

<p>I don't know how much the expensive prep courses really help, but I do know that doing practice tests helps! My friend's daughter desperately wanted to go to UNC-CH but had low, low SATs for that school. They decided that she would do all the practice tests in the College Board book. Each one she did on a Saturday in her bedroom. By the time she took the test again, she told her mom, "It was so much easier! I just felt like I was home in my bedroom!" She got in :-)</p>

<p>Adding to Chedva's post:</p>

<p>The PSAT score comes back with errors noted. It is very very useful for your D to go over them and see whether she made errors out of carelessness such as bubbling in the wrong bubble, doing the wrong computation, etc... or out of ignorance. This will help her and you devise a strategy to prepare for the SAT. She also should look up the Xiggi method on CC for preparing. It's a very commonsensical, low cost approach to preparing for the SAT. But she needs to practice.<br>
It's like cooking. I know lots of recipes in theory; but if I need to look up every step, it will take longer; and the SAT is above all a timed test.</p>

<p>ACT
ACT
ACT
I have said it MANY times over the years. I cannot explain it- but for some reason, it seems sports oriented kids do better on the ACT. It may have to do with learning styles (kinectic vs visual or something like that. There are basically 3 types of learning styles)
My kid scored about 130 points more on ACT. She was not bothered by the ACT format- just did minimal studying to familiarize herself with it.
For the science section, you don't need to know REAL science, you need to read and understand the info on the graphs. </p>

<p>Please try the ACT- you can have the results sent to you only- not the HS or any college. If you are satisfied with the score, then send it on to the college. If the score is no different than the SAT, no one else sees the score.
Good luck- I know the frustration. </p>

<p>Honestly- my guess is that the ACT is a much quicker paced test.<br>
The long nit-picking and overanalyzing of the SAT questions- drove my kid nuts.</p>

<p>Just want to add- my kid did take the Kaplan review course. Everytime she took a practice exam, she would come out of the class- white as a ghost, wouldn't talk and said her "brain felt numb". It wasn't nerves- as it was a practice test only. The format of the SAT zapped my kids energy so there was definitely a physical component to how this test affected my kid.<br>
She had no problem with the ACT. In fact she willingly took it 3 times. There was no way my kid would endure taking the SAT again.
She too scored in the low 400's with the SAT. Scored 21-21 and 23 on the ACT which is eqivalent to 1070 on SAT's.
The 23 was in line with my estimation on how she would do on the standardized test. I would consider her within the average range of HS students.<br>
but the SAT test- was just pure hell for her!
Good luck!!</p>

<p>Agree with the ACT suggestion--some students do much better on the ACT </p>

<p>In addition, I would not totally write off your daughter's chances on the SAT based on PSAT results. Test prep may help signficicantly, even if solely to help her understand timing, strategies and gain greater familiarity with the test format</p>

<p>On a personal note, S#2 scored in the low 50s on his PSAT. When he took the SAT his scores were 1300/1600.</p>

<p>If you can, provide tutoring. Many kids are not motivated to do the problems on their own. They also cannot figure out why their answer was wrong. Someone should be there to teach her how they arrived at the correct answer. Also, being forced by an outside person to sit for a few complete tests (long and arduous), will teach her how to pace, make her more familiar with the type of questions, build endurance and help with test anxiety. If it is then scored by her tutor, she will know within a range how she is progressing. I agree about sitting for an ACT (ie: a practice ACT). If she scores better on that, she might only need a bit of practice to get a score that is in the midrange for schools she is interested in.</p>

<p>Your D sounds exactly like my S. There is hope. He did much better on the ACT. The good thing about the ACT is that you can take it as many times as you want, and then choose the score you want sent. He took test prep classes and worked with a private tutor for a while, but didn't think either helped. Try and get as many practice tests as possible and have her work on those. If reading is her weakness (just guessing here because that's my son's weakness), have her build-up her reading time to four hours straight.</p>

<p>Test anxiety. </p>

<p>There are medications that help a lot with test anxiety.</p>

<p>Oh, and get her reading vision checked by a reading vision specialist.</p>

<p>I did not do well at all on the PSAT or the SAT the first time I took it. I am also a varsity athlete who spends a lot of time on sports and more math oriented. Everyone suggested the ACT I did worse on that. I took a small SAT prep class (which I didn't want to do) and my SAT scores improved dramatically.</p>

<p>while I agree that the ACT is another option, I'm not sure it's a great alternative for a kid who possibly has test anxiety; the ACT requires speed, and the added stress could make a test-anxious kid freeze up even more.</p>

<p>Instead of an organized prep class, suggest an SAT/ACT tutor -- more expensive, but also more focused on your D's individual weaknesses.</p>

<p>I would check to see what colleges your D would be interested in attending. With some state colleges in our area, if your GPA is above a certain #, you're admitted. No need for test scores above a certain threshold.</p>

<p>My daughter is in a small group SAT prep class -the kids have separate reading, writing and math classes segregated by prior test scores - which might be a good cost compromise between tutor and large prep class.</p>

<p>I'm expanding on huguenot's suggestion. Before you pay for a class or tutoring, be sure your D takes full advantage of all the free or cheap assistance that's there. The collegeboard.com website has practice tests and you can sign up for the e-mailed "SAT Question of the Day." It's a fun way to get a good feel for all the types of questions over a period of time. Use online tutorials for strategies on taking the test. There are little tips (many of which are freely given in the SAT prep booklet) that make a big difference. For instance, within each section, questions typically are sequenced from easiest to most challenging. So should the test taker be suspicious when s/he encounters a question that seems too plainly obvious? No, if the question is #3 in a section of 50 questions; yes, if the question is #48. There are a number of valuable and reasonably-priced books including one that offers ten recent real tests for practice (be sure they're the new, 2400-point scale tests). Like any other skill, SAT-taking improves with practice. My D followed this approach and added 240 points to her SAT score last fall.</p>