PSAT score report

My older son who is a sophomore in high school received his PSAT scores back last week.  He did pretty well, scoring in the 90’s percentile compared to college bound juniors who took the exam last October.  Well, there were some juniors who got 99 percentile with perfect scores.  Considering the prep that he has done, I felt good about his scores, and he did, too.

He had used the Blue Book from the College Board to prepare for the SAT.  With so many SAT prep schools and classes, I felt almost obligated to send him to one of those classes or find him a tutor to help him prepare for the SAT and PSAT.  Not having enough financial resources, however, and feeling confident about my son’s self discipline to study on his own, I had him study the Blue Book.  So far, it seems to be working.  He still has many weaknesses that he needs to work on.  Both I and my son feel that preparing for the SAT is something that he can do alone at home.

What would you have done?  Or what are you doing to help your child prepare for SAT, PSAT or other standardized tests?

SAT and ACT

Some people have asked me about the similarities and differences between SAT I and ACT.  First of all, SAT I and ACT exams are required by most colleges.  That is most colleges require either SAT I or ACT.  SAT I is the infamous test in which students are tested on reading skills, vocab, writing and math.  Most people agree that most high school students do not learn, in their class, the things that are tested on SAT I.  SAT I are also criticized for being culturally biased.  On the other hand, ACT tests things that are more in line with what high school students learn in their classes.

Some colleges require 2 or 3 SAT II subject tests.  I understand that these tests are something that high school students learn in their classes as well.

With the ACT, students have the option of not reporting the test results to colleges, but all SAT I scores are reported to colleges.  So, if your student takes SAT I insted of ACT, make sure that your student is prepared for the test.  I have not looked into preparing for ACT, so I can not say much about it.  Preparing for SAT requires a lot of hard work.  The most basic item you student needs to have is the “Blue Book” published by the College Board, The Official Guide.  Have your student go through all the questions in the book.  Have them study again all the questions that they miss or do not understand.  If your student has hard time going through the book on his/her own, you should consider helping him yourself or consider hiring a tutor.  That Blue Book is that important.