How much does SAT prep help?

[Anonymous]

Spending the $1k is possible yet will be felt in budget.

So, I’m wondering how necessary is this prep? My kid is likely to benefit from the external motivation to study through a teacher as opposed to studying on their own with Khan Academy. Technically, I think it would work better to have them take a class.

Yet I read that the increase in score is modest, so is it worth $1k?

As background, kid took PSAT and scored 1150, which I think equates to 1300-something on SAT. Strong writer with good vocabulary. Slightly anxious test taker. 3.9 GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spending the $1k is possible yet will be felt in budget.

So, I’m wondering how necessary is this prep? My kid is likely to benefit from the external motivation to study through a teacher as opposed to studying on their own with Khan Academy. Technically, I think it would work better to have them take a class.

Yet I read that the increase in score is modest, so is it worth $1k?

As background, kid took PSAT and scored 1150, which I think equates to 1300-something on SAT. Strong writer with good vocabulary. Slightly anxious test taker. 3.9 GPA.

What grade are they in now? Asking because of PSAT score. Was this the 11th grade score?

[Anonymous]

PS: I am a little worried that the test score is low. However, it was high among the other kids in the gifted program. If kid is compared to others at the school, maybe it is more okay??

Kid is a junior and loves idea of big state school near a city.

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spending the $1k is possible yet will be felt in budget.

So, I’m wondering how necessary is this prep? My kid is likely to benefit from the external motivation to study through a teacher as opposed to studying on their own with Khan Academy. Technically, I think it would work better to have them take a class.

Yet I read that the increase in score is modest, so is it worth $1k?

As background, kid took PSAT and scored 1150, which I think equates to 1300-something on SAT. Strong writer with good vocabulary. Slightly anxious test taker. 3.9 GPA.

What grade are they in now? Asking because of PSAT score. Was this the 11th grade score?

Yes, 11th grade score. They never took a test in 10th due to Covid.

It’s low, right? I didn’t want to make kid feel bad but I thought it seemed low for their capabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spending the $1k is possible yet will be felt in budget.

So, I’m wondering how necessary is this prep? My kid is likely to benefit from the external motivation to study through a teacher as opposed to studying on their own with Khan Academy. Technically, I think it would work better to have them take a class.

Yet I read that the increase in score is modest, so is it worth $1k?

As background, kid took PSAT and scored 1150, which I think equates to 1300-something on SAT. Strong writer with good vocabulary. Slightly anxious test taker. 3.9 GPA.

1150 on the PSAT equates to 1150 on the SAT. Perhaps you're thinking of the average increase in score between the taking of the PSAT and the SAT?

[Anonymous]

My kid got a 1430 on the PSAT and a 1420 on his first try of the SAT. Didn't do formal test prep but spent serious time with Khan Academy studying what he missed because he wanted to "break 1500." His scores went steadily down on every retake so he ended up just reporting his first score. So if people encourage you to "just do Khan Academy" we're at least one example where that backfired (it all worked out fine though--he got into his first choice school).

[Anonymous]

I am not usually like this, but on the advice of a friend hired one of the fancy, one-on-one prep services for both of my kids, and ended up paying about $3,000 each. It felt like a dumb expense and a stupid waste of money.

But in the end, one kid went from 85th percentile on PSAT to 96th percentile on SAT, and the other went from 82nd percentile to 92nd percentile.

It made a big difference in the category of schools they could shoot for, and the schools that would potentially offer them merit money. So in the end, I think it was money well spent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not usually like this, but on the advice of a friend hired one of the fancy, one-on-one prep services for both of my kids, and ended up paying about $3,000 each. It felt like a dumb expense and a stupid waste of money.

But in the end, one kid went from 85th percentile on PSAT to 96th percentile on SAT, and the other went from 82nd percentile to 92nd percentile.

It made a big difference in the category of schools they could shoot for, and the schools that would potentially offer them merit money. So in the end, I think it was money well spent.

Was this since most schools became test optional?

[Anonymous]

I think its worthwhile unless you think your kid is motivated to do it alone. That can be done, but a kid has to be really focused. My DCs school says that if you are going to spend any money on outside resources for the college process, spend it on test prep.

[Anonymous]

"Highly paid tutors make bold claims about how much they can raise SAT scores (“my students routinely improve their scores by more than 400 points”), but there is no peer-reviewed scientific evidence that coaching can reliably provide more than a modest boost — especially once simple practice effects and other expected improvements from retaking a test are accounted for."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/no-one-likes-the-sat-its-still-the-fairest-thing-about-admissions/2019/03/22/5fa67a16-4c00-11e9-b79a-961983b7e0cd_story.html

[Anonymous]

1150 on the PSAT as a junior may not translate to a higher score on the SAT. If you DC was a freshman with an 1150, I think you might see a steep climb in the SAT by the time they are a junior.

I think test prep would help-- it's not so straightforward as "my child is not a good test taker." I recall many, many years ago on the GRE that *how* you take the test (e.g. prioritize which questions to answer) makes a lot of difference. The skill and underlying knowledge has to be there, but if the foundations are there, taking a test is a skill that can be taught and learned.

[Anonymous]

Our two kids both went through SAT Test prep (High School classes of 2021 and 2022). first kid got one SAT test in before COVID and literally two in person classes before lockdown. All other classes on line. Kid's score went up 100 points and lots of weird ACT/SAT tests situations. Very motivated kid though and said what helped was the repeated practice tests which kid said would have done on their own.

Second kid less motivated and really wanted test prep. All test prep classes online. Not sure if it was COVID (dealt with a lot of mental health challenges during lockdown, better now) but score didn't improve at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Highly paid tutors make bold claims about how much they can raise SAT scores (“my students routinely improve their scores by more than 400 points”), but there is no peer-reviewed scientific evidence that coaching can reliably provide more than a modest boost — especially once simple practice effects and other expected improvements from retaking a test are accounted for."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/no-one-likes-the-sat-its-still-the-fairest-thing-about-admissions/2019/03/22/5fa67a16-4c00-11e9-b79a-961983b7e0cd_story.html

Yes. And a lot of tutoring companies will give brutally hard "placement" tests and then easier tests later to show how much they've "helped". Most of the research I've seen shows that a modest gain (~30-60 points) can be expected with prep. Some people have large gains; I think that's usually because a very capable kid had a very bad day and the next time they take the test they score what they're capable of.

[Anonymous]

With a student who is very dedicated to test prep I think it is reasonable to increase a 100 poiints.

If the low score had to do with some other factor on test day, say they were really sick, or really tired, or really anxious due to something else, then maybe you might see 200 points.

[Anonymous]

Repeated, timed practice tests on Khan Academy. Also, link your CollegeBoard PSAT and SAT scores with Khan Academy and you will get a customized study plans.

You need to do at least the 8 original collegeboard PSAT and SAT tests, and it needs to be TIMED. DC was doing 1 paper based test every weekend that I used to to proctor it. He retook the same exam after every few months and basically was practicing only from official Collegeboard tests. I had made copies of the blank answer sheets for the tests so that he could take them again and again.

Even if you choose to go with a prep-company, it is better that you are first doing the various tests, figure out where you make mistakes and then get help for the parts that you do not have understanding of = so less prep, more tutoring for missed content.

I am a parent who is willing to spend thousands on my kids tutoring and prep and have done so in the past. SAT is one test where it is truly dependent on the child practicing and filling gaps in knowledge. You cannot test on something that you have never understood well. Once kids master the math by figuring out what they don't know and then learning it, it is really not a big deal to score more.

My kid went from getting in low 1200s in PSAT in 10th to being a NMS semifinalist in MD.