How many times did DC take the SAT/ACT?

[Anonymous]

My kid is in 10th. Did okay, but not great on the PSAT. I'd was thinking of having him take the SAT in March. Is this too early to start? I want to avoid June due to AP exams and I know by then he'll be over school for the year. He's going away for the summer so won't have much time to review and practice before the Aug exam.

Depending on how he does on the March exam, I would then come up with a study plan for a future exam.

[Anonymous]

No, since the PSAT is essentially the same as the SAT, there's no downside in devoting a few hours a month to it. Practice makes perfect.

$68 and three hours of your time on a Saturday.

[Anonymous]

Too many.

[Anonymous]

2-3 is sweet spot.

[Anonymous]

Sophomore year is too early, especially after not scoring high on the psat. There is no rush to start testing; he doesn't need a score for two more years. Most improvement comes from time, experience in AP classes, and some targeted prep. Take no earlier than August of junior year after prep over the summer, and even that might be too early for some kids.

[Anonymous]

Depends on when they take Algebra II, you want them to take it shortly after. For our kids, that meant summer/fall of junior year (good time to study, because no school going on, not worrying about AP exams or schoolwork). One took it once and got a 35 and was done. Other took it twice, 32 first time, 34 second time, then done.

[Anonymous]

For a busy kid, I personally think it makes sense to prep first and then take it, so you can potentially be one and done. DD prepped for ACT and a little bit for PSAT in August before junior year, and then took the ACT in September of junior year and nailed it. She took the SAT on a whim the following September, which wasn't necessary but didn't hurt either.

DS (class of 24) prepped first and then took the SAT in March of junior year, and he was also one and done.

[Anonymous]

1 time. Scored 1590. Junior year.

Took PSAT 3 times. Bombed it in 10th grade, scored 100% in 11th grade (NMSQT - National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test). Only used collegeboard and Khan Academy. Clicked on the "link account with khan academy" button from his online college board PSAT scoreboard. From then - Khan Academy gave very bespoke tutoring and coaching to him.

He is an NMS scholarship holder in the flagship state uni. Gets 2 K a year from the college for being NMS. So, 8 K total. Also, free tuition for 4 yrs, merit scholarship.

[Anonymous]

6 times

And OP, your schedule is too aggressive. A current tenth grader doesn't need to be worrying about this now.

[Anonymous]

Kid 1 ACT twice. 36 the second time. No SAT.

Kid 2 ACT twice. 35 the second time. No SAT.

Kid 3 SAT once 1500, ACT once 34.
In retrospect this child should have taken the same test twice instead of switching.

[Anonymous]

If you have a chance at NMSF, take it during your sophomore year. It is cheap, doesn't take up a lot of time and will give you a sense of the test.

The real question is, why not? It's not like 10-20 hours of prep, 3 hours taking the test is that much time over a few months.

[Anonymous]

One and done 1580

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a chance at NMSF, take it during your sophomore year. It is cheap, doesn't take up a lot of time and will give you a sense of the test.

The real question is, why not? It's not like 10-20 hours of prep, 3 hours taking the test is that much time over a few months.

No. Wrong advice. Every student should take PSAT. Because PSAT stands for Practice SAT.

It is a great tool to get familiar with SAT with zero downside. And you can link your PSAT scores on college board website for free to Khan Academy so that they create a targeted study plan for you. No college will ever see your PSAT scores. You practice for SAT by taking PSAT, not by taking SAT multiple times.

It is like getting a dedicated tutor for SAT for free.

To get the most from it - take your first PSAT in 8th or 9th. And never miss an opportunity to take PSAT.

It is foolish to spend money on SAT prep. Do it for free with PSAT. And utilize collegeboard and khan academy to look at your PSAT performance and get free tutoring from these organizations.. I find it absolutely horrible that people will advice people to not let their children take PSAT. This is so that they can eliminate competition for their own kid.

PSAT is for everyone. The top student, the bottom student, the immigrant student, the economically disadvantaged student, SN student, NT student, ESOL student.

[Anonymous]

There's no point in taking a million official exams when you can just study and practice at home until you stop improving. Then take one or few until you have your best day (good night's sleep, not sick, not stressed, yadda yadda)

[Anonymous]

Once. It was given on a school day at the end of his junior year. He didn’t do well so he applied TO everywhere and got in everywhere with better than expected merit aid.