Accuracy of practice SATs

[Anonymous]

....and since the practice tests are basically remixed versions of old tests, that's why they are easier. but it should catch up over time.

[Anonymous]

My kid's test prep place told us (last summer, so maybe things have changed) that they were recommending the ACT to kids who scored roughly the same on the SAT and ACT diagnostic test because the SAT practice tests were not accurately predicting SAT scores.

[Anonymous]

My kid got a 1490. His practice tests were usually in the 1450-1480 range with a 1520 outlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid's test prep place told us (last summer, so maybe things have changed) that they were recommending the ACT to kids who scored roughly the same on the SAT and ACT diagnostic test because the SAT practice tests were not accurately predicting SAT scores.

That was last summer. Now the ACT is going digital and afaik there aren’t even digital practice tests yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's test prep place told us (last summer, so maybe things have changed) that they were recommending the ACT to kids who scored roughly the same on the SAT and ACT diagnostic test because the SAT practice tests were not accurately predicting SAT scores.

That was last summer. Now the ACT is going digital and afaik there aren’t even digital practice tests yet.

Paper will continue to be offered. And the paper test will remain the same through the summer, so in theory you could prep and take the old test for the next few months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice and being in the real game are different situations. But you have 3 practice tests so I would imagine the score will fall within one of those scores. By the way, all 3 are really good.

No, not if they were practice tests 1-3.

They weren’t, it’s around tests 8 and 9.

I'm not sure about those. There are only a few that are considered reflective of the difficulty of the SAT. I think 6 is one of them.

FWIW there seems to be a trend with the actual SAT getting harder because the scores have been too high since they transitioned to digital. They underestimated how well kids would do.

Oh jeez

[Anonymous]

CollegeBoard practice SAT tests on the website were pretty great, and that's what my kid practiced on.

However, PSAT taken in 8th, 9th, 10th were more aligned to where the kid was in terms of actual SAT prep. And connecting the results with Khan Academy prep really led to targeted practice.

11th PSAT (NMSQT) was aced by my kid. SAT was 1590, so I would say that CollegeBoard practice tests, PSATs in each grade it was offered, Khan Academy targeted practice based on PSAT scores...all helped and SAT became the easy-peasy part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CollegeBoard practice SAT tests on the website were pretty great, and that's what my kid practiced on.

However, PSAT taken in 8th, 9th, 10th were more aligned to where the kid was in terms of actual SAT prep. And connecting the results with Khan Academy prep really led to targeted practice.

11th PSAT (NMSQT) was aced by my kid. SAT was 1590, so I would say that CollegeBoard practice tests, PSATs in each grade it was offered, Khan Academy targeted practice based on PSAT scores...all helped and SAT became the easy-peasy part.

When did your kid take the SAT? The digital test is a different ballgame with regard to scoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice and being in the real game are different situations. But you have 3 practice tests so I would imagine the score will fall within one of those scores. By the way, all 3 are really good.

No, not if they were practice tests 1-3.

They weren’t, it’s around tests 8 and 9.

I'm not sure about those. There are only a few that are considered reflective of the difficulty of the SAT. I think 6 is one of them.

FWIW there seems to be a trend with the actual SAT getting harder because the scores have been too high since they transitioned to digital. They underestimated how well kids would do.

They made the test much easier and then realized they went too far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice and being in the real game are different situations. But you have 3 practice tests so I would imagine the score will fall within one of those scores. By the way, all 3 are really good.

No, not if they were practice tests 1-3.

They weren’t, it’s around tests 8 and 9.

I'm not sure about those. There are only a few that are considered reflective of the difficulty of the SAT. I think 6 is one of them.

FWIW there seems to be a trend with the actual SAT getting harder because the scores have been too high since they transitioned to digital. They underestimated how well kids would do.

They made the test much easier and then realized they went too far.

So, you are saying that the digital version has been easier (which has not been my kids experience at all - they scored lower than the practice tests). What is the source of this information?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice and being in the real game are different situations. But you have 3 practice tests so I would imagine the score will fall within one of those scores. By the way, all 3 are really good.

No, not if they were practice tests 1-3.

They weren’t, it’s around tests 8 and 9.

I'm not sure about those. There are only a few that are considered reflective of the difficulty of the SAT. I think 6 is one of them.

FWIW there seems to be a trend with the actual SAT getting harder because the scores have been too high since they transitioned to digital. They underestimated how well kids would do.

They made the test much easier and then realized they went too far.

So, you are saying that the digital version has been easier (which has not been my kids experience at all - they scored lower than the practice tests). What is the source of this information?

I am not sure that it’s so much easier either.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think the digital sat is easy. I know many 4.0 kids who are struggling to get out of the 1300s.

Take a look and see how many TO students there are at top universities. That tells you all you need to know. The SATs are harder than people think.

[Anonymous]

I think it's actually harder in many respects. I think the fact that there are fewer questions means that you miss one or two of them and your score takes a bigger hit (versus ACT, where you can miss a handful and still get a "perfect" 36). Also, there are math questions that are fill-in and not multiple choice, which has to make those questions harder to get right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think the digital sat is easy. I know many 4.0 kids who are struggling to get out of the 1300s.

Take a look and see how many TO students there are at top universities. That tells you all you need to know. The SATs are harder than people think.

Some of that is grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering how predictive your DC’s practice tests ended up after taking the actual SAT?

DC taking it Saturday, last 3 practice tests 1480, 1470, 1520.

But I have read that College Bd practice tests, especially math, are easier than the real thing (which is so aggravating). CB could at least give the kids accurate prep material.

Depends on kid. DC1 is the type who loves these kinds of tests and ends up doing a lot better than expected. DC2 gets tensed up and ends up doing slightly worse. But practice tests are a pretty good indicator.