DS can’t get past 1490 on the SAT’s. Any recommendations ?

[Anonymous]

If he's already taken Algebra II, before junior year is when to take it. Have him spend a few sessions with a private tutor who can give him a few tricks, which should calm his nerves and get him over the hump

[Anonymous]

A 1490 is a very good score and he won't be denied anywhere because of the score alone. As for improving, the best way to up the English score is to read interesting and challenging books, preferably fiction. It's really the only way to improve comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar. As for math, that lends itself much more readily to shortcuts and tricks. A good math-focused tutor can help with that.

This kid is only looking for some very marginal improvement. Read some Faulkner or Conrad or Pynchon - big word books. Or David Foster Wallace non-fiction if they don't like fiction and want a more modern read. Or Zadie Smith, Jennifer Egan, or Mary Karr if they prefer women authors. And look into a tutor for a couple of math sessions. It's not so much about learning new things, but more about how to solve a problem faster.

A 1490 to a 1530 is basically two or three questions. Also, consider taking a practice ACT test and see how that goes. A 34 is good enough for everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Take a step back. 1490 is good! What’s wrong with you? Do you know what kids do when they are under so much pressure? They explode.

[Anonymous]

Are these practice tests he’s studying for and taking on his own, or is this part of a review class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is a rising junior and an excellent student at his school. He already took honors precalc as a sophomore and achieved a near perfect score in that class. He’s aiming at a few T20 schools and knows that’s it’s almost a must to get over 1500 on the SAT.

He’s taken 4 practice SATs over the summer and his score is ranging between a 1450 and a 1490, almost equally split between Math and English. He’s already taken several sessions with a tutor he likes at a reputable testing place in the area. The tests aren’t revealing any particular areas of weakness.

If your child was in a similar position , what has helped the most? More practice tests? Changing tutors? Simply more studying ?

Yes. My recommendation is to back off and tell your kid to chill. A friggin' 1490??? out of 1600??? ten lousy points below the "almost a must" 1500?
Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a rising junior and an excellent student at his school. He already took honors precalc as a sophomore and achieved a near perfect score in that class. He’s aiming at a few T20 schools and knows that’s it’s almost a must to get over 1500 on the SAT.

He’s taken 4 practice SATs over the summer and his score is ranging between a 1450 and a 1490, almost equally split between Math and English. He’s already taken several sessions with a tutor he likes at a reputable testing place in the area. The tests aren’t revealing any particular areas of weakness.

If your child was in a similar position , what has helped the most? More practice tests? Changing tutors? Simply more studying ?

You are approaching it the wrong way.

Taking practice tests early and before they are ready is demoralizing. Then seeing the lower than expected score puts pressure. The family becomes very concerned and it gets to the kids head and they struggle to make progress.

I have been helping a lot of kids with testing and I see this quite frequently then case with kids who are very focused on T20.

1490 as a sophomore is demoralizing. Wow. How sad our society has come to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a rising junior and an excellent student at his school. He already took honors precalc as a sophomore and achieved a near perfect score in that class. He’s aiming at a few T20 schools and knows that’s it’s almost a must to get over 1500 on the SAT.

He’s taken 4 practice SATs over the summer and his score is ranging between a 1450 and a 1490, almost equally split between Math and English. He’s already taken several sessions with a tutor he likes at a reputable testing place in the area. The tests aren’t revealing any particular areas of weakness.

If your child was in a similar position , what has helped the most? More practice tests? Changing tutors? Simply more studying ?

Too early.

The verbal score will naturally increase after taking AP lit in junior year. 50 point increase will make it to 790 or 800.

The verbal part can't be easily prepped. Rigorous English courses really help, a lot.

I think most schools do Lang in 11th and then Lit in 12th. But either way, 50 point increases above 740 don’t generally just naturally happen like they do with lower scores. That’s missing few to no questions. Most have to really study for that because it really isn’t about content gaps at that level anymore.

[Anonymous]

If your kid is self-motivated, try the Prep Pros math book from Amazon ($35). DD seemed to have plateaued at 1480; after working through the book her score went up 90 points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a rising junior and an excellent student at his school. He already took honors precalc as a sophomore and achieved a near perfect score in that class. He’s aiming at a few T20 schools and knows that’s it’s almost a must to get over 1500 on the SAT.

He’s taken 4 practice SATs over the summer and his score is ranging between a 1450 and a 1490, almost equally split between Math and English. He’s already taken several sessions with a tutor he likes at a reputable testing place in the area. The tests aren’t revealing any particular areas of weakness.

If your child was in a similar position , what has helped the most? More practice tests? Changing tutors? Simply more studying ?

You are approaching it the wrong way.

Taking practice tests early and before they are ready is demoralizing. Then seeing the lower than expected score puts pressure. The family becomes very concerned and it gets to the kids head and they struggle to make progress.

I have been helping a lot of kids with testing and I see this quite frequently then case with kids who are very focused on T20.

1490 as a sophomore is demoralizing. Wow. How sad our society has come to this.

It depends. At some well resourced schools it can be as many peers get it done 1550+ sophomore year. At rural schools not at all.

[Anonymous]

Aren’t there firestations where you can leave unwanted kids? I would drop him off at one of those and focus on the remaining ones.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely false that you 'need' a 1500.

[Anonymous]

OP, the kid doesn't need a score for another year. Relax. Scores tend to increase naturally over time, as academic skills increase with more experience at school, particularly AP classes that involve verbal skills.

Have him take a test this fall and then again later, in the spring or in Aug/Sept of senior year if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a rising junior and an excellent student at his school. He already took honors precalc as a sophomore and achieved a near perfect score in that class. He’s aiming at a few T20 schools and knows that’s it’s almost a must to get over 1500 on the SAT.

He’s taken 4 practice SATs over the summer and his score is ranging between a 1450 and a 1490, almost equally split between Math and English. He’s already taken several sessions with a tutor he likes at a reputable testing place in the area. The tests aren’t revealing any particular areas of weakness.

If your child was in a similar position , what has helped the most? More practice tests? Changing tutors? Simply more studying ?

Too early.

The verbal score will naturally increase after taking AP lit in junior year. 50 point increase will make it to 790 or 800.

The verbal part can't be easily prepped. Rigorous English courses really help, a lot.

I think most schools do Lang in 11th and then Lit in 12th. But either way, 50 point increases above 740 don’t generally just naturally happen like they do with lower scores. That’s missing few to no questions. Most have to really study for that because it really isn’t about content gaps at that level anymore.

This is absolutely false. It’s not about content gaps at all. It’s comprehension. Mine improved naturally on verbal part after AP lit, which involves tons of reading and analysis. If the kid hasn’t taken AP lang, then lang will also help. FWIW, mine got 800 on verbal.

[Anonymous]

A 1490 is a great score!! People’s sense of what’s a good score has become so messed up with all the re-centering, superscoring and the high number of kids scoring 1500+. Your kid will be fine. There’s no different between a 1480 and a 1520.

[Anonymous]

No difference- above poster