PSAT

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Midwest apparently clueless mom here -- do kids study for the PSAT? My 10th grader didn't and I didn't really think this was a thing. Same as PP, 1330 and I feel like that is just fine.

Hi from another corner of the Midwest. I keep telling DMV people that people in the Midwest don't prep much. They don't seem to believe me. The incentives just aren't there because we have less competition to get into our good schools. Then on here we get to hear people yarning on about how dumb local kids must be at our flagships because of the SAT distributions.

My 11th grader refused to take a prep class. He has no time for a sustained test prep classroom experience due to multiple ECs taking all the available evening and weekend slots. His total score was same as in 10th grade. Unfortunately his verbal score went down so he will not make National Merit Commended with a total score exactly the same as his big brother.

I really don't know how to feel about it. Whether excellence is important for the sake of excellence. Or not to care about it because this is just a sham hoop-jumping exercise invented by bureaucrats. The older I get the more I lean towards the latter. Great scores and grades are less important than career planning, networking, and EQ.

PP here -- I know! It's a totally different vibe for sure. I didn't even know the PSATs were happening until my kid told me I needed to pick him up early from school. I thought it was another teacher work day until he told me he had taken the PSATs. His school pays whatever fee there is apparently as I told him I didn't recall sending $$ in and asked if I should have.

Some states have switched to using PSAT and SAT as their state achievement tests for public middle achool and high school. We are in Michigan. Our kids take the PSAT each year from 8th-11th then SAT in spring of 11th. All paid by the school district.

Interesting, our state doesn't do that. But I just looked at the NMS qualifying numbers and they are much, much lower here than Maryland and Virginia! Sorry DCUM moms. That must be a lot of additional stress!

It's not stressfu,l because national merit scholarship is meaningless

I don't know, it means something to us because it's money. We're a full-pay family who is striving to send our high achieving kid to the best school possible that they want to go to. We can afford it. But it's not without some sacrifice. So $2,500 here and another scholarship chance there is meaningful for our kid's quality of life and our ablity to help them. I could only imagine how helpful the money is to kids who truly do NEED it. Every bit counts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Midwest apparently clueless mom here -- do kids study for the PSAT? My 10th grader didn't and I didn't really think this was a thing. Same as PP, 1330 and I feel like that is just fine.

Hi from another corner of the Midwest. I keep telling DMV people that people in the Midwest don't prep much. They don't seem to believe me. The incentives just aren't there because we have less competition to get into our good schools. Then on here we get to hear people yarning on about how dumb local kids must be at our flagships because of the SAT distributions.

My 11th grader refused to take a prep class. He has no time for a sustained test prep classroom experience due to multiple ECs taking all the available evening and weekend slots. His total score was same as in 10th grade. Unfortunately his verbal score went down so he will not make National Merit Commended with a total score exactly the same as his big brother.

I really don't know how to feel about it. Whether excellence is important for the sake of excellence. Or not to care about it because this is just a sham hoop-jumping exercise invented by bureaucrats. The older I get the more I lean towards the latter. Great scores and grades are less important than career planning, networking, and EQ.

PP here -- I know! It's a totally different vibe for sure. I didn't even know the PSATs were happening until my kid told me I needed to pick him up early from school. I thought it was another teacher work day until he told me he had taken the PSATs. His school pays whatever fee there is apparently as I told him I didn't recall sending $$ in and asked if I should have.

Some states have switched to using PSAT and SAT as their state achievement tests for public middle achool and high school. We are in Michigan. Our kids take the PSAT each year from 8th-11th then SAT in spring of 11th. All paid by the school district.

Interesting, our state doesn't do that. But I just looked at the NMS qualifying numbers and they are much, much lower here than Maryland and Virginia! Sorry DCUM moms. That must be a lot of additional stress!

It's not stressfu,l because national merit scholarship is meaningless

I don't know, it means something to us because it's money. We're a full-pay family who is striving to send our high achieving kid to the best school possible that they want to go to. We can afford it. But it's not without some sacrifice. So $2,500 here and another scholarship chance there is meaningful for our kid's quality of life and our ablity to help them. I could only imagine how helpful the money is to kids who truly do NEED it. Every bit counts.

The prior PP’s comment is ridiculous. NMSF status gets you a full ride at University of Alabama and significant merit at a number of other schools the strivers on here would never consider for their privileged children. It’s a huge deal for families with smart kids who could not otherwise afford to get a bachelor’s degree.

[Anonymous]

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DC score went up 230 from 10th last year, 225. He prep for SAT over the summer

Huh?????

My best guess at interpreting PP’s comment is that their son’s PSAT score went up by 230, and the index was 225.

That’s right

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Midwest apparently clueless mom here -- do kids study for the PSAT? My 10th grader didn't and I didn't really think this was a thing. Same as PP, 1330 and I feel like that is just fine.

People study if they really care about NMSF and they live in a state where the cut score is really high. If you live in a less competitive state or don’t care about NMSF there’s no reason to study. (And congratulations on making life choices that help you and your kid stay sane, I wish I’d done the same.)

I think kids in those high cutoff states just prep for a fall SAT of junior year and use that for their PSAT prep. Our daughter who is a NMSF in MD this year took the August and November SAT. She didn’t specifically prep for the PSAT but assumed her studying for the SAT would help since she expected to be close to the cutoff under any circumstances.

+1. This is exactly the path my DC has taken this fall (junior year). Thought PSAT was rough this year, but increased by 100 points from last year.

[Anonymous]

Of course a parent whose child missed NMSF designation by 1 point on the selection index will cope by saying it's meaningless.