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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Some kids benefit from test prep, not every kid does. Some kids will get high scores no matter what. Studies show that scores go up upon taking the test a second time even without any prep in between test administrations. Many test prep places give kids a tough sample test which gives them a lower score to start off with, so that they can seem to get a higher return on their test prep dollar. One of my kids took a free test at his school. I actually laughed when I saw the score, because it bore no relationship to the score I would expect from this child from his previous performance on the many standardized tests given during school. He took the real test about six months later with no additional prep in between and got the scores I would have expected. If your kid does well on standardized tests, you know that by the time they're juniors in high school. It would have been a waste of money for our kid to do test prep.

We've talked to a lot of college admissions officials and they all say once you're over 2200, you are wasting time and money if you keep retaking the SAT.  They just don't differentiate after that level, they are looking at lots of other aspects of the application. Test scores are only one piece of the application and not even the most important piece. 
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If your point is simply that there is a subset of kids who will do fine without test prep because they will ace the tests no matter what, then I don't disagree.  I'm just not sure how that's a particularly helpful point to raise in response to a thread asking for guidance about how to help a junior prepare for the SAT and ACT.  Presumably if the OP's child has a history of performing brilliantly on every standardized test attempted, then OP wouldn't be asking this question.  Also, I'm not sure how many parents are in a position to predict how their child will do on a standardized test.  Unless you count the MSAs, which test knowledge and are nothing like the SATs, I don't think my daughter took a standardized test prior to the practice PSAT sophomore year.

With respect to your comments on a 2200 score, I'm also not sure how that's responsive to OPs question.  Sure, if you get a 2200 your first go, you can feel pretty comfortable thinking that score is good enough to make you a reasonable candidate for almost all schools, though it would be below the average for accepted students at the top ones.  But the question isn't whether to retake a test if you get a decent score, it's how to prepare for the test in the first place.  Most top schools require you to send all your test scores, so you don't want to have a poor first outing if those are your target schools.  If you want to increase your chances of doing well the first time, it would be in your best interests to prep for the test either on your own or using a service.

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