tutorspree.

The cost for a lot of these sat prep places is exorbitant. ($4,000 and up) do your homework and know what works best for your kid. we knew that a group setting would not work for DC.

There are less expensive options out there. You just have to do some work and find them.

Anonymous wrote:Prep Matters

+1. We've had a very good experience there. If you are aiming at competitive colleges it's probably worth the investment in score improvement.

Prep Matters

Has anyone had a good experience with a particular SAT test prep in DC/MD? Seem to be alot out there. TIA.

Anonymous wrote:My sophomore just got his results back from the practice test, and he was in the 85% percentile. Not what I was expecting based on his grades and what teachers have been telling him about what colleges he should be thinking about. (Of course I have not told him this.) Do kids' PSAT scores change considerably between sophomore and junior year? How much of an indicator is the sophomore PSAT of the student's eventual SAT scores? DS didn't do any prep except take a short practice test his school sent home the night before. Should he prep this summer for the PSAT, or just take an SAT prep course? I understand that the PSAT isn't meaningful except for National Merit. Thanks.

Prepping for the PSAT in the summer will help with the SAT. Much less pressure with other things so it is a good time to do it. The score is good for most colleges but if your child is hoping for a more selective college, that score will not do it.

My DC just got PSAT scores back and went up over 40 points from 10th grade test. Started SAT prep about 6 weeks before PSATs which i think helped a lot, although the prep is focused on SATs.

Anonymous wrote:Marke sure to take a SAT prepl course. My DD got a 180 on the PSAT which made us worry but she took an SAT prep course and got a 2250 which got her into an Ivy

180 is no reason to "worry." That's above average! A 60 in critical reading is 88%tile this year.

Anonymous wrote:Did he get his scores at school or were they mailed? My MCPS 10th grade daughter hasn't gotten hers yet.

The PSAT scores are returned to the school. It's up to each school how they return the scores to their students. Our school mailed them to the parents.

Did he get his scores at school or were they mailed? My MCPS 10th grade daughter hasn't gotten hers yet.

Agree not to worry or put pressure/stress on him. My DD went up from just over 200 (2000 in SAT terms) on 10th grade PSAT to 2380 the first and only time for the SAT. PSAT in 10th was completely "cold", no prior practice tests even, and the scores were helpful in terms of what to focus on (in her case verbal not math). It was actually useful for her to do prep over the summer between 10th and 11th, very focused on what she needed in terms of test-taking skills and verbal, and by the time she took PSAT in 11th she had improved a lot and did not need any further prep junior year, which was great, because there is so much else going on junior year that fitting in further test prep is really just adding on time pressure and stress.

Marke sure to take a SAT prepl course. My DD got a 180 on the PSAT which made us worry but she took an SAT prep course and got a 2250 which got her into an Ivy

He didn't share his score sheet with me. He said all of the scores were in a similar range but that math was lowest, so that is encouraging. Thanks.

It would be helpful to post his scores in each area. If he is lower in math it is easier to prep than reading and writing.

I'd put your energy into SAT prep. To be NMSF you need about a 220 depending on which state you are in. It's unlikely he'll go from 85 to 99.5 percentile.

Of course it varies by kid but we had good results with SAT tutoring with good score improvement. It was worth it for us but others feel strongly that it's a racket and all you need is a prep book and motivation to self prep. I can't say which is right as we didn't think self prep would work for our particular kids.

My sophomore just got his results back from the practice test, and he was in the 85% percentile. Not what I was expecting based on his grades and what teachers have been telling him about what colleges he should be thinking about. (Of course I have not told him this.) Do kids' PSAT scores change considerably between sophomore and junior year? How much of an indicator is the sophomore PSAT of the student's eventual SAT scores? DS didn't do any prep except take a short practice test his school sent home the night before. Should he prep this summer for the PSAT, or just take an SAT prep course? I understand that the PSAT isn't meaningful except for National Merit. Thanks.