My kid went from 1230 in PSAT in 10th grade to 1590 in SAT in 11th grade. Sometime a scare is a good thing.

Looks like you've gotten a lot of good advice already, but I will add and echo others. I would disregard this as any indicator of dd's intellect or college track. I woukd take away the impact of the anxiety and set up therapy if not in it already. I would also make note to have her double check on accommodations for all future testing. I think studying is helpful, but I also see merit in ditching SAT format altogether for ACT. SAT has convoluted questioning that can sabotage some students. ACT is more straightforward. When my junior switched to ACT, she initially got an upper 20s score but earned a 35 on her first actual test after working through a prep book. She is adhd, and I always joke that standardized testing with her is like going to the craps table! But, ACT prep seemed to make sense, and she was consistently in 34-35 range after about 4 weeks working through the book.

I used to teach SAT test prep. It does not measure intelligence or content mastery or college readiness. It only measures how well a student does with those questions.

You know your kid is bright. She does well at school. She will do well in college, but it is good that you have an opportunity to help her prepare for this aspect of college admissions or enhance other parts of her academic portfolio if she decides to apply TO. There is no shame in that! All the best to you both.

Anonymous wrote:Ok, what is up with MoCo not getting the accommodations in place for kids for the psat??

This happened to BOTH of my stop kids. I told his parent it’s the second kid to email the counselor and make sure he would get the accommodations since the first kid didn’t. And he didn’t, and the second kid also didn’t get accommodations.

It’s so annoying. It should be automatic.

MCPS parents, email the counselors months in advance to make sure their kid has the accommodations in place for the psat, act, sat, and ap.

THIS

I didn't know I should do this so my DS with a 504 did not get accommodations for his PSAT. The counselor said it was a screw up-he was sent to the wrong room to take the test and then the teacher wouldn't let him leave when he said he should be in a different room for kids with accommodations. Well, that type of error never happened again with him and though DS is smart, he wasn't going to qualify for a National Merit Scholarship so we let it go. The scores didn't reflect his abilities and he understood this based on the situation. No worries though, he did great on the ACT when he got his accommodations and got into a great college. I would not overthink this even though it's very disappointing.

For those PPs suggesting that OP’s kid doesn’t belong in college or that OP is causing the kid’s anxiety, you have no idea. OP, you’ve received some thoughtful comments here but some ignorant ones too. You may consider cross posting in the special needs forum. You’ll find many parents of extremely high functioning kids with severe anxiety who attend great colleges and lead happy lives. Good luck.

Most schools are TO anyway so no need to worry about it even if your kid’s score doesn’t improve much. I was a terrible test taker and now have two Master’s degrees. It’s a test, not a determination of your future.

Anxiety is a tough nut to deal with. But for what it is worth some of the world's best and most successful athletes vomit before every game. They know their anxiety will always be there so they just accept it as part of game day

OP just stop

PSAT'S MEAN NOTHING.


You are giving your kid test anxiety

Anonymous wrote:Tutor here - scores are totally worthless if your kid has accommodations and didn’t get them. Have you formally apied to both College Board and aCT for accommodations? If not, that is why DD didn’t get accommodations. Your school 504 plan doesn’t trigger SAT and ACT, your school has to take that plan and apply. You can do that anytime for SAT, and once done the granted accommodations are available for all SAT and AP exams or any other College Board products for years (life?) You must be registered for an ACT test to submit a request for accommodations and you have to re-request the accommodations for each test, although once provided they seem to be the same each time subsequently requested.

I do not know why schools fail to request and provide accommodations. It happens at every stage - in school plans and for testing and it a form of illegal disability discrimination.

Yes, her accommodations were uploaded to the College Board. I have a letter from College Board verifying her eligibility. Her school sent her to the wrong room. When I learned what happened and complained, the administrator apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again. The counselor said not to worry, it’s just practice. I’m more concerned it will happen again when it really matters.

My 10th grade DD didn't knock it out of the park with her PSATs, and I'm totally fine with it.

We do plan on doing an SAT prep course before she takes SATs next school year, and we'll see how that goes. Some kids do better with the ACT. Plus the SATs are changing soon (https://www.usnews.com/education/articles/the-sat-is-changing-heres-what-to-know), and there are a lot of test-optional colleges.

My 11th grader scored 1090, and according to the College Board is in the 77th percentile. So lots of kids did not score well.

Tutor here - scores are totally worthless if your kid has accommodations and didn’t get them. Have you formally apied to both College Board and aCT for accommodations? If not, that is why DD didn’t get accommodations. Your school 504 plan doesn’t trigger SAT and ACT, your school has to take that plan and apply. You can do that anytime for SAT, and once done the granted accommodations are available for all SAT and AP exams or any other College Board products for years (life?) You must be registered for an ACT test to submit a request for accommodations and you have to re-request the accommodations for each test, although once provided they seem to be the same each time subsequently requested.

I do not know why schools fail to request and provide accommodations. It happens at every stage - in school plans and for testing and it a form of illegal disability discrimination.

Anonymous wrote:I need some perspective and kindness please.

I just received sophomore DD’s scores and they are very low (as in “not on track for college” according to the College Board low). She doesn’t know yet and I’m wondering if I should break the news or let her find out on her own. She has extreme test anxiety and despite her accommodations, the school messed up and she didn’t receive them. She panicked on the test and left whole sections blank. I had the option to throw out the results, but I didn’t and now I regret it. My husband says to forget about it, but I’m pretty anxious too.

Where do we go from here? How can I help her prepare without freaking her out more? She’s a good student (mostly As in honors/AP) but a terrible test taker, obviously. We had her tested for learning disabilities years ago but received a diagnosis of anxiety instead. I’m at a loss.

She will have access to the scores since they are in her College Board account and also in Naviance. So there's no way she doesn't run across them at some point.

I'd find a time when she is in a stable mood. And make it a no-big-deal conversation. Remind her that the school screwed up and didn't give her the necessary accommodations and remind her that she said she left a bunch of questions blank. So it is a meaningless score. "Oh Well! We'll make sure it goes right next time..."

I would approach it as “well we knew this was going to happen since you didn’t get your accommodations and didn’t finish the test.” I’d look a little at the score breakdown to see how she did on the sections she did do, to see if there’s a pattern to how her anxiety kicked in. Start working with something like khan academy when she has time so that the questions are old hat for her— that will minimize anxiety.

OP here: You people are awesome. I feel much better, thanks. We will hold off on test prep now, ensure her accommodations are in place for the next one, let her try Khan Academy this summer after she finishes Algebra 2, and research test optional colleges to take the pressure off. And we’ll all practice some deep breathing.

Anonymous wrote:Prep classes and tutors are so expensive. My daughter (the one who pulled her score up 180 points) used Kahn Academy only. She did a number of practice tests over about a month period. Just taking the test more than once helps with the anxiety I think.

This. Khan academy is free. If she said she panicked and left sections blank, she knows she didn’t score well. Tell her that part of her panic was just being unfamiliar with the test, which she can solve. Let her practice at her own pace at home. Don’t get a tutor or pay for prep sessions- that just raises the stakes and increases pressure on her.