My kid scored 1520 on PSAT and 1600 SAT first and only attempt. No test prep. I noticed Calc BC was mentioned — SAT was taken in 11th grade before Calc BC. My advice — the best thing you can do for your kid in middle school is to encourage reading. Anything they like!!! As long as they read now, notes prep needed. I think my kid studied for one week for SAT and that helped with PSAT. I realize some kids might need formal test prep, but seriously… just encourage them to read!

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Anonymous wrote:If the student has had Algebra 2 by sophomore year, then prepping summer before Jr is what my kids have done. One took the test in August, Dec, and then Sr year August and the 2nd kid took August and March of Jr year. The hope is to be done by December of Jr year, but as you can see neither of my kids hit that target. Jr year APs can be a lot and exams are in May so kids should consider pacing themselves.

That said, we weren’t chasing NMF. Those kids do probably start prepping much earlier.

I think most kids seeking NMSF prep the summer before junior year, take their first SAT in late August, then the PSAT on the regular school date. Our NMSF kid took one more SAT in November and was done.

I'd say a lot of NMSF chasers start earlier, but this is a popular path. Our kid prepped summer before Junior year, took SAT in August and September, maxed out the score on the second try, and took PSAT in October and will almost certainly be a NMSF.

How long did they prep? Just trying to figure out how much time to set aside this summer

hard core prep for 2 weeks in august before junior year. they were done with job/camp august 15th and did a one-week bootcamp plus about 5 sessions with a tutor. really did like 5 hours a day of sat prep for 14 days. a full length test every 4th day. Then did PSAT and two SATS in fall of junior year and was done.

3 kids. all did this. It's good to knock it out all the prep before junior year even starts. I think it's a waste before you've done the math in school so starting in sophomore year seems dumb.

Anonymous wrote:Do most kids start prepping for the SAT in middle school? Should you plan to have your 8th grader take the SAT to know where they stand?

We prepped DC before sitting the PSAT.

Being familiar with the kinds of questions asked and the test format at least boosted confidence.

DP. Once your kid has finished Algebra 2/Precal, he or she has enough math to get an 800 in the math section. It doesn’t mean your kid should not practice under quasi-test conditions, but technically they have the foundation needed to get a high math score. IMO, my kids didn’t lose the knowledge of the earlier math just because they take calculus early. Both my kids took the SAT by fall junior year and were one and done. Both had taken some calculus by that point. They were both happy that they could move on from the test before things ramped up junior year. If my kids were not scoring over their goals on the practice tests, they would have waited to take the SAT.

I hope that the poster mentioning middle school is a troll. Just have your kid prep at least 4-6 weeks before the actual test.

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Anonymous wrote:If your kid is smart and pays attention in school, they shouldn’t need any additional prep.

Not true. Kids in the most advanced math track haven't taken the math that's on the test in a few years. Also there's something in the math that isn't taught in VA schools so they need to learn that or they will miss those questions.

They simply didn’t learn the math. I’m guessing they haven’t reviewed their colors or shapes in a few years, either. Do they need to review those as well?

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Anonymous wrote:If your kid is smart and pays attention in school, they shouldn’t need any additional prep.

If your kid is smart, they are probably taking Calculus when they are taking the SAT. They absolutely need to review algebra concepts that feature heavily on the SAT since they might have last done it in 8th or 9th grade.

If your child is in calculus and needs to review 8th grade algebra, they shouldn’t be in calculus…

Weird take

Only weird to folks who think test scores are the point of school. Some of us expect our kids to actually learn.

My kids learned just fine, thank you. Doesn't mean they don't need review of concepts they haven't seen in a couple of year.

My kids were NMSFs and got top scores in their Calc BC classes and high AP scores.

Bolded is irrelevant. This is the result of teaching to the test, and believing test scores are meaningful in and of themselves. You admit that they don’t even know eighth grade algebra. That’s not indicative of a calculus student who has actually learned extremely basic math. Sorry.

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Anonymous wrote:If your kid is smart and pays attention in school, they shouldn’t need any additional prep.

If your kid is smart, they are probably taking Calculus when they are taking the SAT. They absolutely need to review algebra concepts that feature heavily on the SAT since they might have last done it in 8th or 9th grade.

If your child is in calculus and needs to review 8th grade algebra, they shouldn’t be in calculus…

The SAT is a timed exam. Kids should absolutely spend time reviewing algebra if they have been doing higher level math because they need to move quickly and confidently on exam day. Scratching your head trying to remember a problem solving strategy that you haven't need to use for 2 or 3 years is not the key to high SAT math score. Math prep is easy and there a ton of resources for it.

There’s a difference between learning and just committing to short term memory long enough to take a test.

If you don’t know 8th grade algebra by the time you’re in calculus, it means you didn’t actually *learn* algebra. And you don’t belong in calculus.

Maybe your kid's essay can be about how they are so smart about math that they got a 5 on the Calc AP exam, but couldn't break 620 on the SAT Math section because they didn't bother to do any algebra review/prep.

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Anonymous wrote:If your kid is smart and pays attention in school, they shouldn’t need any additional prep.

If your kid is smart, they are probably taking Calculus when they are taking the SAT. They absolutely need to review algebra concepts that feature heavily on the SAT since they might have last done it in 8th or 9th grade.

If your child is in calculus and needs to review 8th grade algebra, they shouldn’t be in calculus…

Weird take

Only weird to folks who think test scores are the point of school. Some of us expect our kids to actually learn.

My kids learned just fine, thank you. Doesn't mean they don't need review of concepts they haven't seen in a couple of year.

My kids were NMSFs and got top scores in their Calc BC classes and high AP scores.