Anonymous wrote:so my kid is a junior athlete - ivy aspirations for 4 schools (Duke, Cornell, Brown, Penn), and has been told they have the talent - it’s a sport with measurable times, sooo, it’s legit. Good grades T10% - and has been told a 1400 score is needed. Kid hit 1180 with some prep in September.

Appreciate all on this site, but would really appreciate answers staying on topic and just commenting on the following question - with unlimited view on prep, can just about any kid get up to a 1400? don’t want views on feasibility of interest or handicapping kids odds on getting in, or asking about/commenting on the sport, kids focus on just these schools, blah blah - pls pls just answer the question if you choose to reply

1180 to 1400 is going to be a little bit of a challenge in a short period of time. If this is a reasonably bright and disciplined kid, you can get the math up with a good tutor. The English part is more problematic. There are fewer tricks. It's about comprehension. And that obviously benefits natural readers, and you can't make up for that in a month or two.

Look into the ACT as well. Easier test, but much faster. Some do much better on one or the other.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - Duke coach said 1350 - so less wood to chop there - duke not at the top of kids wish list though, so we will see. If kid hits 1350 and has to live with it, sure he will be fine

OP, is your kid's 1180 a PSAT or SAT score. This matters a lot. Please clarify.

OP here - Duke coach said 1350 - so less wood to chop there - duke not at the top of kids wish list though, so we will see. If kid hits 1350 and has to live with it, sure he will be fine

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so my kid is a junior athlete - ivy aspirations for 4 schools (Duke, Cornell, Brown, Penn), and has been told they have the talent - it’s a sport with measurable times, sooo, it’s legit. Good grades T10% - and has been told a 1400 score is needed. Kid hit 1180 with some prep in September.

Appreciate all on this site, but would really appreciate answers staying on topic and just commenting on the following question - with unlimited view on prep, can just about any kid get up to a 1400? don’t want views on feasibility of interest or handicapping kids odds on getting in, or asking about/commenting on the sport, kids focus on just these schools, blah blah - pls pls just answer the question if you choose to reply

I taught at Kaplan for years and 1400 is not achievable for most kids. However if your kid is at 1180, I would say there's a reasonable chance you can get to 1400 with a good dedicated tutor that focuses on getting your kid into the heads of the test writers. As they say, think like the test writer

I love the way everyone is saying "your kid can do this" with little or no knowledge of the kid.

The fact is that most kids cannot and do not get 1400 no matter how hard they try.

PP here.

I didn't say their kid could do it but there is in fact a reasonable chance. An 1180-1400 is going from the 73rd percentile to the 93 percentile. They have to cover 3/4ths of the people scoring better than them.

This is not impossible. It's not likely but there is a reasonable chance if you can get a good tutor

Anonymous wrote:An ivy college class is not harder than a state U college class.
It all depends on the professor

Haha, I took classes at my local state U in high school and went to an Ivy. It is absolutely harder.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so my kid is a junior athlete - ivy aspirations for 4 schools (Duke, Cornell, Brown, Penn), and has been told they have the talent - it’s a sport with measurable times, sooo, it’s legit. Good grades T10% - and has been told a 1400 score is needed. Kid hit 1180 with some prep in September.

Appreciate all on this site, but would really appreciate answers staying on topic and just commenting on the following question - with unlimited view on prep, can just about any kid get up to a 1400? don’t want views on feasibility of interest or handicapping kids odds on getting in, or asking about/commenting on the sport, kids focus on just these schools, blah blah - pls pls just answer the question if you choose to reply

1400 is the 93rd percentile, as in only 7% of the kids taking the test score higher. That is not "most kids"?

However, 1180 is not that far away from 1400

74th to 93rd percentile is a long way

Absolutely not achievable for MOST kids. How smart is YOUR kid? That’s the question you need to ask. You may have an idea from other standardized testing they have done over the years.

Anonymous wrote:so my kid is a junior athlete - ivy aspirations for 4 schools (Duke, Cornell, Brown, Penn), and has been told they have the talent - it’s a sport with measurable times, sooo, it’s legit. Good grades T10% - and has been told a 1400 score is needed. Kid hit 1180 with some prep in September.

Appreciate all on this site, but would really appreciate answers staying on topic and just commenting on the following question - with unlimited view on prep, can just about any kid get up to a 1400? don’t want views on feasibility of interest or handicapping kids odds on getting in, or asking about/commenting on the sport, kids focus on just these schools, blah blah - pls pls just answer the question if you choose to reply

Duke and any school in the top 50 are way out in f league for someone getting an 1180. Even if they could get to 1400 , 1400 is not even close to the 25%ile pre-test optional. If kid got in kid would be in the bottom quarter by a lot and risk a mix of B/C grades. They would not be competitive for any major other than athlete -track majors, hence mocked by the majority of undergrads for being “dumb” comparatively . With so many small seminar discussion based classes this is a recipe for disaster and mental health issues.

Anonymous wrote:so my kid is a junior athlete - ivy aspirations for 4 schools (Duke, Cornell, Brown, Penn), and has been told they have the talent - it’s a sport with measurable times, sooo, it’s legit. Good grades T10% - and has been told a 1400 score is needed. Kid hit 1180 with some prep in September.

Appreciate all on this site, but would really appreciate answers staying on topic and just commenting on the following question - with unlimited view on prep, can just about any kid get up to a 1400? don’t want views on feasibility of interest or handicapping kids odds on getting in, or asking about/commenting on the sport, kids focus on just these schools, blah blah - pls pls just answer the question if you choose to reply

1400 is the 93rd percentile, as in only 7% of the kids taking the test score higher. That is not "most kids"?

However, 1180 is not that far away from 1400 and I think good prep could certainly boost their score. Don't have resources to help here.. Both my kids were one and done. DC1 used Prepexpert online coaching for 6 weeks and DC2 didn't use anyone. I believe Prepexpert guarantees a certain quantum of increase if you take their prep. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:My ds got 1050 in his first practice SAT and ended up with 1450 superscore after some Khan Academy, multiple practice tests, and the question bank.

His hs is not great and I think his low initial score is a reflection of that.

I'm one of the PPs whose kid increased from 1100s PSAT to 1400+ SAT. I'd say the same -- she was able to learn a lot of it by going through the practice tests, but wow, she was coming from behind on math.

I don't think this country has nearly enough math teachers, but that's a different subject.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so my kid is a junior athlete - ivy aspirations for 4 schools (Duke, Cornell, Brown, Penn), and has been told they have the talent - it’s a sport with measurable times, sooo, it’s legit. Good grades T10% - and has been told a 1400 score is needed. Kid hit 1180 with some prep in September.

Appreciate all on this site, but would really appreciate answers staying on topic and just commenting on the following question - with unlimited view on prep, can just about any kid get up to a 1400? don’t want views on feasibility of interest or handicapping kids odds on getting in, or asking about/commenting on the sport, kids focus on just these schools, blah blah - pls pls just answer the question if you choose to reply

I taught at Kaplan for years and 1400 is not achievable for most kids. However if your kid is at 1180, I would say there's a reasonable chance you can get to 1400 with a good dedicated tutor that focuses on getting your kid into the heads of the test writers. As they say, think like the test writer

I love the way everyone is saying "your kid can do this" with little or no knowledge of the kid.

The fact is that most kids cannot and do not get 1400 no matter how hard they try.

PP. A lot of the parents and kids here fall into the demographics that respond well to prepping. That means - had good schooling so math and grammar prep reactivate existing knowledge instead of teaching it for the first time, has a powerful financial or status-based reason to succeed, no expense spared on excellent diagnostics and tutoring.

I was unable to move my SAT math score through self-study as a high schooler. With ETS official materials, an adult perspective, and a more mature brain, I was able to remedy my math deficits myself and score much higher on the GMAT as a 27 year old than I did on the GMAT at the end of college (in SAT terms it would be like going from 1370 to 1570). I also sent my high school kid to 3 school years of remedial franchise math tutoring 8x/mo because his school district was sloppy with prealgebra and algebra 1. He became a National Merit Commended Student which is normal/baseline for our family. Without the tutoring, I'm sure he wouldn't have done as well. Because the foundation just wasn't there. We only have 5 or so kids taking Calc BC this year out of 350-ish.

The kid needs to care and it might take more time than is available. That's reality. Also, as in my example, there are ineffective study materials and techniques. That's where money helps a lot.

Anonymous wrote:My ds got 1050 in his first practice SAT and ended up with 1450 superscore after some Khan Academy, multiple practice tests, and the question bank.

His hs is not great and I think his low initial score is a reflection of that.

How many times did he take the official SATs?

No way. It’s unusual to improve that much.

My ds got 1050 in his first practice SAT and ended up with 1450 superscore after some Khan Academy, multiple practice tests, and the question bank.

His hs is not great and I think his low initial score is a reflection of that.

It is not possible for most kids to get 97th percentile, even with tutoring. That said, is it even lower scores on both sides of test or unbalanced? If only one side is low then it can be easier to raise, particularly if math is lower to start. reading comp is either you have it or don’t kind of thing, especially in ACt when they have even less time per section so speed matters.