Parents of the HS Class of 2012 - Original - Page 105

MizzBee · 10-13-2010, 12:57 PM

My S took both the SAT and ACT. He is focusing only on the ACT now. it is more logical to him, and he is not a humanities kind of guy. Vocabulary words kill him on the SAT, and so he feels that the ACT is more sensible. One of the biggest differences in taking the ACT involves the time allotted to take the test. He never felt rushed in the SAT, but he had timing problems with the science portion. I have enrolled him in a speed reading seminar to help.
He was close to NM when he took the PSAT last year, so he is taking it again today. I don't have the heart to tell him that if he scores well, he will need to take the SAT again to quaify for NMF.

amtc · 10-13-2010, 01:42 PM

chrissyblu - You only need 2 subject tests for Yale.

condor30 · 10-13-2010, 02:17 PM

ds's been sick this week. i think the upside is that he got rest the last couple of days and wasn't worrying about studying. he took psat today and says he feels good about it. as long as he feels good about it, i am thrilled, no matter what his score

he'll have several opportunities to take both the SAT and the ACT in the next year.

glido · 10-13-2010, 05:23 PM

Feeling as though DD12 has really turned a corner. She took the PSAT this morning, took the SAT last Saturday and has two SAT 2s finished (WP fresh, Bio soph.). She deserves cake!

DougBetsy · 10-13-2010, 05:50 PM

She deserves cake and shoe shopping!

Iglooo · 10-13-2010, 05:56 PM

glido, That's a good place to be. It will be a few months for my D to get there.

glido · 10-13-2010, 05:56 PM

Oh, I didn't think of shoe shopping. There is no doubt that she would prefer shoe shopping. No doubt.

glido · 10-13-2010, 06:00 PM

Igloo: We pushed it a little, but figured she would be as ready for SAT2s as she would ever be right after taking the AP. And, we figured she would study hard for the PSAT if she had to take the SAT the Saturday before, plus, she has a handful of APs in the spring, so we would prefer she not HAVE to deal with the SAT then. Also, her EC is heavy in the spring.

There are just so many test, we wanted to spread them out a little. I think she will have a lot less pressure if she takes in the future, knowing that she already has one in the bag, so to speak.

Gwen Fairfax · 10-13-2010, 06:26 PM

Yay, glido! That's a lot! Definitely cake and shoe shopping and just a big sigh of relief. We have not crossed one of those rubicons yet and I can hear D downstairs practicing for a choral audition-- a gospel piece-- a fun surprise to hear. Then on to PSAT's .....

DougBetsy · 10-13-2010, 06:46 PM

In typical 16-year-old eloquence, D says the PSAT was, "fine."

That is all.

seiclan · 10-13-2010, 09:00 PM

DS said the PSAT was "fine" too but then later I got him to elaborate. He said that the math was really easy (but he is a math kid), the reading was not any more difficult or easy than last year (when he took it as a sophomore) but that this time he decided to actually do it (last year he left half the cr section blank because..."it dosen't count anyhow"), the writing was ok but he didn't finish it (and left 7 blank). Unlikely that he is a contender for NM but who knows? I looked at his writing section from last year and he had gotten a 51 and had left 10 blank/omitted. Anyhow, it was good practice and he got to miss 4 class periods!

lilmom · 10-13-2010, 10:33 PM

Well, D reported that the PSAT was "easy" but I don't know what that means in teen lingo. She didn't score well last year and with little serious prep, I don't know what to expect. Glad it's over, though. And I was happy to see in her progress report that she's doing better than she thought. Apparently, some teachers didn't post some grades online so her grades weren't accurate.

chrissyblu · 10-14-2010, 01:03 AM

amtc: I know, but Yale makes you report all Subject II's, whereas other schools let you choose. She will want to report other scores for the other schools, but with Yale, will not have a choice. The Chem is not one she will want to report. She does not want to report anything lower than a 700.

As for the PSAT, I also got "it was easy, compared to the SAT." She only skipped one question.

amtc · 10-14-2010, 08:09 AM

Okay, just wanted to be clear because before the writing part of the SAT Yale required 3 Subject Tests and I know you have an older child which is when the switch occurred. My older daughter refused to take more tests than required so she only took 2 Subject Tests. My younger daughter refuses to take Subject Tests at all, oh well, it helps narrow down the search!

oldfort · 10-14-2010, 08:12 AM

D2 took the PSAT outside of the US. It is an American International school, so everyone was required to take the test. She said it took them one hour to fill out the information section - it is rather US centric, they didn't know what county they were in, whereas here district is important not just the street name. Kids were more concerned about previous night's TV show rather than taking the test.

D2 has been preparing for the Nov SAT, so this is a good practice. She thought CR was harder than other sections.