<p>SAT and ACT questions fall into the easy, medium and hard category.</p>
<p>D2 took the PSAT last year as a sophomore, and she got a bunch of easy and medium math questions wrong (as well as most of the hard) without any preparation at all. I think Prep classes (or private tutoring) can address those questions, because for most students it is a matter of remembering how to do basic problems or learning how to do them quickly. This is primarily what a prep class will teach. D2 took Princeton review and had some private tutoring in math for the last several weeks. I expect her score to rise significantly on the Oct. 9 SAT and the PSAT next weekend compared to her first PSAT math score. I expect that increase to come in her getting the easy questions and the majority of the mediums correct. Still keeping my fingers crossed for the hards, which are the tricky ones to teach.</p>
<p>Several years ago D1 had a difficult time getting her math section score above a 630 on the SAT. I think that to do better she would have had to get many more “hards” right, and tutoring and Kaplan really didn’t budge her score. Eventually it did go up to 650, in her final (3rd) attempt.</p>
<p>However, she did score a lot higher on the math ACT than on the SAT. One weekend she had her second 630 score on the SAT, followed the next weekend by a 33 on the ACT. SAT= 89th percentile, ACT= 99th percentile! </p>
<p>I say have the kids take these tests as much as they can tolerate, since the tests are not a science, and I have seen too many random scores and one-time improvements that don’t correlate with other scores.</p>
<p>Where I live the local university offers an ACT prep class (ACT is much more popular than SAT in Wisc) for $149.00. The class meets 3 hours every Saturday morning for 6 weeks. Have you thought of checking with any university or community college in your area to see if they offer something similar? Our university doesn’t advertise the service it’s more word of mouth and I realize it probably would be more expensive in your area but I thought it might be worth checking out for some of your kids.</p>
<p>My older D did very well on the SAT (much more the norm here rather than the ACT) but felt she could have done better on one section. I let her lead the process and she asked for a tutor just so she could work on one section. She did and felt it really helped–and she brought her score up to where she wanted it. After having success with this kind of directed, one on one help, D2 asked for the same. She didn’t need any help on math but did on the other two sections. Worked very specifically on certain types of things are did much better than she expected to do on all three. (Interestingly, her standards seem to have changed over time so she just took the SAT a second time last week as she would like to bring one section up further.) In any case, I write all this because, if the funding issue isn’t a concern, and a student wants to work on a specific area of the SAT rather than all of it, I do think private tutoring is a good option–it’s worked well for us. Incidently, early on, D took a practice ACT a company was offering (not official) and she did very poorly–an easy decision to stick with the SAT!</p>
<p>Also just wanted to mention that D2 and I went to a local Elon event last night. Got to meet the regional rep and the event was hosted by parents of a current junior. Really seems like an ideal school for D (experiential, encourages hands on, internships, community service, travel, etc.) but D hasn’t ruled out engineering and they don’t have an engineering program! Will still apply but that’s a red flag for me in a setting that, otherwise, seems ideal.</p>
<p>You can also check to see if your high school offers a semester of test prep.</p>
<p>If anyone here thinks their kid is on the border to get accepted and/or get merit aid, then extra test prep makes sense as long as your child will do the extra work. </p>
<p>Sounds like Rockville mom’s son is cooperative and motivated so the extra $$ for test prep makes sense, as long as it does not create extra stress. $$ for test prep really depends upon the kid.</p>
<p>My son’s SAT prep class was through the Princeton Review. Just go to their website and they will show the classes for your area starting @Thanksgiving for the once a week class. If I remember correctly, it was every Sunday from 2-5pm…long, yes, but for us, it was worth it. The class was literally in walking distance from our house. Also, they have “sales” on their classes, so don’t jump at the first price. Call them on the telephone to see how inexpensive you can get it. When I first looked on the website, the class showed a price of over $1000, but I paid @$600. For my S, who was taking several AP classes, this worked out very well since he HAD to go to the class and if he had just tried to study on his own, he would have taken the time to just do more schoolwork, or procrastinate. My kids work better under structure and a class away from our home was the best remedy.</p>
<p>Spectrum2, please let me know if your child joins the class and if you get it at a good price!</p>
<p>I had D take the SAT prep class offered by our local cc. The class was very reasonable, it was around $300 I believe. It met twice a week for 3 hours each class for 5 weeks. Do I think it was the best class around? Probably not. But I think it served it’s purpose. It got D familiar with the test. They went over the tips for the test, etc. She took the SAT on Oct. 9, if she did as well on the reading and writing sections as she did on all of the practice sections, we are good with that. Her problem is math. If the math score is not what we want, I may invest in a few hours of private tutoring for her to pull up the math score. </p>
<p>I will also have her do a practice ACT to see how that goes to compare to the Oct. SAT score. </p>
<p>I am really glad that we started this process the beginning of junior year. I figure it gives us plenty of time to figure out the right test and to get the score she needs, with minimal stress.</p>
<p>Slithey and Rockville–thanks!
W&L and Bradley are solid schools. Nadine, that thread you joked about might indeed have some interestingoptions for its kids.
I think a lot of parents and kids might benefit from schools which are actually glad to have them, vs. making them hope to get in as a reach.</p>
<p>I suspect some college admissions office consultant is making rounds with a Powerpoint presentation of the advantages of this strategy, with some slides walking the line of stereotypes about “smart people who have money”.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Chocchipcookie. I am familiar with PR but I had no idea that they would negotiate price so thank you for that tip. We are in a different situation in Texas. If S is in top 9% of his class he will automatically have admission to UT Austin, top 10% will be automatic admit to any other Texas school. Below that standardized tests matter. Its hard to motivatean optimist to study for standardized tests while he is completely happy to go to a Texas school and doesn’t really seem to get that he might not get automatic admission. The trouble is that while top 9 or 10 could happen, I can just as easily see it not happening. Perhaps if they get their rankings after this semester he will have a more realistic view of where he is. That may motivate him to work on testing. For now its the PSAT tomorrow that might also trigger some motivation…or not :).</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, I did not negotiate price on the telephone, although by calling them, they may be able to tell you when to sign up during their “sale” times…I remember checking the website periodically just because we were deciding between all the options. I remember looking at a price of @$1,000 for the class we were interested in, and then going back in a week later to sign up and the price had dropped to $600, much to my excitement!</p>
<p>I’m sure there is definite “wiggle room” with the price if you speak to someone on the phone…they are interested in getting new customers no matter if they have to lower the price for you or not.</p>
<p>btw, I knew nothing about these SAT classes ahead of time, which company had a better class or which had a weaker class…I am friends with a woman who has 6 children, all brilliant ivy league type, and she recommended Princeton Review. I figured her recommendation was a good one and it turned out to be great for us. Good luck.</p>
<p>I will also just add that my S1 is very self motivated and did the work. When it comes time for S2 to take the SAT or ACT, we will be in a different boat. Certainly not as motivated as his older brother. However, I still believe S2 will do better in a classroom setting away from home. Working with a review book will not work for my kids initially. Maybe AFTER a formal classroom setting he could do reviews on his own.</p>
<p>spectrum, do people in TX complain about this policy? It seems that high schools are not all equal in terms of how high achieving the students are. Someone who is below the top 10% at one school might be valedictorian at another. I remember reading about this years ago and thinking how unfair it seems.</p>
<p>Levirm, I doubt Texas is the only state which treats all high schools as being equal. Politically, it very difficult to do otherwise. </p>
<p>In addition, although the below top 10% kid at the affluent suburban HS might be the valedictorian at the ghetto school, perhaps he or she would not be once you eliminated the private tutoring and better teachers, classrooms, home livbes, computers and public libraries available in the affluent suburb.</p>
<p>Levirm: There are people who support and oppose the policy. It was conceived with the disparity you mentioned expected. The goal was to create diversity on the state college campuses and to give people from all backgrounds opportunities. It is not unheard of for students at a competitive school ranking below the top 10 to make an effort to transfer a HS that is less competitive before senior year. It is what it is. Lots of things can be viewed as fair to some and unfair to others. Just think about the National Merit System where the same score on one test will qualify students in one state for a scholarship and students in another for none. I could go on and on. As a parent all I can do is know the rules and work with them.</p>
<p>Chocchip: Thanks for the additional information.</p>
<p>Review of The Blessing of a B Minus (Tablet Magazine)</p>
<p>September 20, 2010</p>
<p>By Josh Lambert</p>
<p>For those parents still looking ahead to the college years as a welcome respite from their current entrenchment in adolescent angst and emotional pyrotechnics, Wendy Mogel’s The Blessing of a B Minus: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Resilient Teenagers (Simon and Schuster, October) presents strategies for dealing with the junior-high and high-school set. Following up on her surprise hit, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, Mogel draws as much from contemporary psychological research and frank common sense as from the Jewish pedagogical tradition: Don’t expect her, for instance, to endorse the Vilna Gaon’s advice to his wife and daughters that “every amusement is worthless” and so “the main thing is to remain at home.” </p>
<p>Has anyone read this? I saw it mentioned in the Parent Cafe and thought it looked interesting.</p>
<p>“Mogel gives parents the tools to do so and offers reassuring spiritual and ethical advice on:
• why influence is more effective than control
• teenage narcissism
• living graciously with rudeness
• the value of ordinary work
• why risk is essential preparation for the post–high school years
• when to step in and when to step back
• a sanctified approach to sex and substances”</p>
<p>rm: I downloaded a sample on my Kindle this morning but haven’t had the chance to read it…there is a discussion about it on the Motherlode blog in the NYtimes from yesterday that is excellent…i"ll post a link in a minute…</p>
<p>Just got some additional info on Marist from a father at an event I was just at. His S is a senior who is going to study business at college and Marist is one of his top choices. They were very impressed with the program, internships (mentioned IBM) and said the school is beautiful, with many views of the Hudson.</p>
<p>I have no idea of is grades, but wanted to share this info since Marist has been discussed here before.</p>
<p>RM/Rodney–thanks for the reference–that could be this month’s pick of the CC Bookclub, if there were one!</p>
<p>Rodney, I hope you are enjoying the Kindle–yet another reminder that these B students have mastered technology to a level that makes me feel I am still using wite-out and carbon paper</p>