My son took the PSAT in Oct and ACT in Dec of Jr. year. Prep for PSAT is very closely aligned with ACT. He scored 35.
This was suggested by the company that does the PSAT prep course at his school. He will only take SAT if he makes NMSF.
I definitely agree with everyone saying take real tests as few times as possible.
Like @hcmom65 's kid, I took the ACT exactly once, got a 36. I actually took it in mid-April at a free school session, and I did not find it any issue coming up with AP tests and finals. I actually think waiting for Spring helped me, since I was really in the zone academics-wise, after almost an entire school year completed.
I also took the PSAT only in junior year in October before the ACT, without prep because tbh I didnât know anything about National Merit, except that it was a scholarship and you had to take the test junior year in order to get it. (Actually I did read the packet CB gives, and did whatever practice was in there the night before the test lol.) Fortunately I scraped by with a good enough score (223) to probably make NMSF in Missouri. I cringe when I realize how uninformed I was risking the status/automatic scholarship money from some of my safeties.
Seeing my PSAT was the only reason I decided to take SAT, which I got done in the May session. Should make the cutoff, 1560.
I also took SAT subjects in June (math 2 and chem).
Anyway, reason I listed out my entire testing schedule is to say, do not take tests multiple times if you donât need to!! Even taking everything just once is too much in my opinion, and doing it multiple times is actually cruel.
Also, there is nothing wrong with waiting to take everything spring junior year. Thatâs what I did and Iâm more than satisfied with my results. (Current senior)
If your schools allows the kids to take the PSAT in 9, 10th, and 11th grades Iâd say do it. Practice and familiarity with the test does help increase scores. Plus the PSAT score is not sent to colleges. There is nothing to lose except the cost of the test. My S17 took the SAT for the first time in May of his sophomore year. He took one of the SAT subject tests in June of sophomore year because it aligned with his math class. He took the new SAT June of his junior year and his score aligned pretty well with both his old SAT and his ACT score. So some kids are fine taking the test early. Itâs one of those know your kid kind of things.
We may not have any middle school parents on this list right now, but my kids took the SAT in 7th grade and 8th grade through Johns Hopkins CTY talent search. The great thing about that was that they got practice on a real exam and the College Board deletes any scores of exams taken before 9th grade. There are several other talent search groups out there, including Duke and Northwestern. I donât know who does similar talent searches on the west coast.
The west coast has WATS - Western Academic Talent Search. D17 took the SAT in 6th and 8th grades, and the ACT in 7th. D19 took the SAT in 7th, but we couldnât make any of the other dates work for her to take it in other years. The downside is that the tests changed by the time they are taking it in high school. For those with middle schoolers now, I would highly recommend letting your child take either or both tests. Not only does it give them experience with the test, but it also can take some of the scariness factor out when it comes time to take it âfor real.â
My S took the old when he was 15 and the new this year. He improved according to the concordance drom that SAT the new,but not a great amount. He scored 2230 on the old and 1540 on the new, so thats his wheelhouse. He said some of the new ones questions were worded vaguely or a little tricky,so it comes down to some luck at that level. He scored 770 on the reading part of the new and 780 on the reading part of the old.Will colleges superscore the two? If so,it would only be a 10 point difference,but 10 points is 10 points,just wondering.
I do not think they will super score between the two tests, but send them both @snicks1234. They are both great scores.
@snicks1234 - Some colleges say they will super score and some say they wonât. Recent trip to Univ. Maryland - they said they will not superscore across Old and New SAT due to issues with conversion. But other admin. web sites still say they will. So, look at the college web site and/or call them to verify. Weâre sticking with ACT since D took the old SAT and taking it again wouldnât help with supersocre.
@snicks1234 colleges will state what their superscore policy is on their website. I havenât seen one that is willing to superscore across the versions (lots will superscore old with old and new with new).
There is one possible exception, interestingly MIT. This wording seems rather vague so all those applying should probably get clarification from them:
âSuperscore
If you take the same test (SAT, ACT, or an SAT Subject Test) multiple times, we will consider the highest score achieved in each section. This superscoring also applies to students who submit scores from both the âoldâ and ânewâ SAT. We do this in order to consider all applicants in their best light.â
@Mamelot MIT is a school he will be applying to.Very helpful. Appreciate all comments.Thank you.
Interesting that he scored higher on the old - the concordance charts would knock off about 30 points from his new score. Another piece of anecdotal evidence that supports my theory that the reading concordance on the new is too harsh. 770 is a great score by the way.
@TimEnchanter, D21 took the new SAT May 16 for Duke Tip and is taking the SAT again Oct 1 just for practice. It is a way for her to get exposure and less stress to the SAT and we are only out my money and her time. She and I think it will help her when the real time comes. She will take the PSAT 8/9 in Oct for school.
we are not worrying about prepping for these at this stage as that would take time away from âafterschoolingâ that is laying a stronger foundation down in math.
Been ages since I have checked this thread. Glad to learn that the guessing will soon be over. Hoping and pretty confident that dd will make NMSF, but I have come to learn that NMSF status makes no difference to her school of choice (Notre Dame). So NMSFstatus and $2.50 will get her a cup of coffee at ND. 
Welcome back @mnpapa29. My D3âs #1 wouldnât be giving her any money either. But we are hoping that NMSF helps with admissions.
I know several sfâs and commended who ended up at ND so hopefully the designation will bump her chances well into the green zone.
Thats pretty much what we are hoping also. That it will be a bump for admissions.
Well we are hoping to get $120,000 over 4 years
Us too @suzyQ7!
Ya never know. Iâm not sure how much emphasis Florida colleges put on Nmf, at least scholarsip wise. It would be nice if the colleges would reward it a little more. It is, after all, an academic achievement. I guess I dont uhh nderstand the whole system. I mean I do,but it seems pretty arbitrary. Like their criteria for admissions are abitrary and change year to year.
@suzyQ7 and @mtrosemom where are you planning on going? We are thinking âŠAlabamaâŠOUâŠthen reaches are Yale and StanfordâŠmaybe Rice.
hoping for NMSF for my daughter. Florida homeschoolers, please start posting when you receive letters later this week ( hopefully!) and others when notified by their Florida schools