My son plans to take PSAT in Fall, then the SAT after that. Then take the ACT.
Plan to have him take both again. And then maybe one more final time next Fall.
So, a one year timeframe to get it done.
I’d be happy if he got a solid score his first attempt and we could just be done with it. But it took son17 multiple attempts and some studying to get the score he wanted, it wasn’t as easy as one and done with him.
It’s kind of stressful if the kid gets an OK score that puts them on the bubble of the schools they want to get into. They have to take the test again and keep hoping their scores go up. One and done would be such a relief.
@RightCoaster yes. A bubble score will be a bummer. And I always read posts here that want to know when to be done. I think that’s hard too. I have a score in mind for S19 but I don’t know what we would do if he was just a little short. And, if he was over that score, I don’t know that he would be done as maybe he could do even better if the first one went well!
Good to know @homerdog - maybe that’s a change from the old SAT that my D16 took? I think my son’s honors Algebra 2 class touched on some trig topics. Actually, he’ll cover the unit circle in the first month of honors Pre-Calc so I’m glad we went with October over August.
Hi @sunnyflorida , D19 has signed up to take the Aug. SAT as well. She just finished Algebra 2 (taking pre-cal next year) and has not had a problem with the SAT math section, indicating that there are about 5 or so Algebra 2 based questions on the exam, and nothing harder. S19 will be joining her (he just finished pre-cal and will be taking cal next year).
If students are mature enough in their critical reading, I think it’s a great idea to utilize the summer to prepare for the SAT, thereby opening up the school year to focus on school (5 APs!!!..good grief) and the content based subject tests aligned with the subjects being studied at school. Both took the subject test in bio after their bio classes as freshman, and S19 took a history and the math 2 this year. D19 will take the chemistry and math 2 at the tail end of junior year, aligned with her AP Chem and Pre-cal classes.
I share your concern regarding the requirement to report all scores to certain colleges. I’m hopeful that if the scores attained in Aug. are not great, they can take it again after further preparation (having a better idea of what area to prepare in and how much additional time may be required) and then obtain a better score which reflects improvement and progression, thereby not harming the application in a significant way. That being said, I do think it’s very important that they truly do prepare for the Aug. SAT and not take it just as a “let’s see what happens” position. I’ve indicated to my twins that if they do not think they are prepared the week before the test, they should not take it.
At this point, they are just taking as many practice tests as possible here and there and going over their mistakes in the hopes of understanding how the test makers think. Because it’s not a content based test like the subject tests, I’m not sure how else they can prepare. Keeping fingers crossed and hoping for the best…
I listened to the guidance on this thread and decided for my D that it made the most sense to do intensive prep in August (right up until the night before the test) and take the 8/26 test.
She has a hard time fitting in homework and EC already, and will be taking AP classes for the first time in junior year. I didn’t want the stress of SAT prep to mess it up.
If she does poorly (and I don’t have a goal score in mind - I am honestly at sea on that), we will revisit after junior year finals are done.
It was much earlier than I had been thinking … I think I took mine in, like, December of my senior year? … but things are so compressed these days.
Football season means a lot of very late Friday nights so S will wait until November for the SAT, then take the ACT late winter. He’s shooting for merit, so I am anticipating numerous attempts.
@carolinamom2boys Thanks so much for the suggestion! Daughter is practicing with questions here and there from some of the books I bought on line, and then taking one of the tests released by the College Board every 3 days or so under timed conditions. She indicates that the College Board questions are a bit more straight forward (thankfully) and finds some of the Barron’s questions and answers just flat wrong.
My D19 is taking the SAT in August - haven’t decided on ACT yet. She is not too happy about it but she is not a great standardized test taker so I want her to start early so she can focus on her weak spots (math!) I paid the extra to get the score analysis - I’m hoping that will help her know exactly what areas of math to work on.
Right now we are agonizing over her schedule for next year. She just finished Algebra 2 and the next step is pre-calc. Our school doesn’t have regular or even honors pre-calc, only AICE Math which is basically like an AP level pre-calc course. Her options are to suck it up and possibly get a worse grade in AICE or to drop back and take Trig Honors and have a good shot at an A. If she takes trig she will take AICE math senior year, if she takes AICE now she will take AP Calc senior year and that scares her too. Up until now she has had A’s in math, but it is by far her hardest subject, it does not come easily to her at all.
There are so many factors that go into the decision - what if she could get an A in AICE, AICE is a 6.0 class and trig is a 4.5, will the college counselor still consider her schedule “most demanding” if she does trig, will colleges look down on her if she doesn’t have regular calc senior year (they only offer AP calc, no regular class)… and on and on!
@momtogkc Would it be the end of the world to get something less than an A in a class that’s weighted +2.0? If you have a kid getting an A in her “worst” subject maybe she’s never had anything but As and it would be devastating to her, I don’t know. I have not had this issue with my kids, lol. If your daughter got an A in Algebra 2 honors in 10th grade, it seems like she should be taking calculus as a senior.
However, that sounds like an odd math sequence at your school! Our school offers regular and honors “Pre-Calc with Trig.” The kids who take honors go on to take AP Calc AB or BC, the kids who take regular can take regular Calc, or some may take Calc AB. The really non-math oriented kids can take a semester of trig and a semester of stats after Alg. 2.
Does she have an idea of what she wants to major in? If she’s not doing anything math-related and has the most rigorous courses in her areas of interest, it might not matter if she takes Trig. Good luck with the decision.
(My S19 loves math, considers it to be his strength, and got an A- in honors Algebra 2 because he can’t be bothered to write answers in the correct format on tests. This is him in a nutshell).
@momtogkc A whole year of trig is practically impossible. The trig class must repeat some of the Algebra II. Trig takes less than a semester to cover on its own. At most schools, Algebra II and Trig are in the same class (ie. Algebra II/Trig) and then some trig is repeated in pre-calc.
What are most of the kids doing at your D’s school who took Algebra II last year and got an A? That’s usually a good indicator that points you to the right class.
Trig was a full-year class in my high school back in the 80s.
(I learned later that we got really deep into some of the cool parts of trig that lots of people don’t ever get into—even some non-Euclidean stuff!—so that was a good thing.}
S19 is planning to take SAT2 (Math 1/Chem) in August, ACT in September and December, and SAT2 (Math2/Physics) in June. Hopefully that’s all he’ll need, though he could take the SAT next spring if he doesn’t do as well as he’d like on the ACT.
He’ll work with an ACT tutor from mid-July to the end of August, which I’m hoping will also cover the Math 1 and PSAT Math prep. He needs to self-study for Chem. I’m hoping that getting the testing out of the way sooner rather than later will pay off for him in the end. Good luck to your kids!
My d19 has begun her SAT prep. So far, it’s mostly math that she’s seeing a lot of stuff she forgot because it’s been so long since she’s needed to remember some formulas. It’s been interesting. She also said her prep book did a better job explaining one of the units than her Algebra 2 teacher did in 9th grade.
BTW, discovered a great study motivator… “you have a choice:one more chapter of review OR clean the two bathrooms. If you do another chapter I (mom) will clean both bathrooms and will even sweeten the deal by making your bed for you.”
@mom2twogirls - Nice! I expect that “SAT Prep bribery” for S19 will have to come in the form of cold, hard cash. He somehow never seems to hear me when I ask him to do any chores beyond his usual allotment.
Today was the last day of school (finally!) He finished with 4 As, 3 A- which was about the best outcome I could have expected going into finals week. I think he’s finally turned a corner in terms of caring somewhat about his grades beyond aiming for a high B.
@eh1234 - It definitely won’t be devastating to her, she just doesn’t know if it looks better to get an A. The normal sequence is to go from Algebra 2 honors to AICE Math, she was just trying to find a way to avoid the class so was considering dropping down to the Trig class. She has no clue what she wants to major in, but she knows it will most likely not involve math. She is more into writing/language arts type stuff.
@homerdog - The class is actually called Math Analysis/Trig, so I guess about a half year of each. I have no idea what math analysis is though. Most kids go from Algebra 2 honors to AICE Math, she was just trying to find a way to delay that class. I think she is now leaning towards trying AICE Math and taking an easier elective to help alleviate some of the stress.
We were supposed to do our first SAT practice test today but she got an all day babysitting job so she got out of it. Will try again this week!
S19 has his last day on Friday. Honestly it’s been a very disappointing year and semester (for me) and so hard to see my child really not living up to his potential. I am sooooo glad to be done with French but oh, if my kid could just turn things in when due we would be looking at a dramatically different gpa.
We did start therapy about a month ago, we shall see if that helps or not for next year. I do know based on my experience with S17, that it will all work out but at the moment I’m a bit worn out and a tad sad. his gpa is only a tad higher than wheee S17’s was although he does have more rigor. Sigh.
I may start the 3.0 - 3.4 thread this summer,I’d thought to wait until fall but am leaning towards a tad earlier.
He has a busy but fun, summer planned. 2 weeks as a camp counselor (not paid) a 2 week family trip, one week at Boy Scout camp, one week on a scout 50-miler and likely visiting cousins from Germany. Plus a fair amount of summer homework. When in town he will have running club all summer until xc starts in August, Marching band will start up then too.
I am going to try to convince him next week to drop down from APUSH to regular USH. Based on his behavior this year that’s the one likely to be the gpa killer with him slacking in not tuning in work. It’s a fine line though, if he’s not into it he doesn’t turn things in (can’t be bothered with boring minutia) and likewise if too easy, we have the same issue.
I don’t know that “I” can handle the stress of 5 AP’s.
Given his summer schedule we won’t do test prep till xc ends, my preference is a December test. He’d like later but that makes me more nervous, I’d have liked September!
She is more into writing/language arts type stuff.