@homerdog We haven’t used the CB 1-4 tests yet. I got the first CB book last year with the 1-4 tests in it to have them read through the material to understand the format and types of questions so it could help them for PSAT, but saved the tests for when they would prep for the real thing. Then I got the new book as well last month with the 1-8 tests in them to get our hands on the new released tests.
We’ll do the 1-4 tests when daughter gets back from her summer program next month. Since we have 2 sets of them, they can sit down together in the dining room and take them together.
Great idea on saving tests 7 and 8 for later should they need it. Will totally do that. I learn so much for you guys!!
S is hoping for a score above 1550, and my doubter D hasn’t made such grand wishes, she’s always the one who just gives it 101% and wishes for the best, but plans for the worst.
My d19 hasn’t even glanced at her prep stuff the last few weeks. I think July 4th we squeezed a little in. Between work, regular summer stuff, drivers ed and health class (3 hour class each weekday plus 3-5 hours of homework a night) she just hasn’t had the time. The health classes/homework will be done by Monday though and she will be hitting the books. I am really glad we didn’t try to squeeze in an August test. October is going to be just right, I hope.
She probably should have done the Math 2 exam in the spring because she was probably more academically prepared, but I think it would have been a psychological bust. I just have to hope that with some prep to remember older concepts, she will be fine taking it this school year, perhaps after Christmas break. A lot is probably going to depend on what the school workload really ends up being though.
@mom2twogirls That’s brilliant - Math 2 after Christmas break. I’m stealing that! S19 finished pre-calc honors sophomore year but was so stressed out by the end that I just couldn’t ask him to take another test. With no standardized testing in January and feeling fresh off Christmas break, that seems like a good time.
I do wonder if this test is easier in a way that the math on the SAT1. I know the concepts are more advanced but maybe the questions are more straight-forward. Seems like the scores are always so dang high on the Math 2 exam. S19 is a strong math student and I feel like he might even do better on a test that tests his most recent math class. He had to go back and review a bit for the math SAT1 test. D21 even knew some of the stuff he didn’t since she just finished geometry honors in eighth grade.
The January SAT test date would have been ideal for Subject tests, but they have removed the January date for the August one. The next test after Christmas break is March 10th…so maybe using President’s week could work if you have that week off from school??
What college test prep do you all recommend? I’ve heard mixed things about practically everything. I know he wants to get a 1500 or higher and get NMS commendation or higher on the PSAT (he was close on the practice PSAT he took last year with no prep). There seem to be a LOT of choices and I’m unsure what would be best. Thanks in advance for your help!
March should work for her. If she doesn’t need any other SAT retakes (fingers crossed) then she could take the Chemistry one in august next year, maybe.
We bought two Erika Meltzer-- I hope I spelled her name right without looking it up- review books (critical reading and grammar) and we chose the Panda math review book. Overwhelmingly, people seem to think the Meltzer books are best for the English part. There were a few different math review books that seemed well liked and so we went by the cute pandas on the cover, all things otherwise being the same, lol.
We have both Meltzer books as well and my D indicated they were helpful. She’s used the Ivy Global as well. As indicated, I’ve heard good things about PWN math, but have no experience with it. For tests, College Board for sure. My daughter didn’t think the Barron’s tests were helpful (mistakes here and there and a bit different than the CB tests). We get the Kaplan tests tomorrow and will see what my S thinks.
@Samsmom2019 – I went through our Amazon order list :"> and these are the books D19 found helpful:
PWN the SAT: Math Guide (Mike McClenathan)
Ultimate Guide to the Math ACT (Richard Corn)
The Complete Guide to ACT English (Erica Meltzer)
For the Love of ACT Science: An innovative approach to mastering the science section of the ACT standardized exam (Michael Cerro)
The Official ACT Prep Guide (ACT)
Am I the only one whose kid doesn’t want to deal with 1000+ pages of prep materials? It’s interesting to me that kids who are easily scoring 34/35 or 1500+ without prep faithfully use these books. Kudos to them for pursuing that top 0.5% score.
S19 did that first practice test yesterday and didn’t think to go back and check his answers when he had extra time (basically after every single section)! He just moved on or got a snack lol. This is one thing I can get him to work on at least.
Oh my S doesn’t have the patience to read through any of the prep material either. Akin to your son @eh1234 he’s content to just take the test, check his answers and make the determination that “that was a stupid question” and move on.
My D on the other hand has the patience and read through most of the Meltzer reading before taking some CB practice tests. Hitting in the mid 1550 range, she went over each question she got wrong, then turned back to the prep material to cover the materials she got wrong. Very thorough this one.
S19 used the Meltzer books and then didn’t do any better on the next college board practice test. He was getting all of the Meltzer questions right but thought the real practice tests were harder. PWN math did help him go from 730 to 770 on his last practice test. He basically did the whole PWN book.
With reading and writing now, he’s just focused on doing Kahn prep. I really think he just needs to keep doing practice over and over. He’s starting to see some trends in his mistakes.
D19 uses the books as reference points to review the errors she made in practice tests. There’s no way she would (or could) work through an entire book, never mind multiple books. She keeps taking practice tests in her targeted section to incrementally improve.
Her summer theatre work wrapped up last night, and she has two more weeks of her daytime arts program. Then we’re off for vacation. She’ll do another several hour practice test when we return in late August. That will probably be the last one before school starts up again.
My D has no interest in practicing for the SAT at all. I thought she would be more into it this summer which is why I signed her up for the August test, but now I am second guessing myself. She has taken one practice test and did not do that well. I tried to have her go over her wrong answers - she looked at the reading/writing ones right away but it took her days to go over the math questions.
Other than me forcing her to do the practice test I’m pretty sure she has not even glanced at the book - the official SAT book. That is one reason I booked her tutor again - it forces her to do her math! The tutor also had me get the Kaplan practice book. It si the one she normally uses so she will use that to supplement the practice test questions D gets wrong. She said she gives homework from the Kaplan book - we will see if that ever gets done!
I’m having a hard enough time getting my D to work on her Spanish 3 class and English 3H summer work…there is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks I could get her to work on any prep for ACT/PSAT testing. And to be honest, I’m not going to stress about it. She will take the PSAT in October, and the ACT in Dec & April. If she needs a bump in score, she will take it Sept of senior year. We are concentrating on college visits this fall since musical theater season will take up most of her time Jan-March. That is also a very busy time for me as well work-wise so taking time off for visits would be stressful. It is interesting to see all of your kids going to town on books/Kahn, etc for upcoming test season…kudos to them!
@mommdc can you or others recommend videos? My D does much better with videos or tutoring than having to prep from a book. She has accommodations for the PSAT, SAT etc including extra time and MP3 audio. She goes to our local Sylvan center for regular homework help and loves her regular tutor there. That tutor has had a good track record of helping kids with SAT/ACT prep so I plan to have him work with her but would like to supplement that with some videos. She took the PSAT as a sophomore with 50% extra time but without the MP3 audio and got an 1190. Her biggest problem was staying focused on reading the passages. She just couldn’t finish even with 50% extra time. But I think the MP3 audio will help a lot. (hope so, anyway). The MP3 audio entitles her to 100% extra time but I think the audio is what she really needs.
@Corinthian How did you get MP3 audio for testing? My D gets extra time, but the reading passages are going to be a real challenge. She uses audio books to accompany all novels that she reads for school. I hadn’t thought of checking to see if this is an option for the ACT or SAT. I appreciate any insight!
So D is now excited about nursing and interested in Purdue, U. of Miami and Pitt. Indiana (my beloved alma mater!) is a back up choice. She would be in-state for Indiana or Maryland schools, but there are no direct-admit nursing programs that fit her preferences.
We are still going to visit a couple of nearby schools so she can see other options that might be more of an admission and financial fit. I’m thinking of Towson and George Mason since both are about 50 min to an hour from our home. I’m also strongly advising her to keep UMD on her list in case she changes her mind (again) about a major. The variables are driving me crazy…I don’t know how I will make it to spring of 2019!
@DeltaMom2019 The first time we applied for accommodations they said no to MP3 audio. But then, thanks to CC, I saw that the College Board had revised its policy to say that if your student is getting and using an accommodation in a 504, then they will give it to you. So we resubmitted the request and then quickly got the MP3 accommodation. Here’s a post I did about it at the time: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20228530/#Comment_20228530. So the key is having your 504 say that your student is entitled to use audiobooks and/or other text-to-speech options. Our school’s 504 person helped me by clarifying the 504 to say that before we resubmitted.
