<p>He is a current sophomore doing a year abroad in France and apparently the scores were sent to the testing center instead of his American high school. </p>
<p>He’s disappointed in his performance.
</p>
<p>Now … I am NOT disappointed in his scores … would of course rather they were higher, and I think they don’t actually reflect his abilities … but he’s a sophomore, he’s in FRANCE and had been there for 8 weeks before the test, he’d had no test prep at all, and wasn’t thinking too much in English. He also had no math review and while he’s taking French math, he’s in Honors Algebra II at home with excellent grades. These scores also don’t reflect the high honor roll kid in a competitve independent prep school, or the great scores from SSAT exams.</p>
<p>I’ve basically relayed my opinions to him via email, but I am looking for more info from clued-in parents. How much do scores tend to go up between 10th grade and 11th grade? How much would a little test prep help? (His school offers a one day practice/prep for all students that plan to sit the PSAT a week or two before the exam.)</p>
<p>Next question: given that he didn’t have an outstanding testing experience abroad in the fall, how inclined would you be to have him take the SAT2 in French over there in June before he returns … or postpone it until fall and take it while he’s in AP French over here, after a bit of general test prep?</p>
<p>Edit: Maybe I should rephrase … I probably <em>am</em> disappointed about his scores, but I am not panicking or incredibly worried. It <em>is</em> only sophomore year and all the info above applies when analyzing his scores.</p>
<p>In my house scores there wasn’t a lot of change from sophomore to junior years.
DD had 59 cr 54 math and 54 writing sophomore year
60 cr 57 math 65 writing junior year.
But your son is an unusual circumstance. Your comments about being in France right before would make a big difference.<br>
Neither of my kids took SAT2 in language so I can’t comment on that.</p>
That seems like a reasonable attitude. Hard to say how predictive these scores will be. If he’s a good student at a good prep school I’d expect a bit better. My older son got very similar scores sophomore and junior year, but that’s typical for kids with very high scores. I think though that given the circumstances, I’d be cautiously optimistic that he’ll do better next year. I would encourage some studying for the next round however.</p>
<p>As for the SAT2, why not take it. If he doesn’t like the score he can take it again after AP French - he should do better then, but you never know. I got an 800 after a year in France. I did not even consider trying before I went though as French had always been my worst subject.</p>
<p>With my oldest D, I found that the PSAT scores went up about 10% a year, roughly, not because of any specific SAT cram course, but just because the kids mature more, learn more, read more, etc.</p>
<p>I think I had a 62 percentile PSAT in 10th grade. I got 99 percentile SAT scores during my senior year. I wouldn’t worry too much. Just make sure he keeps up with his math classes and has a good vocabulary.</p>
<p>I would NOT have him take the French SAT II until he has taken AP French. The more he studies French the higher his score will be. As far as the rest, you could have him do some PSAT prep over the summer, since the score that counts [for NM] is the one taken during his Junior year. There are good individual tutoring services[ a la Ivy West, which I recommend if you are on the west coast] that will help him raise both his PSAT and SAT scores. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>My D took the PSAT in 9th, 10th & 11th (encouraged at her high school). No test prep. Each year she gained ~20 points (=200 points on the SAT). The last time she took it while studying in China and made NM finalist (just notified). So, expect some, if not a lot, of improvement. Her SAT ended up at 2150.</p>
<p>My d’s scores went up 200 points from PSAT in Nov junior year to SAT in May junior year. Just a case of not prepping at all for the PSAT but doing a few sample tests before the SAT.</p>
<p>I spent my high school sophomore year in Spain, and took the Spanish Achievement Test (now SAT II) and Spanish Literature AP before I returned. It was a good choice for me. Especially if any part of the test involves listening, your “ear” degrades pretty quickly when you are no longer immersed in the language. I’m sure I could have done fine on both tests if I had waited to take them, but they were easy as pie to take in-country. (Warning, though: I was generally good at standardized tests. Your mileage may vary.)</p>
<p>Of course, I don’t know how much French the OP’s son had before going to France, and how good he is at it, and what kind of instruction he’s getting. I was pretty fluent in Spanish by the middle of my year there, but I had completed Spanish 4 before going, so I had a pretty strong grammatical base on which to build. My advice might be different if he doesn’t have a lot of grammar – but he’s not going to learn more over the summer, so if that’s the case forget taking the test in the fall, too.</p>
<p>JHS – he’d finished third level French as a freshman with top grades, was nominated to the national French honor society (the only freshman in his school to be so honored), and from my observations a month ago he’s pretty fluent. He was simultaneously translating back and forth between me and his French host mother without an apparent hitch. He’s in French public high school, taking French, English, and Italian – plus the usual cornucopia of courses in history and science. (He apparently has the best Italian grade in the class.) </p>
<p>I think the listening option on the SATII is only available in November tho … so that is not a factor.</p>
<p>JHS — the sophomore year abroad is unusual. What school were you affiliated with? PM me if you would like. Wondering if there is a connection here!</p>
<p>I admire your attitude regarding these scores. My D went up 8 points on the PSAT between soph and jr years. She had gains in the CR and writing portions (although the writing percentile decreased 6%) Her math score went down. </p>
<p>Her school is on trimesters. She finished algebra II in Feb. and was not enrolled in precalc until after the PSAT was given (7-8 months with no daily math!). We suspect this is the reason for the decline, and this schedule partially explains the percentile decrease in writing. She really didn’t spend any time in PSAT prep. She might have looked over the booklet that comes with registration. I think your analysis of the reasons behind his scores are correct. </p>
<p>If a high PSAT score is important to you and your son than by all means let him prep. Right or wrong, we didn’t put much emphasis on the PSAT except as a practice. Maybe D could have been a NMF or semi with some study, but it wasn’t that important to us, and it was only a maybe. We would prefer she focus on the SAT’s. Based on her PSAT’s she just at or below what many schools (I’m not talking about Ivies, etc) consider in terms of merit scholarships. For this reason we’ve enrolled her in an SAT prep course. We’re hoping this gives her just enough of an edge to push the scores into the next level and opens up some more doors for her.</p>
<p>My daughter’s PSAT dropped between sophomore and junior year, but then went up on the SAT. It’s just one test on one day, chances are he’ll improve anyway, but I’d probably enroll him in some sort of test prep if he’s not the kind of kid to sit down with it himself.</p>
<p>Ok, my DS1 increased his PSAT scores 20 points between sophmore and junior year, with a Princeton review class in between. That said, his second PSAT was higher than his recent January SAT, in terms of total score; while his CR went up significantly, his writing score fell. I think most online information indicates that the student can expect - generally - a hundred point overall gain each year. </p>
<p>I agree that the SATII in language should be taken while your son is in France. He’s likely thinking and reasoning in French, which can only be positively reflected in his scores.</p>