PSAT's tomorrow- GOOD LUCK

Parent Cafe
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<p>::::::::banging head on keyboard:::::::::
I sharpened several brand new pencils for D and told her to take them for test- since I had heard that they didn’t allow mechanical pencils ( the kind she usually uses) for the test.</p>

<p>She took ONE- pencil- she said " she didn’t want to take my pencils"</p>

<p>* The girl who takes my face cream & lipgloss as soon as I unwrap it without asking- doesn’t want to take more than one pencil that I bought specifically for her* ?
priorities I guess;)</p>

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<p>Darling Son is there now. Poor guy. I took him east this weekend to see sister and a couple of colleges. Weather delayed us and he didn’t get home until 1pm:(.</p>

<p>I told him to drink coffee this morning:).</p>

<p>Crossing fingers for all. Of course for mine most but everyone else too:).</p>

<p>He he. Just had to be honest…</p>

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<p>Thanks for the link mcmom. I have to walk a fine line with her. She understands the importance of doing well, but she doesn’t like feeling pressured to do test prep. This one doesn’t count so I was fine with her no prep attitude, but next year I know I will feel differently. She got a 208 on the one practice test she did. Two wrong on math (on easy questions, making silly errors), with two unanswered was only a 69, while three wrong on writing with one unanswered was a 75, so the particular curve makes a big difference. For her, critical reading is her biggest challenge (64), and it seems to me to be the toughest to prep for as well. I don’t want to be an overbearing mother, but I think she’d have a shot at NM if she sat down and seriously prepped over time.</p>

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<p>MomOFour the PSAT math curve is historically brutal and pretty much mimics the curve on the new SAT (although not quite that harsh). The writing and reading scores you have are also quite close to the actual tests, although the PSAT doesn’t have an essay. I think you’ll find that the curve you have for that test will be within 10 pts or so for all administrations of PSAT. We found summer before Jr year to be a good time to start some prep with the old PSAT tests and the CB Blue Book. I think her practice score is very good, and she shouldn’t need more than a couple practice tests to improve her reading score - math practice is usually just a matter of having enough time to go back and correct the inevitable silly errors everyone makes so a couple tests to improve timing and she should do very well. I think if she knows that she’s starting from the position of a very good score that could be improved alot by some practice at a leisurely pace over the summer, maybe it wouldn’t feel like such a hassle to her. It really is amazing how much those practice tests can improve a score.</p>

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<p>Momof Four: Just move out west!</p>

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<p>If students take the PSATs in their freshman or sophmore year, do they retake it again as juniors? What is the advantage of taking it that early?</p>

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<p>Here’s the pdf link for the official CB score conversion chart from last years Wed and Sat administrations of PSAT </p>

<p><a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;

<p>Katliamom - the only test that counts for NMF is the one taken in Jr year. Students taking it as fresh or soph just use it for practice</p>

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<p>S, in 11th grade, took the PSAT today. Testing began at 7:30am. When I read the posts about Saturday testing it puzzled me 'cause I never knew there was Sat. testing. When S came home he was bummed 'cause he didn’t finish a single section even 'tho he had finished them during his school-based review classes held on Sat’s at 9am.</p>

<p>Now he tells me his friend at the public magnet high is taking the Sat. PSAT which starts at 10:30am. Apparently this school always takes the Sat. test and always at 10:30am. They also pretty much get about 2times the NMFs as any other school in town.</p>

<p>Does anyone think the teenage biology factor could be at work here, ie, their body clocks don’t let them function as well at 7:30am as at 10:30am, esplly if they can “sleep in” until it’s time to go take the test on Sat. am? </p>

<p>I’d appreciate any constructive comments since I don’t want to be too OCD about this, but frankly I am shocked that there could be this kind of discrepancy in the testing set up. Thanks.</p>

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<p>I also think there is a disadvantage to taking it at school
Not only is it earlier- but with the general rush of going off to school, my daughter forgot her calculator ( and she has a math disability)
However- this way- it is open to all the kids- and kids who might not have taken it if they had to come in on Sat, are taking it in class.</p>

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<p>My son says this is not optional at the magnet high. The entire school (11th grade) comes in on Sat. to take the test. Are you saying that at some schools the kids have an option to not take the PSAT? I never heard of that either. It is mandatory in our district.</p>

<p>I really do think that all things being equal, if one school’s 11th grade takes the Wed. test at 7:30am and the other school’s 11th grade takes the Sat. test at 10:30am, the Sat. test school will get higher scores overall than the Wed. test school. Teenage biology.</p>

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<p>Anyone have answers for the psat today?
esp critical reading?</p>

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<p>I don’t have the answers because I didn’t know any of the answers. I thought the critical reading was pretty difficult. Of course, this is coming from someone who always scores badly on Critical Reading. I didn’t finish either Critical Reading section. The Writing was much easier than I expected and the Math was pretty easy too. But I know I did absolutely terrible on the Critical Reading just because I didn’t have time to finish it. Grrrrr…</p>

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<p>CA parent here. It is not mandatory at our high school to take the PSAT. I don’t really think it should be…after all there are plenty of HS students who have no intention of going on to college, why should they be forced to take it? My DD, sophmore this year, will take it on Saturday. She has some friends who took it last year as Freshmen.</p>

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<p>By the way mathwiz, I really don’t think it is ethical to post a bunch of threads asking others for answers on these tests…</p>

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<p>I don’t think it hurts them to take it
I never took any tests in high school- because my parents never said anything and I apparently was on the get pregnant by someone who works at a gas station track.
By the time I realized that I might have wanted to go to college- I was out of high school, and it became much more difficult to find the path that would take me to a 4 year school
My daughter attends an inner city urban school, mostly minority. I think it is good that they have kids take it- especially starting in 10th grade, because it will wake them and their parents up to expanding choices</p>

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<p>It is mandatory here unless you just choose to skip school that day. If you show up for school you will take the test in grades 9-11. I guess thats why we don’t have to pay for it. On top of the PSAT, our district is also having mid-term exams this week (and still having after school athletic practice til 6:00). The kids’ brains are fried. They have next Mon. and Tues. out of school (end of quarter) to recuperate.</p>

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<p>See? Look at all this variation. Test times ranging from 7am to 10:30am, day of week, mixing it in with midterms (or not). Doesn’t sound “standardized” to me. I guess I always assumed everybody did it the same. Like with the AP tests everyone takes it on the same day and it starts the same time - for everyone. </p>

<p>Considering how much potential $$ is involved here (or just admissions at some schools) you’d think they would not allow so much variation in the testing procedures. Or the school would at least try to provide optimum testing conditions (like not mixing it up with the midterms). Of course that’s probably why our magnet high school takes the Sat. test with the later start time - so the kids will be more “awake” while testing.</p>

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<p>I do now remember that H said he didn’t take the PSAT. Neither his school nor his parents made him do it, so he opted out. I’d forgotten about that. Probably just thought he was either crazy or mistaken.</p>

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<p>Wow, I’m learning a lot about the PSAT and this is my second time 'round with it. </p>

<p>I did not know that some schools offer in-school testing. In California public schools, since the dawn of time (i.e. my high school days), they’ve only offered the PSAT on Saturdays. Neither did I realize that some schools require students to take it or that it could be offered to them for free. We paid $15 for D to take it this Saturday, which seems so cheap compared to the APs, SATIIs, etc… soon to come.</p>

<p>I’m taking a new tact with testing on Child #2. With S, who’s in college now, everything was so critical because he was going for the top colleges in the country, and testing was no exception. It helped that he loved testing (felt like it was a game). He’d taken the SAT for CTY summer programs while in middle school and took the PSAT as a soph and junior in high school (Junior year is the only one that counts for National Merit, I guess that’s why a kid might want to take it twice. Once in 10th to really just practice, and then again to try to score well enough for scholarships). </p>

<p>With D though, there’s not a chance of NM. She’s a smart cookie but testing is not fun for her and she’s just not up in that range anyhow. So I’m only recommending she look through the little PSAT pamphlet she got when she paid the money at sign-ups. We’ll just see how she does. Then, as I said, she’s taking the PLAN, which is the ACT’s version of the PSAT. I’m going to help her compare scores and whichever one she seems to do better on or is more comfortable with, she’ll focus on. She will not go the prep route or do multiple retakes unless we find a college she falls in love with that is SLIGHTLY out of range of one of her test scores. </p>

<p>I guess I just don’t see the sense in massively prepping kids for a test with the idea of getting them into a much better university than they would ordinarily qualify for. It seems to me that one might get in quite over one’s head when it came time to actually do the work, participate in class discussions, compete for opportunities, etc… D has experienced this at her rigorous magnet high school (where S excelled in AP and honors with little stress, she is finding the waters very rough for the past 2.5 years). While there was no entrance exam or qualifications to get into this high school, and no prepping to be done, the lesson has not been lost on us, and she will try to avoid having a similar outcome at college. </p>

<p>It’s nice for kids to find a school where they can sometimes feel superior to other students and other times get taken down a few notches. S is getting this at Berkeley, and it’s a good thing. The two extremes (being the top or bottom dog in every class) just aren’t very satisfying over four years, I’d imagine.</p>

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<p>It’s completely optional at my daughter’s high school. Many students aren’t college bound so they don’t make them take it. Does anyone know if the curve is based only on 11th graders taking the test? I would think with larger numbers of younger students taking the test that it might get a little easier if those kids were included in the curve.</p>