<p>Any student who gets a score of 2200 or above with “no prep” must have a very high IQ and is must be very well prepared for life.
Such students doesn’t exists as if a student has high IQ and is well prepared then the student know where to look for sample tests and will take a sample test.</p>
<p>So any student who says “no prep” is lying for one of the following reasons.
They scored lower than what was expected of them.
They want to brag as the above high IQ well prepared student which is in contradiction with itself.</p>
<p>I’m reading that book now, vp. Hadn’t thought of how it applies to SAT prep! I was reading it and would go “Hmmm” to myself (or I thought it was to myself), and the 16yo asked, “What’s so interesting?” I read him the passage, and he smiled because he recognized himself immediately. Working on the growth mindset. :)</p>
<h1>41, my kid really did NO prep. No tutoring, no classes, no vocab words, never opened the CB site except to register, no writing, didn’t crack the binding of the “10 SAT” book (or the AP test books either).</h1>
<p>There is no lying of any sort. And he did a single sitting and never took the test again.</p>
<p>I know of at least two other high scorers who were single sitters with no prep.</p>
<p>Well, while I am not sure what it should mean and how it should be defined on CC, allow me to share what I think it IS most often: an utterly stupid and misleading badge of honor!</p>
<p>After more than five years here, and many hours spent helping students on the SAT forum, I can share, and without much emotion or sarcasm, that it is a term most often used by a parent who happen to have one or several children who did well on the SAT but did not send their offspring to Princeton Review or Kaplan classes. </p>
<p>Is the definition of “no prep” accurate? I’d say … absolutely not! </p>
<p>For starters, most high schools that are considered college preparatory DO incorporate ELEMENTS of the PSAT and SAT in their standard classes. Most English classes incorporate vocabulary and writing exercises that are borrowed from ETS/College Board, or most unfortunately, from Princeton Review or even worse publishers. The same applies to Math classes!</p>
<p>Then, you have the endless number of AP and PreAP classes. What do you think the teachers use to teach those classes? Anyone who clings to the “no prep” label is simply misrepresenting or claiming to be unaware of the convergence of the standard curriculum and the standardized test industry. The reality is that any high school in the country that pretends to prepare students for college and would NOT incorporate parts of the PSAT/PLAN or SAT/ACT would have a small riot on its hand. </p>
<p>However, the misrepresentation --or misunderstanding-- is not that important. The silliest part is to use this no-prep as something that is supposed to be … positive. It is ABSOLUTELY not. Preparing *adequately *for the SAT or the ACT should not be a crusade. It is, however, an important part of the curriculum of anyone who is interested in attending a competitive college. And, this IS what this forum is ALL about! Let’s not pretending that people come here to find ways to undermine college applications! </p>
<p>So, here you have it! When claiming the mythical “no prep” and great success, you can choose from two adjectives, namely hypocritical or senseless!</p>
<p>I think I’d call my son and daughter no prep. I registered them for the SAT online, they show up and take the test. My son did 2200 cold like that, as a sophomore. He and I are “natural test takers”. My daughter’s college path (art school) depends on her portfolio, not SAT’s, so she puts her focuse elsewhere.</p>
<p>(Edit: I think he was actually in the 2180 range the first time. He took it one additional time and got something above a 2200, and then decided he had put enough effort into the SAT. He actually took the PSAT after his first SAT.)</p>
<p>Ah, Xiggi. So our viewpoints differ—what else is new? ;)</p>
<p>Almost all of the students here are in schools offering the “prep” that you describe, but that is very different than the “prep” that I describe (which is very different than your book prep, which I think sounds like a successful approach).</p>
<p>There are kids who do this “no prep” and they are neither hypocritical or senseless.</p>
<p>Absolutely no vocab lists in this house. The resident Bookworm Mom forbade it. Total amount spent on “prep” – $20 for Blue Book. Used three tests; have seven more untouched. </p>
<p>Neither of my kids did anything for the PSAT until junior year. We had two totally cold scores for each of them from 9th and 10th, which gave us a pretty good sense of how things would pan out.</p>
<p>Also have two untouched SAT-II Physics books. S1 never looked at them. By the time he took the test, it was too late to get my money back. S2 loaned them to his GF.</p>
<p>AllMusic, please note that I did not start typing my post as a reaction to yours. Although it might appear I was challenging your post, I read it after hitting the reply button. </p>
<p>Please realize that I have no problems with students not “prepping” for the SAT. My issue is that the occasional successes might present a different image of what the test is all about. Also, in many cases, even students who did exceptionally well (because of great skills or academic preparation) tend to regret not having spent a modicum of review time. I believe that TrinSF might confirm that her son who finished his entire HS math program before the end of his junior year and contemplated applying to Stanford as a junior --after taking three summer classes at the Farm-- could have been a tad more familiar with some of the arcane questions. </p>
<p>My point is the same I always tried to make. People who can rely on a great HS experience can get away with a minimum of efforts and practice. Others have to rely on additional practice but accomplish a WHOLE lot without spending a dime with the PR or Kaplan of the world. However, everyone should benefit from a small effort. </p>
<p>Perhaps we should call it Prep Lite as opposed to No Prep. :)</p>
<p>for me and my siblings, it meant taking the PSATs in 10th and 11th grade and then the SATs once in 11th grade and once in 12th grade. we didn’t use any outside material. we are very good test takers, though. oh, and we took them in 7th and 8th grade, too, but i’m not sure if that made a difference.</p>
<p>edit: i just saw xiggi’s post. we all went to a really good boarding school, which i am sure indirectly helped us prepare for the exam (lots of reading, writing etc). i don’t think SAT prep was built into the curriculum, though. the classes weren’t standardized from section to section, necessarily, and there was a wide array of potential classes. they didn’t care that much about AP tests and specifically told us that many of the classes didn’t prepare us for them. my siblings and i all got into elite colleges having only taken one or two AP tests.</p>
<p>Truly no prep done here by either of my S’s unless you count taking the PSAT in ninth, tenth and eleventh grades. Both just picked up the pencil and calculator and went to the testing site. One did well. One did very average.</p>
<p>How do we classify someone who is able to complete the NYTimes crossword puzzle with a permanent marker because both of his parents have done it for years but would laugh at the Barron’s list of 3500 words --like everyone should do, by the way?</p>
<p>How do we classify someone who emigrated from Korea at age 11 and takes the Sat Language Test in his native language and scores pretty well on the third grade level test ? </p>
<p>i think the purpose of the activity does matter. indavertently improving one’s verbal ability through doing crossword puzzles because one enjoys them or reading for pleasure or even for school is different from specifically studying for the SAT.</p>
<p>reading, crosswords, etc probably do prepare students for the SAT, but i think “prep” in this context refers to activities undertaken mainly to improve SAT scores.</p>
<p>I’d have to disagree with this. My oldest brother was basically a C student from middle school through the middle part of high school. He was incredibly lazy and the idea of him studying was almost a family joke. The only preparation he had in addition to school work (which I guess he did occasionally) was taking the PSAT a few times. The second time he took the SAT he got 1530 (before the conversion) and his superscore was 1540. </p>
<p>Of course, this didn’t teach my other brother and me much about the value of studying for the SAT, so we didn’t prep either (though we did get better grades in school). Not studying didn’t exactly hurt our scores, nor did it take up hours of our time.</p>
<p>Well, Xiggi, if the average SAT’s of my kids’ HS was an indication, whatever “test prep” is built into the curriculum is not working.</p>
<p>But, I think that’s a quibble in details. Your example of doing NYTimes crosswords is more what many here are getting at (not that my kids ever did that.) But, a general interest in learning, opportunities to puzzle and ponder, lots of books, good conversation,–sure, they are all good preparation for SATs, and college, and life. But the SAT prep is a side benefit, not the end. At least in my house. If it were othrwise, we never would have sent them to the above-referenced HS. But we had other goals in mind.</p>
<p>For example, I did well on my sophomore year PSAT (missed one question per section), so I didn’t find it necessary to take any practice tests or anything before taking my SAT in the beginning of my junior year. I figured I was “well prepared” as it was, and I was right. </p>
<p>I’m not saying you’re inaccurate in your two points, though; the pride aspect is definitely apparent on these boards (and, I’m ashamed to admit, my own conduct.) But your claim – that anyone who says that they did not prepare and scored well is lying – is an absolutely ridiculous assumption. I am FAR from the only example of someone who got 2200 or higher (err, make that 2300 or higher… actually, make that 2350+) without ever cracking open a prep book or taking a practice test. </p>
<p>
TELLLL me about it! The only thing I lost points for was my 9 essay. If only I had read one thing – anything! – with any advice as to how to write the essay (filling up the two pages almost guarantees a 10+ score, use historical and literary examples [the prompt didn’t make that clear!], oh or even “THE ESSAY IS THE FIRST PART OF THE TEST; BE PREPARED!”), I wouldn’t have lost any points on the SAT. Ughhh. And it sounds so ridiculous to complain about that, since I did well, but mannn it’s frustrating, and it’s not like I’m gonna retake the test for 10 points. :|</p>
<p>Xiggi: Oh, he actually <em>applied</em> Junior year, he just didn’t get accepted. In retrospect, he wishes he’d been willing to apply to other schools, like Reed, a year early, because senior year was largely a waste. </p>
<p>But no, he doesn’t think that he’d have been better served by any prep, and I don’t either. He did what was right for him. He grew up in a household with a parent who started taking the SAT in middle school, being told that tests didn’t measure much other than test taking. He didn’t want to be admitted to a college because he had great test scores (or, for that matter, because he had great EC’s, or great volunteer work) – he wanted to be admitted because of the things that testing couldn’t measure, including his absurd obsession with Freud. </p>
<p>The very idea that he (or I) might somehow regret that he didn’t get more familar with “arcane questions” seems very silly to our entire household. Then again, I’ve spent the past six months preparing my daughter’s high school for the shock of her opting out of the “mandatory” junior year SAT prep course. I’m that sort of parent.</p>