Sat Test need any info about it

[gm]

hi,

my son will be starting 10th grade and i know they have classes to take to get a good SAT score and any of you send your kids to classes to improve the score? and is it too early to start in 10th grade? what should my son be doing in 10th grade regarding SAT prepardness?

also how many times can you take the sat to the the best score to submit to colleges?

he is in the IB program at his school

thanks

 

[MosMom]

They didn't offer those classes when I was in high school. That would have been nice and I would have definitely taken it. I did pretty good on my SAT's but I probably wouldn't have been as nervous as I was when I took them if I had been better prepared.

 

[momrek06]

First of all, OP, they offer to students in the 10th grade and sometimes 9th grade a test called the PRE-SAT. This gives the student an idea what the actual SAT is like and how they might score.....I would WAIT and have your DS take the PRE-TEST and get his scores from that.....he may score very well on the Pre-test. Then have him take the regular SAT and get THOSE scores. Based on the scores of the first REAL SAT test, I would then look into or inquire about SAT prep classes.

PRINCETON REVIEW offers a SAT prep class. Go online and type in Princeton Review. It will give you TONS of info. What I do know is that it is very $$$!

He may NOT need any additional course prep. He may do very well!

Good Luck.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

DS signed up at the College Board website for a question of the day. Every day they e-mailed him a practice question and the answer. This is a free way to get some help. He took the PSAT in 10th grade and only took the real thing twice.

 

[Snowysmom]

Both my sons bought the Kaplan SAT book and practiced with that. Also, check your library. Our library subscribes to a great database on which you can take all kinds of practice tests including the SAT. You just log on using your library card. Both my kids have done well this way. Good luck!

 

[azgal81]

I took a class at a local university when I was in 10th grade. I don't really remember what they taught us but we also got a huge book with practice questions in it. I don't think you can really prepare for the test but your son might want to take a practice test so he knows what format the test will be like. It's really not that big of a deal. I did probably average on mine and still got into all four of the universities I applied to!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My dd is also in 10th grade this year.

OK...We have purchased the Premium 2006 Kaplan PSAT/SAT software in the nick of time. Amazon had it a couple of days ago. Best Buy, Costco, and others have pulled it from there lineup due to the 2007 version coming out, which is on backorder. I don't care about the year.

We also bought Princeton's book and the BIG BLUE book from Collegeboard.com.

The PSAT test is once a year and is given in Oct. You register through your High School, as it is given at your High School, I do believe.
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/reg.html

All the sophmores are taking the PSAT at my dd's HS. This is the "practice" test. It counts next year. Although if you do well, I think you get goodies.
You need to have your score wrapped up by the end of Junior year if you want to apply early decision to some colleges and apply for scholarships.

The scholarship site is Fastweb.com. Lots of things to do. Basically you write essay's.
http://www.fastweb.com/

And if you want to be scared go to College Discussion Boards. It took me her Freshman year just to get this far. They are helpful but pretty to the point. Good Luck!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/index.php?

 

[Spoodleink]

In 10th grade most students take the PSAT its good practice for the SAT and you get an answer sheet and booklet with your scores so you can see what you got right and wrong. This test is also the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) however only Juniors/11th graders are eligible for the scholarships. Collegeboard.com has a lot of information on the site. I would let your son take the PSAT and see how he does before signing up for one of the classes. If he does well and if he works well independently the he should be fine with the Collegeboard or Kaplan books and/or Software. I put the schedule that most kids follow below.

10th Fall PSAT/NMSQT
11th Fall PSAT/NMSQT
11th Spring SAT
12th Fall SAT

For submitting scores I know when I applied to college I was allowed to take my best math score and best verbal score and add them together. So my Math was from the 1st time I took it and my verbal was from the second. I believe this varies form school to school so if there is a particular school he is interested in you can check out their policies on their website

 

[bballmom56]

Our high school offers a prep course in the winter for juniors. DD had taken the November and December SAT, took the course over the winter, took the May and June SAT and raised her math score about 90 points. Her verbal didn't change. Most people say not to take it more than 3 times, but colleges did not hold it against her. They took her highest math and highest verbal which happened to be from different dates.

DS took the prep class, but I don't think he put much into it, and probably didn't get much out of it. He took the SAT and his scores were very consistent with his PSAT and practice SAT tests. They are fine for the colleges he will apply to, so he will not re-take them. He also took the ACT and did OK. It's a bit different from the SAT - you may want to investigate that.

 

[gm]

thanks everyone.

I ordered a PSAT 2007 from ebay and hopefully it will help.

 

[kyleiq]

I would like to get feedback on SAT Test Prep website- satprepplan. The most interesting part about the site is the custom study plan creation tool. It works like this: students take the SAT practice test and then a custom prep plan is created for them based on their strengths, weaknesses, times to study, and time until the test. SAT Prep Plan also includes a bunch of practice problems, problem solving videos, SAT vocabulary, tips and other prep materials. Any feedback about the site I can get would be great.

 

[CPM]

GM'

Just a word of warning, and this may not apply to your son at all. My daughter was also in IB. She scored very low on her SAT's for a student with a 4.53 GPA. Her GC said that it's common for IB students to score low on SAT's. One reason is a lot of the math that is on the SATs, they haven taken since 8th or 9th grade. My DD didn't take the SAT until her junior years, she took the PSAT first.
Anyway, he suggested she take the ACT. She scroed very high on that after three low SAT scores. So, the ACT is what she gave to the colleges.
If he doesn't score what he hopes for the first time on the SAT it may not hurt to take the ACT.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

I had a very high GPA but did poorly on the SAT. Some students just don't test well and I was definitely one of them. I took an SAT prep course at Sylvan Learning Center. I was Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-9. Tuesdays were math and Thursdays were verbal. I can't praise this course enough! It was a life-saver for me. They not only taught what you would need to know information-wise, but they also taught good test taking skills. I took this when I was a Junior. It raised my SAT score 500 points! Have your son take the SAT once and if he does okay he obviously doesn't need to take a course, but if he is struggling, taking a class can make a world of difference!