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HELP! PSAT, SATII, and ACT questions!


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What's the earliest age to start taking these tests?

Is there a way out of the fees for taking the tests?

When do you take the PSAT? Before, after, or at the same time as the SATII?

Is there a website for info on the ACT? (I didn't see it on College Board, but there's so much info there, I might have missed it...)

 

I would like to start my dc taking these tests some time between 8th and 9th grade. He is currently just starting 8th. I want to see his weak areas, his strengths, get him used to the testing environment, and build better scores for college.

 

I am so alone in this? Not a single hs-ing parent I know is even remotely thinking of college until 10th grade and they sure aren't bothering with college prep of any kind now.

 

That won't work for me for 2 reasons. I plan on doing college dual enrollment for at least half of highschool and so he needs to be able to handle that level before starting 10th grade. And we need to stay on top of this if there's any chance of him getting a full ride academic scholarship for college. There's simply no other way we can afford to send him.

 

So would those of you who have btdt, please help me out a bit?

Thank you!

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PSAT for practice in 10th, for "real" in 11th (for scholarships)

 

You can take any of the tests any time, a friend's dd took ACT in 10th and made a 31. Your student might not be fully prepared for the math or science but only you can decide. One caveat, the College Board will send ALL the scores to any colleges you request, not just the highest score... although I think I read going forward the SAT will send the highest of each of the sections, regardless of the number of times the test was taken.

 

Your test center will determine the fee of the test. My dd took the PSAT last year at the local ps high school and we didn't pay anything. I figure our taxes paid enough to cover her test :)

 

Try this for the ACT

 

http://www.actstudent.org/

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What's the earliest age to start taking these tests?

Is there a way out of the fees for taking the tests?

When do you take the PSAT? Before, after, or at the same time as the SATII?

Is there a website for info on the ACT? (I didn't see it on College Board, but there's so much info there, I might have missed it...)

 

I would like to start my dc taking these tests some time between 8th and 9th grade. He is currently just starting 8th. I want to see his weak areas, his strengths, get him used to the testing environment, and build better scores for college.

 

I am so alone in this? Not a single hs-ing parent I know is even remotely thinking of college until 10th grade and they sure aren't bothering with college prep of any kind now.

 

That won't work for me for 2 reasons. I plan on doing college dual enrollment for at least half of highschool and so he needs to be able to handle that level before starting 10th grade. And we need to stay on top of this if there's any chance of him getting a full ride academic scholarship for college. There's simply no other way we can afford to send him.

 

So would those of you who have btdt, please help me out a bit?

Thank you!

 

I can help you with some, I think.

 

First of all, I think you normally register with your local h.s. for the PSAT sometime in June or the summer prior to the PSAT, which is generally given the third Wednesday or third Saturday in October (I think); it depends upon the school. Off the top of my head I can't remember the exact fee, but it wasn't cost-prohibitive. I think it was under $20.00. Your local h.s. is supposed to allow homeschoolers to take the test, but they're not required to. If they give you trouble, PSAT will give you the name of another local h.s. who will administer the test to your student. I didn't have any trouble at our h.s.

 

At any rate, I've heard of people having their kids take the PSAT as early as 9th grade, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. The PSAT doesn't count for any scholarships until taken in the fall of the junior year, no matter what. I had my dd do the PSAT in 10th grade (last year) as a trial run; she'll take it this fall again, and at that time it will count for the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). Students can possibly be a National Merit finalist, depending on their test scores. The PSAT is scored similar to the SAT, with one "zero" dropped. For instance, a score of 200 on the PSAT (which would be an excellent score) would approximate to a score of 2000 out of 2400 on the SAT.

 

Here's The College Board's website for the PSAT.

 

By the way, The Rocket Review Revolution is supposed to be an excellent study guide for the PSAT. We used Barron's, and that worked fine for dd. Princeton probably makes an excellent study guide too, although I don't know for sure. I used theirs for the GRE recently.

 

Now, as far as the ACT is concerned, that's offered several times throughout the year. Let me start by giving you the ACT website. Off the top of my head, I think it's offered in September, possibly November, and definitely in April and June. You can take the ACT as many times as you want and send only the best score to the colleges of your choice. I've heard that they were going to change the SAT to this as well---I think at one point you could take the SAT three times and beyond that the scores were averaged, but that's been changed. Please don't quote me on this, though, because we haven't done the SAT yet!

 

At any rate, the ACT website gives the fees and other information. The ACT without the writing option is $31.00, and with the writing option it's $46.00. I don't know if there is any way to waive the fees on that. I would recommend The Real ACT Prep Guide for this. It worked great for us. You can order any of the test prep. books from Amazon or probably Barnes & Noble, or you can order that particular prep. guide for the ACT from the ACT website when you register. (Of course, you have to pay extra for it! ;) )

 

I would recommend beginning preparation (if it's during the school year) about a month ahead of time. Have your student take one section of a practice test per day; time them, as that section would be timed. I allowed my oldest to take the math test for the ACT over two days, because she dislikes math. I felt like this was plenty of preparation without overwhelming her. She doesn't like tests, although she does well on them.

 

I can't comment on the SAT-II's, because we haven't done either the SAT or the SAT-II's. Aren't they subject tests, to show mastery in a certain subject? I'm sure others on these boards have done them, so hopefully someone else will chime in.

 

The best preparation your student can have is a rigorous h.s. education in math, literature, literary analysis, and writing. Don't worry too much! :)

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I'm not so much worried about actually doing it, as being sure they are prepared to do well on them when it matters, kwim?

 

For example, if we took the PSAT and or ACT in June, it would give me a better idea of what areas I need to work with more intensively.

 

I absolutely do not want ot wait until 10th or 11th grade and risk that he'd have to struggle or even back peddal to get those great scholarship scores.

 

Thanks for the help ladies!

 

Anyone have any additional tips for me going into this?

Anything you ladies who did dual credit college enrollment wish you'd known before you started?

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I concur with what everyone has said regarding taking the PSAT, SAT & ACT.

 

My daughter is a math whiz and did a lot better on the SAT than on the ACT. She earned a partial scholarship to a local Baptist college.

 

I would recommend that after your child has taken Alg. 2 you have her take the CLEP test for Col. Algebra. Take the CLEP tests after each dual enrollment class. Your child could be a sophomore in college when they begin. You can take the CLEP tests at any age. I didn't do this with my older three but will with the younger 3.

 

I know what you mean about fellow homeschoolers not being concerned about college prep in 9th. In our area it is the same way.

 

The college board site does have a academic plan starting with 9th grade.

 

http://www.davidandlaurie.com/main.html

These folks teach clep prep classes.

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I can address a few of the issues in this thread.

 

First, about the SAT-II's (or subject tests): look at the College Board website for advice on when to take these. It seems that most students take the biology or chemistry exams after taking their bio or chem course, but they wait to take a foreign language exam until after they have completed their high school sequence. A friend of mine who is a high school guidance counselor thinks that the curve is much more generous on the Math Level 2 than the Math Level I test. She recommends the former. Note that some colleges like to see students take the Math Sat II for placement purposes.

 

Since many colleges like to see two or three SAT subjects to see how applicants compare, you have some wiggle room to choose the tests at which your student should perform well. But not all schools require these tests--some like to see them nonetheless.

 

I want to correct a statement that Martha made about taking the PSAT: it is only offered in October. Your student cannot take the test in June.

 

I am not sure that I would follow hsmom46's advice on CLEPs: first check with the college. Not all colleges offer credit for all CLEPs. At $70 a test, CLEP can be a bargain. Whether the test is CLEP or AP, your student will earns credit will need to be able to move up to the next level beyond the material tested. Many engineering students prefer to take Calculus at their universities, for example, where the courses are geared toward their program. If you receive CLEP or AP credit for Calc I, the student has no choice but to sink or swim in Calc II (if that is in their degree requirements or chosen path). For many students, having foundational information relevant to their fields is more important than racking up a bunch of credits. Just a consideration.

 

Further, I feel that my son experienced test fatigue last spring with the ACT, one AP,one SAT subject and the National Latin exam. Each of these tests requires preparation, work done outside of regular class time. It is exhausting!

 

Good luck.

Jane

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sorry I mean to say the sat is what I was thinking of him taking in June.

I think this october would be too soon for him to do testing, so that leaves the PSAT for October 2009.

 

Should I only do the ACT this june and wait to do any SAT until after doing the PSAT first next october??

 

I made a trasnscript so I'd have a graphic outline of what subject he needs to take when to meet our goals for college and that was very helpful in determining subjects.

 

However, I havent' set in stone what specific subject we'll take as CLEP/AP or dual college course enrollment yet. I'm thinking much of it depends on his learning strengths and my teaching weaknesses. For example, science is his weakest area, so I'm thinking a college teacher might teach it better than me and he might getmroe out of it. History and english are fairly easy for him, so I'm thinking doing that home for CLEP or AP woudl be more sensible than a college course on the subject. And I have looked at the possible college listing of what they accept too. That's not my final decision, because if it's a subject I woudl have a hard time teaching, say chem with lab, I might take the college course regardless just for highschool credit because I don't feel comfortable teaching it myself?

 

Neither of us are any good at foreign languages, so that's another college course that might be beneficial.

 

the good thing is, we have 5 local college in my town and they all offer syllbus and teacher background on classes 6 weeks prior to the start of class. So I can go up and look at what kind of teacher is teaching the class and how rigorous the course requirements are. For example, in some classes there might not be a prerequiest actually listed for the course, but in the syllabus the teacher will note that students who have not done xyz will have a harder time, or that the class is presumming that they are taking for the nursing program that 80% of the student enroll in it are going for. Sometimes it's not that helpful, but when it is, it can be a real goldmine of problems to avoid.

 

oh and I blogged about this too.

 

thoughts?

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I think that would be reasonable. Your student's results on the PSAT will give you an idea what kind of score to expect on the SAT--the main difference is the essay on the SAT, and it doesn't effect the writing score that much. You can also do practice tests and that will give you an idea how prepared your ds is before having him do the tests "for real". Keep in mind that your ds's score will depend a great deal on how much math he has done. If he is doing algebra this year in 8th and hasn't had geometry yet, there will be a lot of questions he won't know how to do on the ACT in June and the PSAT in October. I had my older ds take the PSAT last October at the beginning of 9th, and he only had two months of geometry under his belt--he said there were a lot of questions he didn't know how to do. When I gave him a practice ACT at the end of this year (after geometry) his math score was much better. I expect after Algebra II the scores will climb even more.

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From our experience, if a student takes a test like these earlier than necessary, they do a lot better when it actually counts. They are more relaxed when they know they are super young and the pressure is not on them. Then they have the experience under their belt when the time comes and the nerves are a little less. I am having my 9th-grader take the PSAT in October.

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One caveat, the College Board will send ALL the scores to any colleges you request, not just the highest score...

 

For the ACT, we were able to request which set of scores was sent, since we didn't list any colleges on the test form, but rather had them sent afterwards.

 

I believe this is now the case for the SAT as well. Unless you list colleges on the test form at the time of the test.

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