PSAT prep? SAT prep?

[Janeway]

My son wants to start to prep for the PSAT. Should he just prep for the SAT? Or should he get a prep book specific to the PSAT? He is going in to 10th now so there is plenty of time to do PSAT prep now and SAT prep later, but, if PSAT prep is a waste and he should just do the SAT prep, then we would go that route. 

[LinRTX]

We prepped for the Psat first then went on to do SAT prep. She started in the 10th grade also.

[wapiti]

I'd just do SAT prep for the PSAT, maybe followed by a full PSAT practice test right before the official PSAT.  Keep in mind that only the 11th grade PSAT counts for National Merit.

 

Our plan:  my rising 11th grader is doing SAT prep this summer.  Then shortly before the PSAT, she'll do a couple of PSAT practice tests and will take the SAT at some point this fall, probably the October one (so, she'll be taking both the SAT and the PSAT around the same time).  I also anticipate that she may take the SAT one more time after that, sometime between spring of 11th and August of 12th.

Edited June 5, 2017 by wapiti

[regentrude]

I would prep for the SAT and then do a quick run through the practice PSATs shortly before the test in 11th grade. I would not prep at all before the 10th grade PSAT - that one IS the prep since it does not count.

[Momto6inIN]

If your child has the potential of making National Merit Finalist then I think specific targeted prep for the official 11th grade PSAT makes sense. But the 10th grade PSAT is just for practice.

 

My DS prepped for PSAT the summer before 11th and then after he took the PSAT in Oct/Nov of 11th started prepping for the SAT which he took in May of 11th.

 

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[FriedClams]

If your child has the potential of making National Merit Finalist then I think specific targeted prep for the official 11th grade PSAT makes sense. But the 10th grade PSAT is just for practice.

 

My DS prepped for PSAT the summer before 11th and then after he took the PSAT in Oct/Nov of 11th started prepping for the SAT which he took in May of 11th.

 

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This is our plan. DD did well in 10th so she'll do some prep for the PSAT specifically for 11th.

[SebastianCat]

I would look at the PSAT test info on the College Board website before he takes the PSAT for the first time, just so he knows what to expect and how the questions are scored.

 

Then once you receive his score, he can link to Khan Academy for targeted practice on the areas he needs to improve.   The content of the PSAT is virtually the same as the SAT, so SAT practice after taking the PSAT in 10th grade will help his improve 11th grade PSAT score.

 

Edited to fix link

Edited June 5, 2017 by SebastianCat

[JeanM]

I'd just do SAT prep for the PSAT, maybe followed by a full PSAT practice test right before the official PSAT.  Keep in mind that only the 11th grade PSAT counts for National Merit.

 

Our plan:  my rising 11th grader is doing SAT prep this summer.  Then shortly before the PSAT, she'll do a couple of PSAT practice tests and will take the SAT at some point this fall, probably the October one (so, she'll be taking both the SAT and the PSAT around the same time).  I also anticipate that she may take the SAT one more time after that, sometime between spring of 11th and August of 12th.

 

Our plan for my rising 11th grader is the same. Hopefully it will work well.

 

[JanetC]

You can knock out the SAT early and be done with it if you get a score you like, but you can't knock out the PSAT early. It only counts in 11th. So, concentrate on the SAT and do the PSAT for practice.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I agree with prepping for the SAT as prep for the PSAT.  Prior to the one for Junior year, I would take a few PSAT practice tests just to get accustomed to the timing since it is a shorter test than a full SAT.  Other than that, SAT prep will not fail your student.  Like others said, the PSAT in 10th grade doesn't count, so the only prep I would do for that is looking over the College Board info on that particular test. 

 

This is what we did with all 3 kids.  One National Merit Scholar, one who would have been if not for being ill on the test date (had an SAT score that was in the range for a qualifying corresponding PSAT score.)  One who really wasn't close due to being a late bloomer in math.  She had a significant bump from the SAT score predicted from her PSAT in October to her SAT score in April, mostly due to the math.  She takes the ACT this weekend and should do much better (due to the math score only being 1/4th the composite.)

[yvonne]

My boys did not do any prep for the PSAT they took in 10th. We wanted to see where they were. Worked out well for us because their English was pretty much topped out, but their math was not, so the only prep they did for their 11th grade PSAT was to work through the PWN the SAT: Math Guide and to do the practice PSAT that came in the registration booklet. They also did Algebra II during their 10th grade year, so that may have been a bigger factor in raising their 11th grade PSAT score than the prep. I don't know.

 

I had planned on having them also go through the Erica Meltzer English prep book, but after getting their scores from that 10th grade, baseline PSAT, we realized that they really did not need to spend the time on English.  Saved a ton of time!

 

 

ETA: You might be able to get the same baseline information from just doing a practice PSAT test. I'm not sure why I didn't do that. Now that I think of it I may do that with my dd before she takes the PSAT in the fall. (She'll be a sophmore, so it doesn't really matter.)

Edited June 9, 2017 by yvonne

[MarkT]

I would prep for the SAT and then do a quick run through the practice PSATs shortly before the test in 11th grade. I would not prep at all before the 10th grade PSAT - that one IS the prep since it does not count.

I agree this is the best plan^

- don't prep for the PSAT in 10th grade because it will serve as a baseline for improvement

[Plateau Mama]

We were told by our school not to prep for the 10th grade PSAT because that gives you the best idea of what needs to be worked on. For 11th grade, because my child was in NM range, she was told to take the SAT as practice for the PSAT. DD opted to do a practice test simply because her top choice school requires all test scores and she knew that she was going to do a lot better on the ACT.