PSAT ... frustration with HS

[holdoll]

Our daughter signed up at the local high school to take the PSAT in October. We walked in, they took her name and my check and gave us a receipt.

 

I've been searching the forums for all I can find out about tests, scholarships, universities, etc. I can't remember where but I saw something about a PSAT packet.

 

I called the counselors office this morning and said what is this packet? And she said we'll call the students to the office to pick them up a day or two before. She tried to hang up and I said our daughter was a home schooled student. So she said they'd mail it to us and tried to hang up. So I persisted and said no one took our address or phone number when she signed up. She said give me her name and phone number and I'll call you when it's ready. So I did. She didn't even want to take the time to tell me what was in the packet. I finally pulled it out of her that it had "do's and don'ts", what to bring and not bring, and most importantly what room to report to for the test. Apparently they have different rooms testing at the same time.

 

If I had not called and then pulled teeth, dd would have shown up at 7:30 which is the time the woman in the office told her to show up. I found out from further probing that, no, in fact, she should show up 15 minutes early because the test actually starts at 7:30.

 

Maybe this is old hat to most people but it is a big deal to us. She is a junior and this is it, as far as the PSAT goes.

 

Does anyone whose BTDT have advice as to what else we should know to inquire about? I confess I am too ignorant to know what else I should know. Am I being ridiculous? Please be gentle. I don't like confrontation, but I don't want my child to have the slightest disadvantage because I was afraid to open my mouth again.

[AngieW in Texas]

Make sure that your dd has a picture id (you can make it yourself) and that all her pencils are wooden, not mechanical. The collegeboard doesn't allow mechanical pencils because kids were somehow getting answers and hiding them in the barrels of the pencils. The picture ID is no problem at all. Take a picture of your dd and upload it to your computer. Then go to the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op website to make an id. I print mine out on photo paper and then then take them over to Office Max to get laminated. I know I could buy a laminator, but I only need one photo ID laminated each year, so it isn't worth it to me to buy one.

[creekland]

A passport also works as an ID if you have them.

 

I'd call the school back and see if you can pick up the booklet sooner. There's a practice test in it that my boys took well before the test to see what they wanted to review ahead of time. One or two days before the test won't give your daughter any time for that.

 

They may not assign rooms until later, but that's no biggie. It's common to have more than one room testing. Our school uses several rooms and organizes students alphabetically - except homeschoolers are all in one room due to using a different code than the others. They want to make sure there's no confusion that morning and have a special proctor for the room that's mixed with homeschoolers and ps'ers who knows to be certain the codes are correct.

 

It sounds like your school isn't used to homeschoolers coming to test... and not giving the booklet to ps'ers until a day or two before does them no favors either. Ours get it the day they sign up with a verbal explanation of what's in the booklet.

[choirfarm]

My son is taking it at a Christian school ( different from the one we normally test at). She was very friendly and took my information and then told me she would call me a couple of days before the test to remind me. But she didn't mention anything about a booklet. I have several PSAT prep books here that my son is going through as well as Chalkdust SAT review. He is only 10th, so this is just a practice run. Should I call about the booklet? His learner's permit is just like a regular driver's liscence so I think that will work. He also has a passport.

 

Christine

[Luckymama]

I think the booklet is helpful for seeing the actual format of the test. My kids are familiar with standardized testing (TerraNova, high school entrance exams) but I always want them to know the format of a test before they take it.

 

Choirfarm, do the PSAT prep books you have contain actual formerly released exams? Or are they PSAT-like exams? I know in SAT prep that studying from actual released exams is much better than using the SAT-like exams written by prep companies.

 

This year dd15 as a 10th grader will be taking the PSAT as practice. I'm going to have her go through the sample exam in the booklet to familiarize herself with the test. However, I don't want her to study as I want a good baseline to know how close she'll be to the NM cutoff. She's considering a totally different set of colleges than her brother, so NM finalist could be an important consideration. If she scores comfortably above 200, we'll seriously ramp up the PSAT prep next summer. (Side note: as a family, we all are quite good test-takers. It's just the way we're wired, I think.)

[Kathy in Richmond]

We've also had problems initiallly with obtaining the student packet before the exam. It's called the Official Student Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT. I don't know why the College Board won't put a pdf of this online :tongue_smilie:. FWIW, I found that I had better results with requests like this if I went to the school in person than if I called the office. In fact, I spied these packets on a literature rack in the hall outside the guidance counselors' office for anyone to take ;).

 

Also, do you know that College Board sells previously-released (ie, real) PSAT exams for only $3? Here's a link to their store. There are three different exams offered on the top of the right-hand column. Make sure that you read the details - you need to also order a free answer key to each exam.

 

~Kathy

[lisabees]

[quote name=

 

Also' date=' do you know that College Board sells previously-released (ie, real) PSAT exams for only $3? Here's a link to their store. There are three different exams offered on the top of the right-hand column. Make sure that you read the details - you need to also order a free answer key to each exam.

 

~Kathy

 

:iagree:We ordered three exams for practice. They arrived fairly quickly.

 

OP, sorry you experienced such trouble. I went through a local Christian school, assuming they had more experience with homeschoolers. They gave me the booklet the day I paid.

[Teachin'Mine]

There's also lots of information on the College Board site telling you what to bring and what not to bring, as well as other info:

 

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about.html

 

:)

[In The Great White North]

We got the packet when we registered for the PSAT. I second the recommendation to walk in and ask for it. They should be giving them to the students more than a day or two before the test!

[Storm Bay]

They should have given you a packet. I find it hard to understand how that high school didn't know about it! We were told to wait until next week to sign up because they should have the packets at the local high school by then.

[holdoll]

Thank you all for your counsel! I get so frustrated with bureaucracy! I know these people aren't used to dealing with home schoolers, and I will have to make another in person visit on Monday.

 

The first place I tried was a private Catholic high school two blocks from our house. They told me they don't allow home schoolers to test with them, so I had to contact the PS. It was so funny though, when we went to sign dd up for the test, I thought maybe after being there, they would see all those kids and want to be a part of it. Exactly the opposite happened. They kept telling me, "Mom, this place smells - we're glad we don't have to learn here!" :lol:

[AngieW in Texas]

I forgot to mention that our ISD is doing several mock psat sessions with Revolution Prep and hsers can sign up for them too. The cost is just $10 and it includes a 3-hour test session with a previously released PSAT this Saturday and a 3-hour strategy session two weeks after that.

 

This is something that is set up directly with a test prep company, not through schools. They don't care where you go to school.

 

To see if this is available in your area, go to http://www.revolutionprep.com and type in your zip code. When the results come up, click on "practice exams". There was one available at a more convenient location for us, but I wanted my dd to do the practice test at the same school where she'll be doing the actual test. The cost of the practice exam/strategy session will be different depending on exactly what they have set up to do.

 

They don't have an option to enter a schoolname, you have to choose one from the list. I called the company and they said to just use the name of the school where she was doing the test.

 

I'm sure there are other companies that do this as well. I just know about this one because our local ISD is using it.

[CO MOM]

My advice would be to get there in plenty of time to find the right room, etc. We found it difficult to deal with our local p.s. as well, not because they were particularly unfriendly, but because they were unaccustomed to dealing with homeschoolers. I called multiple times and went in twice to keep reminding them about us. They had told us on the day of the test that my dd should arrive at the school early to ride the bus over to this church that they use for testing since they didn't have a room available at the school. When I explained that we live two blocks from the church and would just meet them there, I got sort of a blank stare, but an OK. So the morning of the test, we went early and sat in the parking lot waiting for the bus to come. It got later and later, but we waited. Finally, one of the secretaries from the church had seen us sitting there and came out and asked us why we were there. They had just gotten a message that the school was not going to use their room for the test, but the school never bothered to tell us!! If it was not for the nice ladies at the church, my dd would have missed the test! We raced across town (fortunately we live in a very small town) and made it to the new testing place just in time. They never really apologized or anything - just hurried her in. Despite all that, she did manage to be a commended student in the NM competition.

 

Anyway, I can empathize with the difficulties of dealing with the local p.s. - I was glad with the SAT and ACT that we no longer had to go through them!

[SS in MD]

I didn't realize they required a photo id for PSAT? I know they want one for SAT, can someone verify for me? (I didn't see it on the college board website)

 

thanks!

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

They must have the packets. My 10th grade ds is testing through our ISP and I got his packet on September 7th. We haven't looked at it yet but we do have it:lol:

[Teachin'Mine]

I can't find any info about the student ID on the college board site either. I'm wondering if it's only needed for the SAT???

 

Does anyone know if the student ID needs to be for the current year, or is one from last year acceptable?

[Tullia]

My tips: Pick up the packet in person. Be sure your student is well versed on filling out the information on the test form (the practice test booklet lets students practice that too. My son's proctor had no clue, and told students that she would check the forms and change the school code in case any of the students entered it wrong. Thanks to these boards, I already knew about a case where a school changed the homeschool code to the school's in the mistaken belief that everyone had to use the school's code. So, ds reminded the proctor before the test and again when he turned in his forms. [ETA: He also told the proctor that he had talked to Ms. M____, the counselor about it and that she was ok with that. The one thing the school did tell me early on was that they would take absolutely no responsibility for finding out the homeschool code. As it happened, I had a briefcase with me, so I pulled the printout with the College Board logo, showed it to the Counselor's assistant and said we'd be using that one. I made a second trip to pick up the packet even though they offered to mail it.

 

I'd also suggest that you visit the school in person to get what you need. I found phone calls a total waste of time--especially to the school secretary. Our school was friendly and helpful to a point. It's just that they are used to the conveyor belt method of crowd control and don't know how to handle the odd lot of a few individuals.

 

Also, I expect that this is rare, but I'd also check at the last minute to be sure that the test will, in fact, be administered on the expected day. The school had signed up for the Saturday test, but UPS delivered Wednesday test forms to the school at the end of the day on Monday. There was no time to exchange the forms, so the test date was changed. I got the call on Tuesday morning from the counselor which I appreciated. However if your school contact is clueless or not welcoming I'd double check every detail in person whenever possible.

 

I made sure to let the folks at the school know that I'd done my homework beforehand and was only contacting them when absolutely necessary. If you can, meet and make friends with the school counselor or that person's assistant since the counselor's office is usually in charge of testing. The ACT and SAT are much easier since the schools are just being used as ACT/SAT test centers. For the PSAT, the school is administering the test for their own students, and they are extending a courtesy by admitting those who aren't students. I made sure to smile, acknowledge that fact, and say thank you often. Sometimes I did that through clenched teeth.

 

Another tip is to allow enough time to find the testing room and the washroom. My son isn't shy at all, but he felt like a cow in a loading pen as he put it. He wasn't used to having to elbow his way through a crowd. BTW, he saw nothing that made him want to go to ps.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Martha in NM

[creekland]

I don't know if this is true everywhere, but at our school homeschoolers NEED an ID. Public schooled kids don't since the teachers know who they are and the school vouches for them. This may only be true where I work... but it's true here.

[SS in MD]

Here's the link for homeschool state codes -

http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/testright/resources/homeschool_codes.pdf

[MomsintheGarden]

You can get the Student Guide here:

http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf

 

They hide it in their National Merit site - go figure!

 

You can also buy the 2008 Student Guide from the College Board store.

http://store.collegeboard.com/sto/productdetail.do?Itemkey=745789

 

You've been getting great advice. I have one more thing to add - view this test situation as a trial. If it doesn't work out, you have a long time to find another school. We tried some testing at the local high school, and ended up switching to one in the next county. It made a huge difference.

 

Blessings,

GardenMom