annabanana1992 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 DS just got his SAT scores back, and his math was over 100 points lower than each of the other two portions. He is just a sophomore, but he is taking Pre-Calc this year. He took the test for the experience. We have used Foerster all the way through (other than geometry), and he has always done very well with no struggles. He also worked his way through an SAT prep book this fall that focused on math. We were all surprised at the score. My husband theorized that he was too calculator dependent and needs to do more in his head. We definitely need some strategies as the school he would most like to attend would require a score about 100 points higher. I think the ability is there and he is usually a good test taker, sooo... Any ideas, insights, or suggestions to get us where we need to be? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra in FL Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 For SAT Math, I recommend Gruber's Complete SAT Math Workbook http://www.amazon.com/Grubers-Complete-SAT-Math-Workbook/dp/1402253370/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351548840&sr=8-1&keywords=gruber%27s+sat+math The (October) math curve was extremely harsh. -1 was a 770 (dd's score - 98th percentile). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabanana1992 Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 For SAT Math, I recommend Gruber's Complete SAT Math Workbook http://www.amazon.com/Grubers-Complete-SAT-Math-Workbook/dp/1402253370/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351548840&sr=8-1&keywords=gruber%27s+sat+math The (October) math curve was extremely harsh. -1 was a 770 (dd's score - 98th percentile). Thank you - I am just learning more about this curve thing... can you point me to more information? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra in FL Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I found out about the curves from this thread on college confidential: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1407295-october-2012-cr-m-curves-4.html CR: 800,800,800,760,740,720,710,700 For Critical Reading, -0 (none wrong), -1 or -2 gives an 800, -3 gives a 760, -4 gives a 740, etc. Dd got a 760 (3 wrong) which was 99 percentile so she did better than 99 percent of the students. Note that the student is included so no one can be 100 percentile. M: 800,770,740,720,710,700 For Math, -0 gives an 800, -1 gives a 770, -2 gives a 740, etc. Basically the math was (relatively) easy, a lot of people got -0 and so the curve was very harsh. Dd got -1/770 which was 98 percentile. Writing: 800: MC80/9-12E , MC79/10-12E , MC76/12E 790: MC76/11E 780: MC79/9E 770: MC76/10E, MC71/12E 760: MC76/9E 750:MC77/9E 740: MC67/12E 730: 720:MC67/11E 700: MC69/9E , MC64/11E 690: MC71/8E , MC66/10E 680: 670: MC69/8E, MC66/9E 660: 650: 640: 630: MC64/8E 620: MC57/10E For Writing, these are the combinations posted. Either an 80 on MC with a 9-12 on essay, a 79 on MC with a 10-12 essay or a 76 on MC with a 12 on essay gave an 800. No one on cc posted scores with 77 or 78 so you have to wait for CollegeBoard to come out with those scores. CollegeConfidential is a fountain of information. Be careful not to be overwhelmed as the posters tend to be over/high-achievers. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I found out about the curves from this thread on college confidential: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1407295-october-2012-cr-m-curves-4.html CR: 800,800,800,760,740,720,710,700 For Critical Reading, -0 (none wrong), -1 or -2 gives an 800, -3 gives a 760, -4 gives a 740, etc. Dd got a 760 (3 wrong) which was 99 percentile so she did better than 99 percent of the students. Note that the student is included so no one can be 100 percentile. M: 800,770,740,720,710,700 For Math, -0 gives an 800, -1 gives a 770, -2 gives a 740, etc. Basically the math was (relatively) easy, a lot of people got -0 and so the curve was very harsh. Dd got -1/770 which was 98 percentile. When my ds took the SAT last February -1 on the math = 760. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabanana1992 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Those are still great scores! We definitely need to figure out "how" to take the test. We haven't worked on that much at all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) NM - misunderstood the op. Edited October 30, 2012 by readwithem misunderstood the op Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra in FL Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Anna, Please note that my recommendation for Gruber's is from reading lots of cc posts - not from personal experience. It's more for learning the material. Once that's solid, nothing beats the questions from past college board tests. My dd did not use the Gruber's - just the blue book but the Gruber's is on its way from Amazon for my ds. It's great that your ds is starting so early. Practice will certainly raise scores especially the math and writing. Critical reading is a different animal - but lots of reading ala TWTM will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabanana1992 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Anna, Please note that my recommendation for Gruber's is from reading lots of cc posts - not from personal experience. It's more for learning the material. Once that's solid, nothing beats the questions from past college board tests. My dd did not use the Gruber's - just the blue book but the Gruber's is on its way from Amazon for my ds. It's great that your ds is starting so early. Practice will certainly raise scores especially the math and writing. Critical reading is a different animal - but lots of reading ala TWTM will help. Critical Reading was in the 700+ range so we are good there - math was the surprise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) You might query your son as to what his perceptions are. Did he run out of time? If so, he might work through a number of practice tests to work on bringing up his speed. If he answered all the questions but still missed a significant fraction, it is possible that he is a victim of the tricky questions that are so common on the SAT. In that case, I'd suggest he look through other SAT prep books (perhaps from your library?) to see if they can give him additional insights. Regards, Kareni Edited October 30, 2012 by Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Those are still great scores! We definitely need to figure out "how" to take the test. We haven't worked on that much at all.... Anna, Please note that my recommendation for Gruber's is from reading lots of cc posts - not from personal experience. It's more for learning the material. Once that's solid, nothing beats the questions from past college board tests. Anna, I second the recommendation for the CB Blue book. Have your son work every math section in there. Start a couple of months before the test, and have him work one or two sections/day. Go over all of the ones that were missed and look for areas that need work. If he's an otherwise strong math student, he probably just needs to become familiar with some of the particularly tricky questions the CB uses. Make sure he knows the quadratic form, absolute value, geometry, probability, and mean/median very well. Good luck! Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyThreeSons Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I do SAT math tutoring. One of the first things I always tell parents and students is that the SAT Math test isn't about math as much as it is about reasoning and logic. Many of the questions on the test are nothing like anything they've ever seen in one of their math courses. In addition to plenty of prep -- lots of practice problems and practice tests -- I recommend taking some time to work through logic puzzles and games. I like KenKen puzzles because they combine logic skills with recognizing patterns and combinations of numbers. The NYTimes publishes a set each day that I work through while having my morning cup of warmth: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/crosswords/kenken.html?ref=crosswords You can also buy little paperback books of them. Traditional logic grid puzzles are also good for developing reasoning skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 DS just got his SAT scores back, and his math was over 100 points lower than each of the other two portions. He is just a sophomore, but he is taking Pre-Calc this year. He took the test for the experience. We have used Foerster all the way through (other than geometry), and he has always done very well with no struggles. He also worked his way through an SAT prep book this fall that focused on math. We were all surprised at the score. My husband theorized that he was too calculator dependent and needs to do more in his head. We definitely need some strategies as the school he would most like to attend would require a score about 100 points higher. I think the ability is there and he is usually a good test taker, sooo... Any ideas, insights, or suggestions to get us where we need to be? Thank you! Is it too late to request the question and answer service for this test? I think it's around $20 and it would give you a copy of the test and a printout of all of his answer choices. You would be able to see specifics about what he got wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabanana1992 Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 Is it too late to request the question and answer service for this test? I think it's around $20 and it would give you a copy of the test and a printout of all of his answer choices. You would be able to see specifics about what he got wrong. yes - we have done that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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