PSAT - take at home instead?

[BakersDozen]

The PSAT falls on the same weekend my oldest dc have one of their biggest and funnest Quiz meets of the year.  I made my dc stay home last year in order to take the PSAT yet this year I am rethinking things.  I don't have Nat'l. Merit scholars by any means.  The only reason I have them take the PSAT is to see how they compare on a national level and to prepare them for the SAT.  Given the fact that they won't qualify for NMS I thought of administering the test (using a practice test) at home and calling it good.  

 

I tend to focus 100% on academics and I overlook the heart, so I'm leaning toward surprising them big time and telling them after they take the practice test the Saturday before the PSAT date that hey, guess what?  That was IT!  And pack your bags because off to California you go!

 

Thoughts?  

[Jen in NY]

There is a Wednesday administration of the PSAT... this year it is on 10/16. There is one school in my area that offers it. Is there one in yours?

[regentrude]

Isn't the PSAT usually administered on Wednesdays?

 

This aside, I would not even bother with the PSAT at all if the student has no shot at National Merit.

[BakersDozen]

Nope, no Wednesday testing.  We only have two high schools and one test date - Saturday.

[klmama]

^{I think doing the PSAT at home will depend on what your goals are.  I don't expect National Merit status here, either, but there are other considerations.  For example, I want to provide my dc with a "practice" testing experience before the SAT in the spring, complete with other students, proctors, hard seats, timed sections, and noises that can't be controlled.  I'd rather pay the low cost of the PSAT for that experience than have the first time they experience it be during the SAT.}  

^{ETA:  I just reread your post, OP, and saw that your dc have taken this before.  In that case, no, I'd skip it.  Fun is important, too!}

[RootAnn]

Given your specific circumstances, I'd say go ahead & skip it this year and I'm a die-hard PSAT-pusher. (Although I haven't yet found a local school for our group that will let homeschoolers take the PSAT.)

[Barbara H]

I would go ahead and have them take the sample test at home under test conditions (quiet room, use a timer). I'd do it now to make sure National Merit is not at all a possibility. If they are way off that score, be done. Allow yourself enough time for them junior year to take the ACT or SAT twice. If they are in the ballpark for National Merit, I'd check into other schools in the area that find out who gives it on a Wednesday.

[Cosmos]

The PSAT falls on the same weekend my oldest dc have one of their biggest and funnest Quiz meets of the year.  I made my dc stay home last year in order to take the PSAT yet this year I am rethinking things.  I don't have Nat'l. Merit scholars by any means.  The only reason I have them take the PSAT is to see how they compare on a national level and to prepare them for the SAT.  Given the fact that they won't qualify for NMS I thought of administering the test (using a practice test) at home and calling it good.  

 

I tend to focus 100% on academics and I overlook the heart, so I'm leaning toward surprising them big time and telling them after they take the practice test the Saturday before the PSAT date that hey, guess what?  That was IT!  And pack your bags because off to California you go!

 

Thoughts?  

 

I think you should include your children in this decision rather than make it for them. It seems strange to me to trick them into thinking they must take the the test and then "surprising" them at the last minute with the news that they do not. What if they had been counting on taking it and the opportunity was lost? I am guessing that the quiz meet requires advance registration and certainly the PSAT does. So to do what you are suggesting would take deliberate planning and filling out paperwork behind their backs.

 

It sounds like they don't really want to take it and would be relieved for you to take away the requirement. But why put trickery around it? It seems manipulative to me.

[BakersDozen]

Cosmos - The reason I would not let them know what is going on is because I feel they might slack off on their test prep (which we do every day).  My 14yod might not but my 16yos would for sure.  They would also love the surprise of finding out they are going to the meet - that much I do know.  Yes, I'm going behind their backs yet for the reason of shocking them in a mighty good way.  They will take practice tests starting in about 3 weeks which should give me a good idea of where their scores fall.  While I expect an increase from last year's scores I don't expect anything stellar that would put them at NM status.

 

I am also a die-hard PSAT/SAT tester and so this is very difficult for me to even consider not having them test, yet it would help me realize that my dc don't have to do what I did in high school and they will be OK.  

[Cosmos]

I am also a die-hard PSAT/SAT tester and so this is very difficult for me to even consider not having them test, yet it would help me realize that my dc don't have to do what I did in high school and they will be OK.  

 

Certainly that is true.

 

You know your kids best. Whatever you decide, best wishes to them on the tests and the quiz competition!

[BakersDozen]

 

 

I would go ahead and have them take the sample test at home under test conditions (quiet room, use a timer). I'd do it now to make sure National Merit is not at all a possibility. If they are way off that score, be done. 

Well, practice test is done.  Two scores went up by 10-12 points, one score (math) went DOWN of all things.  So, that's it for us.  I don't have genius kids, that's for sure.   :)  Maybe I'll get a hotel room for just myself with the $ I would have spent on all this testing and have an evening away from it all.  

 

Know what's really ridiculous?  Because of my own academic history I feel almost sick to my stomach at the thought that my dc won't take the PSAT.  How wrong is that??  Perhaps if nothing else they should not take the test so that this sickening cycle can be broken.  I received a fabulous education yet the lasting results were probably not worth it (pressure, anxiety, high expectations, anything less than an 'A' leads to tears, etc.).