creekland Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 No real message otherwise - just wishing everyone decent testing conditions and clear thoughts! May we have more National Merit Commended and Finalists next spring/fall! And may those prepping for other years get a good feel for how things are going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My daughter is taking it for real today and was in urgent care last night for breathing problems. I kept telling them she needs oxygen in her brain for the PSAT tomorrow--there are many tens of thousands of dollars at stake. They were nice to me but did not really seem to get it. She has taken the PSAT three times and made well above the qualifying score for our state every other time, so she should be a shoo-in, but even she needs oxygen in her brain. I have been telling her for days not to take any blows to the head; probably should also have included "do not contract anything that is going to adversely affect your oxygen intake." Good luck to everyone--hope they all make their mamas proud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Best wishes for steady pencils to everyone! Dd will be taking the PSAT for practice (and for a score for summer programs--she's in ninth for those who don't see signatures) on Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 DS will be taking it for practice. He is in 10th. Good luck to all. Scratch that. He would have been taking it, but he woke up sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdj2027 Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My 9th grader is taking it. We'll see how it goes. He did well on the language part during practice and in math he did well on the material he had covered. He just started geometry so I am not expecting much beyond the easy questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 DS (10th grade) will be taking it Saturday. He took the PLAN yesterday, so he's having quite the week for practice tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Good luck to everyone. DS is taking it for practice today. He's been sick the past 3 days and can barely breathe. Poor kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My 8th and 10th grader are taking it today. It felt strange not dropping my oldest off as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Ds is in and taking it for practice. He's taking it at a different school than is older siblings did because the local one is no longer offering it. (Not even to their own students!) And, of course, we are all sick, so he is not at his best this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 This is the very last time for us -- youngest dd is a junior. I've dropped off at the PSAT every year since 2005 -- it's the end of an era! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Good luck to all WTM kiddos taking the exam! She has taken the PSAT three times and made well above the qualifying score for our state every other time, so she should be a shoo-in, but even she needs oxygen in her brain. Hopefully all will go well for your dd - if not, don't hesitate to call the PSAT people and discuss her prior scores and her illness for today's test. (In fact, it wouldn't hurt to give them a call in a day or two to lay the groundwork just in case.) When I've called them in the past, they've been fairly reasonable, sensible people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My 9th grader is taking it as well, just as practice. I'll be interested to see how it compares with the ACT she took last year (we use it to fulfill our state testing requirement). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My daughter is taking the test this morning as a junior. I'm praying that all our teens stay alert and calm and have excellent recall of all they've learned. Next year, my younger daughter will be taking it for practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My daughter is taking it for practice today. She's in 10th. Should be interesting to see how she does. She's been extremely sick for several months and we've finally narrowed it down to the most likely (an auto-immune disorder). She is exhausted pretty much all of the time (chronic fatigue goes along with the disorder she probably has) so getting up at 6:15 to be at the school district's central office by 7:30 was a bit painful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Last year during the PSAT, my daughter was not allowed to use her scientific calculator! Instead the high school insisted she use one of their graphing calculators. Since she wasn't familiar with the calculator, she was confused at first and lost some time. She recovered and still did well on the math sections. The schools in our area are requiring all their students to use graphing calculators provided by the school. This year, I spoke to the administrator and got permission for her to use her own scientific calculator. I even sent the email giving her permission with her this morning. I'm hoping she'll have no problems. Having a familiar calculator saves valuable time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Last year during the PSAT, my daughter was not allowed to use her scientific calculator! Instead the high school insisted she use one of their graphing calculators. Since she wasn't familiar with the calculator, she was confused at first and lost some time. She recovered and still did well on the math sections. The schools in our area are requiring all their students to use graphing calculators provided by the school. This year, I spoke to the administrator and got permission for her to use her own scientific calculator. I even sent the email giving her permission with her this morning. I'm hoping she'll have no problems. Having a familiar calculator saves valuable time! The school where my daughter is testing is doing the same thing. I bought her a graphing calculator this year because of this and had her practice. She's not as conversant with it as I would ideally like, but said it didn't cause her any problems on the practice test. I would be more concerned if she were in 11th. This seems to be unique to the PSAT. We haven't had any issue with either the SAT or the ACT. For one of those she just used her regular 4 function, then for the other, her scientific calculator. It's odd that the PSAT registration and administration are so different than the SAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Good luck to all the test takers! DS will be taking it for practice. He is in 10th. Good luck to all. Scratch that. He would have been taking it, but he woke up sick. I'm sorry your son is sick. I never thought before about what would happen in that case. Is there a make-up option for 11th graders in case of sickness or other emergency? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Good luck to all WTM kiddos taking the exam! Hopefully all will go well for your dd - if not, don't hesitate to call the PSAT people and discuss her prior scores and her illness for today's test. (In fact, it wouldn't hurt to give them a call in a day or two to lay the groundwork just in case.) When I've called them in the past, they've been fairly reasonable, sensible people. What a great idea. I will see what she thinks about her performance today. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Dropped off my oldest two. On one hand it seems like the beginning of a long stretch of college apps. On the other hand it felt anticlimactic. The cutoff for our state runs 222-224 which is a 74+ average. I just don't see that happening. So we move along. And there is a cc math test Friday and a Korean Studies paper outline due Friday. So the PSAT isn't even the biggest thing on my kids' minds today. I think it feels more like a nuisance than anything else right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 The school where my daughter is testing is doing the same thing. I bought her a graphing calculator this year because of this and had her practice. She's not as conversant with it as I would ideally like, but said it didn't cause her any problems on the practice test. I would be more concerned if she were in 11th. This seems to be unique to the PSAT. We haven't had any issue with either the SAT or the ACT. For one of those she just used her regular 4 function, then for the other, her scientific calculator. It's odd that the PSAT registration and administration are so different than the SAT. This sort of think frustrates me. I think that because the PSAT is typically offered during the school day, and more and more schools are having 10th and 9th graders take it (even to the point of having everyone in attendance take the test except seniors - as our district in VA did), there is a sense that they need to remove any roadblocks or disparities. So the PSAT booklet says that a scientific or graphing calculator is recommended. That becomes a policy that the school will provide the calculators and only those calculators will be acceptable. But in my mind, that is letting the individual school make policy and restrictions above and beyond those of College Board. I don't know why they don't just let it be known that there are calculators available if students need to check one out on the day before or day of the test. The reason this doesn't happen with the SAT is that students often aren't at their home high school on testing day. In our district of a half dozen schools, only one is a test site. In our last district, there were students in the lobby waiting to check in from many different schools. (And I have to wonder what happens to those kids who didn't have a calculator on the PSAT. Did they go out and buy one for the SAT?) Ironically, I had my eldest leave his graphing calculator at home, because while it doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard, it does have the ability to store words using alternate functions for the keys. I didn't want a proctor to be overly critical of the unknown student's calculator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My dds (both juniors) are taking it on Saturday. Thank heavens it isn't today, as one of them has a really bad stomachache and couldn't sleep last night. Hopefully she'll be feeling much better by Saturday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My 9th graders are taking it today….does anyone know how long it takes to get the scores? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassiemc Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My 9th grader is taking it right now as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My 9th graders are taking it today….does anyone know how long it takes to get the scores? The reports will be mailed in December. I believe we have to have the access code from the paper score to see the results online. Makes no sense to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Well, my daughter just finished the test. She was able to use her scientific calculator with no issues! I'm happy. She said she thought the test was easier this year than the last one. It's hard to know if she thinks it's easier because she's a junior now or if the test really is easier this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Sorry to hear so many WTM students are sick! Hopefully all will be better soon, but definitely a bummer for those who are in the "this counts" year! We had no problems in my classroom - all the students were very mature and super well-behaved. At least a couple of them are likely contenders and I wish them well too. Two students didn't show up, so I'm guessing they are also under the weather today. Scores are sent in Dec and will also supposedly be available online, but I suspect you'll need a code number first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I was surprised at the difference in experience between the SAT/ACT and this test. The school not only provided calculators and pencils, but also gave out packets of cheese crackers and bottles of water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My oxygen-deprived junior reported that the test was easy. I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that. She has taken it several times and has always done well, so I trust her assessment. The downside to a really easy test, of course, is a tough curve. You know, in case you are a glass-half-empty kind of mom. . .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My daughter said it was way easier than the practice tests she did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okra Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 It is so hard. My daughter puts so much pressure on herself. She woke me up in the middle of the night last night to talk about how worried she was and she couldn't sleep. I wish all Juniors did the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Picked up kids, whirled through Chick-Fil-A and then dropped off at the cc and on to the library with the other to get ILL books from the local university libraries on North Korea. Life just keeps on. Ds's said the proctor was winging it on the directions, but not in a way that should be a problem. Timer was projected on a screen in the front of the room. Ds mentioned as I dropped him off at cc that students there are a lot more studious. Well yeah, especially compared to the freshmen in the PSAT room. Made me smile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My junior son took it today for his real run. He scored very high last year as a sophomore (perfect in math), but he knows for a fact he missed one on the math section this year. He said it "just hit him" during the writing skills section. I told him that I was thrilled to hear that he was thinking about MATH when he was supposed to be doing English!! lol! So the PSAT was a microcosm of our entire homeschool experience... Anyway, I hope everyone did well! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chanley Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 My daughter also said it was easier than the practice tests. She knows she missed a few, but she is an 8th grader and this was her first run and the first time she has ever taken a test that was not proctored by me at our kitchen table. I was impressed with her ease and the lack of nervousness about all of it. We will see in mid-December. How do we see scores online? She gave them an email address, will we get an email? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyNellen Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 My junior took it today and was confident upon completion. She finished everything with plenty of time, which is success here...I have methodical, plodding test-takers! Her brother is a NM Semifinalist, so she has put a lot if pressure on herself to follow in his footsteps. We shall see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkeepswimming Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Mine was taking it "for real" today and also reported that she thought it was easier than last year's test and the practice tests she's done recently. Which, of course, freaked me right out. I'm worried that she maybe breeeeezed a bit through too many problems. She said she sat with several minutes left on the final section (which is her strongest section, but still... SITTING with TIME LEFT?!?). I asked if she looked over her answers, and she said "no, not really." I tried to refrain from going bug-eyed. (which I did until much later tonight, when I completely overreacted over an entirely unrelated issue. Repressed nagging had to be freed!) :cursing: :blush: And now we wait. lol :svengo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 DS said he was upset for one of the older girls. She asked to use the bathroom during the 5 min break, but the proctor said that there would be no bathroom breaks allowed during the test. It even says in the PSAT downloadable booklet that students are allowed to use the restroom during the 5 min break but that large groups of students should not be allowed to leave together. He felt bad for the poor girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 DS said he was upset for one of the older girls. She asked to use the bathroom during the 5 min break, but the proctor said that there would be no bathroom breaks allowed during the test. It even says in the PSAT downloadable booklet that students are allowed to use the restroom during the 5 min break but that large groups of students should not be allowed to leave together. He felt bad for the poor girl. Yeah, that's just plain wrong. Using the bathroom even during the test is ok, but the student does not get to make up the time. What is incorrect is unsupervised bathroom time (or cell phones, etc). I've never had a student want to go to the bathroom during the test itself, but there are quite a few who take advantage of that 5 minute break. We have a proctor in the hall stationed for bathroom coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 DS said he was upset for one of the older girls. She asked to use the bathroom during the 5 min break, but the proctor said that there would be no bathroom breaks allowed during the test. It even says in the PSAT downloadable booklet that students are allowed to use the restroom during the 5 min break but that large groups of students should not be allowed to leave together. He felt bad for the poor girl. The proctor my daughter had was upset that my daughter didn't want to use the bathroom during their bathroom break (the other kids all did). She didn't have to go. The proctor really, really wanted her to lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I tried to refrain from going bug-eyed. (which I did until much later tonight, when I completely overreacted over an entirely unrelated issue. Repressed nagging had to be freed!) :cursing: :blush: And now we wait. lol :svengo: Ha. I thought I was the only one who did this. . .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 My junior felt really good about it as well. He even almost finished the math(didn't finish bubbling in the answer to the last student response), which was a first for him. They did not give the 5 minutes until time is up warning, but otherwise it was a smooth testing experience. He said he didn't need the warning. I really don't understand why it takes so long to get scores out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 I really don't understand why it takes so long to get scores out. Me either. I was just talking about that with a student. This test is all computer scored - even the grid in free response. It shouldn't take until Dec to get the scores out in today's world. I've no clue why it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Dd thought it went well. There were a few math ones that she had to skip. We'll see if the ps steals her scores by changing the hs code. They have with several of my students. If the school puts in their own code, are the scores still mailed to the individual? Or do you have to then pick up the student scores at the school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 If the school puts in their own code, are the scores still mailed to the individual? Or do you have to then pick up the student scores at the school? Scores are sent to the school if the school code is put in. The mailing address is then only used for college mail if the student put yes in that box. There's no real point to a school changing the code as no one I know of keeps track of average PSAT scores. Chances are it was a person simply told to go through the answer sheets to be sure correct codes were entered (something College Board dictates) and they didn't realize the homeschooling code was different, so "fixed" it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 My oxygen-deprived junior reported that the test was easy. I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that. She has taken it several times and has always done well, so I trust her assessment. The downside to a really easy test, of course, is a tough curve. You know, in case you are a glass-half-empty kind of mom. . .. I have heard it was an easy test from a lot of kids... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 My DS 9th grader took it for practice and said he didn't understand 6 out of the total math problems (which isn't too bad) and thought the other parts went well. Scores out in December. He used a plain old scientific calculator and said that was all that he really needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chanley Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 My dd said the proctor had no idea what she was doing. I wrote the hs testing code on the back of her ID in sharpie. So when that section came up, she chimed in with the number so the proctor did not have to find it. So in that batch all of the homeschoolers had the right code. I was concerned about that before she went in to take the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 My dd said the proctor had no idea what she was doing. I wrote the hs testing code on the back of her ID in sharpie. So when that section came up, she chimed in with the number so the proctor did not have to find it. So in that batch all of the homeschoolers had the right code. I was concerned about that before she went in to take the test. Good thinking! I'm sure folks at college board would be going :banghead: if they read this. They really do make it idiot-proof, except, I guess, that one can underestimate some folk's reading ability - either the proctor or the test coordinator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear23 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I daughter thinks she did good on the test but doesn't like that she has to wait nearly two months for results. Usually she is my patient one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 My daughter said it was way easier than the practice tests she did. My son said the same thing. He came home talking about how easy it was! He says he thinks he got a perfect math score. And, there were only a couple questions overall he thinks he MIGHT have missed. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Hope it went well for all. Mine didn't seem too stressed about it either (though she was pretty grumpy about missing a race that conflicted with the PSAT, lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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