Halftime Hope Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 We ended up unexpectedly taking another homeschooler home. He said the test was boring (!!), and both he and dd thought the reading sections were very long, the first math was easy and second math was hard. After dropping him off, dd said that the second math section wasn't out of the ordinary, but that there was one aglebraic problem that was tough. However, she said she ran out of time on the reading sections, leaving some blank. :( Any one else with feedback? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coopers5 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 She's 11th, so it counts for her this year. She scored really well last year, but was trying to improve even more in the math. She felt like the reading and the writing sections were pretty much as she'd been practicing and comfortable with. I think she mostly was ok with the math - just had one or two she said that she had to spend more time on and feels like she missed. She reports, though, that the second section of math went way better (quicker, and more "sure") than the first math section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I posted this below, but cut-n-pasted it here so you could see how it went for my 11th grader. We went to a small private school about 40 minutes from our home because it is small, off in the woods, and a quiet setting. They had their 9th, 10th and 11th graders take the test plus HS'ers, about 40 students set up in 2 rooms. When I returned to pick DS up I was about 15minutes early so I sat at a picnic table outside to enjoy the beautiful setting under the trees. But then it hit me; the school is doing construction! I started worrying about all the construction noise. Sure enough my CAPD child who can't work with noise, was located in the classroom directly above where the lumber was being continuously cut. UGH!!! He said the noise really bothered him and to him it sounded like someone was continuously running a lawnmower. What a distraction! :eek: Also the teacher never gave time warnings. Thankfully DS recently started wearing a watch and tracked his time on his own however he said it also meant that he was stopping and looking at the time rather than relying upon the teacher to say that they had 5 minutes or 2 minutes left. He said that he thought that was strange since in all his other testing (SAT twice before) the teachers always gave 5 and 2 minute warnings. Oh, last year he scored really, really well on the PSAT. Oh well, what is is. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Also the teacher never gave time warnings. He said that he thought that was strange since in all his other testing (SAT twice before) the teachers always gave 5 and 2 minute warnings. Ds also commented his teacher didn't give time warnings and was upset that he didn't finish a couple of questions. Sorry about the construction distraction. The school certainly should have called that off for the day but then, maybe the kdis are used to it? Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryM Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 From what ds said the test went fine after the test administrators got their act together...Seems they confiscated ALL the calculators because they said they weren't allowed. All kids had to put their names on them, somehow. Then they figured out they were allowed (somehow!) and returned everyones. Finally, then were in a fit over ds using a different "code" and finally said to leave it blank. NOw, the fun starts for us in trying to get that code worked out. Never a dull moment. Last year as a sophomore, everything went smoothly and it was the very same adm person. Wonder what was up this year?? Now, we wait till December? Is that when the results arrive? Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 DS said he didn't get time warnings but that the administer would get up about 3 minutes before time was called and walk around a bit. He figured it out quickly that he had about 3 minutes left at that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 My son felt it was fairly easy and went OK. He didn't report any mishaps so I am assuming everything went smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedarmom Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 My son thought it went well. He said one math problem took awhile but he got it. He finished all the problems on the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Y'all's kids talk more than mine. LOL DD said it was fine. (mom wonders, "scholarship fine?" LOL) When I asked her specific questions based on what you've written, she said that they did give time warnings, there was one question she did something weird on in the math but then figured out her problem, the reading sections were easy, and the administrator went by "coach." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimm in WA Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 So I dropped my brainy engineer-minded son (10th grade) at the local high school, thinking "I hope he remembers his geometry from 2 yrs. back, and I hope the PS kids aren't too weird or rough (tough district in which we're on the outskirts)." Picking him up, DS thought the 3 hardest questions were: 1. what grade are you in? 2. what year will you graduate? 3. how many years of high school do you have left? Homeschoolers don'tcha know!! Tough questions, indeed, when we never talk of grade level in school, except for the once or twice a year someone asks what grade they're in and they pause, look glassy eyed as they think really hard and then, thankfully, come up with the right answer to these people (undoubtedly PSed themselves) who are thinking (with a smirk) . . ."wow, REALLY smart, these homeschoolers." My 10th grade son answered that he's in 9th grade (after all, only been in 10th for a month!), that he's got 1 year 'til he graduates (didn't count dual-enrollment years), and that he'll graduate in 2011. Well, he got 1 out of 3. Hopefully he did better on the rest of the test!!! LOL Oh my, when he told me this I had to refrain from a reaction (teenagers, ya know!) but later I was giggling about it inside for some time. I thought you ladies would understand the humor in it. Not sure what they'll do to figure out if this is his junior year so it would "count." They'll either phone to ask what's what, or will figure "This kid is so confused there's no way he'll graduate in a year!" LOL REALLY, he's a smart kid, and has taken the ACT twice. He just didn't think he'd get stumped on THOSE kids of questions. Regarding the test, he just said that there were a lot fewer questioins than the ACT and that the bell ringing for the other classes to switch scared him every time and made him jump! Apparently the other kids weren't too weird, other than one kid asking how the test was scored, because he had taken the practice test and got a score of: -2.:eek: Glad THAT experience is done for a while! Kimm in WA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Not sure what they'll do to figure out if this is his junior year so it would "count." They'll either phone to ask what's what, or will figure "This kid is so confused there's no way he'll graduate in a year!" LOL If you do want it to count this year, I would contact the College Board before you get your scores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 My dd said she felt fine during the test but afterwards started second guessing herself on a few things. She had a harder time managing her time than she has in practice tests but she did get through each section and answered every question. Room conditions, etc. were fine - we live in a good school district so I feel sure EVERY sophomore and junior in this school took the test. They couldn't leave for about 30 minutes after everybody was done (bell periods) so the other girls started quizzing dd - "have you ever been to a dance/football game? Do you watch TV? Where do you go to church?" Oh and she said the proctor kept asking a boy if he were awake - he had his head on the desk the entire time. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 My son felt it went okay. He felt he had enough time. He said that they finished by 10:30 and just sat in class for the next one and a half hours waiting to leave.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Wow! That is definitely a violation of the proctoring rules (see the link on the PSAT rant post.) It says specifically that they are to make arrangements so that there will not be noise such as PA announcements, fire drills, music practice near the testing rooms. I definitely think that construction noise falls into that category!!! I would complain. Also, it sounds like they deviated from procedure on the time keeping as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threetreasurs Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I got the - it was fine mom - response. Followed by, well it was a test just like all the standardized tests . . . :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 (edited) Kimm, now I'm worried....I better ask my daughter what she put as answers to those questions. She's REALLY ditzy on some of these sorts of things. ETA: I asked and she did fine on those questions. LOL She knew what grade she's in (11th), what year she's graduating (2009), how many years of high school (3 total). YAY! Edited October 16, 2008 by 2J5M9K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyce Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 He said the english parts were very easy but that's the area he excells in. He said the math was okay but was surprised when the school gave all their students a graphing calculator and they didn't seem to be able to do any of the math without it. My son took his scientific calculator and said there were only a few problems he needed to use it for. I asked him how many students were taking the exam and he said 9. I was not surprised considering how high my counties illiteracy rate it but that's so sad!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Wow! That is definitely a violation of the proctoring rules (see the link on the PSAT rant post.) It says specifically that they are to make arrangements so that there will not be noise such as PA announcements, fire drills, music practice near the testing rooms. I definitely think that construction noise falls into that category!!! I would complain. Also, it sounds like they deviated from procedure on the time keeping as well. Do you have a link to the proctoring rules? I found the Official-Educator Guide to the PSAT but that sounds more like suggestions rather than hard-fast rules. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 My son felt it went okay. He felt he had enough time. He said that they finished by 10:30 and just sat in class for the next one and a half hours waiting to leave.... Did they get their exact allotted times to complete the sections? By way of comparison, dd's school seated everyone by 8, allowed about a half hour to walk the kids through the instructions, then the 6 classrooms finished up and dismissed between 11:20 and 11:30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 Kimm, now I'm worried....I better ask my daughter what she put as answers to those questions. She's REALLY ditzy on some of these sorts of things. ETA: I asked and she did fine on those questions. LOL She knew what grade she's in (11th), what year she's graduating (2009), how many years of high school (3 total). YAY! OK, there's something unusual there!:001_unsure: I was under the impression that to qualify for NMS, it had to be your jr year, graduating in 2010 and 4 years. ?? (Not that we'll even be in range to matter...dd is a great student, but not a superb test taker.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in TX Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Even my "math brained" ds mentioned it. After the test, all were talking about how it stumped them (it was a find the area of a shaded shape, but you had to find the area of one shape and then of another, then subtract one from the other, then multiply by 2 (or something!). Ds actually asked his calculus prof (at his dual credit course that afternoon) how to do it. He said, "As soon as I drew the problem on the board, and the words came out of my mouth, I saw how to figure it out." Wondering if that was the math problem that all your kids were referring to also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coopers5 Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 I know this has probably been asked and answered....:tongue_smilie: but, when should we expect PSAT results in the mail? Is it December? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted October 17, 2008 Author Share Posted October 17, 2008 don't know what the official site says today I know this has probably been asked and answered....:tongue_smilie:but, when should we expect PSAT results in the mail? Is it December? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 (edited) Two answers... 1) results come back in Dec :) 2) I was under the impression that to qualify for NMS, it had to be your jr year, graduating in 2010 and 4 years. ?? On the PSAT booklet, pages 4 and 5, they outline the qualifications: 1) be enrolled full time as a high school student, progressing normally toward graduation or completion of high school BY 2010, and planning to enter college NO LATER than the fall of 2010. 3) take the 2008 PSAT/NMSQT...NO LATER than the third year in grades 9-12 regardless of grade classification or educational pattern (explanation in next section). When to Take the Test: 2) Students who plan to leave high school early to enroll in college full time, after spending 3 years or less in grades 9-12, usually can participate in the National Merit Program if they take the PSAT/NMSQT before they enroll in college. To enter the 2010 competition, theese students must be in either the next-to-last or the last year of high school when they take the 2008 PSAT/NMSQT. b)if they are in the last year of high school when they take the 2008 PSAT/NMSQT, they will be completing their first year of college when scholarships are awarded in 2010. ETA: my daughter couldn't take the test for health reasons last year. Had those issues not have come up, we might had made different choices. But this decision worked best for my daughter considering what all had happened. HTHs, Edited October 17, 2008 by 2J5M9K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted October 17, 2008 Author Share Posted October 17, 2008 I knew there had to be something a bit different--:001_smile:. I hope she did well on it, and that she goes into her SATs with her confidence bolstered! Even if my dd didn't do as well as on her practice tests (based on her saying she left some blank), she will have done better than last year, and hopefully she'll gain confidence over the course of this year as well. She hates the gamesmanship of the SAT and is hoping that the ACT will work better for her. Her PLAN results were much better than we had expected based on the PSAT. It's a journey, isn't it!:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Even my "math brained" ds mentioned it. After the test, all were talking about how it stumped them (it was a find the area of a shaded shape, but you had to find the area of one shape and then of another, then subtract one from the other, then multiply by 2 (or something!). Ds actually asked his calculus prof (at his dual credit course that afternoon) how to do it. He said, "As soon as I drew the problem on the board, and the words came out of my mouth, I saw how to figure it out." Wondering if that was the math problem that all your kids were referring to also? It sure sounds like it Gwen. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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