Who is taking the PSAT tomorrow?

[Dmmetler]

DD is taking it at a private school. She did some Khan academy over the summer, but not much else. Hoping it goes well. Anyone else?

[mlktwins]

Mine are taking the PSAT 8/9 tomorrow at their base public school.  Wondering if they will be in the main room with everyone else or a small room with other homeschoolers.

Mine have not studied for this at all, but I had them take a full, timed practice test with bubble sheet yesterday so they would know what to expect.  Wanted to make sure they both knew their address -- LOL.  Both did well on the practice test, but one ran out of time on one of the math sections.  Both are glad they did the practice test.  We'll see what comes from the real test.  Having them take it mainly for the testing experience so not worried about the results.  They are taking their first SAT Subject test in June so this is prep for that that.

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

I just got a message from the guidance counselor at the school DD is taking the test at inviting her to come for breakfast before the test with their kids and teachers. 🙂

[TCB]

My dd in 10th is taking it for practice. She hasn't taken a standardized test before. I was worried about the address thing as well but she does know that lol. She's taken a practice test to get used to the bubble answer sheet and format etc.

[fourisenough]

My DD14 is taking it. I intended for her to do some prep on Khan Academy, but she didn’t really seem motivated, so I told her not to worry about it since she’s just taking it for experience. It will be a true baseline to help us see how much prep she’s going to need to test well in another 1-1.5 years. 

[maize]

My 10th grader was supposed to take it for practice but I missed the ordering deadline. Oops.

At least I now know what the timeline is for next year and have a school that is willing to let her take it as long as I give them sufficient advance notice.

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by maize

[chiguirre]

Dd is taking it for keeps tomorrow. Fingers and toes crossed because Texas' selection index is so high you need a pinch of luck as well as solid prep and good test taking skills. We did all 8 practice SATs and both practice PSATs. Dd also worked through PWN the SAT Math and Erica Meltzer's Writing and Reading books. We've done as much as we can, she's solid for National Hispanic Scholar and, hopefully, Commended. But I wish we lived in ND or WV...

[chocolate-chip chooky]

What's the difference between PSAT and SAT? Is PSAT intended for younger students?

[Meriwether]

Ds16 is taking it. I am giving her 1 in 3 odds. LOL She just barely made the cutoff on the practice test. I wish I'd had her do some more prep, since she is right on the line. If her math were as strong as reading and writing, I think she'd get it for sure. She'll have to get lucky on math, though. 

Edited October 15, 2019 by Meriwether

[Guest]

The PSAT is a shorter test. In 11th, it gives eligibility for the National Merit Scholarship program, which can be anything from a complete free ride to nothing, depending on the school. For 10th and below, it’s just practice.

DD has scores on other tests that indicate that, with a little luck, she might qualify, but only one of her schools really gives anything significant for it, and they also give great merit aid for the ACT, which she already qualifies for, so it seemed worth it to try to find a place to take it, but not so serious to require mom forcing preparation. Almost no one takes the SAT here, which means the index is set based on the kids who make an effort to take the test (and the handful of private schools that have everyone take it, which is the case at the school where DD is taking it) because if you aren’t in that top 10% or so on other tests, what’s the point, when you’ll be taking the ACT anyway and the PSAT doesn’t help much in preparing for the ACT, so getting a qualifying score requires being practically perfect. 

[mlktwins]

3 hours ago, TCB said:

My dd in 10th is taking it for practice. She hasn't taken a standardized test before. I was worried about the address thing as well but she does know that lol. She's taken a practice test to get used to the bubble answer sheet and format etc.

The testing coordinator at the school reminded me to make sure they know their address.  She said it probably sounded silly, but it is amazing how many kids don't know their address -- LOL.

Mine knew their address, but one of them put our City and State in the City only section and bubbled in our state on the practice test yesterday.  Probably would have been fine, but now I know that won't get messed up :-).

My oldest in 11th takes it for keeps tomorrow as well.  Her cousins in Texas all made national merit so it has been hard to hide the significance of it all these years.  If she has a good day she has a shot.  Not many schools in Michigan give anything for it and I don’t know if I want her going out of state so in some ways I am not even sure why she is taking it.

[mirabillis]

3 hours ago, fourisenough said:

My DD14 is taking it. I intended for her to do some prep on Khan Academy, but she didn’t really seem motivated, so I told her not to worry about it since she’s just taking it for experience. It will be a true baseline to help us see how much prep she’s going to need to test well in another 1-1.5 years. 

same here. my dd is 10th grade, so it's for experience yet again (took it last year too). and the real prep comes ahead of 11th grade anyway... 

[madteaparty]

np

Edited October 15, 2019 by madteaparty

[madteaparty]

1 hour ago, Meriwether said:

Ds16 is taking it. I am giving her 1 in 3 odds. LOL She just barely made the cutoff on the practice test. I wish I'd had her do some more prep, since she is right on the line. If her math were as strong as reading and writing, I think she'd get it for sure. She'll have to get lucky on math, though. 

Is there such a thing as practice PSATs, so we know whether to bother? I sort of half heartedly tried to get a test site overseas this fall, but got no bites from the couple international school I contacted. I keep thinking this is all in the future and I can keep traipsing around...

[mirabillis]

28 minutes ago, Mom2mthj said:

My oldest in 11th takes it for keeps tomorrow as well.  Her cousins in Texas all made national merit so it has been hard to hide the significance of it all these years.  If she has a good day she has a shot.  Not many schools in Michigan give anything for it and I don’t know if I want her going out of state so in some ways I am not even sure why she is taking it.

 

looks good as an award/honor... 😉

[teachermom2834]

My 11th grade ds is taking it. He’s a strong student but long shot for MNSF. He is much more likely to be Commended or even miss that by a little. He has done some test prep with Khan and was doing well but his practice test the other day wasn’t good.

He wants to take it. I would have been comfortable with him skipping it because he is such a long shot. However, he is a “gamer” and always significantly outperforms in real testing compared to practice tests. 

[Meriwether]

1 hour ago, madteaparty said:

Is there such a thing as practice PSATs, so we know whether to bother? I sort of half heartedly tried to get a test site overseas this fall, but got no bites from the couple international school I contacted. I keep thinking this is all in the future and I can keep traipsing around...

There are some old tests on the college  board site.

[Meriwether]

27 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

My 11th grade ds is taking it. He’s a strong student but long shot for MNSF. He is much more likely to be Commended or even miss that by a little. He has done some test prep with Khan and was doing well but his practice test the other day wasn’t good.

He wants to take it. I would have been comfortable with him skipping it because he is such a long shot. However, he is a “gamer” and always significantly outperforms in real testing compared to practice tests. 

He didn't by any chance take a practice test from the Princeton Review book? That was terrible. I almost suggested Dd skip after that. Then she scored decently on the real (2015) test. It is a long shot for her, but she is close enough to try it.

[freesia]

Dd is taking it this year, but our local school is doing it on Saturday.  She has a decent shot....

[linders]

The real thing tomorrow. DS did the PSAT practice tests plus a couple of SAT practice tests, is hopeful.

Good luck to everyone!

[Zoo Keeper]

My 11th grader is taking it tomorrow...

I just scored his practice test (printed off from the College Board site), and

if the practice test is any indication, let's just say that we don't have to worry about those pesky National Merit scholarships.

We'll call tomorrow practice for the SAT that he takes this spring.  🙂

Lots of time to prep for April, right?  😉

 

 

[BusyMom5]

My 11th grader is taking it- at a school an hour away.  We took a practice test this weekend and shes right at the cutoff.  It will depend on if shes familiar with the topics in the reading section.  She scored 100% on the grammar part!  Hoping she does well tomorrow,  but thinking she will be right under NM for our state.  She was working on brushing up her math today, and redid each section making sure she knew the exact reason for each answer.  For prep, the school we are taking it at gave us a workbook with a practice test and I got another test prep book.  She hasn't done much until this weekend bc shes been busy with other school stuff.

[Pen]

My 11th grader in public this year is.  

He didn’t prep at all.  I hope it goes ok.  Last time he took a bubble in the answers test he didn’t get his name bubbled right (like if our name were Smith it became Sloth) which doesn’t bode all that well

He currently doesn’t want to go to college, but I wish he would have applied himself in case he were to change his mind

— I’m trying to get him to go to bed at a “reasonable” time to at least be rested, so we can get useless junk college ad mail addressed to the right name at least  🙃

 

 

[Meriwether]

Good luck to all the test takers today! We are 1500 miles away from Dd16 this morning, so I won't even be there to make her breakfast. She'll be leaving right after the test to join us. Not ideal timing. If she misses it by a a little, we're going to regret it. 

[teachermom2834]

12 hours ago, Meriwether said:

He didn't by any chance take a practice test from the Princeton Review book? That was terrible. I almost suggested Dd skip after that. Then she scored decently on the real (2015) test. It is a long shot for her, but she is close enough to try it.

No. I think it was one out of an official College Board prep book. He had taken one in the spring just to give me an idea of it was even worth calling the school and trying to arrange it and did pretty well. He has prepped on Khan extensively since then and then did 20 points worse the other day. Oh well.

He drove himself to the school this morning for the test. It’s a huge school we are entirely unfamiliar with and the school is not used to having homeschoolers come in to test. He texted me a few minutes ago that the school is crazy but a nice lady is waking him to the room. So it is a useful exercise in getting out of his comfort zone and navigating an unfamiliar situation which is not bad for this kid. So I’ll decide it was worthwhile just for that 🙂

[mlktwins]

50 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

No. I think it was one out of an official College Board prep book. He had taken one in the spring just to give me an idea of it was even worth calling the school and trying to arrange it and did pretty well. He has prepped on Khan extensively since then and then did 20 points worse the other day. Oh well.

He drove himself to the school this morning for the test. It’s a huge school we are entirely unfamiliar with and the school is not used to having homeschoolers come in to test. He texted me a few minutes ago that the school is crazy but a nice lady is waking him to the room. So it is a useful exercise in getting out of his comfort zone and navigating an unfamiliar situation which is not bad for this kid. So I’ll decide it was worthwhile just for that 🙂

Mine did a full shadow day (last spring) at the school they are taking the test to see if they wanted to attend instead of homeschooling.  At least they were used to the 2500+ kids there :-).  They are both still good with their decision to stay home!  Mine have their own test room and the counselor who took them to their room was very nice.  She has a good friend that homeschools and knows of 2 others that do also.  She was asking me about curriculum, etc.  Very nice!

I pick them up at 12.   

[Elastimom]

My DS, 11th grade, is taking it today. 

[Guest]

DD is taking it now. I am at a nearby restaurant trying not to fall asleep-DD woke up at 4:30 am! Hoping she stays awake through the test. 

[mlktwins]

27 minutes ago, dmmetler said:

DD is taking it now. I am at a nearby restaurant trying not to fall asleep-DD woke up at 4:30 am! Hoping she stays awake through the test. 

I feel a nap in my future for sure !!!  :-)

[mirabillis]

my dd is sick, still sleeping and couldn't go. fortunately she's only 10th, and took it last year already... we'll see if there's any alternative for the late testing date as a make-up, but something tells me there isn't.... ah well

[Meriwether]

How did those in EST feel they did?

[RootAnn]

Have the PSAT memes started yet? The first year my kid couldn't laugh along with them, she felt very left out. That's what she looked forward to after the PSAT -- that & I would treat her to an eat out lunch on the way home.

[teachermom2834]

17 hours ago, Meriwether said:

He didn't by any chance take a practice test from the Princeton Review book? That was terrible. I almost suggested Dd skip after that. Then she scored decently on the real (2015) test. It is a long shot for her, but she is close enough to try it.

Okay I just looked at the book on his desk and he did take the practice test from Princeton Review that he did poorly on. At least he said the real PSAT today was easy compared to that.

[RootAnn]

... And the memes usually give you a clue as to what the passages are on. I've already figured out several topics & even the specific book one passage was taken from. And I'm not even trying...

[chiguirre]

Dd thought it was easier than the prep PSATs she did. That can be a double edged sword if it compacts the curve for scoring. I dropped her off and she joined the herd of homeschoolers who wandered around for a while before they found their room. At least they all arrived together. 

She's taking the SAT in December and, if all goes well, will be done with college testing.

[Meriwether]

2 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

Dd thought it was easier than the prep PSATs she did. That can be a double edged sword if it compacts the curve for scoring. I dropped her off and she joined the herd of homeschoolers who wandered around for a while before they found their room. At least they all arrived together. 

She's taking the SAT in December and, if all goes well, will be done with college testing.

Dd16 just called and told me the math was easy. That doesn't mean it was or that she got them correct. LOL I told her she might only be able to miss one or two.

[Guest]

We're waiting to pick up (all two of us. Homeschoolers just don't usually test here. DD is testing at a private girls' prep school). 

We are back.  Dd has her Panera soup and cookie and was only 5 minutes late for her AP Latin class.  She thinks she did well and certainly much better on than the math than on the practice SAT #3.  I think she was just happy that it was over.  The feeling is mutual.

My daughter also woke up at 4:00, only she was coughing.  I put the humidifier in her room and she went back to sleep.  Why do they always get sick on important days?

Does anyone know if scores are available in their college board account before the paper score report arrives?  It was December before we received scores last year in the mail.

[mlktwins]

36 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

Dd thought it was easier than the prep PSATs she did. That can be a double edged sword if it compacts the curve for scoring.

Mine only did the PSAT 8/9, but they both said it was much easier than the practice test they took on Monday.  Can you explain this curved score thing to a newbie to these types of tests ?

[chiguirre]

3 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

Mine only did the PSAT 8/9, but they both said it was much easier than the practice test they took on Monday.  Can you explain this curved score thing to a newbie to these types of tests ?

The PSAT scores you receive are scaled scores. They're sort of like percentiles on an Iowa or Stanford Achievement test for elementary students. That's why you have to look at their scoring chart to convert your raw scores into PSAT scores.

But the scale is very narrow at the top of the 200-760 scale so if you miss even one question on an easy test, your scaled score can take a bit hit. When the test is harder, there is more leeway to distinguish between the top 1% and the top 2% and an error won't drop your score as much.

[chiguirre]

And the #PSAT memes have started. They're awesome if you can get your kid to explain what an ambivert and ephedra are!

https://twitter.com/hashtag/psat?lang=en

(It's high schoolers on twitter so language alert.)

[Guest]

DD said it went well, but there was some math that she blanked on. Which probably has a lot to do with the fact that Algebra 1 was several years ago and she didn't prep at all.  We'll see how it comes out. She already has the scores she needs for scholarships at many of her schools on the ACT, so itwould be nice to get NM, but it won't affect much if she doesn't.  She also says that there are benefits to taking a test at a private school-they had chick-fil-a (which she didn't eat as a vegetarian), fruit, donuts, etc. 

[teachermom2834]

While my ds did have to navigate through a huge building and thousands of students to locate his testing room there were only about 30 kids taking the test and most of them either slept or walked in asking what it was and surprised it was today. It is optional here and these were just the kids who signed up and paid for it. Such differences regionally. 🙁

[teachermom2834]

59 minutes ago, dmmetler said:

DD said it went well, but there was some math that she blanked on. Which probably has a lot to do with the fact that Algebra 1 was several years ago and she didn't prep at all.  We'll see how it comes out. She already has the scores she needs for scholarships at many of her schools on the ACT, so itwould be nice to get NM, but it won't affect much if she doesn't.  She also says that there are benefits to taking a test at a private school-they had chick-fil-a (which she didn't eat as a vegetarian), fruit, donuts, etc. 

Yes. Ds specifically said that there were a couple basic algebra concepts that he only knew because he had just reviewed them the other day in precal. He said “you know the easy ones you just forget how to do”.

Ds wasn’t close enough to the cutoff to fret about it. He is glad he took it though. No “what if’s” if he later does really well on the SAT. His first choice school doesn’t give much for it anyway.

[Meriwether]

13 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

While my ds did have to navigate through a huge building and thousands of students to locate his testing room there were only about 30 kids taking the test and most of them either slept or walked in asking what it was and surprised it was today. It is optional here and these were just the kids who signed up and paid for it. Such differences regionally. 🙁

Dd took it at a small school. She said the other kids were not taking it seriously at all.

[teachermom2834]

1 minute ago, Meriwether said:

Dd took it at a small school. She said the other kids were not taking it seriously at all.

In fairness, I don't think most students really should worry about it at all. It is really only important for that very special student and most students should know if it is important for them or not. I am just always surprised because we moved just 70 miles from a school that had on average it seemed about 6-7 NMSF every year and every student in 10th and 11th grade took the test and 9th graders could opt in. Just a striking difference within an hours drive. 

[fourisenough]

My DD said she thinks she got every question on the reading/writing section correct; the math section was another story! She’s 14 and only 6 weeks into algebra 2, but she felt like there was a lot she didn’t get right. I had her take it mainly for experience and to help decide whether to prep for SAT or ACT. If she’s correct about her performance, I think she will be my third ACT kid! 

[RootAnn]

5 hours ago, Mom2mthj said:

Does anyone know if scores are available in their college board account before the paper score report arrives?  It was December before we received scores last year in the mail.

They show up in the CB account before paper copies arrive, but it is still December. CB says Dec 9-11.

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, fourisenough said:

My DD said she thinks she got every question on the reading/writing section correct; the math section was another story! She’s 14 and only 6 weeks into algebra 2, but she felt like there was a lot she didn’t get right. I had her take it mainly for experience and to help decide whether to prep for SAT or ACT. If she’s correct about her performance, I think she will be my third ACT kid! 

DD says she likes the ACT better, too.