SAT Prep (Prep Scholar) and getting stuck with the same score for years

[crazyforlatin]

DD is a rising junior, so she needs to take the SAT next spring or fall.

She has had the same score since 6th or 7th grade, and her score was good enough to get into the program at Johns Hopkins. She's not considering competitive colleges, though it's always at the back of her mind to apply to one reach school. So the score is good enough for noncompetitive colleges (she really would like a scholarship therefore higher score could get that) but not for higher ranked schools, considering she doesn't have any impressive extracurricular activities.

She absolutely cannot take the SAT exam online - she needs to allocate time from one section to other sections. I think she could do a lot better if it's back to paper exam next year unless they cancel our March exam.

She's not fast enough in the math section especially if it's online where she cannot allocate time from the verbal sections where she can rush through them with a score above 700. 

What have you done to get out of a rut? 

For Prep Scholar users, which program is the one that can help us get an extra 100-150 points? I think the most expensive program might be for kids hoping for a higher increase. She needs very little to make it pass what she thinks is her threshold score. 

 

 

 

[Roadrunner]

There is no online SAT. They are all paper exams.

I have no advice on score. 

[freesia]

You also can't carry time over from other tests.

This book has strategies for managing the time on the math test: https://www.amazon.com/New-Math-SAT-Game-Plan/dp/1530012287

My ds's bff used the practice tests from the college board website and just took the math tests practicing for speed.

My 2 kids who have used it like the Black book for SAT prep https://www.amazon.com/SAT-Prep-Black-Book-Strategies/dp/0692916164/ref=pd_lpo_3?pd_rd_i=0692916164&psc=1

Ds1's score rose 100 points from June of sophomore year to March of junior year using Khan Academy.  Dd's rose 100 points using Khan and the Black book.  I think it's realistic to rise 100 points with focused test taking skills and speed practice--particularly if she's been stalled for years.  She likely just needs to learn a few test taking skills or clarify what a few of the problems are looking for.

Before paying for help, I'd get her the Black Book and have her use it and retest in December.

[crazyforlatin]

Thanks so much! Just ordered the book.

Dd mentioned that during the last paper test in 8th grade she could choose which section to work on. Maybe that's not allowed any more.

[gstharr]

My new 11th grader did SAT  in  6th and 7th grade for CTY.   Missed SET in 6th by one question in math. Would have made SET in 7th but was 13 by then.  After that we have not done any standard test.  Reading between the lines of your post, I take that your daughter can easily get 700V+,  but sub 700M.  My kid is the opposite., Grammar is the issue in our case.  Now that we are prepping for National Merit and SAT this Fall, our prep is focused on grammar.  Something like 3 practice grammar tests for every math practice tests.  In your case, I would delay taking the SAT to as late as reasonably convenient, and take as many timed math practice tests as possible.  Barron, Priinceton, and Dr Chung, are fairly representative of the SAT test.   I usually score the practices myself, so that I can get a feel for the problem areas. good luck 

[RootAnn]

Was it ACT that tested online exams? I know one did because our state had high schools have huge tech issues with online state-mandated ACT/SAT testing a couple of years ago (pre-covid).

Anyway, time limits are by section & you can't work on another test section than what everyone else is doing (or I mean, you can try but you risk getting kicked out). 

When you get near the top scores, it gets harder to increase your score. Good luck! :)

[MamaSprout]

Also PrepScholar kind of locks you into working on the next thing in tandem. Dd had some specific things she needed to work on - and just ended up buying the Metzer book for that section (it did help her bring up that section).

[crazyforlatin]

33 minutes ago, MamaSprout said:

Also PrepScholar kind of locks you into working on the next thing in tandem. Dd had some specific things she needed to work on - and just ended up buying the Metzer book for that section (it did help her bring up that section).

Good to know that!

[crazyforlatin]

48 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

Was it ACT that tested online exams? I know one did because our state had high schools have huge tech issues with online state-mandated ACT/SAT testing a couple of years ago (pre-covid).

Anyway, time limits are by section & you can't work on another test section than what everyone else is doing (or I mean, you can try but you risk getting kicked out). 

When you get near the top scores, it gets harder to increase your score. Good luck! 🙂

Dd was using Khan. She hasn't gone into a center since 8th grade or taken an official test thru CB since that time.

Fortunately our WiFi was fine on AP day. 

[freesia]

Well, she must have misunderstood or be misremembering in eighth grade because you've never been able to go and work on other sections.  Each section has it's own timing and you need to work only in that section.

[crazyforlatin]

1 minute ago, freesia said:

Well, she must have misunderstood or be misremembering in eighth grade because you've never been able to go and work on other sections.  Each section has it's own timing and you need to work only in that section.

You're right, I just checked with her, she said it was a different test, and can't remember what that test could be, and that a student can't do that in the SAT. She thinks maybe it was the AP test when it was on paper. That was some time ago too. 

Anyway that's also good to know so that she can really work on timing.

[ElizabethB]

Books are better than online, especially for last bit of a high score. 

The SAT has never been online, it is paper, has always been paper, even during COVID. 

Erica Meltzer for reading, Meltzer and College Panda for writing, Black Book overall. 

The new 1600io orange book for math, 2 volume series. Take a paper timed/untimed math test, take with her. Time each problem, do 1 problem at a time. Any that you are faster than her or take her longer than 60 seconds (or longer than 45 seconds for the first really easy ones), do more of that type of problem. Also, if she misses, do more of plus read explanation for that section. The appendix in the orange book has practice problems and also sends you to other tests and QAS for extra problems of the same type. 

I would use the 10 practice tests to monitor progress and the QAS for extra problems.

The free portion of 1600io website also has really good explanations of how to think like the test takers for reading and writing for the first 4 practice tests, between that and the Black Book explanations, trains you how they think.  In Black book, read all answers to all questions even if you got them right, trains you why the wrong answers are wrong and why the correct answers are right.

Tests:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sat/comments/llxpn0/official_reddit_sat_qas_megathread_pdfs_of_all/

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by ElizabethB

[Lucy the Valiant]

31 minutes ago, ElizabethB said:

Books are better than online, especially for last bit of a high score. 

The SAT has never been online, it is paper, has always been paper, even during COVID. 

Erica Meltzer for reading, Meltzer and College Panda for writing, Black Book overall. 

The new 1600io orange book for math, 2 volume series. Take a paper timed/untimed math test, take with her. Time each problem, do 1 problem at a time. Any that you are faster than her or take her longer than 60 seconds (or longer than 45 seconds for the first really easy ones), do more of that type of problem. Also, if she misses, do more of plus read explanation for that section. The appendix in the orange book has practice problems and also sends you to other tests and QAS for extra problems of the same type. 

I would use the 10 practice tests to monitor progress and the QAS for extra problems.

The free portion of 1600io website also has really good explanations of how to think like the test takers for reading and writing for the first 4 practice tests, between that and the Black Book explanations, trains you how they think.  In Black book, read all answers to all questions even if you got them right, trains you why the wrong answers are wrong and why the correct answers are right.

Tests:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sat/comments/llxpn0/official_reddit_sat_qas_megathread_pdfs_of_all/

 

 

Never mind! Wrong info on my part!

 

ETA: My own kids took School Day Administration of the SAT this year at our local public school, and I was verbally warned AND had to sign a form that I understood that because mine were not full time enrolled, they would have to take the test on paper and not on the computer. (We prefer paper, so this was no problem to me, but - how weird?! If there's no computer SAT, why would they do that?)

Edited August 11, 2021 by Lucy the Valiant

[Lucy the Valiant]

I'm not crazy: CB *did do online testing, as part of a pilot / test program (I believe my ps students were part of this experiment). This has nothing to do with OP's question, but in case it's relevant to any future conversation - Comparability of Performance on the SAT Suite of Assessments Across Pencil-and-Paper and Computer-Based Modes of Administration (2019).

 

/ Back to regular programming. 

[RootAnn]

@Lucy the ValiantYes! I'm not crazy either!! Woot!