SAT test prep

[jimmyjazz 46478]

Need advice on SAT test prep.  The services offered through our kids' HS all conflict with various sports & band events this fall.  I'm looking for a self-paced online course that hopefully doesn't cost an arm and a leg but (more importantly) has verified results.

ACT prep is probably needed as well.

[Mole 4336]

Half-serious answer: read lots of books.

[DCA_HORN 725]

My brother isn't in state but does this for a living. Does Skype tutoring. If you're interested PM me.

[chitwood 155]

Khan Academy is great online and free.  You can also link to the college board website and your scores on the PSAT, so they structure the program with your kid's strengths and weaknesses accordingly.

[jimmyjazz 46478]

Yes, my daughter is signing up for Khan.  She takes the PSAT today so those scores are a little ways out.  She is just really concerned that she's not fully prepared for the SAT later this year and is looking at some big time schools (UT, Stanford, etc.) -- the better her score, the less I pay, too.

[HornOnTheBayou 8967]

I teach at an Austin-area high school and one of my roles is PSAT prep for the high-achieving juniors to help them reach National Merit Finalist status. I use the Khan Academy site and the Kaplan practice book with them. I know you're set on spending money for a private tutor, but honestly a prep book and Khan Academy are all you really need. 

[jimmyjazz 46478]

Oh, believe me, I'm not set on spending money.  If Khan and Kaplan get her there, great.  Thanks.

She may be screwed on the National Merit aspect, because I doubt she'll hit the PSAT out of the park.  She's a very good student, roughly in that top 6% range, and when you talk with her and look at her background, she's a home run, but she gets nervous on standardized tests.  It's bizarre, she can ace school tests from Physics to English and clobber state band solo competitions, but put her in that room with a clock and a pencil . . . nerves.  That's why I want to coach her up so she'll feel more familiar.

[pacman 7429]

Sane boat, advice we were given was to focus on test taking skills and strategies just as much as we focus on learning improvements.

[chitwood 155]

18 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Oh, believe me, I'm not set on spending money.  If Khan and Kaplan get her there, great.  Thanks.

She may be screwed on the National Merit aspect, because I doubt she'll hit the PSAT out of the park.  She's a very good student, roughly in that top 6% range, and when you talk with her and look at her background, she's a home run, but she gets nervous on standardized tests.  It's bizarre, she can ace school tests from Physics to English and clobber state band solo competitions, but put her in that room with a clock and a pencil . . . nerves.  That's why I want to coach her up so she'll feel more familiar.

How did she feel after it was over?  My twins took it yesterday, and seem to feel pretty good about it, which freaks one of them (the tightly wound one) out.

[jimmyjazz 46478]

3 hours ago, chitwood said:

How did she feel after it was over?  My twins took it yesterday, and seem to feel pretty good about it, which freaks one of them (the tightly wound one) out.

She felt way better than she did the first time she took it.  Apparently, on that first version, she was told by the proctor that her trip to the bathroom wouldn't count as test time and she'd get extra.  As soon as I heard that I thought "no way" but before I could say anything, she (to her credit) said "I should have known better, that was stupid of me".  Pretty mature kid.

Anyway, she got through almost all the questions and felt like she got everything right, save the few she guessed on at the end.  She said she wasn't nervous, so maybe things are calming down for her.

[happyfunball 481]

test taking is definitely a skill that can be learned and one regret in my academic career is that was not emphasized to me. while i agree with the programs to do more of the learning, i would not shy away from 1-on-1 lessons even for a few hours to teach how to mentally excel at these tests.

[utee94 15883]

Well, it's my turn down this road.  My daughter is a sophomore, she's taken the PSAT twice now, once in 9th and once in 10th.  We did those with no prep, and she did pretty well, but now I want to start gearing her up for the PSAT that actually matters for NMSQ, the one next Fall in her junior year.

She's a straight A+ student taking all honors/AP courses, and her weakness is definitely the test structure itself-- the timed aspect, the pressure-- basically, The Game.  So I think she'll benefit quite a bit from a course or tutoring that stresses the mechanics of the test, the test-taking techniques and strategy, while also making sure she's got the the fundamentals of the questions themselves firmly under control.

 

@HornOnTheBayou I know you've recommended the Khan course and Kaplan book, 6 years ago.  Are you still in the same role?  If so is that still your recommendation?

Also curious about how things worked out for the offspring of  @jimmyjazz  and @chitwood ?

 

 

Edited March 25 by utee94

[F250 28945]

Damn. I followed this thread years ago. It's been so long I have one kid who already graduated college and another about to graduate.

[jimmyjazz 46478]

1 hour ago, utee94 said:

Also curious about how things worked out for the offspring of  @jimmyjazz  and @chitwood ?

Unfortunately, I got nothing.  My daughter and son both CAPed into UT-Austin and are thriving, but they are completely different animals, one an academic and one not.  I have no idea how my son got in.  I'm not asking questions.  Any port in a storm.

[troph 24929]

We are doing khan academy with private tutor that knows their content to augment. 

[Texas Jeff 1978]

We used More Than A Teacher in Westlake over a summer and it worked well for us.  They have a few locations and they also do some prep classes on campuses.

The most useful part of their program was being able to sit for unlimited practice tests.  I'm not sure if they still do this or not.  We my kids did it, once you had paid the tuition, you could sign up for as many practice tests as you wanted.  Simulated "real world" conditions helped my kids get used to the timing and pacing.

[boilerhorn 1450]

This. MTAT for all of my kids. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

On 3/25/2024 at 5:38 PM, utee94 said:

  So I think she'll benefit quite a bit from a course or tutoring that stresses the mechanics of the test, the test-taking techniques and strategy, while also making sure she's got the the fundamentals of the questions themselves firmly under control.

This is a reasonable plan. Our oldest had very solid academics, was motivated and where using a prep course helped with the process was the mechanics you mention. Result was superscore (old SAT) perfect score and PSAT National Merit. Next oldest also had solid academics, was slightly less motivated but still did very well, I forget the SAT score but ACT was 34 and missed NM by thismuch and ended up commended. Thus far we're sticking with that but we aim, as much as possible, to not stress the kids out about it. Most children want to please their parents, and we get that but we've also emphasized that doing well keeps doors and opportunities open so that they have choices and are in the driver's seat.

[CooterBrown 18090]

We went through the PSAT results and found an online video covering each topic that my kid didn’t get 100% on. There’s a ton of YouTube channels specializing in this. We just searched for “digital SAT prep for XYZ” found a few videos that covered the topic and put it in a playlist. There was even a tutorial on how to use the new online calculator for the SAT. She said it definitely helped because she didn’t really know anything on the SAT that she had trouble with.

We’ll get the text score next week so we’ll see how it went. However, we don’t care that much because the Colorado schools she’s applying to don’t accept teat scores.

[morehornsepower 887]

16 hours ago, boilerhorn said:

This. MTAT for all of my kids. 

Wow...looks like they guarantee a 100pt improvement on the SAT.  Will definitely be checking them out - thanks!