PaperAngel
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,388
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on Oct 22, 2016 21:03:50 GMT
While I understand all three are college admission tests, please explain the differences between them, ideal high school year to take each, when/whether to retake, how the scores are reported to colleges (eg all results, an average of all results, or only the best), & any other important information. TFS your knowledge & experiences.
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autie25
New Member
Posts: 7 
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Post by autie25 on Oct 22, 2016 22:02:52 GMT
PSAT isn't really an admissions test. We look at it as an indicator of how students will perform on the SAT the latter part of their junior year. Our all of our 10th grade students take it, 9th graders can as well as 11th graders. This year our school did a school wide PSAT/SAT day do we had several tests going on that day. Usually by Junior year students are taking or getting ready to take the SAT or ACT. I do know the PSAT results can qualify you as a National Merit Scholar.
Whether you take the SAT or the ACT would depend on which test your college accepts. Some schools accept either and some accept one or the other. I feel that if your college accepts both then you pick the one you feel the most comfortable taking. Both now have an essay component but some school require that and some don't.
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autie25
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by autie25 on Oct 22, 2016 22:05:25 GMT
Also, as far as reporting scores, when you register for the test you can pick the schools your scores are sent too. My experience is if you take the test multiple times and do better each time the school looks at the highest score.
It's best to start taking it early in the 11th grade, best there are limited test dates and now you can start applying to college the summer after your junior year.
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Post by freecharlie on Oct 22, 2016 22:24:21 GMT
Psat is the pre sat. All 10th graders in many districts in Colorado take it. They are also going to start giving it in 8th grade, I think starting next year.
All juniors in Colorado take either the ACT or SAT through their school in april. My school switch from acthe to sat last year because it aligns more with common core. I don't know if the whole state switched to sat or not.
Take psat or pact on 10th. Start taking sat and act in 11th
Khan academy has a wonderful sat section and it is made by college board, the makers of the SAT. When you take the psat, they will give you a code and base the study questions based on your needs.
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Post by freecharlie on Oct 22, 2016 22:26:46 GMT
Different colleges require different test or they accept both. Best bet is to look at admission requirements for the school(s) your child wants to attend.
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Post by GamGam on Oct 23, 2016 0:32:51 GMT
The PSAT needs to be taken in October of the junior year in order to be in consideration for National Merit Scholar designation. The score on the PSAT must then be duplicated on the SAT which can be taken anytime after taking the PSAT. Those that score in the upper 1/2 of 1%(99.5 percentile) in each state are named National Merit Finalists in Sept. of their Sr. year. Once the high school they are attending receives the verifying SAT and endorses their good standing as students, they are then named National Merit Scholars . I can't remember when the .scholars naming is announced. It's been a long time since we went through this with our son.
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Post by littlemama on Oct 23, 2016 0:33:56 GMT
Back in olden times (lol), the ACT was mostly used by schools in the middle of the country, while the SAT was used on the coasts. (In general). It seems like the ACT is now accepted by most schools. In our state, the ACT was used as part of the graduation requirements through ds' junior year. The SAT (revamped to be more similar to the ACT) is now used by the state, but students can still take the ACT on their own. The state mandated test is given in March of junior year. DS took it the December prior so he would have an idea of what to expect. As it turned out, he had the flu just before he took it and was still pretty weak when he took it. He got a good score, then when he took the state mandated test, he improved by 2 points to about where we expected him to be the first time he took it (had he not been ill).
He then took it one more time Septemeber of senior year because score #2 might have gotten him a full.scholarship, but one point better would guarantee it. He got the on point and 3 weeks later had his scholarship.
So, in short, take it as many times as you feel you need to. Scores typically change by 1-2 points from the original score. The lower the initial score, the better chance of a larger improvement. If you look at my ds 3 point improvement, that would be fairly unusual at his level, however, his being ill the first time meant his score was artificially low.
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