SAT Practice Testing

I should begin by saying that I do not believe in tests. Not one bit. They are a convoluted way of pigeon holing people into statistics. It is a poor practice adopted by colleges to make the process of admittance easier on them, not better. Thank goodness it is not the only criteria used by colleges and universities. But, for the home schooled child, it becomes more important than it should be due to the lack of a formally recognized high school diploma. Thus, 'When in Rome do as the Romans do' becomes a bit of a troublesome adage. What is a home educated student to do if they want to a) attend a good university and b) get scholarships to help pay for their education?

Yet, home schoolers go against the "norm" and do not follow the customs of those around them...so why do we suddenly switch when it comes to college?

When in Rome...
Nayna took her practice SAT online the other day and the results are in! She did well in Reading, and middle of the road for Math and Essay. She has had no formal SAT prep before the practice test was taken. This is simply based on her reading classics and following the Leadership Education philosophy. We were expecting to see some need for improvement in the Math and Essay sections of the test since she has not finished Algebra II yet. She has read at a college level since she was 13, so I never felt she needed any extra help there.

According to BYU entrance criteria, to enroll in ENG101 Writing and Reasoning she needs an SAT score of 390+ in Reading. To enroll in MAT108 Math for the Real World she needs an SAT score of 430+ in Math. She scored high enough to enroll in both of these college level classes.

We decided to use the online practice test directly from http://sat.collegeboard.org/. This is the organization who formulates the test, so we figured it would be the best choice for practice. It is very nice to see exactly which questions she missed and the correct answers are explained.

Math Preparation

We are getting the Official SAT Study Guide from our local library for free and Kahn Academy SAT Preparation video explanations for each Math question to further study the math sections. With the book and the videos together she should be able to work out the problems she struggles with. Math was never been her strong suit, but she is an excellent student and studies hard.

Essay Preparation
I have been debating which essay prep course would be best. I am leaning towards the Excellence in Writing products, either High School Essay Intensive or the Elegant Essay. I feel she has good basic ideas and grammatical skills, she just needs prep on formal essay development. If you have used either of these, I would love to hear about your experience.

We plan on having her take the SAT officially on December 1st. This will give her a semester to delve into practicing for the tests.

So, I have answered my own question. We switch because it is one of our only options to send our children to a good university and get scholarships.


Your thoughts?

 

Prepping for SAT's

As Nayna officially enters her "Senior Year" as far as the conveyor-belt is concerned, we need to consider her future path. She is a Self-Directed Scholar who is confidently directing her education to encompass all the aspects of a truly fabulous Liberal Arts Education. She has been taking concurrent enrollment classes at BYU-Idaho, which she loves, and is considering continuing her education there. I checked with admissions and for home educated students they want the following:

1. SAT or ACT scores.
2. A GED (General Education Development) or Compass Test or 15 college credits.

I do not like the idea of having my children take a GED test. To me that is saying that we have not graduated our child. The Compass Test is more for college placement in Reading, Writing and Math placement. My oldest daughter, Sam, took the Compass Test to enter community college. I feel better about my children taking the Compass Test because it determines college class placement so that they start in the right level of classes.

With Nayna's concurrent enrollment status, she could possibly have 15 college credits completed and enter BYU-I as a Sophomore rather than a Freshman. We discussed this with Nayna recently to allow her to consider her options.

SAT or ACT

The next thing to decide is which test to take - SAT or ACT. We've decided to prepare for the SAT. We decided this based upon the subjects covered in each test. BYU-I accepts either. The SAT has an essay portion which we feel Nayna will excel at, while the ACT has some social studies components that we are not sure about remembering dates and such even though she has studied history. I believe that the ACT is more state-standard specific while the SAT shows competency in Reading, Writing, and Math.

Nayna will take the free practice test this week online and we'll determine where to go from there. I believe she will do very well in everything but math. She has not completed Algebra II yet and I understand there are some questions of that level on the test.