Your college-bound teen MUST do some sort of test prep. It will improve their scores and give them confidence when they take the test. Preparation and familiarization with the test and its formulas will give them an edge over the students who choose not to prepare.

Here are my recommendations for test prep sites:

1. ElizabethOnline–Elizabeth writes a blog that gives some great tips and discusses the nuances of the tests. She takes the test herself every year and is familiar with its content and knows how to help your teen improve their scores. Read what Elizabeth said about her services:

Outsmarting the SAT

2. WordNerd–Sheldon walks your teen through practice tests, smart sets (words that go together), study roots (prefixes and suffixes) and gives a “nerd” word of the day. This is a good practice site to improve vocabulary. Read Sheldon’s advice on SAT prep:

Creating an SAT Study Plan

3. MindFish–Your teen can play an SAT test game to help them master skills and you can dialogue with test prep and admissions professionals and other interested parents.

4. CollegeBoard SAT Test Prep–The College Boards FREE test prep site for the SAT with practice tests, question of the day and sample practice questions.

5. AllenPrep–Get an Ipod/Itouch/Iphone App here for just $9.99 and your teen can use it to improve their SAT vocabulary. They also provide testing software and offer a 2-day FREE trial to check it out.

Today’s guest post is by Jennifer Cohen, President and Chief Word-Nerd at Word-Nerd.com. She offers some great (realistic) tips on preparing for upcoming SAT’s.

When it comes to studying for the SAT, most students don’t know where to begin.  The easy way out is to head over to the local branch of one of the big prep companies.  But, that route can be inefficient time-wise, not to mention extremely expensive.  The good news is that you can create an SAT course yourself!  All you need is some good materials and a little organization.   Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Be sure to get started early, ideally at LEAST three months before test day.  Unless you’re prepping over the summer, school and other activities take up most of your day.  Allow yourself a long time frame so you don’t have to cram for eight hours a day the week before the test.
2. Plan to average about 30 a minutes a day over that time.  Note that’s an average, not a rule.  Spend a half hour here and there, with maybe couple of hours on the weekend.  Grab fifteen minutes before soccer practice.  Keep a journal of what you’ve done, what still needs to be done, and how much time you’re spending.  And be honest!  You might be amazed how much (or little) time you’re devoting.
3. Take a timed, as close to real as possible, practice test for starting your prep.  I always recommend downloading the free SAT from the College Board’s website and using that as your pre-test.  Be sure to use the printed version.  Don’t take the online version, since you won’t be taking the real thing online!  Use your results as a guide for your prep.
4. As for materials, there are unlimited options.  There are online courses, books, iPhone apps, podcasts, computer programs and on and on.  Check out a few options, and see what makes sense for your learning preferences and budget.  The only must-have is the Official SAT Study Guide from the College Board.  It should be your primary source for practice sections.  Use any other resources you like to learn strategy, review math and build vocabulary.  Of course, I am biased towards Word-Nerd.com for SAT vocabulary.
5. In the early stages of your prep, do practice questions at your own pace.  Treat it as an open book test.  When you make an error, analyze it.  Always learn from your mistakes, as well as your successes.  The same types of questions appear repeatedly on the SAT.  So analyze those errors.  When you encounter a similar question on test day, you’ll know what to do!  If you’re stumped by a particular question, ask a friend or a teacher for help.  Or hire a tutor for an hour or two to get you through the tough stuff.  Wyzant.com is an amazing source for tutors nationwide if you need ideas.
6. Lastly, ramp up your efforts as the big day nears.  By the last couple of weeks, you should be taking practice sections from the Official Study Guide under timed conditions.  Just be sure to give yourself a break the night before the test.  Nothing will hurt your score more than being tired on test day!

If you have a question I haven’t covered, feel free to send me an email at jenn@word-nerd.com – your question may be the topic of a future post on The Fat Envelope, Word-Nerd’s test prep and college admissions blog.  Good luck everyone!

Jennifer Cohen is President and Chief Word-Nerd at Word-Nerd.com.  Word-Nerd is your best resource for efficient, fun SAT and PSAT vocabulary prep.

Today’s guest post is by Elizabeth King, author of “Outsmarting the SAT”. She has successfully led students to score gains of well over 100 points on every section of the SAT. She takes the test every year herself and knocks it out of the ballpark.

The test prep companies would like you to believe that you can’t prepare for their tests, or that you’re already prepared just by having gone to high school. This sounds great: test prep companies don’t have to endorse folks who can help you prepare and it seems like you, the student, is off the hook.

However, I come bearing great news: yes, it’s entirely possible to drastically change your score on both the SAT and ACT. I know, the companies that produce them tell you that they each test “what you’ve already learned in high school” in varying ways. In a perfect world, that would be true, but it’s far more likely that you either never learned some of the material or you don’t remember it when you see it. Both the SAT and ACT test skills you started learning around the age of ten. You’ll want to brush up.

I’m also going to let you in on a little secret: your friends (the people against whom you’ll be competing for college admission) may be preparing and just not admitting it. Yes, seriously. Let’s face it: acting like you care about standardized tests is not traditionally considered cool. However, I can’t tell you how many students I have that are friends that say “don’t tell so-and-so we’re coming to you” or the number of kids that are tucked away by themselves at the bookstore cafe on Saturday morning perusing a prep book. Not only that, I would say that it’s extremely common for someone to tell me his SAT score (happens all the time) and quickly tack on a lame excuse, like, but I was out partying the night before or but it’s not like I studied for it.

But let’s face it. College admissions officers don’t care how cool you are and are given no indication of how much you may or may not have studied for exams. They simply see a number and assess you accordingly. Moreover, while you may think you’ll get away with an hour or two of looking over a sample test the night before, in some areas or schools it’s completely normal to spend six months to a year preparing for the test. Right now, somewhere in the world, a student against whom you’ll be competing for college entry is preparing for the SAT or ACT.

Now, look: just because I’m asking you to prepare doesn’t mean I’m condemning you to taking one of those 8 week 4 hours every Saturday morning courses with a huge prep company. In fact, the National Association of College Admissions Counselors released a study in 2009 that said your score will likely only go up around 30 points if you do so. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to invest 32 hours of my life preparing for something, I want to make some serious progress.

Here are some first steps to get you on the road to a score that represents you well:

–Pick your battle. Take a practice ACT and SAT test (available on the web). Think about which test is more comfortable for you. The math on the ACT covers more topics, but it generally feels more straightforward. The reading comprehension on the SAT is more conceptual; you’ll also want to consider the breadth of your vocabulary and how quickly you can learn new words. Vocab is pivotal on the SAT. The pace of the ACT is a little faster; the SAT is slower but longer.

–Prepare. Get a copy of The Official SAT Study Guide or The Real ACT Prep Guide and thoughtfully go through the material. For every mistake you make you’ll want write a note, and every mistake will fall under one of two categories: a rule/fact/equation you didn’t know (e.g. a particular geometry rule) or a question style (e.g. you know a particular geometry rule but you didn’t realize you needed to use it because of a confusing element in the question). Write all this down and review it!

–Ask for help. Rather than looking for guessing strategies on those questions with which you struggle, take the time to actually learn the material. Find a tutor or get a prep book that thoroughly teaches concepts rather than guessing rules. Remember that it’s possible to learn everything tested on the SAT and ACT, and I guarantee you’ll walk into the test more confident and away from the test center with a higher score and a better shot at entering the college of your dreams if you’ve taken the time to learn the material.

–Plan ahead. Know test dates ahead of time and don’t wait till the last minute. Remember, the competition is out there. Arm yourself and earn a score you can be proud of.

Contact Elizabeth at:
Elizabeth King Coaching, Inc.
http://elizabethonline.com
On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elizabethonline

For my loyal readers, I thought I would post the links to some posts I have done on other websites and blogs. All offer valuable information for parents of college bound teens.

Preparing Your Student for the Future
If your child is just starting high school, you’re probably not thinking about college yet…but should you be?

It’s Test Time!
The SATs and ACTs… Are these standardized tests striking fear and dread in your home? Suzanne Shaffer of Parents Countdown to College says the key to success is practice and she shows you where to find FREE help!

Searching for Scholarships

The best advice I can give any parent of a college-bound teen is to start the scholarship process EARLY. Don’t wait until senior year and scramble around trying to find scholarships. Here are 10 tips on searching for scholarships.

Visit these sites and gather some valuable information. Sign up and join GalTime for even more valuable parenting advice. Encourage your teen to enter Diploframe’s scholarship.

In today’s Education column of the New York Times, the President of the College Board addresses the question of the value of SAT Prep courses.  This has been a long standing debate and the theories vary depending on who addresses the question.

According to Mr. Caperton:

Success on the SAT, and more importantly success in college, begins in middle school and in the early years of high school. The best way for students to get ready for the SAT is to take rigorous, challenging courses in high school and to study hard and do well in those classes.

But, there were some interesting comments that followed the article that give differing opinions about test prep. The bulk of the comments were either from parents or students who had availed themselves of test prep services and were able to raise their scores significantly; thus justifying the cost involved. I found the comments more interesting than the article.

I tend to agree with one comment which stated that the SAT measured the students test taking ability before it measured their cumulative knowledge. Some students take tests well; others do not. If those who do not test well take the time to familiarize themselves with the test itself, it will help them be less anxious and more confident on test day.

Read my article on GalTime for some tips on preparing for those college admission tests.