Emily takes her SAT again today. Before she took it the first time, I purchased online prep from Kaplan for $77. That turned out to be a waste. The whole thing frustrated her, so she didn't spend enough time at it. She may not have completely understood how to use it, but apparently when you take the practice tests, you don't get specific feedback on what to work on. You just get a score. Turns out the College Board practice books are more useful.
This time, she used the practice tests in conjunction with the book Up Your Score: The Underground Guide to the SAT. It was written by some Ivy League students who provide helpful tips and strategies. The authors say that taking lots of practice tests is the most important thing you can do. So she would take a test, score it, and then read about the kinds of questions she missed. The book is pretty engaging. We'll see how useful it is.
Before she took it the first time, I was prepared to send her to one of those $1,000 prep courses, but she wasn't up for the time commitment. I still think it would have been helpful, but kids make choices. Actually, I have to say that while I don't think Emily spent enough time preparing on her own, she spent more than I would have when I was her age. It's a good investment for kids who won't do it on their own.
It's hard to tell how much the SAT's will affect Emily's chances to get into her top choice school. It's been such a long time since I posted anything, you have to know that has all changed. The top two schools are now 1) UCSD and 2) UCSB. UCLA is out of the running because they're phasing out their undergraduate art history program. Sorry UCLA, maybe you'll get a shot at grad school. Ha!
I'm nervous about the whole UCSD thing. I think I want Emily to go away more than she wants to go. I'll be okay with it if she lives on campus, and works on or near campus. But I really don't want her trying to continue to live her pre-college life and fit school into it. I personally think UCSB is the better fit. Would it be evil to hope her scores don't go up too much?
