What’s Next After the PSAT for Juniors: SAT or ACT?

by

For many CPE students, the answer is….YES! Please allow me to explain.

You know how you can tell a really bad college advisor? S/he gives the same generic advice to every student regardless of college dreams/goals and level of academic and extracurricular achievement.

AT CPE, we don’t do that. So to help begin answering the question of the moment—What’s Next After the PSAT for Juniors?—use the broad-strokes categories below. But also feel free to schedule a one-hour consultation with Dr. Yo to discuss specifics about your or your kid’s standardized testing strategies, overall academic program, and athletic/extracurricular/community service/school spirit goals. Or,  come to one of Dr. Yo’s Monthly College Admissions Zoom Talks.

Most students and parents playing the college admissions game to win know the post-COVID era—i.e., in the era of test optional confusion, redesigned SAT, and plummeting admissions rates across the board at selective colleges— is to sit for at least one SAT and at least one ACT.  But many have been calling and emailing to ask which standardized test on what date is best to take after the PSAT in the fall of junior year. Good question; glad you asked.

For the vast majority of students applying to competitive colleges and for two good reasons, the answer is, at a minimum, one of each:

  1. Taking the PSAT and the ACT during the fall of junior year means that before the first of the year, you will have in hand both a CollegeBoard score (i.e., your PSAT score, which is a good indicator of how you’ll do on the SAT in March or beyond) and an ACT score. This is THE BEST way to tell whether you’re an SAT kid, an ACT kid, or both, and will help drive your plans for winter, spring, summer, and possibly fall prep and re-testing.
  2. Taking an SAT in the fall of junior year, rather than waiting until March and beyond (even if your kids live in CT or other states where they get a free SAT in school as party of your states mandated testing for federal funding), gives you a huge advantage over those who wait. If you do well, you can either set a high baseline or actually be done before the3 start of jun for year second semester. If you do poorly by your standards, you’ll have more time to address the situation. Either way, you win.

The best test prep class we offer at CPE as measured by score improvement, as well as the most economical option, happens to be our 6-Session ACT Prep Class. The next one is December 11, 2021.  The one after that is February 12, 2022, and yes we have classes open for registration for that, too. Registration for all classes here. If there is enough demand for December’s exam, we’ll schedule a second and third class on different dates, so if the dates on the registration page don’t work for you, please call or send us an email to let us know.

Juniors Entertaining Possibility of Applying to “Most Selective Schools”

You should take both 12/4 SAT and 12/11 ACT. Yup, both. There is no practice test or simulation that is the equivalent of the real deal. Since you only report scores you want to report to colleges (there are a precious few who ASK FOR ALL YOUR SCORES, BUT YOU NEED NOT COMPLY WITH THIS  UNREASONABLE REQUEST, just as you wouldn’t answer a job interviewer’s questions about where else you’re looking for work and what remuneration they’re offering….dirty pool, unfair question).

Even if you live in CT and go to public school and are planning on taking TWO SATs in March (one on the state’s nickel), you should take the 12/4 SAT because 1) material should be fresh from the PSAT you just took last month, 2) can’t hurt, 3) last chance before….MARCH (the CollegeBoard has done away with its traditional January test date in favor of the new August one).

It’s also important to take the 12/11/19 ACT in case you score higher on the ACT than SAT. It’s worth at least one sitting. And every sitting is worth SOME prep (why take it if you’re not going to try to put up a decent score?)  CPE has 3-, 6-, and 9-session (2 hrs each) prep classes for every exam of both. See Classes & Registration (click individual class titles for details and required materials please).

Students with Good Reason to Believe Their SAT/ACT Scores Are Already Good Enough for Most/All Schools They’re Looking at or Know They’re Targeting Score-Optional Colleges

Chill until March. Work your grades and activities.

Students Who Don’t Love Math (or Like It Very Much)

Some students need to focus the majority of their ACT/SAT prep time on MATH. If that sounds like you, check out our 4-in-1 Super Value Math Class. Details here. Registration here. Many clients use this instead of AND in addition two a full-blown 6- or 9-Session Prep Class….

Of course, individual circumstances do vary, so feel free to call, text (413-329-7540) or email (dryo@collegeprepexpress.com)  to discuss your particular case. We’re here to help. 🙂

Related posts and videos:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.