1. My son took the SAT....(and got into college).
2. I finished writing a book about our SAT journey. More about that later -- for now, just four little words:  It Takes A Village.
3. And I gave a talk at Bronxville High School (see short clip above).

More to come soon about the whole kit and caboodle.  I can't wait to tell all!

In 2011, I took 7 SATs + 12 months (whew).  Here are a few pages that might be helpful:  SAT Resources,  Tips, and the FAQ page. It's just a little bit of what I learned along the way.

If you'd like to discuss having me speak at your school or to a group, please contact Jamie Brickhouse  646-281-9041.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Video by Devereux Millburn

I'll be speaking in Bronxville, NY (i.e. Westchester) this Thursday, November 29 at 7 pm.

Topic: Top 10 Secrets Parents Need to Know about the SAT

(Have finally managed to whittle down my "Top 100" to "The Top 10.")

7 SATs + 12 months =  2011. Check out the SAT Resources,  Tips, and FAQ pages for frequent updates about what I learned.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Had a great conversation with the eternally optimistic Kristin Hiemstra on her show The Art of Potential the other day.

Told her how I'd do it if I could have a re-do.

Hindsight is 20/20....but if I could re-live that year.....Click the player below to hear to hear what I'd do:

7 SATs + 10 months =  my 2011. Check out the SAT Resources,  Tips, and FAQ pages for frequent updates about what I learned.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Half the time I’m completely winging this motherhood business.” – Anne Lamott

I haven't taken the time to fully explain what this Perfect Score Project is, and what it is not.  But I plan to.  In fact, I'm writing a book that explains the whole kit and caboodle.

I can tell you that it isn't what the New York Post wrote (see annotations in link), and that the Huffington Post got it RIGHT (thanks to a super smart mom, who's been there).

I will say this, for now, and then I have to get back to work:

When I started this project, back in early 2011, I thought, as long as I have to look into this test prep thing for my own kids, and, given that I seem to be the only one left on the planet who finds the joy of the SAT,  I might as well share what I learn along the way, right?  Maybe spare others some wheel-spinning, money-wasting, anxiety-producing overwhelming high-stakes investigation energy?

I had noble intentions, I assure you.

Unless you've lived through this magilla of a process as a parent, in recent times I might add, no judging!

Here's a video that explains a little more (I hope) of what I was thinking, and how it went.

7 SATs + 10 months =  my 2011.  Check out the SAT Resources,  Tips, and FAQ pages for frequent updates about what I learned.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

The audio player button (right below) is the clip of me on the show (rather than whole show):

Was interviewed by former Governor David Paterson yesterday on WOR 710 (for clip of my interview, use audio player just above).

About halfway through the interview, he does a fun little party trick with my birthday date.  I don't know about you, but I'm impressed.

Governor Paterson, when can we start?

7 SATs + 10 months =  my 2011.  Check out the SAT Resources,  Tips, and FAQ pages for frequent updates about what I learned.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Believe me, I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth, and I know very well how this all works (i.e. like that game of "telephone"), and Tara, the writer, was wonderful and smart....

....but, since this is 2012, and I can write my own corrections to her story, I'm going to take this opportunity to make just a few little changes here, in my own edition, where I'm the narrator... (Have we discussed the Rachomon Effect?):

And....a few clarifying links to fill in the color:

• SAT Prep on a Budget (which is what I'm on....and when I go back, this is how I'm going to do it).
• Re-centered SAT Scores.
• Getting an 800 felt Amazing.  I WANT ANOTHER ONE!!!!
• A few posts about the rule breaking proctor, which prompted that "intimidated" comment.

7 SATs + 10 months =  my 2011.  Check out the SAT Resources,  Tips, and FAQ pages for frequent updates about what I learned.

Q. What's the deal with Score Choice and Superscoring?

A.  Thank heavens for reliable sources.*  I can never remember the answer to this question.

Here's hoping it sticks this time.....

1)     Score Choice:

This means that *you* can pick which scores to send. Most schools will let you do this, but a handful (GW, Georgetown, Stanford, and Yale come to mind offhand) will not.

Say you take the SAT three times. Score choice means that you can choose to send one, two, or three of those scores. Say you blew the first test completely, did best on Math on test #2, and did best on CR and W on test #3. You would ignore #1 and send two and three because of......

2)     Superscoring:

This is what *colleges* do to position themselves best in the rankings. So if you submit scores from tests #2 and #3, they'll take the highest M, CR, and W from those two tests and look only at those. They'll see the other scores you got on those tests, but they won't count them. And yes, they really do ignore the other scores, unless there's clearly something very weird going on. It's majorly in their interest to do so.

*Thank you Erica!

And two cents more from another reliable source, Philip Keller, whose talk about prepping for the SAT is worth every minute of your time to watch:

Super Scoring is the practice of claiming credit for a combined score that is based on components scores taken on different days. You can do it on the part of your application where YOU enter your scores, and colleges will confirm your claim by looking at your official score reports, seeing all of them but looking at your best numbers. Still, a real clunker can't be a good thing. So you wouldn't go in and intentionally let one area bomb, counting on Superscoring to bail you out.

And notice that it's hard to make use of score choice AND super scoring unless you happen to have all your best scores clustered in one or two sittings.

7 SATs + 10 months =  my 2011.  Check out the SAT Resources,  Tips, and FAQ pages for frequent updates about what I learned.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

The legendary (and yet strangely elusive) "Xiggi Method," is solid SAT advice from a regular College Confidential contributor.  There are nearly 1000 comments about "the method"  -- to give you some idea of the level of status this advice has achieved.

Personally, I don't agree with everything Xiggi advises (e.g. I'm not sure you have to buy tons of SAT books.  I did that; it didn't work.)  But, I'd say that I agree with about 90% of the "Xiggi Method."

The method also includes a few interesting and unique pieces of advice, such as taking a few practice tests with the answers in front of you so you can study the correct choices.  Hummmm.....interesting; I wish I'd tried that.

Bottom Line: I think the 15 page "Xiggi Method" is well worth taking the time to read.

Doing my best to share everything I learned about the SAT last year (7 SATs in 10 months).  Check back for frequent updates to the SAT Resources and SAT Tips pages.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Tip #17

Sentence Completion (aka the Vocab Questions):

On this one, you really should take my advice, because I only got one wrong out of 7 SATs last year (yes, I'm bragging, but my Math score entitles me to brag about my Reading and Writing scores.)

Ok, here's "The Method": Any time you don't know a word, look it up. Period. End of story. Even if you got the question right.**  Then, use these words often, even at the risk of using them incorrectly (see The Essential Mistake). I'm a big fan of Wordnick (puts them in context); I'm also a believer in homemade flashcards.

When you're taking the SAT, read the sentence, then jot down the first words that come to mind (even if they're not "the big fancy vocab words"). Pick the word you feel most strongly about (if there are two blanks), and see which one (or two) works in the answer choices.

CROSS OUT WRONG ANSWERS -- as in, put a line through them and get them out of your line of vision. You'll most likely be down to two answers by this point. Then, look at the second word you jotted down and see which of the two answers left works. This is as much about the process of elimination as is about knowing the definitions of the words.

Oh, and one more thing: Beware of the backwards words (i.e. those words that make the answer the opposite of what you're thinking -- words such as "however" or "but," etc.).

**Okay, I know you're not going to really do this (I have two teenagers, don't forget). But, even if you do this 75% of the time -- ok, even 60% of the time.....you will do significantly better.

Doing my best share everything I learned about the SAT last year (7 SATs over the course of 10 months). Check on the SAT Resources and SAT Tips pages for frequent updates.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Updating the Resource Page daily. Attempting to share everything I learned, post-7 SATs.  (I feel like I need a tag line: "I made mistakes so you don't have to,"....or "Do as I say, not as I did,"...or something like that.)

1. OFFICIAL College Board Solutions to the Blue Book. Incidentally, I didn't always find these to be the most helpful.
2. Additional Blue Book Solutions: The Khan Academy, PWNtheSAT Blue Book Solutions, The Blue Book Blog.
3. Have an SAT Question?  Thorough, FREE, and prompt responses from a 2400 scoring tutor.
4. Think your SAT was scored incorrectly?  Here are instructions for Score Verification.   NOTE: See Comment from Akil Bello, Bell Curves. i.e. Score Verification = Not Worth It.
5. There are mistakes in the early printings of the 1st & 2nd editions of the College Board Blue Book.  Here is the Errata Sheet with correct answers. The new edition should be mistake free, as it says: "Updated!"
6. Blue Book Database by Question Type (all 3 sections): PowerScore SAT Prep has a ton of great resources on their website....for free, including this database of all 3 sections of the Blue Book, categorized by question type.
7. Prepping on a Budget: Here is a surefire SAT Prep plan for under $250. You must be methodical with this recipe.  Veer at your own risk.
8. Calculator Advice: I spent a month trying to learn the Ti-89 (it does algebra, if you can figure it out, which I couldn't).  Ultimately, I used the Ti-84 and became very comfortable with all the buttons I needed (e.g. Graphing, Math/Frac, etc.).  That said, an expensive calculator is not necessary and the SAT is "calculator optional."  Read this blog post from Bell Curves that says everything you need to know about calculators and the SAT.

If you found these SAT resources helpful, check back in on the Resource Page every once in a while.  I'm attempting to update it daily as I go through my SAT notes over the course of last year.

Also, Two Highly Recommended, FREE SAT Test Prep Opportunities:

1)  SAT Info Video Chat:

Philip Keller, veteran SAT tutor, and author of The New Math SAT Game Plan, will be discussing  "Going it Alone: Math SAT Prep Without a Tutor or Course" on February 9, 2012 at 3 pm via video chat.

I discovered Keller from "the smart people" (on such matters as math and education).  Added bonus: by registering, you become eligible for $1000 scholarship.

2) Awesome SAT Math Book:

To win a free copy of the PWN the SAT Math Guide, follow this link for details.

Incidentally, this book is very highly regarded by 16 year old son, who fortunately, is MUCH better at SAT Math than his mother turned out to be.  One of my favorite aspects of this project was having my son explain the math to me.

Attempting to share everything I learned about the SAT last year (7 SATs in 10 months). Check out the SAT Resources and SAT Tips pages for frequent updates.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis