Tutoring News Post

Scores on Princeton Review SATs at Francis Parker 100-200 points lower than real PSAT scores.

In the fall of 2007, Francis Parker High School in San Diego administered a practice SAT exam for their juniors. This test was created by the Princeton Review, a large and well-known test prep company.

Around the same time, Parker juniors took the official PSAT, which was administered by the College Board, the company that makes the SAT. Recently, the Parker counselors handed back the results from both tests. The results were laughable: many students' scores on the Princeton Review SAT were 100-200 points lower than those on the PSAT.

In my opinion, there are two main reasons for this score disparity:

1) Princeton Review tests are NOT REAL SATs. The only real SATs are made by the College Board. Princeton Review problems tend to exaggerate certain elements of the test, and some are simply flawed. Test scoring and scaling is notoriously inaccurate.

2) It is in Princeton Review's best interest to administer diagnostic tests that are more difficult than real SATs. That way, students’ scores appear to increase when they take the actual SAT, even if their scores are actually hovering at roughly the same level.

Today, I personally examined the Princeton Review practice SAT that Parker students took last year, and having studied thousands of SAT questions over the years, I can say with certainty that it was more difficult than a real SAT would have been, especially in the Critical Reading section (which, not coincidentally, is the hardest section for which to write realistic questions).

Plus, the test is full of spelling errors and typos. How can you trust a test where the creators didn't even take the time to spell-check the questions?

Thus, I have a suggestion for Francis Parker's college counselors: while it may save you money in the short term, you should never trust an outside company to administer your school's practice SATs! Having juniors take a practice SAT in the fall is a great idea, but this important of a task should never be outsourced to a self-interested corporation such as the Princeton Review. There are over a dozen real SATs available directly from the College Board, so there is no good reason to give your students "imitation" SATs instead.

-Brian

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