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    The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT
    Unavailable
    The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT
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    The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT

    Written by Debbie Stier

    Narrated by Debbie Stier

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The Perfect Score Project is an indispensable guide to acing the SAT - as well as the affecting story of a single mom's quest to light a fire under her teenage son.

    It all began as an attempt by Debbie Stier to help her high-school age son, Ethan, who would shortly be studying for the SAT.  Aware that Ethan was a typical teenager (i.e., completely uninterested in any test) and that a mind-boggling menu of test-prep options existed, she decided - on his behalf -- to sample as many as she could to create the perfect SAT test-prep recipe.

    Debbie's quest turned out to be an exercise in both hilarity and heartbreak as she took the SAT seven times in one year and in-between "went to school" on standardized testing.  Here, she reveals why the SAT has become so important, the cottage industries it has spawned, what really works in preparing for the test and what is a waste of time.

    Both a toolbox of fresh tips and an amusing snapshot of parental love and wisdom colliding with teenage apathy, The Perfect Score Project rivets. In the book Debbie does it all: wrestles with Kaplan and Princeton Review, enrolls in Kumon, navigates khanacademy.org, meets regularly with a premier grammar coach, takes a battery of intelligence tests, and even cadges free lessons from the world's most prestigious (and expensive) test prep company.

    Along the way she answers the questions that plague every test-prep rookie, including: "When do I start?"..."Do the brand-name test prep services really deliver?"..."Which should I go with: a tutor, an SAT class, or self study?"..."Does test location really matter?" …"How do I find the right tutor?"…How do SAT scores affect merit aid?"... and "What's the one thing I need to know?"

    The Perfect Score Project's combination of charm, authority, and unexpected poignancy makes it one of the most compulsively readable guides to SAT test prep ever - and a book that will make you think hard about what really matters.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 25, 2014
    ISBN9780385360609
    Unavailable
    The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT

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    Reviews for The Perfect Score Project

    4/5

    16 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Loved this book, have my son that is in High school reading it now, it will help tremendously!!
    • 4/5
      Debbie Stier? What a mom! Her underachieving son prompts her to figure out a way to light his fire toward being accepted into a top college. The way she comes up with is helping him score big on his upcoming SAT. And how to do that? She decides to jump in and take the test herself. Seven times. Yes, seven times in one year. And, in the process, she tried every single possible SAT-score-enhancing practice method. This book is full of ideas for ways to do better on this all-important test. The Perfect Score Project is a must-read for anyone with an SAT in one's future.
    • 4/5
      If I wasn't already anxious about my child(ren) taking the SAT, this book would have made me nervous. I was already nervous though, which was, of course, why I chose to read the book in the first place. And it was a very worthwhile, interesting, and fascinating read, even if it did amp up my anxiety about the kid taking his first SAT this coming June. Debbie Stier is a single mom with two kids. Knowing that her underachieving son was going to have to get financial aid to go to college and that he was unlikely to get any based on his grades, she determined that his best shot was by scoring really well on the SATs. Unlike other parents who just pay for tutoring and hope for the best though, Stier decided that she was going to figure out the best course of action for him in a far different way. She decided to take the SAT herself, all seven times it was offered in one calendar year, to go through the various tutoring options, and to take the test at a variety of different testing sites to see what resulted in the best scores. As her project mushroomed into the enormous multileveled undertaking it finally became, she not only challenged herself to find the best options for her son, but she also set the goal of getting a perfect score for herself. Stier chronicles her journey through the world of standardized testing and the industry that has sprung up around it to help improve your child's scores and chances of being accepted to the college of his or her choice as well as offering tips she learned through her year, some of the history of the test, and the changes that have been made to it over the years. Having taken the test long ago in high school herself, Stier knew that there were changes and that her experience then was not likely to be even close to her son's experience now. Back in the day, we all took the test without any preparation and while some people took it more than once or twice, mostly our initial test scores stood. Now the world of college admissions, in the guise of standardized testing, is far different. Almost everyone takes test prep classes. They determine ahead of time what they need score-wise to be considered at their school(s) or choice and they study and practice in order to hit that magic number. They learn the tricks and probabilities behind choosing a correct answer even when they don't know how to do the math problem, the concept behind the question, or the vocabulary. In many ways, these tests have become a show of who has the best test preparedness and strategies and Stier wanted to make sure that her son had the best. As Stier progresses through her year of SAT testing, she tries everything and comes to certain conclusions about the usefulness of much of what is on offer out there. And yes, she shares her discoveries throughout the book, but her biggest and most important discovery was how to connect and engage with her kids. She learned how to motivate her son and how to share her enthusiasm about her project without making her kids feel pressured by it. She faces her own failings as a parent and her frustration with her classic underachiever son and in the course of the year, while she chases that elusive perfect score, she finds a way to be just the parent her son needs, even if sometimes she still goes a little overboard and off the rails. Stier's honesty about herself, her over the top solution to helping her son, and the ways in which it works and doesn't work, is refreshing. She knows that she's a bit of a crazy woman for cooking up this plan and she acknowledges the pressure it put on her son but she also has successes and achievements that are nothing to sneeze at when parenting teenagers. The personal was nicely balanced with the more general information. The test taking tips were definitely helpful if I can get my own son to heed them and the background on the test was incredibly interesting for a nerd girl like me. I loved hearing that I can add 50 points to my verbal score from forever ago in order to bring it in line with today's re-normed scoring. This means I can gloat to my kids that I'm even smarter than I thought I was. Maybe I'll hold off on that until after they've finished up with their own testing though. And in the meantime, my anxiety about their future performance on the test will likely not abate although this book has made me a little bit wiser about the test and results than I was before.
    • 3/5
      When I started this book, I couldn't believe how similar the author's situation was to my own. She had a 10th grade son who was a classic underachiever. His grades were brought down by mishaps like a botched test or forgetting to turn in a homework assignment. Her son sounded a lot like my son Michael, who is a high school sophomore and is content with his grades, doesn't go for the extra credit on a test and who instead of turning in his homework will leave it wadded up in his pants pocket, which on good days I find before they go through the wash and on bad days, are all over the dryer.But, by the end of this book, I kept thinking, 'please, let me not be like her.' During her son's sophomore year, Debbie Stier decided to try out several different methods of SAT prep and took the SAT SEVEN times in one year. For that year, the SAT became an obsession for her. The book is filled with many valuable tips about the SAT and the huge variety of test prep courses and resources available. There is definitely many gems that are useful for someone studying for the SAT. But, by the end of the book, her drastic behavior made me uncomfortable. It felt like watching someone self destruct. For me the best take away from this book is her conclusion at the end - SAT prep is preparation for a test, not instruction on the test material. If you don't have a strong academic base, then SAT prep is not going to teach you new concepts. For my son and family, the best take away is that I am going to keep the SAT in perspective and not go crazy.
    • 4/5
      You would expect a book about the SAT to be a bit dry, but I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was to read this book!The author realizes her son will need to do well on his SAT to get into the college he desires, but she is having trouble motivating him. She embarks on this SAT project herself - taking the SAT 7 times in one year - and on the way she explores different methods of SAT prep. Her goal is to determine what prep methods work best, and at the same time he hopes her example will motivate her son to try harder.She is brutally honest about her struggles, her scores, and her less than perfect parenting moments. But in the end, she did motivate her son, and at the same time she provides a great deal of information for other parents and students preparing for the SAT.I would recommend this book for any parents/students preparing for the SAT. Read it well in advance and use this book to choose the method of test prep that is the best fit for you!(I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)