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8th grade SAT/ACT. WWYD?


Penguin
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I am trying to decide if I should have my 8th grader take the SAT in the fall.  I skipped over the opportunity last year (you can read my angst in my old thread if you want).  This year, we will be in the USA during a test date, and I would not have to also add in overnight travel.  I think it would be good practice, and I admit that I am curious to see how he scores. 

 

I don't think of him as gifted, but he did have the Iowa scores to qualify for the talent search.  But the test is going to be overhauled before he would take it again, so I wonder if we should bother.

 

We might be able to catch the ACT in the spring, but overnight travel would be involved.  I think that might be the better test for him, but I am a little worried about the fact that 8th ACT scores are not purged like ACT scores are. Is that silly to fret over? 

 

I have another alternative.  A private school in the USA that will give the ACT Aspire to 8th graders in March, and DS could take that. We are usually there in March anyway.

 

I think that I would like to use something besides the Iowas this year, but I am not sure what to choose.

 

edited to add a few details!

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You are not required to send any scores before 9th grade to college. So even IF the ACT were not turning out well, you are not required to send it to a college - even if they keep it.

 

I see no reason NOT to do the SAT or maybe both if that fits your schedule. If anything, it's good practice. We used DD's 7th grade SAT to bargain fro dual enrollment admission in 10th grade.

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If you are looking to use this in place of state-required achievement testing, make sure you know which ones will qualify. In NC, the ACT is acceptable for state homeschool testing requirements but the SAT is not.

 

In our case, we are not required to do any testing.  But the educational authorities in Denmark can request testing, so I prefer to have something already in hand.  But I still think that your point is a good one for us - our stateside home is in NC and I am uncertain when we will return.  Maybe I will try for the SAT in November and the ACT in the Netherlands in April.

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Ok, I talked to DS about the SAT in November, and I have his buy-in. He made an account with the College Board. Now I am stumped on the school code. We are enrolled in Kolbe Academy - should I use Kolbe's school code? I read that 8th graders should not supply a photo, but don't see anything about a school code. Yet it is a required field. Maybe I should not use Kolbe's code because that is a HIGH SCHOOL code. Ugh. Help, please!

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My daughter did SAT in May as an 8th grader and we didn't have an umbrella school so I am pretty sure I would just have used the generic homeschool one. Scores are removed for students younger than high school, so I agree it is a good way to take the test with no pressure.

 

Mine did much better than we expected and was a nice confidence booster. 

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Ok, the plan is for him to take the November test. Even though he is 13, I am nervous about the environment. All those BIG kids. And I will have to buy him the right kind of calculator as well as teach him how to use it.

 

How helicopter-y can I be on exam day? What is the check-in procedure like? It has been a long time since I had a kid take the SAT, and I think they drove themselves there - not the same thing at all, LOL.

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Ok, the plan is for him to take the November test. Even though he is 13, I am nervous about the environment. All those BIG kids. And I will have to buy him the right kind of calculator as well as teach him how to use it.

 

How helicopter-y can I be on exam day? What is the check-in procedure like? It has been a long time since I had a kid take the SAT, and I think they drove themselves there - not the same thing at all, LOL.

 

Lots of the kids drove to the ACT, but there were still some high school students being walked in by parents, so it wasn't too bad. I would suggest taking every piece of confirmation you have, along with the ID, etc. There was a special table for kids who weren't on the list of test takers and/or who didn't have any proof of registration. They looked pretty stressed. Even if they might have been allowed to test that day (I don't know for sure, a couple had parents bringing what had been forgotten), I would imagine the scores would have been affected by the added stress right before the test.

 

I'm not sure about the SAT, but for the ACT I wasn't allowed to walk past the check-in table. I presumed I could walk her to the test room, but she had to go by herself. There was an unexpectedly quick good-bye and good luck at the check-in table - not the lingering pep talk I had envisioned outside the door to the test room. (My dd probably saw this change of events as merciful.... ;) ).

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Yes you aren't allowed past the check in table, but especially with a younger student it can be good to hang through that step just to make sure their ID is fine and they get checked in.  While there are "big kids" there for many test sites they are used to younger testers. It was always a positive experience in our family. If a "big kid" says anything it'll be something like "you must be super smart" or something like that.

 

Also, you can get a pretty good prediction of how they will score by doing a simple practice test at home. That will give you an idea if it is worth traveling or which test might be a better fit.

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If you have the option, I would choose a university test site rather than a high school test site for a younger homeschooler. I find the situation can be less intimidating because all of the other high schoolers there feel just as out of place.

Great tip. I registered for a high school site, but a cc site was also available and convenient. I think I can change the test center.

 

I was planning to use his passport for ID. You do not upload a photo when you register an 8th grader btw.

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If you test through a talent search like CTY, NUMATS, TIP, etc. then there is a letter provided to be used in lieu of an ID. Be forewarned that the room proctor may not accept the letter. My DD had to go to the head proctor in a completely different building to get it straightened out and missed half of the instructions.

 

After that experience, I got her a state ID (she's 11).

 

As for the youngest age, if you go through a talent search it's normally 6th grade but if your child ceilinged on the EXPLORE earlier, you could probably petition for an exception to that.

 

If you test independently, I have heard that age 10 is the minimum and that if you try to register a child younger than 10, it will get rejected as "invalid birth date". http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/192733/Taking_SAT_before_age_10.html

 

I've never had a child advanced enough in both math and verbal to do the SAT prior to 6th grade for it to be an issue. I'm not even sure DS is ready to do the EXPLORE this year in 3rd, and that's an 8th grade test.

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What constitutes ID for a middle school student?

 

What is the youngest age that a student can take the SAT?

 

Also, what are the advantages of taking the SAT over the PSAT at this age?

 

(Hope this is not too off topic.  I am interested for my boys.  :) )

 

Not off topic at all!  To take the PSAT, I think that homeschoolers have to make an arrangement with a school - just like AP exams. For the SAT, you just sign up and choose a test center. For me, that is an advantage :) That, and multiple test dates to choose from.

 

PSAT Registrations:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/reg/homeschool.html

 

I don't think that the Duke or Hopkins Talent Search will accept a PSAT test from a 7th or 8th grader. It looks like Hopkins will take PSAT scores once the student is in 9th grade.  I am not sure that I understand the reasoning behind that policy.

 

I can easily think of advantages of the PSAT over the SAT - length comes to mind! 2 hours and 10 minutes vs. 3 hours and 45 minutes. And no essay.

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I'm considering it for DD9 because I feel like she's reached the point of diminishing returns on the EXPLORE, where the test and the format are familiar and easy enough that she starts being less focused and careful. At 3rd grade, it was a great test for her. I'm not sure it still is at 5th.

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Not off topic at all!  To take the PSAT, I think that homeschoolers have to make an arrangement with a school - just like AP exams. For the SAT, you just sign up and choose a test center. For me, that is an advantage :) That, and multiple test dates to choose from.

 

PSAT Registrations:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/reg/homeschool.html

 

I don't think that the Duke or Hopkins Talent Search will accept a PSAT test from a 7th or 8th grader. It looks like Hopkins will take PSAT scores once the student is in 9th grade.  I am not sure that I understand the reasoning behind that policy.

 

I can easily think of advantages of the PSAT over the SAT - length comes to mind! 2 hours and 10 minutes vs. 3 hours and 45 minutes. And no essay.

Thank you!

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Yes you aren't allowed past the check in table, but especially with a younger student it can be good to hang through that step just to make sure their ID is fine and they get checked in.  While there are "big kids" there for many test sites they are used to younger testers. It was always a positive experience in our family. If a "big kid" says anything it'll be something like "you must be super smart" or something like that.

 

Also, you can get a pretty good prediction of how they will score by doing a simple practice test at home. That will give you an idea if it is worth traveling or which test might be a better fit.

 

When my kids did an early SAT, there was a room that all of the early testers were in.  There was a handful of "big" kids (the last kids in the alphabet), but it wasn't a situation where the 7th and 8th graders were in a room full of seniors.

 

Also, there were many students who weren't familiar with the high school, because not every school offers tests on every date.  So the waiting area had kids from several local ps schools as well as several private schools.  Thus my kids weren't any more outsiders than many others.

 

As Barbara suggested, I hung around until all of the students had been admitted to their classrooms and the scheduled test time had passed.  I wanted to be in the area in case there was a late question about registration or ID.  But it actually went very smoothly.

 

One thing that threw a lot of students off was the statement that they must copy in cursive and sign.  I guess a lot of students (even high schoolers) didn't know how to write in cursive.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you have a choice of testing locations, I recommend doing what you can to find out whether the climate will be controlled during the exam.  Dd had the unfortunate experience of taking the SAT in an unheated classroom in December!  This public school turns off everything on the weekends, so it was not ideal.  

 

I agree with kiana and others that taking the SAT early demystifies the exam.  

 

For an ID, we used a passport.  

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Ok, the plan is for him to take the November test. Even though he is 13, I am nervous about the environment. All those BIG kids. And I will have to buy him the right kind of calculator as well as teach him how to use it.

 

How helicopter-y can I be on exam day? What is the check-in procedure like? It has been a long time since I had a kid take the SAT, and I think they drove themselves there - not the same thing at all, LOL.

 

A simple scientific calculator for under $10 is all he needs, and it is super easy to learn how to use.

 

the "big kids" were really not an issue when my DD took it at age 12. Check in may vary depending on your school. They need to verify the ID (make sure he has an acceptable form of ID!) and registration, and then send them to the classroom.

Taking them is not an issue - it's picking up with the  uncertainty about finishing time, since they are not allowed to have a phone at the school. Involved a guess and then lots of waiting.

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What constitutes ID for a middle school student?

 

What is the youngest age that a student can take the SAT?

 

Also, what are the advantages of taking the SAT over the PSAT at this age?

 

Non-driver ID from the DMV or passport.

 

Advantage is that the SAT is offered more frequently than the PSAT which is given only once a year, and that scores "count" can can be used for example to negotiate early dual enrollment. The  disadvantage is that the SAT takes longer and costs more.

 

I don't think there is a lower age cutoff, but students younger than13 can not register online, I believe.

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  • 2 months later...

Well, DS took the SAT yesterday and he is none the worse for wear :)

 

Nerves were related not to The Test, but to being the only 8th grader in a sea of Big Kids. If you read through the whole thread, you will see that I chose a community college test location instead of a high school with the hope that the Big Kids would also be slightly out of their element and perhaps less intimidating (#21). That strategy did not pan out. Turns out testing was held in an early college high school classroom, so there was the usual mix of Big Kids on home turf and Big Kids from elsewhere. But he was fine anyway :) I was very proud of him, as this aspect was a challenge.

 

After arriving home, *I* took a nap.

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  I'm not even sure DS is ready to do the EXPLORE this year in 3rd, and that's an 8th grade test.

 

I just re-read this on scrolling back through this old thread and wanted to update. DS did take the EXPLORE last month and while we don't yet have the results, he came out of the test feeling fine about it. He even claimed that the verbal portions were "easy", which surprised me since he is stronger in math than LA.

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I just re-read this on scrolling back through this old thread and wanted to update. DS did take the EXPLORE last month and while we don't yet have the results, he came out of the test feeling fine about it. He even claimed that the verbal portions were "easy", which surprised me since he is stronger in math than LA.

Good luck with the results! Fwiw, my DS results on his gifted testing (SCAT) were the reverse of what I expected :)
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Some advice to others who are thinking about the SATs.  If you can, find out whether your site has climate control (aka HEAT) turned on during the exam.

 

Our site was at a local high school which had the heat turned off in the whole building during the exam.   Maybe the high schoolers were warned in advance, but we were not and it made for a physically uncomfortable experience for dd.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

The scores came out this morning and I am SO happy that I had him do the test.  I think the experience took the fear out of the SAT...for both of us.  When I pulled him out of school (6th grade), he was actually behind in math and really lacking confindence.  

 

Seeing a very respectable math score this morning made my homeschooling day.  :party:

 

 

 

We really did have to work through some nerves to get this done, and the support that I got in this thread was really helpful.  Thank you!

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