Can we talk about taking the SAT in 7th grade?

[The Governess]

I have an accelerated 6th grade dd.  I'm trying to decide if I should have her try the SAT next spring as a 7th grader.  She has already participated in the CTY talent search, as a 3rd grader, but you have to retest as a 7th grader to continue to be eligible.  I don't know if I will use any of their programming or not in the future; in the past she has taken some of their language courses (which were great), and it might be good to keep her options open with them or other providers.

 

Benefits I am seeing are:

1) She can start practicing taking the test

2) She may qualify for talent search-type programs

3) Good scores may help if I want her to dual enroll at a local university in the future

4) Good scores and talent search status may look good to prospective colleges

 

Am I thinking about this correctly?  And will she be in a good place to take the exam? Here's what she will have completed by the end of 7th that might help :

 

1) Latin 1

2) WWS II

3) An online lit class that covers intro lit analysis and various types of essay writing

4) Rod and Staff Grammar Level 8

5) Math:  She's finishing Foerster Algebra 1 right now.  Next fall/winter she will work through the whole AoPS Intro to Algebra book (she's doing really well with Foerster but I want her to review previous topics with AoPS before moving into new material) and in the spring she will work through Intro to Counting and Probability. 

 

Will this put her in an okay place for the math section?  She will not have had geometry yet; however, she did Singapore math and AoPS pre-algebra, and through those she has covered a lot of basic geometry.  No trigonometry.

 

If I sign her up to take the test, I was thinking of enrolling her in a SAT prep class for spring semester, and maybe get her an extra workbook or something to review the geometry concepts she will need, since it will have been a couple years at that point since she has studied geometry. 

 

Does this sound feasible?  If so, do you know of any good online prep classes that would allow a 7th grader to enroll?  I saw that WTM has a class that looks pretty good, but don't know what other options are out there. 

 

Thanks. :)

[regentrude]

DD took the SAT in 7th grade. She had completed algebra, but not taken geometry.

We used her (very good) score for early dual enrollment, but she retook it for actual college admissions.

 

I would not waste time on a prep class. A quick test prep with a prep book to familiarize herself with the test should suffice. You want a baseline - she will retake the test later, even if she does well now. A student who does well as a 7th grader can do really well in 10th or 11th grade. The colleges won't care about her 7th grade score.

 

Edited April 18, 2016 by regentrude

[KarenNC]

My daughter took both the ACT and SAT in 7th grade --the ACT through talent search and because it satisfies our state homeschool testing requirements, the SAT later because I found out about the SET program which requires a 700 or better in one of the subtests before the student turns 13 http://cty.jhu.edu/set/. She had only finished pre-algebra at that point, so I wasn't expecting a stellar math score and she was well aware that there would be plenty of math on the test she did not know how to do. As Regentrude said, it won't be the last time she takes it. In fact, her scores will be removed at the end of the year unless you specifically request otherwise https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/special-circumstances/younger-students

 

Unless your daughter has severe test anxiety, I can't see a downside to taking the SAT. She can do free test prep through Khan Academy to get an idea of how things go if she wants a feel for how the math will work on the new test. https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat. 

[Dmmetler]

My DD took the SAT this fall at just under age 11, and will take the ACT in June as our annual test. She wants to apply to a school that has a required minimum score to be considered for entering 7th grade (by age, so she has one more year-by their standards, she was a 5th grader this year). She had gridding issues on the math (skipped questions she didn't know how to do, and gridded incorrectly from that point on-on two separate math sections). A nice bonus is that she is now qualified for CTY/TIPS classes for longer (for verbal, until she finishes high school :)-she rocked the critical reading and writing sections). We really didn't prep for the SAT-DD wants to take an ACT boot camp class with a teen friend of hers (and "go to high school" for a week), so she's going to try that the first week of June.

 

I don't see a downside to taking it early. I do suggest taking it on a date that has the question/answer service available. Even just getting the answers that DD gave and the correct answers (the expanded score report) showed that her math errors were less understanding and more difficulty with the format. I'm hoping the question/answer service is more useful in figuring out what she should work on next.

[chiguirre]

Trinqueta did the SAT this year. I signed her up independently for the test and then submitted her scores to Duke TIP because she'd like to go to their camp at Rice next summer. We only prepped a bit for math and I told her to just do her best on the CR and W because those aren't her strengths. I was worried that she'd freak out so I wanted to make it as low stress as possible. She'd only taken the Stanford one time and she took much longer than all the other students so she thought she was bad at testing (I think a lot of kids just randomly filled in bubbles because her scores were very good). In any case, she did well on the SAT. It gave her a big boost of confidence to see how her scores stacked up against typical high school juniors and the Duke TIP testers.

 

She'd done a mish mash of prealgebra and light algebra 1 last year and was on chapter 5 of AOPS when she took the test. The geometry from SM was enough for quite a few of the problems. She picked up the skill of seeing the quick way to solve problems after a couple of practice tests.

[The Governess]

Thanks so much for posting, all. I think I will have her go for it. It's great to know that the lack of geometry won't be a huge issue. Hopefully this will end up being a positive experience for her.

 

The reason I was looking into a prep class is because she does a lot better staying on task with an outside class. She is much more motivated when she is sharing her work with more than just me.

 

Looks like I have some research to do now. ;)

[regentrude]

The reason I was looking into a prep class is because she does a lot better staying on task with an outside class. She is much more motivated when she is sharing her work with more than just me.

 

The reason I am against a prep class is that it elevates the importance of the test and creates expectation and pressure, which at this age is completely unnecessary, and also takes time away from more worthy pursuits.

Devoting hour and hours to specific test prep, which to a large degree consist of drilling and strategizing for the specific test format, is a good investment for a college bound student who needs a high score for admission to a selective school or for a scholarship. I do not consider it time well spent for a 7th grader.

 

Edited April 19, 2016 by regentrude

[Lilaclady]

I agree with Regentrude. You don't want her stressing about the test.

For my dd, we got test prep books from the library and she worked through them a few weeks before to get a feel for the type of tests and how to pace herself. She did great and has just been invited to the grand ceremony in May.

[TerriM]

Probably the three things she needs to know/see is

 

1.  When/whether to guess

2.  To get sleep and eat a good meal before the test

3.  A practice exam to get an idea of the questions

 

You could probably go over that with her yourself rather than taking a prep course.

 

[The Governess]

The reason I am against a prep class is that it elevates the importance of the test and creates expectation and pressure, which at this age is completely unnecessary, and also takes time away from more worthy pursuits.

Devoting hour and hours to specific test prep, which to a large degree consist of drilling and strategizing for the specific test format, is a good investment for a college bound student who needs a high score for admission to a selective school or for a scholarship. I do not consider it time well spent for a 7th grader.

 

Thanks for this perspective. I'm going to have to think about this. This dd loves taking tests and is a good test taker. I think she'll be excited about trying the test, and I think a prep class would be engaging for her, which is my main reason for considering one. I'd be surprised if she felt stressed or pressured about it. But you're right that a class could eat up a lot of time. I need to look at some options for preparing and see what makes sense at this point.

[The Governess]

I agree with Regentrude. You don't want her stressing about the test.

For my dd, we got test prep books from the library and she worked through them a few weeks before to get a feel for the type of tests and how to pace herself. She did great and has just been invited to the grand ceremony in May.

Thanks, and congrats to your dd! :)

[Lilaclady]

You may also need to prep for the time. Although my dd is great with testing, it was the first time she had taken a 3.5 hr test at a stretch and she was very tired at the end.

[mathwonk]

i thought better of this post.  please forgive me.  the idea was not to stress out about tests, since their goal is to place kids appropriately.  so it is potentially a useful result to score in the middle, since that helps us choose where to send them.

Edited April 21, 2016 by mathwonk

[JoanHomeEd]

I have an accelerated 6th grade dd.  I'm trying to decide if I should have her try the SAT next spring as a 7th grader.  She has already participated in the CTY talent search, as a 3rd grader, but you have to retest as a 7th grader to continue to be eligible.  I don't know if I will use any of their programming or not in the future; in the past she has taken some of their language courses (which were great), and it might be good to keep her options open with them or other providers.

 

Benefits I am seeing are:

1) She can start practicing taking the test

2) She may qualify for talent search-type programs

3) Good scores may help if I want her to dual enroll at a local university in the future

4) Good scores and talent search status may look good to prospective colleges

About benefit #4:

Maybe... the scholarships earned from talent searches in 7th and 8th were only briefly mentioned in our School Profile for college applications. They were not listed as part of the achievements & awards (a & a)  DC had. I read somewhere long ago that colleges are only interested in a & a earned in high school.

 

Edited April 24, 2016 by JoanHomeEd

[daijobu]

I took the SAT in 7th grade and so did DH, so we had both our kids do the same.  (Family tradition, and we all love to take tests.)

 

For me, the big benefit was demystifying the exam.  People didn't really worry about the SATs back in the dark ages when I took it, but it was still nice to be able to take the SAT in high school having already had it in junior high.  "BTDT," I would have thought to myself had "BTDT" been an expression back then.

 

Again, I really *love* to take tests.

 

My dh would probably say he appreciated qualifying for Duke TIP and he took advantage of their camps.  I did their camp, but thought it was meh.  

 

 

[JoanHomeEd]

I took the SAT in 7th grade and so did DH, so we had both our kids do the same.  (Family tradition, and we all love to take tests.)

....

 

My dh would probably say he appreciated qualifying for Duke TIP and he took advantage of their camps.  

I have a theory: Those who like to take tests, also like to do competitions/contests, because they are basically the same.

 

Any truth in that theory?

 

Just a side note to also encourage people to consider the ACT -- we used the ACT Reading score (36) in 7th to earn Duke TIP's Bevan Scholarship.

[daijobu]

I have a theory: Those who like to take tests, also like to do competitions/contests, because they are basically the same.

 

Any truth in that theory?

 

 

 

Agreed.  

 

I'm also grateful we live in a country where one can demonstrate their academic chops to college admissions in other ways that high test scores: like achievement in science research or robotics competitions, writing poetry or composing music, performance art, etc.  Many other countries do not consider the whole student.

 

I enjoy taking tests and do well on them, but I don't think that necessarily makes me a better candidate for college than those who have achieved in other ways.  

[JoanHomeEd]

I'm also grateful we live in a country where one can demonstrate their academic chops to college admissions in other ways that high test scores: like achievement in science research or robotics competitions, writing poetry or composing music, performance art, etc.  Many other countries do not consider the whole student.

 

I enjoy taking tests and do well on them, but I don't think that necessarily makes me a better candidate for college than those who have achieved in other ways.  

Absolutely... one just need to go to College Confidential to see the numerous students who got rejections from certain colleges despite perfect 2400 scores. Of course, not all colleges are holistic when looking at the candidates, but certain colleges will look at those things you mentioned and also the ESSAYS. IMO, if the student is tired of pouring his/her soul into that essay, it can be pretty "fatal".

 

Oh, and there is also the whole issue of diversity - geographic, gender, talent, economic, race, etc... 

Edited April 21, 2016 by JoanHomeEd

[The Governess]

My DD took the SAT this fall at just under age 11, and will take the ACT in June as our annual test. She wants to apply to a school that has a required minimum score to be considered for entering 7th grade (by age, so she has one more year-by their standards, she was a 5th grader this year). She had gridding issues on the math (skipped questions she didn't know how to do, and gridded incorrectly from that point on-on two separate math sections). A nice bonus is that she is now qualified for CTY/TIPS classes for longer (for verbal, until she finishes high school :)-she rocked the critical reading and writing sections). We really didn't prep for the SAT-DD wants to take an ACT boot camp class with a teen friend of hers (and "go to high school" for a week), so she's going to try that the first week of June.

 

I don't see a downside to taking it early. I do suggest taking it on a date that has the question/answer service available. Even just getting the answers that DD gave and the correct answers (the expanded score report) showed that her math errors were less understanding and more difficulty with the format. I'm hoping the question/answer service is more useful in figuring out what she should work on next.

 

I know this is an old post, but do you (or anyone checking in on this thread) know if we can skip the essay portion of the new SAT if we go through CTY?  I think I am going to have to call them before registering, because it's hard to tell on the website what information applies to the old SAT vs. the new test. 

 

I decided against a test prep class and instead she is going to use Khan Academy starting in January, and try a practice test.  :)

[Arcadia]

I know this is an old post, but do you (or anyone checking in on this thread) know if we can skip the essay portion of the new SAT if we go through CTY? I think I am going to have to call them before registering, because it's hard to tell on the website what information applies to the old SAT vs. the new test.

You can skip the essay on the new SAT. My DS11 did that for the June 2016 SAT and CTY has no problem taking the scores for talent search and SET.

I just mailed in the generic SAT mail in registration form and put in CTY JHU's code for score reporting. I just reached home from the airport. I can give you both CTY JHU and CTD NUMATS scores reporting code later today.

We just attended CTY's award ceremony a few days ago at their homewood campus.

 

ETA:

1500 CTD NUMATS

5334 CTY JHU

Edited October 21, 2016 by Arcadia