Sat question again...

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Please tell this non-American that I am some details about the SAT.

 

Can a student take the SAT as many times as he wants? Are colleges notified each time? Does it look bad to take it many times?

 

In what grade is the SAT usually taken?

 

The Homeschool Buyers Coop has a special on SAT preparation, hence my questions...

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

I found this info on the College Board website

 

The SAT and other College Board tests are offered several times a year. Most students take the SAT for the first time during the spring of their junior year and a second time during the fall of their senior year

 

But it doesn't help me much because I don't know what grades are being referred by junior year and senior year... We go by a totally different system, and I"m finding it hard to match the info I find to what I have surrounding me...

[distancia]

Hi. Here in the US the senior year is the last year of high school education (traditionally students are age 17 through 18 1/2). Junior year the students are in the almost-final year of school and they are roughly between the ages of 16 and 17 1/2. Because we utilize birth dates for school admission, and have a tendency to delay enrolling a student on the younger end of the scale, you can find a huge disparity in ages of students within the same grade.

 

In the USA the SAT's are usually taken at the end of the junior year (grade 11), some time in April or May.

 

If the scores were exactly what the student was hoping for (high enough to meet the requirements of the chosen colleges) then there is no need to take them again. The student may want to take SAT II subject tests the fall of the senior year, if required by the colleges. If no SAT II subject tests are required, then nothing more needs to be done.

 

If the initial scores taken in the Junior year were disappointing or the student thinks he/she can do better, then the SAT test is taken again in the senior year (12th grade). Generally it is taken in October or November, but sometimes as late as December, if the application deadline is later than December. This allows the student to show any advances made (usually they are in the math area).

 

My niece took the SAT 4 times in her junior year (ages 17 through 17 1/2) and 2 times in her senior year (ages 17 1/2 through just-turned 18). She suffers test anxiety and kept trying to increase her score, but her scores remained the same during her final 3 tests. The College Board says that usually test scores don't reach much higher after the third exam attempt unless the student had extenuating circumstances on the prior exams and/or he had extensive remedial preparation.

 

My daughter took the SAT in the early fall of her junior year (age 16 1/2) with the intention of retaking in the late spring of her junior year (age 17). However, she became gravely ill and was unable to do so. She is now a senior and she is going to re-take the SAT in December (a month before her 18th birthday ) with the hope of improving her math score since it will have been a full years' worth of additional math knowledge accumulated. [Her English scores were extremely high and there isn't much room for improvement in that area].

 

Her friend took the the SAT twice, once at age 17 1/2 (her junior year, or almost last year of high school) and again a year later, at age 18 1/2, in the fall of her final year of high school. Her friend is one of those students who was retained two years in "pre-kindergarten" so she began her formal schooling at age 7. She graduated in May 2010, a few weeks before her 19th birthday.

Edited September 21, 2010 by distancia

[Storm Bay]

Cleo--good to see you here (I was just thinking that I hadn't noticed your name for some time, although I'm not on as regularly as I used to be). There are study guides for the SAT.

 

If you can, it may help to take the PSAT first, which is usually in the junior year (grade 11) although it can be taken younger. However, unlke the SAT, you can't register for that yourself & have to find a school that will allow you to do that.

 

Hope your dc are doing well.

[Musicmom]

Yes, a student can take the SAT as many times as he wants. Colleges are only notified if/when you ask that they be notified... you can either specify at testing time that you want the scores from this test automatically sent to college x, college y, etc. or you can wait until later and request a score report be sent to the colleges of your choice (we waited.)

 

I don't really know how colleges view taking the test many times, but my personal opinion is that taking it once or twice and scoring well or showing improvement looks best. But taking it 5 times... I don't think that looks so good, esp if the scores don't improve that much. Colleges generally will see all the scores from 9th-12th grade. Even though there's now "score choice" where you're supposed to be able to choose the scores you want sent (similar to ACT), I've found the majority of colleges, esp selective ones, still want all scores sent to them. Instead of taking the SAT many times, I think it's better to do lots of practice tests at home. Then when the practice scores are consistently where you want them to be, go take the test for real.

 

I think most students take the SAT in 11th grade (this is "junior" year), but the college board's advice seems "late" to me... I personally think it's best to get all your SAT testing done and in the bag by the end of 11th grade if possible so the student has all their scores ready to go for college applications in the fall of 12th grade (which is "senior" year). It makes for less stress during that busy 12th grade fall. My ds took the SAT in December of 11th grade. I figured that way, if something happened and he didn't score too well, we'd have time to prep some more and take the test again in the spring. As it turned out, he did great on the first one, so he didn't retake.

 

10th grade would also be fine for taking the SAT, if the student seems ready for it and can score well. In our case, my ds did the ACT in 10th, and I didn't want to burden him with the SAT at the same time, plus I felt he'd do better on the SAT if we waited till 11th. So that's why we did it that way. I'm following the same plan with dd.

 

Hope this helps! :001_smile:

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

THank you everyone, this does give me a clearer picture. I can now set the SAT aside for a few years. :)

 

and yes Karin, nice to 'see' you again :)