Deniseibase Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 OK, we were going to take the Explore again for sixth grade, but our testing agency offers the option of SAT for sixth graders. She topped out on the math portion of the Explore last year, so I'm leaning towards having her take the SAT so we can get a true sense of where she is with that. Can anyone offer any advice on this? I'm a little worried that taking a test THAT far out of level may make her feel dumb if she doesn't do well. I'm also a little worried because it LOOKS like she'd be taking the test at the same time & place as regular high school students. Has anyone else done this? Do the testing centers maintain some sort of separation between the really young kids and the high school seniors? TIA for any advice or help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 OK, we were going to take the Explore again for sixth grade, but our testing agency offers the option of SAT for sixth graders. She topped out on the math portion of the Explore last year, so I'm leaning towards having her take the SAT so we can get a true sense of where she is with that. Can anyone offer any advice on this? I'm a little worried that taking a test THAT far out of level may make her feel dumb if she doesn't do well. I'm also a little worried because it LOOKS like she'd be taking the test at the same time & place as regular high school students. Has anyone else done this? Do the testing centers maintain some sort of separation between the really young kids and the high school seniors? TIA for any advice or help! My dc begin taking the SAT in 6th grade in lieu of other yearly standardized testing. The policy may vary by testing center, but the middle school kids taking the SAT at our testing center are placed in a room separate from the high school students. Many register their middle school children through one of the Talent Searches. I did this for my oldest, but then I realized that I could simply sign my child up myself and save roughly $35 in testing fees. If your child is 13 years old, you can create an account on the CB website and register him online. If your child is younger than 13, you need to register via snail mail. The scores of middle school students taking the SAT are deleted at the end of each year; if you would like to retain the scores, you need to write a request to the College Board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I started taking the ACT in 7th grade....a long time ago :) I was in the same room as high schoolers. There were no problems, and of anyone felt "stupid," it was the high schoolers around me who were very friendly and talked to be before the test. They were all Jrs taking it for the first time. They were impressed by a little seventh grader taking the test. I actually scored high enough for admittance to most stayed schools. Talk about how hard the test could be and how their will be math problems that she does not know how to do. But don't be surprised if she scores well. If you do a couple of practice test, she may do even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 My DD took the SAT in 7th grade. They were not separate form the high schoolers, but there were a bunch of 7th graders taking the test. I don't see why this should be a problem. If anything, the high schoolers are more intimidated by the youngsters taking the test. The time obviously has to be the same, since the SAT is administered on a schedule set by the college board. If you want to avoid huge frustration, you might want to look over the math that is covered and make sure your student has covered most topics. The main issue is endurance - the test is just very very long. DD scored high enough that she would have been given a scholarship by our local university if she had been a college student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deniseibase Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 Thanks for the tips, everyone! Sounds like the bigger kids in the room isn't usually a problem, glad to hear it. We're gonna get a test prep book & go through it, although I'm more worried that she'll completely bomb the English and give herself a complex!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 We've also found the older kids to be very pleasant. When my son took an exam at a fairly young age, many of the older students were quite protective of him (he said at least ten girls checked to make sure he had a snack and knew where the washrooms were). The others just wanted to know what study guide he'd used. Good luck to your daughter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I'm in the exact same situation as the OP... my son topped out on math and English last year. We have the option of the SAT or the ACT through our testing center but I am not sure which? Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higginszoo Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 If you're looking for useful info, then yes it seems like it's time to bump the level of testing up. It can be intimidating that first time in the room with all of the high schoolers, but it may well still give you a better idea than a test that she's ceilinged out on. And we did it (ACT in 7th) partially BECAUSE it was an environment with older kids, huge school, etc., since this is likely a situation that he'll continue to face, whether it's community college at 14 or 15 or a 4 year university at 16 or 17. A few hours at 11 or 12 can start setting the stage and desensitizing them to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parker Martin Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 A different experience: I took it in seventh grade in a room full of high schoolers. It weirded me out, and I found it extremely distracting. People were whispering all around when I walked in the room. I'm sure there are other students who wouldn't find it distracting, but I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnella Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 My older DS took it in 6th grade without any problems. He did it through the Duke TIPS program. He didn't do particularly well on the math portion because he hadn't yet studied most of what was on the test. Fortunately he's a mature kid and understood that the score wasn't a personal failing. If that's a possibility for your child, it's important to know how he'll react before you decide about taking the test. He was fine with the older kids, but he's very outgoing and tends to relate better with people at least a few years older than he is. (That situation would have probably been very stressful for me.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chai Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) My daughter took Explore and the ACT in 6th grade. She took the Explore even though she had topped it out, because it gave her a positive experience. She took the ACT so that we could get a better picture of where she is at. Interestingly, my daughter thought that the math in the ACT was less stressful than Explore. With Explore, she was "expected" to know it all, but with the ACT she could skip problems that she didn't understand. Our prep for the ACT consisted of looking at the practice problems and showing her which ones to skip without even trying (i.e. any thing with trig. functions.) ETA: Actually, there is no penalty for guessing in the ACT, so she didn't skip problems, but made a random guess. Edited October 6, 2011 by chai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Why are you taking the test? I ask because my state does not accept the SAT for end of year testing (at any grade,) so if that is your reason for testing, you might want to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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