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ACT, SCAT, ACT???? Which one should 8th grader take for CTY talent


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search and for prepping him for test taking for both the CTY program and for College entrance testing?

 

Any experiences or thoughts?

DS has done the SAT and the ACT and found the ACT a bit more straightforward. Also the writing is entirely optional - with the SAT it's the first section and you either have to write something or sit through it and take a 0 on that part....

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I thought for 8th CTY has moved to SAT or ACT.

SCAT would be for under 6th.

 

I don't know at it would matter which was taken. I likely will have my son do one in 7th and the other in 8th to have practice with both before high school.

It'll depend on the college which test should be taken.

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DD took the SAT in 7th grade for talent search.

 

I would be concerned about the science section on the ACT for a student who has not had any high school science. It does not test actual science content, but being familiar with the vocabulary and sort of knowing what they are talking about is very helpful, because there is a lot of information that needs to be absorbed very quickly.

 

For college entrance it does not matter which test. I have not heard of any school that does only accept one of the two.

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I would be concerned about the science section on the ACT for a student who has not had any high school science. It does not test actual science content, but being familiar with the vocabulary and sort of knowing what they are talking about is very helpful, because there is a lot of information that needs to be absorbed very quickly.

 

As far as CTY goes, the science section doesn't matter. They only look at the reading and math.

 

http://cty.jhu.edu/talent/testing/about/act.html

 

My ds did a practice ACT and a practice SAT last year (7th grade). He actually liked the ACT better, but we ended up having him take the SAT in case he scored high enough to qualify for SET. He came close, but didn't qualify for SET anyway.

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From the website for CTY it appears that the SAT scores are wiped from the system for 8th graders, but that they remain for the ACT. So, if DS ever sent his ACT scores to a University, would the 8th grade scores appear? That seems a bit problematic....

 

You can request that the SAT scores are kept. We did that for DD's 7th grade scores.

It will not be very useful for university admission, because even a gifted 7th grader will score lower than he could in 10th or 11th grade, but it may be useful for dual enrollment while still in high school.

 

If the university does indeed see the 8th grade ACT score (which I doubt), it won't be a problem because your student will have retaken the test and improved his score. Technically, you are only required to report all scores form grades 9 onwards.

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I've been trying to decide which test I should have dd (7th grade) take. Her older siblings took the SAT at this age, mainly because no local school offered the ACT. Now schools offer the ACT at least once during the year. I doubt she'd be thrilled with sitting through the essay portion of the SAT.

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