Talent search testing jr. high - SAT vs. ACT

[catz]

Does anyone have any thoughts about which one of these tests are better for young kids to try.? My oldest just got done with 3 years of the EXPLORE, and he'll definitely be ready to move on to the ACT or SAT next year. I'm asking now, because I like having a few prep materials laying around the house for when we have time. Up until now, we've had EXPLORE stuff laying around, but he is complaining it's way too easy/boring anyway and he just took his last EXPLORE this past weekend. He'll be a 7th grader when he takes it.

 

Thanks!

[snowbeltmom]

If your child is strong in math, I would recommend taking the SAT in case his scores are high enough to qualify for Johns Hopkins SET. Qualification for SET are based only on SAT math scores (700 or above before age 13), not ACT scores.

[catz]

That's good to know. This is a kid generally stronger in math than English (at least in standardized testing, he's a little sloppy with reading carefully sometimes!). He will be finished w/AoPS intro to Algebra (which covers many alg 2 topics), and well into geometry by then.

[Dana]

If your child is strong in math, I would recommend taking the SAT in case his scores are high enough to qualify for Johns Hopkins SET. Qualification for SET are based only on SAT math scores (700 or above before age 13), not ACT scores.

 

 

Link here. Qualification is 700 on Math or Reading portion of SAT before age 13.

[JeanM]

I'd agree. That's the reason why my ds took the SAT last year. Just FYI, the score requirement for SET goes up if you are older than 13.

 

If SET isn't an issue, you could give your dc a practice test for each and see if he has a preference.

 

If your child is strong in math, I would recommend taking the SAT in case his scores are high enough to qualify for Johns Hopkins SET. Qualification for SET are based only on SAT math scores (700 or above before age 13), not ACT scores.

[catz]

He will be 13 next fall, so I could in theory do it at least close to his birthday if we wanted to. It's probably not a slam dunk that he would qualify. He has flaked out on portions of standardized tests, tends to do best on the first couple sections and then loses interest, etc. He always tests very well for age and most parents would probably think I'm nutty for thinking this, but I've seen scores that don't always reflect what I'd expect or are inconsistent from year to year or test to test. He has tested above 12th grade level orally in math.

 

Anyway, I'd never even heard of SET, so that is great info. Kind of been coasting along here for a couple years. Thanks so much! :D

[Dmmetler]

The EXPLORE and the ACT are pretty similar except that the ACT goes into greater depth and is wider in scope (and each section is longer)-in fact, I had my DD do ACT practice materials for the EXPLORE because it was so much easier to find them, and the strategies are the same (I'm hoping that's why she said the EXPLORE was easy, as opposed to her flaking out on the test-I guess I'll find out when results come back). The SAT will be a bigger change, and might be more of a challenge for him. And, realistically, in a few years when he's applying for colleges, he'll want to take both, so it doesn't hurt to try them out!

[Crimson Wife]

I would do the SAT in 7th and the ACT in 8th.

[catz]

I really wish I would have had him work with ACT testing stuff before this EXPLORE. Most of the EXPLORE test prep stuff is pretty easy. I never thought of that. Good idea.

[quark]

Is there a huge benefit to joining SET? Several people in various gifted e-lists I belong to have mentioned that the most they've got out of it is a newsletter or something like that? ETA: I've heard that SET will write a letter of recommendation to colleges so I can see one other benefit but how else does it help to belong to SET?

 

The boy might try the ACT first because writing is not mandatory. He also likes that he will be tested on science topics in the ACT.

[Tattarrattat]

Is there a huge benefit to joining SET? Several people in various gifted e-lists I belong to have mentioned that the most they've got out of it is a newsletter or something like that? ETA: I've heard that SET will write a letter of recommendation to colleges so I can see one other benefit but how else does it help to belong to SET?

 

The boy might try the ACT first because writing is not mandatory. He also likes that he will be tested on science topics in the ACT.

 

 

Maybe there's no huge benefit to joining SET, other than Imagine magazine, cogito.com membership and maybe grand ceremony(all of which are nice but may or may not be very beneficial). My thinking is, if the kid is to try out talent search anyway, and doesn't mind either format (SAT is longer and has essay section, but he could choose to sit through it without writing something. ACT has science section, but it's probably more like scientific reading), I would probably go with SAT, with the add-on benefit of SET. Or maybe eventually take both if he's up to taking standard tests. Of course, if he prefers ACT format, then maybe go with what he likes first.

[Dmmetler]

I thought that the writing didn't count on the SAT either. It seems like most of the things I've seen look only at the Math/Verbal, not at the writing. FWIW, ACT has a writing section as well-but I think if you go through a specific talent search administration it's omitted (which, as I understand it, is about the only reason to pay to test through Talent search instead of simply registering to take it at a local high school unless your child is likely to be overwhelmed by testing with kids who were able to drive themselves there.

 

The ACT science is very definitely scientific reading and interpretation of graphs/charts. FWIW, on practice sections, my DD scored higher on science than on any other section-her reason being "The science is interesting. The stuff in reading is BORING". I suspect it's because the Science was very similar to the National Geographic and Scientific American articles she enjoys, while the reading involved a lot of sections of novels that weren't terribly interesting to her (she did better on the non-fiction reading on the reading section, I suspect for similar reasons-the Nonfiction tends to be history or social sciences).

 

My DD's description of the EXPLORE-and the ACT practice is that it's "language arts, language arts, Language arts, and FINALLY you get to do some math!!"

 

 

I figure when DD is middle school aged (or when she gets bored with the EXPLORE and wants something else), we'll start alternating the SAT and ACT. By that point, it's likely we'll want to outsource a few classes to a local college or university anyway, and those tests open doors.

[ccolopy]

I would do the SAT in 7th and the ACT in 8th.

This is what we'll be doing. DS has scored slightly better on practice ACTs than SATs, but he wants to give SET a try.