My daughter is in 7th grade. Her brother is in 10th. We’ve gotten notices inviting Ivygirl to take the SAT. Funny though, nothing for her brother, although he has been told he will be taking the pre-SAT later this year.
I don’t remember taking the SAT until high school. I vaguely remember taking the pre-SAT, but I don’t think it counted.
I’m leaning toward not having her take the SAT until she’s in high school. For one thing, she’s not far enough along in her education to do well, (IMO) and for another, I don’t want her score diluted. Don’t they average out the scores after you take it more than three times?
Anyone else had middle school-age children take SATs? What are the pros and cons? As I remember it, although I did fairly well, it’s not a test for 7th graders. Hell, there were whole sections on statistics that I had to guess at because statistics were not covered in any of the math classes I took.
I think 11th or 12th grade is soon enough for the SAT. Why would you take it sooner?
I have no idea why she should take it now unless she plans on going to college very soon and you didn’t say that. I also don’t know why they, whoever that is, would invite her to take it. It sounds like a terrible, horrible idea to me. If she justs wants to see what it is like, that is what the PSAT is for.
Ivylad says it will be a good experience for her to take it now. I say there’s plenty of time for her to take it, once she’s got the higher history and science and math and English classes under her belt.
*ivylass - As I recall with one of my nieces, she took the SAT early, which prompted an invitation to take some early summer programs for accelerated students at a college. Eventually she was invited to a college early (like as a Freshman or Sophomore in HS) although her parents said she wasn’t ready for that at that age. I believe the invitation to take the test early was prompted by a college - I’m thinking Duke University, but I could be wrong. It certainly didn’t hurt my niece or her academic future.
The kid takes the SAT, there’s 3 levels of “awards”, if he/she makes the right scores, they can take summer classes at Duke. I happen to know one such person quite well. Placed into the 2nd highest group. Got a free copy of a Science book.
Such a score doesn’t negatively affect future college applications, in fact, it can be a plus. I.e., “This kid got the same score as our typical frosh, and in 7th grade too.”
Yeah… I took it in 7th grade as part of a talent search program. I did well, and got a bunch of letters from the Duke something or other (Talent Identification program?)… but nothing ever came of it.
I’ve never heard of this…everything I’ve seen has indicated that only your highest score counts toward college applications, scholarships, et cetera.
However, for the ACT (most people take it instead of the SAT where I’m from), some colleges/scholarship programs actually take the highest scores from each section and add them together for a cumulative score. For example, if you take it twice and get:
30 English, 28 Reading, 26 Math and 30 Science (composite 29, rounded) the first time, and
28 English, 30 Reading, 25 Math and 34 Science (composite 29, rounded), a college may only take your highest scores in each section (30E, 30R, 26M, 34S, for a composite of 30). For all I know it may be the same with the SAT.
I took the SAT in 7th grade after an invitation from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. (And got a 1060, too!) Because of that, I was eligible to take some summer courses (with other people my age) while I was in highschool. (Though I didn’t.) I was also eligible to go to a couple of day-long seminars on Humanities or Science & Technology or such, which I did go to, and were quite interesting.
I don’t think I was hurt in any way by taking it early – and I do think I was helped by the exposure – but this, I’m sure, depends on the child in question. I would definitely look at the JHU CTY site for more info.
Notes on the SAT: I don’t remember ANY statistics on the SAT; I took it last in 1997-1998. I’m pretty sure only your highest score counts.
I took the SAT in my junior and senior years of high school (last year and the year before), and remember absolutely no statistics.
As for scores, IIRC, you can take the SAT as many times as you like and your scores will always work this way: the best Math score and the best Verbal score are added up. I do remember for certain that it’s never averaged and you’re never cut off - the College Board will always take your money.
My scary smart son went to the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) summer program for three summers. It was a wonderful program for him. He took college level courses in history, philosophy, and math while he was still in high school. For him, the best thing was to be around other scary smart teenagers, and to learn it was OK to be really smart.
My daughter is smart, but not scary smart. She went to CTY one summer, and wasn’t interested in returning.
My other son was invited to take the SAT as part of the CTY talent search. His perspective: ‘You’ve got to be kidding - I’m going skateboarding.’
If a program like CTY would be good for your child, then there is a good reason to take the SATs early.
I’d suggest taking it. Like it or not, agree or disagree, but standardized tests will be a part of her life until she graduates high school. 7th grade isn’t too early to start getting some practice in.
Speaking from experience, it probably would have been a good idea to take it. More on that later. I first took the SATs when I was 15, in 9th grade (1320, baby!). Most of my friends had taken it even earlier than that (we were in a high math class being the only reason I can think of for that.) At any rate, it really helps to see the test and gain some real experience.
But, at least where I am, the test is changing drastically. They’re taking out analogies and adding an essay, and I’m told there’s other changes (the score being out of 2400, not 1600). So, I don’t know how valuable it’d be to take one test and then have it completely revamped. Anyone know anything else about these changes?
There is a G&T program here in the public schools in which sixth graders take the SATs. My understanding is that the scores have no “official” standing at that grade level, but that a high score can potentially open doors later. Certainly it gives parents an opportunity to brag, and if you’ll excuse my obvious bias* here, THAT seems to be the primary purpose of this particular G&T program anyway.
(*I pulled my kid out of the program after four weeks of fourth grade, because I felt she needed an education rather than an ego problem. No regrets, and she’s a high school freshman now.)
I did that, ivylass. IIRC, there’s a thread around here somewhere about it. It’s part of a ‘talent’ program, all right. If the child does pretty well, they get a certificate or something, and if it’s a great score for a 12yo, there are programs and classes. I got a certificate. I did OK on the verbal, but dismally on the math, since I had not yet had algebra (though my dad tried to teach me–I refused to learn). It was fun. Didn’t make a big impression on me, but I enjoyed it pretty well.
It won’t have any bearing on college entrance, except to say “look what I did at 12!”
I took it with my sister, she was in 11th grade and I was in 7th. My mom of course didn’t show each other our scores which is something you might want to consider incase the younger child does better than the older.
As for predictability, I scored ~750 in 7th grade, and when I retook it in 10th or 11th I scored a 1340. In 7th grade I imagine you can do fine on the English but you haven’t even had basic algebra so expect to bomb the math.
These types of talent searches have been around for over two decades, at least. I also took the SAT during middle school (I think it in was eighth grade). I can’t remember my score, but I am fairly certain I didn’t break 1000.
Our public schools also had a Gifted and Talented program, in which I was enrolled. However, from 4th grade through 9th grade, I can remember getting a lot out of the program. High school was where GT classes became less valuable to me, personally.
When you consider that the main thing the SAT measures is how good you are at taking it, I’d say that extra practice is valuable. However in many states students have numerous required standardized tests. If this is the case where you live, an additional go at the SAT isn’t going to make a big difference.
That said, I have quite a few friends who went to CTY in the summers and it was a hugely positive experience for them. (I went to a Specialized Science high school).
I also did the Johns Hopkins Talent Search, and scored well enough that I could take real English classes (Intro to Shakespeare at Villanova U and Expository Writing through Johns Hopkins) instead of wasting my time with 7th and 8th grade language arts. It was useful for me as a challenge and a reality check - a series of out of level classes (I also took Chemistry, Spanish and American History at the local High School instead of at middle school) actually made me work for the first time, and that made adjusting to University more painless than it might otherwise have been.
Oddly enough, despite the programs telling me my gifts were all in languages, I’m about to start a doctorate in physics. So I’d say let your daughter take it if she wants to - there isn’t anything in the English that a bright kid can’t handle, and if Duke’s program is as good as Johns Hopkins, it’s a lot of fun.
I worked for Duke TIP for three years, best job I’ve ever had. I absolutely loved coming up with new courses every year. The kids in our programs continually amazed me with their abilities and enthusiasm.
It always seemed to me that unless a child was likely to be particularly affected by a lower than expected test score, there’s no real problem with taking the SAT early. Many Talent Search kids who do pretty well are invited to a recognition ceremony either in their own state, or at Duke (for the highest-scoring ones). A few do go on to take summer classes at one of the TIP campuses, but they’re certainly not required to do so, and many don’t focus on that at all.
Parents should always, always keep in mind that their own child is different from every other child - even if taking a summer college-level class looks good on the future college resume, it might not be the best fit. Lots of children are happier staying home and hanging out with friends, or going to a sports camp or music camp, or spending the summer programming by themselves.
Johns Hopkins CTY is a “sister” program for the Northeast states, and Northwestern offers similar programs in the midwest. These programs are definitely worth seeking out if you have an intellectually curious child who can handle very intensive work (8+ hours per day in one subject for three weeks).