Taking ACT/SAT during junior high?

[lindberg99]

Has anyone's child taken the ACT or SAT during 7th or 8th grade? What are the advantages to this? How was the experience for your child?

[cschick]

Originally Posted by lindberg99

Has anyone's child taken the ACT or SAT during 7th or 8th grade? What are the advantages to this? How was the experience for your child?

My child didn't do it--I did it. I took the SAT in both 6th and 7th grade (late 1980s). Back then, at least, you were recommended for the testing by teachers.

The public school district I was in in then used the results for honors placements during junior high and high school. It wasn't the only consideration, but it was one of them. Unfortunately, I did not remain in the district long enough for my results to really mean anything.

For me at least, the real advantage was showing me what the test was like. When I took both the ACT and SAT "for real" in high school, they were a lot less intimidating for me than they seemed to be for many of my fellow students. And despite not being in the top tier grade-wise/rating-wise at my high school (because I was kind of lazy about school work), I ended up getting the second-best scores testing-wise in the school on the ACT and SAT and a National Merit Scholar (PSAT).

[TiredX2]

DP did in junior high, but I didn't. I don't know why

We're considering having DD do it this year. I'm not sure if she is interested but some of her friends are doing it. She could have done the other test starting in, what, 2nd grade but we never had her do that. DS hasn't either.

[whatsnextmom]

DD took it in junior high to extend her John Hopkins CTY eligibility through high school. She's never done anything with them but hey, it's nice to have the option and looks like some really cool things for the high school age range.

It wasn't a big deal. DD was 11 and felt quite accomplished just getting through a 3 hour test. She did great and it relaxed her. In fact, she had to take the PSAT this year in 9th and she didn't even bat an eye (where in the past, she would have stressed about it.)

[Dar]

My daughter and I both did. I don't remember why I did it - probably because my parents or the gifted teacher or someone signed me up, so I did it. Rain, OTOH, did it because she wanted to take French classes and as a homeschooler, really the best option in our community was our state university, and they said she could take classes if she scored above the 50th percentile for entering freshmen. Which she did.

A couple of years later her scores qualified her for a summer camp program run by one of the talent search groups, and a full scholarship, which seemed great, except that it turned out to be horrible and I was in Egypt so we had this crazy week of getting them to release her to a wonderful friend of mine, who drove across the state to pick her up). In theory it was a good thing, anyway.

When Rain took it they had a separate testing room for the junior high kids. She said it took forever because the proctor acted like they were stupid and gave detailed instructions on how to do things like bubble in your name, but other than that it was ok.

[physmom]

I took the ACT in middle school. I remember at the time not really understanding why but my mom said she had taken the ACT for college so it'd be good for me to practice too. Anyways, I ended up doing pretty well on it and even got a better score than my dad did when he had tried to get into college years ago.

I actually got a lot of offers in the mail because of it. One even for a full-ride scholarship to a boarding school. At the time I dismissed them because we didn't have money and I didn't think my parents would've let me go in the first place. I do wonder sometimes how things would've been different if I would've at least looked into it, though.

[lindberg99]

Thanks for the insights. I emailed DD's teacher about it and she said that it helps students prepare for taking the test in HS and may give access to opportunities like camps, schools, etc. like some of you mentioned. She also added that about 15 - 20% of her students take it but most take it in 8th rather than 7th grade.

I'm going to talk to DD about it this weekend and see what she wants to do. She's been sick so we didn't talk about it yesterday at all.

[pranava]

I took the SAT in middle school. It was really good test taking practice for later on, I felt. Be careful not to put too much stock in the score though. I only scored an 850 in 7th grade because I just hadn't been exposed to much of what was on the test(no great accelerated classes in my public school). I was worried that I wouldn't get into college with that score. It caused me quite a bit of stress! But no worries - I scored 1460 as a junior. I wish someone had told me that my 7th grade score was in no way a good reflection of my intelligence. Just watch out for that with your child as gifted kids can be quite hard on themselves.

[eepster]

I would say go for it.

DS hasn't taken the SAT yet, but I took them in 7th grade. Only down side was I got my second period ever halfway through . Some nice high school girls gave me a pad during the bathroom break.

Even with the cramps and what not, I managed to do well enough to qualify for some fun programs. One that came out of it was weekend college classes for gifted kids.

[VisionaryMom]

I took the SAT in 7th grade and used the scores to take summer courses at LSU that year. It was an amazing experience! I'm really glad I was able to do that. Also, as a pp said, it made the test much less intimidating. There was no pressure then because if I didn't do well, so what? Plus I knew what to expect when I took it later.

[AFWife]

I wouldn't do it (and I did) and here's why:

The score counts. Seriously. When colleges get a "list" of your SAT scores this one will be on there. So, unless she can do REALLY well it might count against her. The school doesn't look at it and go "oh, she took it in 7th grade" they look at it and go "she took it twice" (or three times or whatever) Yes, it can be good practice...but it's not the PSAT (which doesn't count and is MADE for practice) This is the real SAT and the score does go on record. (They don't tell you that)

I got this firsthand in high school from one of my teachers (that used to be a college prof)

[mediumcrunch]

Taking the SAT in 7th or 8th will qualify her for Duke and Johns-Hopkins (and many other) summer programs. Colleges will not count the, obviously, lower score against her. The scores are sent with dates and you can choose which scores to send anyway, no college will see those scores unless you want them to. The PSAT is far more than practice, the PSAT taken in the junior year qualifies a student for the National Merit Scholarships and for some schools that can mean a LOT of money.
There is absolutely no drawback to taking the SAT or ACT many times, it is advised by the College Board and by all colleges and universities.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

Originally Posted by AFWife

I wouldn't do it (and I did) and here's why:

The score counts. Seriously. When colleges get a "list" of your SAT scores this one will be on there. So, unless she can do REALLY well it might count against her. The school doesn't look at it and go "oh, she took it in 7th grade" they look at it and go "she took it twice" (or three times or whatever) Yes, it can be good practice...but it's not the PSAT (which doesn't count and is MADE for practice) This is the real SAT and the score does go on record. (They don't tell you that)

I got this firsthand in high school from one of my teachers (that used to be a college prof)

I know that when I was taking these as a 6th grader, this wasn't true (graduated HS in 2006) and my scores don't show up now. Just my experience.

I took the ACT as a 10 year old 6th grader and while I remember being a bit nervous, it really wasn't a big deal. I got accepted into many different programs based on my scores and attended the Duke TIP summer camp in Kansas and the Joseph Baldwin Academy in Missouri during two different summers. I also thought it was fun getting college stuff in the mail and special offers and invitations afterward I was in a full-time school for the Profoundly Gifted at the time and all of my classmates took it also, I don't think anyone chose not to participate.

[puddle]

I took it in 7th grade, and it was sort of the catalyst for my emotional withdrawal from academia. I did well, and then I read about all the great accommodations recommended for schools to make for students who scored in my range. Reading that was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I hadn't realized how bored and miserable I was until I saw how much better it could be. When my school offered me none of those things and blew off my request to look into grade skipping, the light went out, and I shut down. I don't regret taking it, but I didn't really get much out of it.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by AFWife

Yes, it can be good practice...but it's not the PSAT (which doesn't count and is MADE for practice)

My mom, who never took the full SAT, used her PSAT scores to enter college and get her scholarships. Admittedly this was a long time ago, and her choices were limited to schools that took women, so it wasn't like she could apply to Harvard anyway; but I think you can still use your PSAT score for somethings.

[ChristaN]

Originally Posted by AFWife

I wouldn't do it (and I did) and here's why:

The score counts. Seriously. When colleges get a "list" of your SAT scores this one will be on there. So, unless she can do REALLY well it might count against her. The school doesn't look at it and go "oh, she took it in 7th grade" they look at it and go "she took it twice" (or three times or whatever) Yes, it can be good practice...but it's not the PSAT (which doesn't count and is MADE for practice) This is the real SAT and the score does go on record. (They don't tell you that)

I got this firsthand in high school from one of my teachers (that used to be a college prof)

I looked into this extensively a year ago b/c I had heard the same thing. Dd12 took the SAT twice: once as a 10 y/o 6th grader and once as an 11 y/o 7th grader. While she did significantly better than the avg high school student on reading and writing, they aren't scores she'd want on her permanent record when applying to colleges.

I was assured by both ETS and Talent Search that all scores from grades 8 and below are purged at the end of the year unless you request that they be kept.

[ChristaN]

To answer the original question, though, the main benefit we saw was having dd practice taking tests that were too hard for her. She tended to freeze up in situations like that b/c they were unfamiliar. She is also not the fastest kid and we thought it good to have her practive working under time constraints b/c there will be times when she needs to.

Added benefits included:

* she had hit the ceiling on the measure her school was using to measure reading in 6th grade (SRI lexile), so we weren't going to see any further growth on that. We did, however, see her critical reading SAT scores go up a good amount btwn 6th and 7th grade and it was good to see that she was still growing in that area.
* the scores qualify her for summer programs like others have mentioned. However a lot of these summer programs are very pricey, so we haven't managed to send her to one since the summer following 4th grade.
* she used her 7th grade SAT scores in her application for a scholarship (Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars). While SAT scores weren't an absolute requirement for applying, they did ideally want them. We haven't yet heard if she was accepted and I don't know if we are low enough income for it to be likely, but we'll see.

[zebra15]

I am starting to look at the for DS10. He attends CTY for online classes and I dont see that changing when he gets to 7th grade. (officially) Right now he is listed as 4th grade even tho' he is taking much higher level material.
I have no problem with DS taking the test and with the way he is blowing thru CTY classes he should have no issues with the ACT/SAT when the time comes. He had no problem with the SCAT (what CTY uses as an 'entrance exam) last year.

As others said he would be taking the tests to continue with CTY as well as eligibility for other programs, opportunities and scholarships.

[Roar]

Originally Posted by AFWife

I wouldn't do it (and I did) and here's why:

The score counts. Seriously. When colleges get a "list" of your SAT scores this one will be on there. So, unless she can do REALLY well it might count against her. The school doesn't look at it and go "oh, she took it in 7th grade" they look at it and go "she took it twice" (or three times or whatever) Yes, it can be good practice...but it's not the PSAT (which doesn't count and is MADE for practice) This is the real SAT and the score does go on record. (They don't tell you that)

I got this firsthand in high school from one of my teachers (that used to be a college prof)

Your teacher was misinformed. SAT scores from 8th grade and below are automatically deleted from the system at the end of the year. http://professionals.collegeboard.co...cial/8th-grade If your child scores very well and wants to save scores, perhaps for dual enrollment or early entrance to college, they will need to make this request in writing before the end of the school year and the link to the College Board explains how to do this.

Even in the instance where scores are saved, it is still not a risk to students. I've spoken with dozens of college admissions officers about this and all will say the same thing. They don't care about your 7th grade test scores. They don't care if they are good. They don't care if they are bad. They simply don't care. They know students take it as an out of level test and it is meaningless for their purposes. There is no reason to fear having middle schoolers take this test.

9th grade and beyond the scores are automatically saved. There is something called "score choice" which makes it so you can only send your top scores. However, many schools don't participate and want to see all scores. At any rate, pretty much every college will tell you they ONLY look at your HIGHEST scores. Many will do what they call "superscore" where they take the highest scores for different test administrations. So, your June verbal and your October math or whatever. It is to their benefit to look only at the highest scores because the better those scores the more it boosts them in the rankings. For the ACT it has always been that students can send the scores from a single test date.

It doesn't look bad for students to take the SAT two or three times in high school. Most competitive students now do and it raises no flags at all to see that on an application. The research suggests that students don't usually raise scores past a couple of times though. Yeah, at a certain point if you've taken it five times that is probably pointless and looks bad, but nobody should fear taking it two or three times in high school (and everyone should know these middle school scores don't count so that's not against that total).

[Roar]

Originally Posted by ChristaN

* she used her 7th grade SAT scores in her application for a scholarship (Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars). While SAT scores weren't an absolute requirement for applying, they did ideally want them. We haven't yet heard if she was accepted and I don't know if we are low enough income for it to be likely, but we'll see.

That's exciting. Good luck to her!