Any advantage to taking SAT early?

[Anonymous]

DD took it last spring since she has such a heavy load this year (junior) and I wanted to front load some stuff onto her quiet time in spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC (currently a sophomore) informed me that some teammates and friends had already taken or taking SAT in the fall. DC proceeded to take a practice Digital SAT and scored fine (700 RW, 800 M) over the weekend and wants to take SAT sometime in the Fall. I don't think that's advisable but is there any harm? College applications are several years away, so what's the rush? I don't understand why some kids take SAT so far ahead unless they are confident that they'll score high and would not need to take it again. Anyone BTDT?

No teammates or friends are taking sat as a sophomore. It’s the psat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC (currently a sophomore) informed me that some teammates and friends had already taken or taking SAT in the fall. DC proceeded to take a practice Digital SAT and scored fine (700 RW, 800 M) over the weekend and wants to take SAT sometime in the Fall. I don't think that's advisable but is there any harm? College applications are several years away, so what's the rush? I don't understand why some kids take SAT so far ahead unless they are confident that they'll score high and would not need to take it again. Anyone BTDT?

No teammates or friends are taking sat as a sophomore. It’s the psat.

OP here. It’s the SAT. I confirmed. The kids took it earlier in the summer and earlier this month.

[Anonymous]

Does taking it in 10th grade mean the student won’t be eligible for National Merit Scholar consideration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does taking it in 10th grade mean the student won’t be eligible for National Merit Scholar consideration?

i don't they they are related at all - except during covid, merit scholar is always about psat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another advantage is that if they take calculus junior year, their algebra will get rusty. No downside to taking it early

Taking it early and then stopping shows colleges that you are cramming not learning.

If you can't pass an algebra and geometry ttest while learning advanced xalculus, you are not ready for college math!

Colleges will smell desperation a mile a way if they see you applying with scores a full 2 years old.

Where the F did you get this notion from?

[Anonymous]

I have read that kids typically score better in the verbal later in high school.

[Anonymous]

In our school kids take PSAT in 10th and then there’s a choice of sat vs psat in 11th. Then sat in 12th

This topic makes me think maybe it’s better to take sat in 10 and psat in 11 if he scores high on sat?

[Anonymous]

My oldest took it fall of junior year because he gets pretty hard hit by spring allergies. Did great, one less thing to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our school kids take PSAT in 10th and then there’s a choice of sat vs psat in 11th. Then sat in 12th

This topic makes me think maybe it’s better to take sat in 10 and psat in 11 if he scores high on sat?

Most kids take PSAT in 10th. If you are trying for national merit you retake the PSAT in 11th. SAT is generally in the junior year to help guide the application process senior year.

If you are trying for national merit it may make sense to take the SAT late summer/early fall junior year as practice for the PSAT.

Beyond that people time their SAT to factors that are unique to them like how many times they expect to take it, when they have availability to study, etc.

I know there is a fascination with “one and done” for the SAT, but realistically you can take it several times so there is no real disadvantage to taking it early to get a sense of where you are at if you don’t mind taking it repeatedly and/or aren’t applying to Georgetown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have read that kids typically score better in the verbal later in high school.

This is why it's better to wait a bit longer. There's no reason to take it before you are in the ballpark of scoring to your highest potential (wherever that may be) and fall junior year is typically the earliest that happens. You can always retake in spring of junior year or fall of senior year if needed to bump up one section or the other, but starting sophomore year risks burnout - kids sometimes resist retaking multiple times.

[Anonymous]

^Fall junior year is the happy medium between taking too early and too late. Keep the process low stress. The summer before is often the best time for prep and the prep doubles for the fall junior year PSAT, if the student is aiming for NM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our school kids take PSAT in 10th and then there’s a choice of sat vs psat in 11th. Then sat in 12th

This topic makes me think maybe it’s better to take sat in 10 and psat in 11 if he scores high on sat?

Take PSAT in 11th if the student is anywhere close to scoring high enough for NM or if the student might be eligible for one of the National Recognition Programs (is a minority or attends a rural high school).

Take the SAT whenever the student is prepped and ready to score their highest potential score. That is usually not 10th. You are not restricted to taking the free test offered by the high school junior year - SAT is offered on 7 Saturdays per year. Those gunning for high scores often prep over summer for the August or October junior year SAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC (currently a sophomore) informed me that some teammates and friends had already taken or taking SAT in the fall. DC proceeded to take a practice Digital SAT and scored fine (700 RW, 800 M) over the weekend and wants to take SAT sometime in the Fall. I don't think that's advisable but is there any harm? College applications are several years away, so what's the rush? I don't understand why some kids take SAT so far ahead unless they are confident that they'll score high and would not need to take it again. Anyone BTDT?

No teammates or friends are taking sat as a sophomore. It’s the psat.

OP here. It’s the SAT. I confirmed. The kids took it earlier in the summer and earlier this month.

Teacher here and I do not believe that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC (currently a sophomore) informed me that some teammates and friends had already taken or taking SAT in the fall. DC proceeded to take a practice Digital SAT and scored fine (700 RW, 800 M) over the weekend and wants to take SAT sometime in the Fall. I don't think that's advisable but is there any harm? College applications are several years away, so what's the rush? I don't understand why some kids take SAT so far ahead unless they are confident that they'll score high and would not need to take it again. Anyone BTDT?

The digital practice tests are much easier than the real tests. Google it.