Is there a best time of year to take the sat?

[Anonymous]

Someone told me that it is desirable to take the test on the dates that the fewest students take it because the scores are normed, or something like that. Is this true? If so, what are the best and worst dates for taking the test? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I don't know the stats but as a parent going through the college process for the 4th time, it is extremely beneficial if your kid is done with SATs by Jan or March of his/her Junior year. My guess is that the Nov or Jan test dates have the lowest number of test takers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know the stats but as a parent going through the college process for the 4th time, it is extremely beneficial if your kid is done with SATs by Jan or March of his/her Junior year. My guess is that the Nov or Jan test dates have the lowest number of test takers.

This is the opposite of advice my DC received. We were told that kids who take it this early are the ones who end up taking it 3 times. The scores go up with the additional education and maturity so taking it too early is just a throw away.

[Anonymous]

IF the kid takes the PSAT in 10th, or the PSAT in 11th and does really well, ie 220 or above, then go ahead and take SAT as early as possible. The scores seem to go up between PSAT and SAT regardless, and if do that well, only one try may be needed, might as well have it out of the way by January or MArch junior year, there is enough other junk to deal with in May/June junior year and fall of senior year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know the stats but as a parent going through the college process for the 4th time, it is extremely beneficial if your kid is done with SATs by Jan or March of his/her Junior year. My guess is that the Nov or Jan test dates have the lowest number of test takers.

This is the opposite of advice my DC received. We were told that kids who take it this early are the ones who end up taking it 3 times. The scores go up with the additional education and maturity so taking it too early is just a throw away.

Yup - my DC took it for the 3rd time today. Thought it was a breeze compared to last year.

[Anonymous]

Should have added - I think the best time to take it is when you are best prepared. That's going to matter a lot more than the test date. I suspect there is no gaming the system anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IF the kid takes the PSAT in 10th, or the PSAT in 11th and does really well, ie 220 or above, then go ahead and take SAT as early as possible. The scores seem to go up between PSAT and SAT regardless, and if do that well, only one try may be needed, might as well have it out of the way by January or MArch junior year, there is enough other junk to deal with in May/June junior year and fall of senior year

Agree. One of my kids was one and done by Jan of junior year. It helped everything else go smoothly and according to plan. Another of my kids took the SAT for the third time today. It seems really hectic with all the seniors have going on.

[Anonymous]

They say Oct. is easier. Not sure if thats true but apparently the smartest kids take the first one offered and most are not taking the last one (Oct) so when you factor in the curve...there you go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They say Oct. is easier. Not sure if thats true but apparently the smartest kids take the first one offered and most are not taking the last one (Oct) so when you factor in the curve...there you go.

May be true. But I don't wish the Oct (or Nov, Dec or Jan) of senior year SAT on anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say Oct. is easier. Not sure if thats true but apparently the smartest kids take the first one offered and most are not taking the last one (Oct) so when you factor in the curve...there you go.

May be true. But I don't wish the Oct (or Nov, Dec or Jan) of senior year SAT on anyone.

Why? My DC took it yesterday and it was no big deal. Did not do any real additional prep (did the full tutoring thing last year). Thought it was much easier than prior tests. DC did well on prior tests but had room to improve on one section. We'll see if that pans out when the scores come out but overall it was the least stressful of all the testing so far. DCs friends taking it seemed to agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say Oct. is easier. Not sure if thats true but apparently the smartest kids take the first one offered and most are not taking the last one (Oct) so when you factor in the curve...there you go.

May be true. But I don't wish the Oct (or Nov, Dec or Jan) of senior year SAT on anyone.

Why? My DC took it yesterday and it was no big deal. Did not do any real additional prep (did the full tutoring thing last year). Thought it was much easier than prior tests. DC did well on prior tests but had room to improve on one section. We'll see if that pans out when the scores come out but overall it was the least stressful of all the testing so far. DCs friends taking it seemed to agree.

For my daughter, she has a varsity sport, a heavy course load and wants to apply early decision or early application to about a dozen colleges (will end up being less but that's what's on her current list) so that means 12 apps and about 15 essays (2 major, 2-3 middle and the rest just a few sentences) by Oct 15 or Nov 1. Throw in a few college visits, homecoming and other fun stuff, a few family obligations, etc. So I guess it just depends on the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say Oct. is easier. Not sure if thats true but apparently the smartest kids take the first one offered and most are not taking the last one (Oct) so when you factor in the curve...there you go.

May be true. But I don't wish the Oct (or Nov, Dec or Jan) of senior year SAT on anyone.

Why? My DC took it yesterday and it was no big deal. Did not do any real additional prep (did the full tutoring thing last year). Thought it was much easier than prior tests. DC did well on prior tests but had room to improve on one section. We'll see if that pans out when the scores come out but overall it was the least stressful of all the testing so far. DCs friends taking it seemed to agree.

For my daughter, she has a varsity sport, a heavy course load and wants to apply early decision or early application to about a dozen colleges (will end up being less but that's what's on her current list) so that means 12 apps and about 15 essays (2 major, 2-3 middle and the rest just a few sentences) by Oct 15 or Nov 1. Throw in a few college visits, homecoming and other fun stuff, a few family obligations, etc. So I guess it just depends on the kid.

Wow that is crazy. While mine has nearly all of those same activities DC is not doing 12 ED/EA apps. We found that with the most selective schools it's hard to do more than a few ED/EA apps. My DC is doing 1 ED and 2 EA. Most of the other schools DC is interested in are single choice EA, or ED, so it's hard to do any more. 3 apps in the next couple of weeks seems bad enough so I can see that 12 would be impossible.

In any event, spending a Saturday morning taking the SATs again didn't really seem to add that much of a burden to DCs schedule. And MANY other kids in DCs class were taking the test yesterday as well, including NMSFs, Merit commended students, etc. I was just surprised that someone would think it was that bad a thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say Oct. is easier. Not sure if thats true but apparently the smartest kids take the first one offered and most are not taking the last one (Oct) so when you factor in the curve...there you go.

May be true. But I don't wish the Oct (or Nov, Dec or Jan) of senior year SAT on anyone.

Why? My DC took it yesterday and it was no big deal. Did not do any real additional prep (did the full tutoring thing last year). Thought it was much easier than prior tests. DC did well on prior tests but had room to improve on one section. We'll see if that pans out when the scores come out but overall it was the least stressful of all the testing so far. DCs friends taking it seemed to agree.

For my daughter, she has a varsity sport, a heavy course load and wants to apply early decision or early application to about a dozen colleges (will end up being less but that's what's on her current list) so that means 12 apps and about 15 essays (2 major, 2-3 middle and the rest just a few sentences) by Oct 15 or Nov 1. Throw in a few college visits, homecoming and other fun stuff, a few family obligations, etc. So I guess it just depends on the kid.

Wow that is crazy. While mine has nearly all of those same activities DC is not doing 12 ED/EA apps. We found that with the most selective schools it's hard to do more than a few ED/EA apps. My DC is doing 1 ED and 2 EA. Most of the other schools DC is interested in are single choice EA, or ED, so it's hard to do any more. 3 apps in the next couple of weeks seems bad enough so I can see that 12 would be impossible.

In any event, spending a Saturday morning taking the SATs again didn't really seem to add that much of a burden to DCs schedule. And MANY other kids in DCs class were taking the test yesterday as well, including NMSFs, Merit commended students, etc. I was just surprised that someone would think it was that bad a thing to do.[/quot


tOTAL BS. You can't have 12 Early Decision applications. You select ONE school to ED.

[Anonymous]

You can certainly have one ED school and any number of EA schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say Oct. is easier. Not sure if thats true but apparently the smartest kids take the first one offered and most are not taking the last one (Oct) so when you factor in the curve...there you go.

May be true. But I don't wish the Oct (or Nov, Dec or Jan) of senior year SAT on anyone.

My DD is another one who took it yesterday and it was no big deal. In fact it seemed a lot less stressful the second time around.