OP here. DC took the SAT this past Saturday. Surprisingly (or not, in this area) another 7th grader from her/his school was also in the same class taking the SAT with them. That other classmate's mother told me that she had prepared his/her son for the exam, because s/he was taking it for scholarship and CTY purposes.

Some observations:

The child who was prepped for the SAT appeared very happy and confident when they exited the exam. My child was not as forthcoming, and frankly seemed a little beat.

My DC said only that s/he answered every question on the exam (though they were aware that the test penalizes for incorrect answers), and that math was easier than verbal. DC also offered that the test room was very cold. Also noted that there was a 4th grader taking the exam in his/her room!

I would suggest that any parent who is subjects their DC to an early SAT exam, prep them with classes or at least a practice test (my DC did neither one), as my DC seems to have been a little thrown by the format, especially in the verbal sections. Practice would have helped, though I wanted to evaluate his/her "natural" ability.

Also, have your DC bring a coat and snacks (we did neither) as it is a long exam in a possilbly cold room.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child took the SAT in seventh grade and qualified for CTY, but never attended any of the programs- too busy with sports and other activities- but does attend TJ now, so it is certainly not necessary for a TJ application. No test prep and no TJ prep either. Just an active kid who loved math and reading.

OP here, and I agree that intelligence and academics are only one part of a child's life. I tell all of my DCs that I want them above all things to be good people, kind to their fellow man, considerate of others, nice to everyone, helpful to those who need it.

DC participates on the school's teams and in area sports, and is among the region's best in one sport, plays in the school band as well as an area youth symphony, and debates for his school.

I agree with you. Being a good person is the most important thing. It sounds like you are raising a nice kid. Good luck to you!

yeah. That and a $1.49 will get you a cup of cofee at Starbucks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child took the SAT in seventh grade and qualified for CTY, but never attended any of the programs- too busy with sports and other activities- but does attend TJ now, so it is certainly not necessary for a TJ application. No test prep and no TJ prep either. Just an active kid who loved math and reading.

OP here, and I agree that intelligence and academics are only one part of a child's life. I tell all of my DCs that I want them above all things to be good people, kind to their fellow man, considerate of others, nice to everyone, helpful to those who need it.

DC participates on the school's teams and in area sports, and is among the region's best in one sport, plays in the school band as well as an area youth symphony, and debates for his school.

I agree with you. Being a good person is the most important thing. It sounds like you are raising a nice kid. Good luck to you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I must be missing something. Why is a 12 or 13 year old taking the SAT at all?

My DS took the SAT at Johns Hopkins' request. They paid for test prep and the SAT.

OP here, that was not done for us, you are lucky! If your DC took the SCAT (12th grade norm) as well around the same time as the SAT, did the percentiles correlate across exams? Thanks.

To clarify:

My DS took the SAT at Johns Hopkins' request when he was in 7th grade. They paid for test prep and the SAT. This was in 1983, in flyover country. Not sure if the SCAT was around the late 1980s. In any event, I don't recall him taking the SCAT, so I can't speak to correlations.

Anonymous wrote:19:20 here - I am a NP.

Thanks. I will revive the thread in June or July when we receive the SAT exam results. Then I can judge (and share) for myself whether the SCAT (12th grade norm) and SAT exam results correlate very well in terms of percentiles. Thank you very much everyone who posted here for your insights, and good-bye for now (gracias y adios)!

19:20 here - I am a NP.

My DC took the SCAT in elementary school and will take the SAT this month. The norming from the testing agencies will obviously be different; I don't know if CTY will publish norms for its kids. Revive this thread when the results come out and we can check in with each other!

One difference that will be significant is that for the SCAT, DC was well-rested. Now DC is overloaded with homework and runs a chronic sleep deficit into the weekend. Saturday morning will not be optimal performance time.

In any event, there was no prepping for either test. I think I'd better make sure DC knows about guessing on the SAT, though.

Anonymous wrote:My child took the SAT in seventh grade and qualified for CTY, but never attended any of the programs- too busy with sports and other activities- but does attend TJ now, so it is certainly not necessary for a TJ application. No test prep and no TJ prep either. Just an active kid who loved math and reading.

OP here, and I agree that intelligence and academics are only one part of a child's life. I tell all of my DCs that I want them above all things to be good people, kind to their fellow man, considerate of others, nice to everyone, helpful to those who need it.

DC participates on the school's teams and in area sports, and is among the region's best in one sport, plays in the school band as well as an area youth symphony, and debates for his school.

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. My DC has never been test prepped. My feeling has always been that we want to know DC's "natural" abilities. DC reads voraciously, is a stellar student, and we have always been told by the teachers that s/he needs to seek more studies and intellectual advancement outside of school. We try to fill this need through online courses and summer camps.

Because he was not prepared for standardized testing, DC's 7th grade performance on the SCAT (12th grade norm) came as a pleasant accomplishment, though not necessarily a surprise -- given that we live with him.

My definition of test prep will include these enrichment activities even if you prefer a more restricted definition: practicing with the exact form of the test with answers repeatedly.

OP, boy it sounds to me like some people go overboard! We have not given our DC any sample tests, why stress a kid out for test results that do not matter in the long run -- especially when they are only in 7th grader. We say to DC, just do the best that you can.

Anonymous wrote:

OP here, that was not done for us, you are lucky! If your DC took the SCAT (12th grade norm) as well around the same time as the SAT, did the percentiles correlate across exams? Thanks.

As a PP has said. The exams, techniques and strategy are different and therefore the statistical correlations between the two will be wider and not tight. I hope that answers your question short of guessing your son's score before he sits for the exam. I'm sure he'll be fine otherwise.

Thank you again for this helpful information. It will help DC with test strategies we have not thought about, and It will at the very least help me to keep expectations low, and hope for a good result.

Anonymous wrote:

OP here again, I did not realize that the SCAT uses the format you mentioned in their test for older children. I will have to ask DC for more details about the exam.

I would also like to ask your son how many times he took the SCAT test and whether he practiced analogies questions before taking the test. Naturally, getting information directly from the source is the best correlation of the facts.

I have DC here in the car with me as we wait for swim pratice to begin, so I will ask. . . . .

Yes, just as I thought, DC did not take any practice exams and has only taken the SCAT once before. DC says that they take the ERBs at school every year.

DC says that they think the reading "for fun", and supplemental math courses online have helped.

My child took the SAT in seventh grade and qualified for CTY, but never attended any of the programs- too busy with sports and other activities- but does attend TJ now, so it is certainly not necessary for a TJ application. No test prep and no TJ prep either. Just an active kid who loved math and reading.

OP here again, I did not realize that the SCAT uses the format you mentioned in their test for older children. I will have to ask DC for more details about the exam.

I would also like to ask your son how many times he took the SCAT test and whether he practiced analogies questions before taking the test. Naturally, getting information directly from the source is the best correlation of the facts.

OP here, that was not done for us, you are lucky! If your DC took the SCAT (12th grade norm) as well around the same time as the SAT, did the percentiles correlate across exams? Thanks.

As a PP has said. The exams, techniques and strategy are different and therefore the statistical correlations between the two will be wider and not tight. I hope that answers your question short of guessing your son's score before he sits for the exam. I'm sure he'll be fine otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

I do not have analogy books or test books, only the kind of books that you read -- and I have rooms and rooms of those. In any case, the verbal and quantitative abilities are equally strong. DC did not practice anything before the SCAT exam. Has taken the SCAT once before, to test into a GT program for the lower grades.

Is this an interrogation? Seriouslu, I do not mind answering your nice questions, but I hope that this is leading to pertinent information regarding my OP question. Thank you.

There is no correlation between SCAT and SAT scores. Different exams with different strategies ... the latter penalizes for the wrong answer and the former does not. Therefore, guessing is more strategic. Longer exam (SAT). 1/2 hour writing component (SAT). SAT (math) doesn't use the > or < or = answer format as SCAT. That said, kids that read and are studious and work hard year round in time will usually do well on both exams.

Thanks, very helpful. I will advise DC against guessing unless they have a pretty good idea of the answer.