My daughter is in seventh grade. She will be taking the ACT in February to qualify for the TIP program. I want to start helping her find out what testing is like. A poster in another thread told me to show her an ACT booklet, ensure that her calculator is authorized, and help her know what he schedule might be like. Any help here? What should she eat beforehand, bring, wear, etc.?
I usually bring my approved calculator, jacket, testing ticket, ID, snack for the break, and a watch/timer without an alarm. I don’t suggest eating a big breakfast before she goes if that’s not what she’s used to. Just get a bunch of sleep and eat whatever she normally eats(i got this advice from someone and it’s supposed to make you feel comfortable or something like that lol).
Dress in layers, as the room may be warmer or colder than expected. Fresh batteries in the calculator are a good idea. The test is long, so she should eat and take a snack. We usually stopped for a coffee drink as a treat (at that age she got half caf).
Thank you all. She is starting to worry and I want to prepare her for this. Will she be testing in a room with 11th and 12th graders?
Typically they try to separate the middle schoolers, at least they did when my kids took the SAT as 7th graders. Make sure she gets sleep the night before. We always tried to take some of the stress out of standardized testing by having a “special” breakfast on testing days. Certainly make sure she eats a decent breakfast and brings a snack. Several sharp pencils, approved calculator, spare batteries. Cell phone needs to be left with you.
Please encourage her to see this as an opportunity and not something to worry about. While my kids didn’t qualify for TIP, they did feel taking the test early was a good experience. D said “if I can do that as a 7th grader it should be a piece of cake in high school!”
You need to judge whether giving her access to sample ACT questions/tests will be encouraging or stressful. Every kid is different.
@iflycuzican my first child when she took it was placed with other Tipsters, my second child tested with everyone else who was taking it that day. They took the test at the same school but 5 years apart so procedures may very well have changed in the interim. The staff was well aware of the younger students and did their best to put them at ease.
My children were less anxious after being able to see the testing material beforehand but I did have to stress that they were not expected to know all the material. It was a test meant for students 5-6 years older than they were.
My kids always tested with the HS kids and it was no big deal. I think you should just relax and not even bring this up again with her. This is just a good way for her to get some early experience taking the test. It should not be an exercise in learning how to get anxiety over test-taking at a young age.
Do not worry, in general, Talent search testers are grouped together. And you can usually stay with the student until they go into the room.
My 7th grader took the SAT for Duke Tip yesterday. All the 7th graders were put in one room. She said it was the hardest test she ever took. She said the CR portion was murder. I am hoping it will help her see she needs to expand her reading beyond dystopian literature.
My kid was NOT grouped with other talent search kids when she tested. So that is unpredictable. In fact, we did run into some high school kids she knew at the test checkin, too. My kid did fine with the older students, though, it was not an issue. If you don’t project stress, she probably will be pretty unstressed as well.
OP has been banned for misrepresentation. Thread closed.