<p>Is freshmen year of high school too young to start prepping for the ACT or SAT?</p>
<p>My son did "fair" in middle school. He completed algebra1 and advance English and finished with a 3.48 GPA. His plans are to enter his high schools IT program. I think he should take the SAT this fall, just to get his feet wet. Any suggestions.</p>
<p>Have your son get his feet wet taking the PSAT as a freshman,sophomore and junior. That is what the honors kids at our local high school are advised. It is a test given at the high school in October, is cheaper than the SAT and can give useful info about where future study efforts could be concentrated.</p>
<p>I wouldn't take the SAT till junior year unless you are sure that your kid would ace the test. All scores will show up on the SAT report sent to colleges, even the test scores from tests taken when he is a freshman/sophomore.</p>
<p>As for prep, just make sure he reads good books that will increase his vocabulary.</p>
<p>I agree with Ellemenope. Scores taken now will show up on score reports sent to colleges. Encourage him to read and do well in school, and he can take the PSAT for testing experience.</p>
<p>There are questions from geometry on the PSAT and from algebra 2 and geometry on the SAT.</p>
<p>If your son takes the tests before completing those math courses, he should understand that there will be problems in the math section that he will not yet know how to do and that his scores will reflect that. That doesn't mean that he shouldn't try the test -- especially the PSAT, which counts for nothing. It just means that if his math score is on the low side, he shouldn't get discouraged.</p>
<p>I'd be concerned about the "burn out" factor, if by "prep" you mean anything other than walking in and taking the PSAT or the ACT's equivalent (I don't remember its acronym). Studying for SAT and ACT now? Don't do it. By the time it becomes real, he'll be so sick of the whole process that he might do worse than if he hadn't studied at all.</p>
<p>Agreed that he should not take the SAT as a freshman - it'll show up on his score report when he applies. No need for it.</p>
<p>He should read widely at leisure. In my day, in my region, that was the only kind of "SAT prep" anyone had heard of. All of the kids in my high school who were avid readers scored well on the SAT (both sections) while none of the kids who didn't read anything outside of class scored very well. At the beginning, the thing to do is to learn to read.</p>
<p>Just an idea -- you (not the student, unless he is really interested) can do some research as far as what the SAT entails, what is on it, how it is used, how it is reported, etc. also research the SAT II and ACT tests.</p>
<p>Once you have a better understanding of the tests out there, you can start prepping -- and to me, that means in freshman year to take the PSAT when it is offered and see what the results are, make sure the student understands the importance of reading a wide variety of material (from newsmagazine to british literature) and to make sure that the math classes your son takes will adequately prepare him for the math that is on the test. </p>
<p>I would not suggest any type of official test prep -- it is better to wait until you are closer to taking the test. It has been shown that a student can "cram" or "prep" to raise their math score, but a high critical reading score is indicative of a student that reads and reads often.</p>
<p>this might be a good book to start with "Conquering the SAT: How Parents Can Help Teens Overcome the Pressure and Succeed"</p>
<p>Reading is the best test prep. Some kids enjoy signing up for a question of the day from the College Board. That doesn't seem overly strenuous to me. For a while we had SAT flash cards on the dining room table. We'd pull out a card and see who knew the definitions. We all played not just the kid who was going to be taking the SAT. It was very low key.</p>
<p>Both my kids first took the SAT as 7th graders, as part of the talent search for CTY. They were given the option to retake them as 8th graders, and both did---and were amazed at how much better they did the 2nd time around. They and their friends who also took it early spent hours on Princeton Review and looking through the USNW book, and specifically looked at all the schools where their SAT scores already put them in the running, compared with the student population. </p>
<p>Then, we were at a school who gave PSATs to all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. By the time taking the "real" SAT came around, my oldest D was pretty "ho hom" about it all, and was so relaxed going into it. Other than a few of the vocabulary flash cards, she didn't spend much time at all preparing for the SAT. My youngest (a rising junior) has been doing the question of the day from College Board since 7th grade (voluntarily).</p>
<p>If either kid had test anxiety, I would have approached this much differently, but neither of them thought it was a big deal, and it really helped them. All kids are different, though, and if a kid wasn't inclined to want to do this kind of prep work in freshman year, I would not have pushed it at all.</p>
<p>In the metro-NY area, kids often take the SAT in 7th grade to qualify for CTY. Addit, many public and private schs administer the PSAT to the entire 10th grade class. </p>
<p>For most kids, the soph administration of the test is just a walk-through, and they don't begin prep in earnest until they are rising hs juniors (summer b/w 10th and 11th grade). Since the formal (NMS) PSAT admin is in the fall of jnior yr, PSAT prep dove-tails nicely w/ prep for a spring admin of the SAT.</p>
<p>northcoast dad,
for your son - look into taking PLAN test for sophomore year - here's the link:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.act.org/plan/%5B/url%5D">http://www.act.org/plan/</a></p>
<p>also.....................sophomore year and junior year - take PSAT</p>
<p>and.................junior and senior year - take ACT Plus w/writing
the advantage of ACT is score choice </p>
<p>look into whether SAT subject tests will be required at the colleges that are of interest to him........some colleges require them, others do not. from reading the cc board, I gather that some students may taken them at earlier dates rather than waiting. there are cc threads about subject tests on cc........take a look at them. </p>
<p>reading the cc threads on ACT versus SAT would be helpful. </p>
<p>only the PSAT taken during junior year is the one that counts in the National Merit competition.</p>
<p>jmho, but I would not encourage him to take the SAT his freshman year. plenty of time for it later on after he's had more courses (honors, ap, college).</p>
<p>no, don't have him take the SAT freshman year. If you really want to then have him take practice tests (though really they won't be a good representation of his abilities since he hasn't taken pre-cal yet). but if he takes the SAT now and bombs then colleges will still see it. also, you're going to make him go crazy if you start pressuring him about the SAT this young.</p>
<p>I'd be worried about burn out too. A more entertaining and less intense way to prep Subscribe to Petersons.com's SAT word of the day and to the College Board's Official SAT question of the day...even more low key...watch Jeopardy together. That would be OK for a freshman.</p>
<p>You know your kid but I know my 2 teens would really not have appreciated me "having them" prep at such a young age. As juniors they have chosen for themselves to take an SAT prep class before taking the test for the first time. Then, depending upon the results they will know what to study for their second shot.</p>
<p>In addition to echoing the advice to read widely now, I encourage kids to either join a book club or create a new one. If no peers will take it on, then read the same novel at the same time as someone else in the family. The value is to hear how others interpret the same events, characters and so on. Ask what is your favorite portion and share that by reading aloud. </p>
<p>That doesn't mean you all go to the same page at dinner and break apart the text, ugh, do NOT destroy reading pleasure this way, especially if there's no problem with his/her reading!</p>
<p>But it can be delightful, motivating and improve critical thinking to discuss the book with others. It drives home the point that you always read for meaning, and to look for interpretations wherever you go. It's nice to have companionship with your thoughts as a reader. Also, rotate who gets to choose the next book.</p>
<p>If that's unrealistic, subscribe to a newspaper and read it each night to discuss an article or three. Even the Sports section builds vocabulary: 300 ways to say "win" and "lose" -- pounded, pummelled, trounced...</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. It looks like the SAT Freshmen year is definitely out. I think we will plan on the PSAT.
Instead of any formal prep, I will encourage reading widely. I like the idea of subscribing to a newspaper or magazine of his choice along with a challenging book for everyone.
Maybe I can hold off on the flash cards and "the SAT word of the day" until next fall, just to keep low key, but I don't think watching Jeopardy as a family would hurt.</p>
<p>Thanks again;
NCD</p>
<p>NorthCoast Dad--</p>
<p>If your S is taking a science freshman year that he won't be continuing at a higher level, he might want to consider taking the SAT II in June. Our HS counselors recommended that, and it was a good opportunity for my kids to get their feet wet. Plus, if they did well on the tests, they could use them for their college apps.</p>
<p>Agree with paying3tuitions-always great advice.</p>
<p>SAT question of day is great and not stressful at all, 8th grader even does them. First go at PSAT was 10th grade and provided great insight into areas of focus for 11th PSAT and SAT.</p>
<p>D is huge reader, so we discuss many books. S doesn't love to read as much, we have gotten numerous mag subscriptions which he really enjoys.</p>
<p>Freshman year is not too young to start thinking about college, but for most students it is too young to take tests. Maybe take the PSAT because it will be inconsequential at this stage; but not the SAT as every test that is taken, whether SAT or SAT-II, will show up on a consolidated score sheet.
SAT-IIs are best taken right after taking an Honors or AP class in the subject. But make sure that what was learned aligns with the test. For ex, Honors Physics in our school covered only one out of three topics. We found out only weeks before the test, and S 1 had to cram like mad. On the other hand, AP-Physics C does not align at all with the SAT-II-Physics test.
So how to prepare? As others have said, read, read, read. Take challenging courses, keeping in mind the prerequisites for further challenging classes in junior and senior year.
Beyond academics, students should consider getting involved in or continuing ECs, whether in sports, arts, community service or academic projects and competitions.
Students can familiarize themselves with the SAT and SAT-II formats by looking up prior tests and practicing on them. They can find out where they need to improve and work on those areas. For math, as others have said, it's good to bear in mind that much will not have been covered until the end of sophomore year or junior year.</p>
<p>My d, always an avid reader of fiction, was advised to begin reading non-fiction (including newspapers and magazines) specifically for CR. While her vocabulary was excellent, the kind of analysis required on the SAT is similar to the non-fiction analysis, as opposed to the literary analysis of fiction.</p>
<p>Chedva:</p>
<p>Very true. Reading non-fiction is also beneficial for learning to write expository writing, of the kind that will be required in college, where argument, evidence, structure are all important (as opposed to imagery and voice).</p>