Hi,
My son, 9th grader is thinking of applying for summer camp next summer: Duke ( TIP) or North Western University.
It requires SAT scores. Is it ok for the 9th to take SAT and I Heard University administrations don’t like a student
taking many SAT tests starting at an darle grade.
And Is it worthy to go to some elite and very costly program?
I understand it dependas on a student and family, but I like to hear some words forma you.
Thank you
its really no problem, but I’d highly recommend taking a practice test at home to see if he is even close to the numbers that JHU/NU require.
Most students take the SAT till their junior year of high school. There is another alternative called the PSAT and make sure to see if they accept those scores but however do some research about the program and see if it’s open to 9th graders. It’s really odd that the program is asking for SAT scores which makes me assume the program is open to the upperclassmen level.
OP, some of the other parents have kids who have been in these programs. They are for highly gifted kids-that’s why they require testing with the SAT or another typical college entrance test. My understanding is that colleges do not count tests taken in middle school or high school for entrance purposes-but they CAN be used for testing kids for these summer programs (cxprus, these are special youth classes, not for college kids.Johns Hopkins does them too).
OP, we chose not to pursue these very expensive programs (I think the one at Northwestern is about $4,000), but found other, closer, less expensive options for our D, and she has thrived. But some parents do choose these gifted programs for their kids and they have been very satisfied.
Its fine to take it earlier.
My DS took it in 7th grade in order to qualify for CTY programs.
so relax…
I would not at all be concerned, @leolove. The schools that discourage it will not hold an early SAT taken for gifted and talented program entrance against them. They are concerned with someone taking it 5 times jr and sr year. My dd took the SAT in 8th grade as part of a talent search program she was a 99% scorer on standardized tests and a teacher encouraged it. We were ‘green’ then and didn’t think of having her do any prep or a practice test but she did okay. Kids that do CTY and TIP often take the SAT early. And anyway when she went to take the SAT in 11th grade she just took it once and didn’t care to retake. Your son can also take the ACT in 11th or 12th and send that instead, that’s always an option (except the couple of colleges that require all tests)
Note that the SAT this fall will be the last of the old, before the ‘new’ SAT.
We are a CTY family. My son did the program for 6 years. He took the SCAT in elementary school and the SAT in 7th grade. For talent searches the College Board has an option to remove the scores after testing so they do not remain on the account. We also found that CTY had very very generous need based financial aid which helped a lot.
Typically kids test for the talent search in middle school. I surprised to hear you are considering it for 9th grade. The qualifying score will be much higher so just be aware.
As for is it worth it. I believe it was. Very much so. It gave my son the opportunity to meet kids a lot like him. He was able to work on math and science that was far above what he was used to, college level in middle school. Many kids who do talent search have never encountered something truly difficult before camp. I didn’t want my son to wait until college before finding something he didn’t understand. Here he learned to work hard and not give up. He learned that there are a lot of people much smarter than him, and that this is OK. He learned it was cool to be smart.
Soon my son will go from being top at his high school to being middle of the pack in college. He will find things that are harder than he has ever seen. CTY prepared him for this, and prepared him well.
Hope this helps.
Definitely take the test for a summer gifted program. My son chose WCATY since we were in Wisconsin and it was great (although he always came home thinking his equally smart parents weren’t- nothing like being with one’s peers for three weeks). He had taken both the ACT and the SAT (different years) in middle school through the Midwest Talent search.
My son took his SAT at 8th grade in order to qualify for the summer program. I remembered clearly that they advised everyone to take SAT before grade 9 as colleges will see all test scores taken from Grade 9. However those taken before grade 9 won’t be seen.
Sorry,
I sent some misspelled one.
I will be more through in completing writing.
My S took the SAT in 7th grade in order to participate in the Johns Hopkins CTY program. He attended for 4 years, until he aged out, and he loved the experience, both socially and intellectually. His interest at the time was philosophy, not something he could study at school.We found that the CTY program was very well run, particularly in the way they managed a bunch of young kids, most of whom were away from home for the first time.
He also received a substantial scholarship every year, more than half the cost, IIRC.
Thank you so much for your kind and helpful
advices.
I guess the best way is to contact the summer school my son likes to participate in
regarding my concern.
And is there anyone has heard about Columbia
universty summer program?
Theoretically speaking, it should not matter if he takes the test now since the test is changing next year.
It is very common for gifted programs to require SAT testing. CTY does it starting in the 7th grade, and has awards based on scores, as well as a separate “Study for Exceptional Talent” center for kids scoring 700 or higher on any section before turning 13. The Davidson Institute also accepts ACT and SAT scores starting with 7th grade, with specific cutoffs.
I’d have your kid go ahead. I think any college that does require all test scores won’t pay attention to the 9th grade scores. One of my kids attended the Davidson THINK program, and it was really life altering for her; she is 20 now. Don’t overthink the 9th grade test score issue, have him test if he is interested in those types of programs.
My older son took a course at Columbia’s High School Summer program many years ago. Since we live in the area he commuted in so I can’t tell you much about how much supervision there was. It was a class in computer graphics and they programmed some simple games. He learned that graphics was not really his thing, but he learned a lot and the professor wrote a very detailed letter of recommendation for him.
Like others, my kids took the SAT in middle school for the CTY talent search. My older son took their courses three years in a row and loved them. My younger son had zippo interest in doing anything remotely academic in the summer. The only issue with taking the SAT in 9th grade is that the College Board only tosses the middle school scores. But I do believe colleges can read score reports and won’t hold it against a kid if their 9th grade score is lower than the one they’ll have in 11th or 12th grade. If he’s interested in the program, he should just not worry and take the test.
Do be aware you don’t have to do something academic in the summer. It’s also okay to work or volunteer.
I may be wrong, but I don’t think colleges receive 9th grade scores, unless perhaps they are SATIIs.
@Leolove where does your family live? I ask because there is also a very nice gifted summer program at UVA in Virginia which doesn’t require SAT scores. If you make an appointment with your child’s guidance counselor, they may be aware of additional programs in your area and may be able to recommend the one most appropriate for your child.
Only scores obtained by 8th grade will be purged. So test score from 9th grade will show up in the report unless you use score choice.
https://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/register/special/8th-grade
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