<p>I’m not a big fan of taking SAT or ACT so early. Kids tend to do better as they gain exposure to more of the math topics, and every year they get more practice with reading and writing skills. Also, many kids just improve with maturity. </p>
<p>Furthermore, I’ve heard that some colleges frown on more than 2~3 attempts at the same test. The quote I’ve seen on CC is that it starts to look like an extracurricular activity, and colleges prefer to see other extracurriculars.</p>
<p>If all you want is exposure, buy a prep book and take practice tests at home. You can have her take them early on Saturday mornings and otherwise simulate actual test conditions, if you want. And you can self-score the practice exams to get reads on her prospective scores – without their staying on the record.</p>
<p>zbreeze and Pepper, Thank you much for responding. CC is my best classroom in my children’s education. We’ll check on the SAT subject tests required by colleges for sure.</p>
<p>D’s school goes well so far. She got several big AP gov. assignments and has been busy working on them. The AP gov teacher warned them at the beginning that AP course was going to be hard and they should expect a lot of homework. He was right!</p>
<p>I’m going to kind of agree and kind of disagree with Michal. I think the time to take standardized tests is when the kid has finished, but is closest to the material. So for some kids, it’s right to take tests early, and for some it’s right to take tests later. </p>
<p>The trade-off is that sometime late in Junior year, some kids start getting stressed out about the implications of what they’re doing and how it will effect their college prospects. It seems that stress grows until the applications are in. So taking the SAT in the fall of Junior year was a stress-avoidance strategy in our household (for D’12), and worked very well. Taking SAT II exams right after the course completed was a good strategy too. May of Junior year, with all of the AP tests, made an additional SAT II a real pressure cooker, and even though there was synergy from studying for the AP, it was not a pleasant 2 weeks (and I have a kid who handles stress very well). It was really great to already have 2 SAT II exams and the SAT I in the bag (so to speak) at that point.</p>
<p>I am not a fan of taking standardized tests multiple times, though I know this is a common strategy. I’m also not a fan of test preparation other than understanding the format and timing of the exam. My view is that these tests are necessary evils to be able to pass an initial screen, and that they can and will suck up too much time and energy if you let them. But every kid has different strengths and weaknesses, and YMMV.</p>
<p>IJustDrive is absolutely correct about the SATII subject tests. Take those a the end of the appropriate class that covers the material (e.g., Algebra II for Math1 -or- Pre-Calculus for Math2). But keep in mind that some subjects are only offered certain dates and not others. </p>
<p>Be warned that in some subjects the AP curriculum does not align well with what’s covered on the SATII subject test. For example, at our HS, the H.Chem curriculum lines up well with the Chemistry SATII but the AP Chem class does not. Kids that take AP Chem need to self-study the extra topics, or else they do not score as well as the H.Chem kids.</p>
<p>However, my impression is that Kelowna was asking about timing for the regular SAT or ACT tests, which cover general college-readiness skills rather than specific topics. For those, I still think that you’re better off pushing them into Junior year. Some people recommending taking both the PSAT and SAT together in October of junior year. I feel that this is (at best) a waste of time, because whatever SAT score you get – unless it’s 2400 – you’re going to feel you could do better if you take it again later. At worst, it’s a distraction – because the PSAT and SAT content and format are sufficiently different that you’re better off studying for each test separately. </p>
<p>A fairly agressive schedule for testing is:
practice PSAT and/or PLAN in Oct of sophomore year to get an early estimate
if you’ve finished appropriate subjects, take SATII(s) in spring of sophomore year
study for PSAT the summer between sophomore and junior year, hoping to do well enough that October to qualify for NMSF.
take SAT/ACT in spring of junior year, working around the SATII dates
take SATII(s) at the end of junior year, in whatever subject(s) match your junior year classes. If taking AP classes, the May test date works well, since you’re already primed for AP tests. If not taking APs, may want to take SAT subjects in June – especially for west coast schools with late end of school year.
study for SAT/ACT the summer between junior and senior year, and take it in the first opportunity in the fall.<br>
If you’re not happy with your scores, most colleges will accept October or even November test dates even for EA/ED, and will accept December and January test dates for RD.</p>
<p>A less aggressive/more normal schedule for testing is:
take the PSAT in October of junior year because your English teacher handed everyone the paperwork
take the SAT or ACT, without having studied one iota, in spring of junior year or fall of senior year
decide you’re not happy with your the scores from your first SAT/ACT sitting. Resolve to study and re-take. Maybe get around to studying, maybe not. Retake in fall of senior year, or maybe not.
realize “oh bleep!, I need one or two SATIIs for some of my apps!” Take these fall of senior year. Or else decide that you don’t really need to apply to those schools after all.</p>
<p>We are going to our college nights event this evening-more than 250 universities and colleges will be represented at school cafeteria and gym. S1 did not attend until he was a junior and I felt it was a little late and we should have gone in his sophomore year. So with S2 we are starting now and he is interested in looking into military academies.</p>
<p>Yup. Ours is tonight. I’ll be there for sure., but neither my D2012 nor my D2015 plans to attend. That’s hardly unusual, judging from what I’ve seen in past years – mostly parents, and just a few reluctant grumpy teens in tow.</p>
<p>Our High school PTSO hosts a college fair and a college info night. To be honest the info night is by far the more interesting. The " fair" tends to be college rep normally an Alum or a young admin rep with the standard handouts. The info night which is for parents only has speakers on Financial Aid, SAT prep type companies, College Planner and maybe an admission officer for a local state U. I have gone to this night twice for my older D and will attend again next year when D2 is a sophomore.</p>
<p>Our district offers two college nights every year. Everyone is invited including students of all grades and parents. Most colleges/universities have tables set up and some schools have classrooms set up to do presentations.</p>
<p>Anyone else getting ready for the first Homecoming for our students? Parade today, game tomorrow and the dance is Saturday night in the school gym.</p>
<p>Not sure if D will be in the parade. The softball team has an important game at 5:30. The coach is pretty intense and I can’t see her allowing the girls to walk in the parade rather than warm up.</p>
<p>Hi Gibson, my D15 's school has it next week.The funny thing was my d15 came homae and said she was nominated by her class as the freshman homecoming queen.I was surprised as she is very quite and not known by many kids since she comes from a small charterr school.Later in the day it struck me that she is the only freshman girl in the homeroom which is journalism so she was nominated.She convinently left out the detail.</p>
<pre><code> When i asked her about it,she could not stop laughing.Funny kids.
</code></pre>
<p>As with the SAT II subject test ,will any of your kids be taking them?D15 is taking chem Honors so thinking about it.</p>
<p>tripleamom – you can go to your favorite bookstore and flip through the college board prep book for whatever SAT subject test(s) you’re thinking about, to see how it lines up with the syllabus / curriculum of your class(es). That can help you decide whether to take it now, take it later, or take something else later.</p>
<p>tripleamom - D’15 will be taking math II and perhaps Bio. We’ll see how the year progresses. D’12 took chemistry after taking honors chem freshman year and did very well, so that’s a reasonable strategy.</p>
<p>Thank you mihcal1 & IJustDrive,D15 verified with her teacher and the syllabus covers the SAT II chem.IJustDrive what prep books did your D’12 use for preparation?
But the thing is she planning to take Euro AP classes in the community college and self study for the AP exam.</p>
<pre><code> Will this two clash over?I am just worried if its going to be too much.
</code></pre>
<p>There is a whole CC forum on prepping for various exams.</p>
<p>My D2012 used the Barron’s SAT Subject Test Chemistry prep book, along with Schaum’s Outline of College Chemistry for extra problems. </p>
<p>Be careful with the Schaums, though, because the problems go all the way up through college level, way beyond what is on the SATII exam. A good guideline is to work all the solved problems, and the first ~1/3 of the practice problems.</p>
<p>Can someone recommend an AP physics review/test prep book if you have kids who went through that? D.'s school physics teacher asks me to help. I’m a college physics prof. so content-wise I won’t have trouble but I have no experience with high school AP. Thanks. </p>
<p>D.'s AP gov. had the first quiz. She did badly. Everybody did badly. Some students quit. (The teacher said how come you guys drop off like birds? ) D. wants to stay. She loves the subject and likes the teacher. Needs to learn teacher’s test style. For example, to prep for this quiz, she read the textbook, and focused on the high lighted topics and terms. But she said the quiz questions don’t any of those she studied.</p>
<p>Maxwellequations,you can check the AP thread on CC.You can find suggestions for good books.I think the kids need some adjustment time with HS as the studying pattern is different for some subjects.</p>
<p>Maxwellequations – Is this for Physics B (non-calculus) or Physics C (calculus-based)? For Physics B, Serway & Faughn College Physics is very popular. For Physics C, the classic book is Halliday / Resnick / Walker’s Fundamentals of Physics. Schaum’s Outlines is still the go-to source for extra practice problems, with the same caveat as above for difficulty. For test prep, Barron guides tend to be good, but check the CC test prep forum for their suggestions.</p>
<p>tripleamom – my D2012 usually starts preparing for exams 2~3 months in advance, working the prep around her regular schoolwork as time allows. She shoots for ~1/2 hour/day x 5 days/week, but that doesn’t always happen.</p>
<p>In terms of whether both SATII Chem and AP Euro are doable: there are plenty of kids that take both each year. The AP exams are in early May, so most kids study for APs first, and then use the time between that and the June SAT date to really bear down and prepare for the latter. However, just because some kids do it, doesn’t mean that your kid should do it. Only you and your D can judge what is appropriate for her.</p>
We’ll check on the SAT subject tests required by colleges for sure.</p>