In case anyone is interested, New Mexico Tech has 2 “summer STEM experience” options. It’s Mon-Fri residential program with room & board included for $525. Kid gets 1 unit of college credit. Different courses offered for 2 different weeks - 1 in June (6/12-6/17) and 1 in July (7/11-7/15). Must currently be a HS sophomore or junior (i.e., you’re wrapping up 10th or 11th grade).
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That is ridiculous! I’m sorry. Our high school doesn’t offer it either (despite almost every other neighboring school district offering it to their students). I was able to get 15 miles away. We’ll see what happens though since cancellations were rampant in our area the past 2 years. D22 ended up 80 miles away because all her original test centers canceled. Thankfully the proctor was amazing- she totally relaxed the kids and as a result D22 did well and was one and done.
I thought 2023 dates would be open too but looked like only to December 2022. I wonder when 2023 dates will be available.
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I know. Our school district also has once a year but they have not yet told us when that will be. I just want to be done with testing before junior year becomes busy and if school has later in the year I dont want to wait. If school does open up we can do a change of venue for a fee and plan to do that.
We’re glad to have AP testing behind us!
I guess it’s time to get on the registrations for the SAT and ACT. It’s always something.
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So after being careful for over 2 years S24 has COVID the day before his last audition of the season. Now waiting on the school to see if we can reschedule, and if I will get it, UGH!!!
Oh oh! Hope he feels better soon.
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I did the same thing for S24.
Is there any reason to take SAT this early?
My son’s reasons for taking it early:
- Prep over the summer when he has less on his plate
- Conclude testing before HS ice hockey season (hockey takes up about 25 hours/week for him from early November to mid-March)
After hockey, he’ll be focused on AP exams and finals.
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That makes sense.
Has anyone used UC Scout to beef up their child’s A-G classes? My daughter’s school is small and there aren’t enough students to offer multiple slots for AP/honors and as a result, she has a conflict. She is trying to have as many weighted classes as possible in junior year for the UCs. She would have to drop DE history and move to Honors. On its face that is fine because both are weighted but it won’t be most rigorous possible. This kid actually wants a UC whereas her brother was only really interested in Cal so I want her to a least be in the running academically. The other alternative is to drop AP Physics and take a different class.
similar reason as @Marzipane. S24 Has a Saturday music program during the school year that is difficult to miss for SAT testing day and I have not been successful in finding an alternative testing site. This also involved 20-30 hours a week time commitment and he takes all honors and AP classes. This year is also hoping to do at least one and possibly two sports. Any way to clear something off the schedule over a calmer summer is optimal.
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Pretty much the same reasons. We have more time over the summer to review and then just think about the test rather than add it in with everything else going on. Having it done earlier in Junior year takes some pressure off, I think.
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Both my D24 and D22 felt like they would likely do better taking SAT once school was in session and they were in test taking mode. They also wanted a break from studying over the summer aside from AP summer homework for AP Lang and AP Calculus. Plan for D24 is to take in December, March and June (if necessary). That was plan for D22 but she had a whole bunch of test cancellations so just took once in May.
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my D24 just got her PSAT score. While she got perfect score in Math, much improvement is needed in English. She was running out of time while practicing for Reading/Writing. Considering she has busy summer coming up with the math camp and Junior research project for the school, she may not have time to prepare. So she takes the PSAT first in junior year and later towards the end of the Junior year she might take the SAT.
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Our plan is to try and get it out of the way this summer, if he doesnt get the score he wants he may go test optional or try again next summer if he is admitted to the school year program that he wants. In the current environment I am not sure the SAT is worth a year of studying and multiple test days for high stats and competitive EC kids
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We have similar reason as others have said for taking SAT early.
- He has been done with the math portion of the SAT since 9th grade. The longer we wait the more prep he may actually have to do for SAT math
- S24 plays tennis and his winter/spring are very busy because of that.
- Also he plans to take 3 to 4 Ap’s in 11th grade so he will be very busy in 11th grade. so taking the Summer/Fall SAT makes sense for us.
- PSAT is in October of 11th grade for us so kids so the SAT around this time so kids do both SAT and PSAT so they do well in PSAT for national merit.
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Our school has 50+ kids who are nation merit finalists from PSAT in 11th grade October and from what I know one of the reason for this that kids do SAT also around the same time as PSAT so they do well on PSAT also. Something to think about.
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S24 will take the PSAT in October and prep this summer (he took the PSAT10 this past spring). Given that he is planning on taking the SAT about the same time, does anyone have an opinion if there would be any benefit to choosing the SAT test date right before the PSAT or would the date after make a difference?
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D24 will take the August SAT after studying this summer. The thinking is to have the studying and SAT done before PSAT, providing the best chance at NMF. As a donut hole family without T20 aspirations, NMF seems like it could lead to more merit opportunities than a slightly higher SAT. With many target universities in the UC and CSU system, SAT score will only have impact on a small portion of the schools she will be interested in.
As others have said, all the relevant math has already been learned, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to delay.
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