<p>I post this question here, because "parents know best".</p>
<p>It is true, that it is helpful to take one SAT test before the 13-th birthday of the child? Today I've heard that "kids name would be entered into database of advanced don't know-what".</p>
<p>Is it an urban legend or is it true?</p>
<p>Duke & Johns Hopkins both have programs/talent search for gifted preteens & teens.
Part of the talent search involves taking the SAT in 6th or 7th grade to qualify.
These scores are not reported when you apply to college to my knowledge.</p>
<p>It has been going on for decades, many kids on CC have participated, searches should dig up a few threads.</p>
<p>My daughter took the SAT in 7th gd after her CAT test in 6th gd qualified her.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/287950-duke-tip-super-selective.html?highlight=cty+talent+search[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/287950-duke-tip-super-selective.html?highlight=cty+talent+search</a></p>
<p>My older d. took the SAT before her 13th birthday, and never took it again. (She got an 800 on the verbal).</p>
<p>Scores can be saved on special request to the College Board, and that’s what we did.</p>
<p>mini - </p>
<p>Congratulations, its amazing!</p>
<p>emeraldkity4 ,</p>
<p>What are other benefits of taking SAT in the middle school? My D qualified for gifted search w/out SAT, so she missed the option of taking SAT in the middle school.</p>
<p>She mostly did it to keep her friend company, who then skipped high school and went straight to college.
But if they are already in a program they are happy with, there really isn’t any reason to take it, unless they just like to take tests, like my D.</p>
<p>“skipped high school and went straight to college.”</p>
<p>WOW!</p>
<p>In many parts of the country kids who have been testing in the top 10% or so on normal standardized tests are invited to take the SAT in 7th grade. By taking a test that is designed to be above their level of school knowledge you get a good handle on which kids really might be in need of extra services. The Center for Talented Youth was the first of these programs and started out as a way to identify kids who might benefit from radically accellerating their math curriculum. It snowballed from there. CTY now runs summer programs and distant learning programs. The cut-offs vary, but basically 12 year olds who are performing better than the average high school senior have the opportunity to participate in these programs.</p>
<p>I have to say it was a real eye-opener for us when my oldest got scores in 7th grade that put him way over on the right hand side of a bell curve that already consisted of kids who had been scoring in the top 10% on standardized tests. I finally got why he never found so few academic peers, for the most part there weren’t any.</p>
<p>For us there were two main benefits for him. First, he really enjoyed the summer courses. Second, I never heard a peep from the school after that when we asked for more acceleration. The school system got it, in a way that the usual tests had not. (After all his scores were probably higher than those of most of his teachers.)</p>
<p>For younger son, who was more in the middle of that bell curve, less tangible benefit except he had no fear of the real SAT when it came time for college admissions.</p>
<p>If you are interested in the history of CTY it’s here: <a href=“http://cty.jhu.edu/about/mission/[/url]”>http://cty.jhu.edu/about/mission/</a></p>
<p>“parts of the country kids who have been testing in the top 10% or so on normal standardized tests are invited to take the SAT in 7th grade”</p>
<p>Not in California 
My D. routinely scored in the top 10% on state tests but was never invited. </p>
<p>Thank you for the info. It is an eye-opener for me. I’ll tell it to my nieces and nephews.</p>
<p>Why would you have to be invited? We were homeschooling at the time. We are in the Duke TIP geographic region. I had to send in some sort of qualifying score on another standardized test to enroll him in Duke TIP. I think I had to pay $35 or so?? That enabled ds to take the ACT as a 7th grader and qualify for their programs. It doesn’t <em>have</em> to be done through your school.</p>
<p>We were homeschoolers. I just signed the kids up for SAT. They had never taken a standardized test, so I did have them practice filling out a grid and sitting still as long as was going to be required. They did a practice test.</p>
<p>It was helpful in terms of getting concerned relatives off my back about homeschooling and convinced the powers that be they belonged in the gifted track when they went to high school. I told the powers they belonged in gifted track but they didn’t believe me and said there weren’t any openings till the next year. I found the scores and brought them in and suddenly there was room.</p>
<p>My kids didn’t elect to do any of the summer/on-line programs requiring certain SAT scores.</p>
<p>Is it helpful to take the SAT before age 13? Maybe…but it certainly is NOT necessary (unless required for one of the programs mentioned upstream). Will taking the SAT prior to age 13 increase your chances of doing better in high school…my opinion is probably not.</p>
<p>Our kid was asked to apply to one of the talent search programs in 6th grade and the SAT was required. He declined to do it, and we were with that. There were plenty of other enriching opportunities for him. He took the SAT twice which was plenty.</p>
<p>@californiaaa We were never invited either but we heard about it from friends and did the testing anyway. It was nice to get an early confirmation that even though my boys were not (are not) straight-A students they’d at least have competitive scores. I agree that it makes the process more familiar when the tests that count happen in high school. </p>
<p>You don’t have to send the scores to anybody if you just want the experience. CTY summer programs are expensive but they do offer scholarships. For some kids it is their first chance to be immersed in a community of academic peers. </p>
<p>We also discovered we’d have to work hard to prep for the essay.</p>
<p>Thanks. It’s really an eye opener for me. </p>
<p>My D. was accepted to the talent search program through her middle school (I forgot how), but she never participated (I don’t know why).</p>
<p>It’s true that you don’t have to be invited. But some schools do have systems in place to identify kids who are most likely to benefit from these programs.</p>
<p>“My kids didn’t elect to do any of the summer/on-line programs requiring certain SAT scores.”</p>
<p>We got Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to force Johns Hopkins’ programs to spend on the money on what we wanted, rather than their online course (which we thought in our experience to be mostly a waste of time - we found better stuff in our community). Hopkins was ****ED (because they make a fortune off their offerings.)</p>
<p>Wow. Smart.</p>
<p>I’m trying to follow. She qualified for scholarships at CTY because of her scores?</p>
<p>ETA: of course she did. Just reread earlier post.</p>
<p>Hopkins does not make a penny off their offerings.</p>
<p>CTY is a standalone organization within Johns Hopkins; it is supported by charitable donations, user fees, and foundation/corporate support.</p>
<p>Mini- if you don’t like CTY then don’t have your kids attend. But to claim that the university makes money off of the HS programs is absurd- and the folks who run CTY would be thrilled to think that ANYONE believes that offering gifted and talented supplemental education could be perceived as a profitable endeavor. Plus the research they are conducting on academically precocious children- as everyone knows, that’s a real profit-maker.</p>
<p>I have always assumed that every residential summer program is a money maker for the university?</p>