My son, who’s a junior, did very well on the PSAT, so he is planning to take the SAT, probably in April, to continue on in the National Merit qualifying process.
He has already taken the ACT (with Writing), and also did very well on that.
Given all that, we’re wondering if he needs to do the optional essay section of the SAT. As best I’ve been able to determine, the essay is not required for the NMS. And since he can report his ACT scores to schools, it seems he wouldn’t need it for sending scores to schools.
Anything wrong with that logic? Are there other reasons he should do the essay?
@csdad2 my D3 just took the SAT on Saturday for the same reason. She too has an ACT with Essay so we saw no reason for her to take the essay portion of the SAT. Hoping we are correct in that thinking! I don’t think the NMSQT 2017 guidelines even mentioned it.
I had contacted her schools of interest to see what their requirements were for a standardized test with essay. While the college websites are just now in process of updating for the new SAT, it appears that many schools are no longer even requiring an essay either for ACT or SAT. So definitely check with your son’s schools of interest to find out what they would like to see, especially if his SAT turns out to be a great score and he wishes to submit it. What we found is that even for schools requiring that all scores be sent, all they need is one essay sample (from one test). And for schools that simply required either test, they are fine with getting both test scores and then just using the best composite score (either test) and then using the essay from the ACT. Personally, I don’t think that schools wish to see kids taking and retaking standardized tests - they’d rather see the applicants working on other aspects of their application!
Here is what the Guide for the NMSQT 2017 competition says about advancing from semi to finalist:
take the SAT® and earn scores that confirm the PSAT/NMSQT performance that resulted in Semifinalist standing;
We interpreted that to mean w/o essay is fine. But I think I’ll ask just to make sure and I’ll report back here when I hear back. Certainly, the SAT w/o essay fulfills #6. But so can previous SAT’s which DO include the essay automatically. The lack of clarity on this question is rather surprising considering that the new SAT has been in the works for awhile.
Update: Just got off the phone with NMSC and they do not consider the essay portion of the SAT. So taking the new SAT w/o essay is fine as far as NM is concerned. Good to know for sure. D3 is very ready to be done with standardized testing.
@Mamelot : Thanks for checking on that. That confirms that the NMS doesn’t require the essay. So most likely the logic we’re both using here is justified.
But sometimes the logic/strategy to use in test-taking can be a little convoluted/unintuitive, which is mostly why I asked. Hopefully we’re not missing anything :-). There are enough details to worry about it in the college search/application process.
No problem @csdad. Frankly, when I saw your post I was like "sheesh I never did check on that . . . ". Panic moment. I agree that logic may not be the rule of the day in these things so I’m very glad I checked it out for sure. Now we both can rest easy.