<p>My son started taking it in 7th grade because he qualified for it. He could have gone to those special programs, but chose not to. I do think the experience of taking the test when the stakes are zero is a plus. Everyone should have this chance imo.</p>
<p>My daughter took it for a scholarship. Did no prep. She was in 7th grade. Did pretty well considering. I tolde her not to worry, whatever it was it was, so that’s why no prep.</p>
<p>They offer 7th and 8th graders here a chance to take the SAT if they score in the top percentile of state-administered proficiency exams. It’s sponsored by John’s Hopkins gifted and talented program…which also offers for-pay summer seminars on leadership, etc… for anyone who is interested. We saw that part of it being a money-taker.</p>
<p>A lot of kids here sieze the opportunity to sit for the exam in 7th and 8th grade, as a chance to better understand what they’ll encounter when it eventually does count. It can also give young students a leg-up on prepping and sitting for the SSAT or their local Diocese HS entrance exam (prep & Catholic HS exams).</p>
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<p>I don’t know exactly what you mean by “a money-taker,” but you appear to have misinformation regarding the nature of CTY. It is NOT like those pseudo-leadership events that come with fundraising suggestions. CTY summer programs are not “leadership” confabs, they are intense intellectual experiences aimed at kids who thrive on that kind of thing.</p>
<p>CC has many threads in which parents testify to the wonderful intellectual–and social–experiences their kids had at CTY programs. (Mine among them.)</p>
<p>^I will attest to the fact that CTY is phenomenal. I agree they are pricey, but they actually offer really good financial aid, even for middle class families. Their website may make it seem like only low income students get aid but it’s not true. The programs have unbelievable faculty and staff and the social experience can transform a nerdy middle school kid’s quality of life.</p>
<p>Just want to echo Consolation - my son learned math in CTY as part of a game theory course that he didn’t see again until he was a senior in high school taking a quantum mechanics course. The courses were incredible - even the mathy courses were interdisciplinary and exposed my kid to ideas and theories that served him in good stead for years.</p>
<p>CTY is costly. But it’s worth every penny. That’s based on our experiences.</p>
<p>Back to the issue to taking the SAT in middle school - to my D. it’s worth the trouble because she got to see what the test was like, and more importantly, she got the chance to do CTY, which is one of the greatest things in her life.</p>
<p>An elite private in my city gives the SATs to all of its high achieving 7th graders. Similarly, our public school district offers the opportunity to take the SATs in 9th grade to all kids who consistently score in the very high 90th percentiles on standardized state tests. My daughter’s best friend was one of these public school kids who took the SAT the summer before 9th grade. She did… only OK. By the time she took the SATs in her junior year, her score was hundreds of points higher.</p>
<p>Just FYI, the kids are NOT supposed to prepare in any way to take the test as middle schoolers. It’s a baseline/FYI kind of experience. My twin Ds took the SAT in 7th grade for Duke TIP. We would have loved to have sent them both to the summer camps but $8K is a LOT of money for camp. I know they are fantastic opportunities and know many kids who have gone and had really life-altering experiences regarding subjects they were interested anyway.</p>
<p>I remember taking the SATs in 7th and 8th grade for a prep school. I bombed it the first time I took with a total score of about 1200(all three sections combined). However, the second time i took it, I got a 1470. Its still a low combined score but I got a 760 on the math section and a 710 on both the reading and verbal combined. I didn’t gained addmission into the prep school due to my reading and verbal sections but atleast now I know what I really need to focus on. I am currently a high school sophomore and english is not my first language.</p>
<p>Agree with “For Baseline Only” role of early SAT tests. As mentioned previously, we learned a lot about our D’s strengths and weaknesses. It gave us time to address the weaknesses … some of which were understanding the material and some regarding test-taking. Highly recommended IMHO … so long as this message goes with it: “However you do is fine.”</p>