My kids like taking standardized tests - I always thought they were fun too. We made it very, very clear that middle school SAT scores were not going to appear on any permanent record. If they did well they might qualify for some classes. Younger son at first thought he hadn’t done that well, as his score wasn’t as high as his brother’s (which I did not tell him, but of course he asked.) Then his friends started blabbing about their scores and he discovered he’d done better than all of them, even though they mostly had better grades. It gave him a lot of confidence about his test-taking abilities. He liked knowing he could be taking CTY courses, even though he chose regular camp and music camp instead.
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You call it judging. We call it “setting people straight”. 
Kidding… But I didn’t tell people IRL that my kid was testing due partly to expecting a judgemental reaction. But I also admit to judging parents who push test prep on kids in middle school or 9th grade, too.
@intparent “But I also admit to judging parents who push test prep on kids in middle school or 9th grade, too.”
And then there are the kids who are not pushed but want to take the SAT early for the practice and experience…
I look at it similar to the fear or apprehension of public speaking to a large group for the first time. The second time it gets a little easier as you get more comfortable with the environment, etc. Taking the SAT in 8th grade gets rid of some of that “fear” and allows you to take a real timed test without the concern of a final score showing up on your transcript. I really see no downside if its optional and the kid wants to do it. I know my D20 was happy to have taken it.
A kid doesn’t know enough to want that in MS unless a parent pushes it, IMHO. And they can easily burn out by 11th grade when they need to be able to perform on it.
My kids weren’t dummies in middle school. We told them the pros and cons of taking the SAT in middle school. The only real con was that we lose the cost of the test, and they didn’t get to sleep in one Saturday morning. We made it clear that the scores would not stay on their records, but that they might get opportunities if they scored well. We were not expecting them to score like seniors. They scored well above the average score of seniors in our high school. An unexpected benefit was that fact made asking for some acceleration for the kid who needed and wanted it, was a lot easier to justify.
As mentioned, some students take the SAT or ACT in middle school to qualify for various programs that are based on the regional talent search outcomes, based on standardized tests.
There are other reasons why a student might want to take one of these tests in middle school. Admission to programs at local universities may be based on the scores on these tests, with the expectation that a student who would qualify for highly accelerated programs will have taken them in middle school. This situation is usually advertised to the students and their parents in a timely fashion.
What might not be advertised in a timely fashion: In some school districts, admission to accelerated classes is based on the scores on these tests. For example, in the local school, the track that would lead to AP Lit without doubling up on lit classes in some year (hard to accomplish locally) required a student to skip one of the lit classes in the regular sequence and jump to the more advanced one. Admission to the more advanced one was based on SAT scores that the student had as a 9th grader. When I first saw this in the high school list of courses, I thought, “That’s ridiculous! What 9th grader has an SAT score?” Of course, that was some years ago. But this was not really publicized at all.
In an ideal circumstance the GC’s in middle school might point this out to the parents or to the students. If they did, we all missed it. Luckily, my daughter had taken the SAT’s in middle school to qualify for an advanced math program outside of the schools.
A middle schooler in a district where a fair number of other middle school students take the SAT or ACT early on may find out that friends are taking it, and want to take it for that reason, without the parents pushing it.
Given all of the standardized tests that students take in the public schools, I don’t think there is any particular advantage in taking the SAT or ACT just “for practice.” The situation for home schoolers might be different–but that depends on what standardized tests the state requires and how many.
Mine ddn’t know about CTY, his school enrolled him, he was busy with other things so didn’t do any preparation, only took a couple of online practice tests before taking SAT, still scored high enough.
I thought the PSAT served the purpose of giving the student practice for the SAT without showing on a record. My D took the PSAT in 9th and 10th before taking the SAT in 11th. I hope my younger child can do the same.
Also as @QuantMech mentioned there are a couple of High School Honors programs at 2 local universities where we live and my D used her PSAT score to apply and get accepted to both.
My son was two grades ahead for his age (fall birthday) and that comment about middle school age having trouble with the sitting for such a long time- never an issue. Nor was it an issue when he did the middle school EXPLORE test (pre ACT) as a fifth grader. That was extremely useful, btw, as the Midwest Talent Search (Northwestern) comments were good for parents (especially those who needed to approach their school) and it justified his grade advancement/early entry.
The SAT subject tests SHOULD be studied for and taken close to the semester the course is taken. Son told me they were reviewing precalc math in his AP class that fall and that was all he needed- wrong. So much for gifted kid who thought he knew it all…
The PSAT is meant to be the preliminary SAT but is used fall of junior year for the National Merit Scholarship qualifying test- there used to be the acronym in my (and son’s?) day- NMSQT with the PSAT. Neither son nor I studied for it and both were finalists. I really preferred it when all one did was take the test after doing one or two practice versions. Your scores reflected who you were, not who spent tons of time and money in the hopes of doing just a bit better. Being well read and getting good grades yielded high scores. But I suppose those at the margins want the extra points.
The middle school ACT/SAT were used to qualify for programs before one would take the PSAT- and in the middle of winter. For one it was icy and son slipped in the parking lot- almost regretted the decision to go in such conditions. No injury, however.
Unless it’s for a competitive program, I still say all this “practice” can be done in 10th. Sheesh, on other threads, we jump when parents want to plan a kid’s college choices and chances in 8th or 9th.
Oddly, I do believe in “advantaging” onesself, when the true qualifications are there (stretching, etc.) But in 8th, what do they really know about their directions? And what do parents know about abilities?
Of course, there are exceptions. But not all kids can be exceptions. Rather than “practice,” I think some are into “measuring.” If a poster said he/she was pressing the kids for some remarkable activities, or having them sit in on college classes to better “prepare” them for a shot at a top college, you know how posters react.
Early on, D2 wasa a remarkable and highly skilled violinist. So she auditioned ealry for the local youth orchestra which, at that age was competitive to enter but the tier with age appropriate standards. She didn’t go off to some 3 hour assessment and didn’t apply for the group 11th and 12 graders are in, for “practice.”
Wis75, you mentioned PSAT not going on record. Can you, please, confirm that my understanding is correct: SAT goes on student’s record starting from grade 9, PSAT (similar to SAT) does NOT go on record, used for training purposes, can be taken in 9th, 10th and 11th grades once in fall and 11th grade PSAT is used for National Merit Reward? Is that correct?
Lookingforward, I want to comment on your question
“But in 8th, what do they really know about their directions?”
SAT is not specific to a certain subject (at least, regular SAT) - so, whatever direction they choose, they would need to take it for college.
SAT in 7th was good practice, as they went to private school with almost no standardized testing. Also good practice for SSAT in 8th grade. “Prep” was take a practice one at home so they knew what to expect, including filling in the bubble sheet. They took the SAT for CTY, but never ended up taking classes.
Did not ask CollegeBoard to keep the scores, but they are still available from CTY. And they took tests in HS for college application. PSAT in 10&11. SAT subject tests in 9-11 where appropriate. SAT/ACT in 11th.
@2018Summer2018 Your understanding is correct. Any SAT tests taken in high school stay on your record. SATs taken before 9th grade are deleted from your account at the end of each school year unless you request in writing that the College Board retain the scores. The PSAT test results never go on your record, and the 11th grade PSAT score is used for National Merit Competition.
The PSAT score does not get sent to colleges, ever. It may yield lots of college advertising in the mail, but colleges never see the actual PSAT score. There are two possible benefits of the PSAT besides practice, National Merit and National Hispanic Recognition, both of which only apply to the 11th grade PSAT.
National Merit also involves having a confirming SAT score, I think within 12 months of the 11th grade PSAT.
As for the timing generally, it is likely that an 8th grade SAT taker would want to take the SAT in high school for the purpose of college apps, not only for a newer score but also to be sure the score is the highest the student is capable of. I don’t think there are many middle school SAT takers who actually submit the middle school score for college apps.
My S wanted to take it in 8th, but we didn’t have a day that worked out. He could take it in August, but we aren’t sure if that counts as 8th or 9th grade. He will not have started 9th grade yet, but has completed 8th.
"There seems to be plenty of judgement…
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Lol, that and bragging are the two requirements in any p/f thread. Anyway I’m not a big fan of taking it in 8th grade but I do see value for kids that don’t take the yearly standardized tests in elementary or middle. In the old days as others have mentioned, you took the psat in 10th to practice for the sat and psat in 11th. But now, some kids do take a subject test in tenth (typically Math or Math 2) so maybe taking the sat in 8th gives them a feel for such tests.
@shuttlebus , thank you for confirming!
The accelerated math programs at our local university could start in 6th grade, if student qualified then, though most students waited until 7th or 8th grade. These courses were accelerated/compressed high school math, along a Berkeley model. But they offered geometry with proofs (shades of the “olden days”) which is not available in many high schools any more. The algebra courses were also better, especially noticeably on the topics of combinatorics, exponential, log, and trig functions, and conic sections (just from textbook comparisons). Students returned to high school for AP Calculus, then back to the university later. So PSAT scores would not have been available in the right time frame for this.