<p>There’s nothing wrong with taking the SAT early. Just don’t count o “impressing the colleges” by getting the high score as a sophomore. All they care about is the final score, not the grade in which you got it.
Some kids can get very good scores as sophomores. It certainly is nice to be done with the tests early.</p>
<p>^^ I agree with the above post on all points.</p>
<p>I also checked the NMSF rules and according to their website any SAT taken from October of Sophomore year through Dec of Senior year will be fine to fulfill their requirement to advance from Semifinalist to Finalist.</p>
<p>Taking the SAT as a sophomore helped my son prepare to take the PSAT as a junior. It also gave him a nice confidence boost when he naturally raised his SAT score in a junior-year retake. 
Having scores helped him to apply for interesting summer programs.</p>
<p>I don’t think top colleges will be impressed with middling-high (2000-2200) scores achieved in sophomore year; that’s a silly reason to take the test as a soph imho. However, I don’t think there’s any harm in it. I told mine not to worry about prepping as a soph, just to glance over the blue book I supplied and then go in with an eye toward getting familiar with the test. Taking the test was to be his prep for the test. That approach worked well for him.</p>
<p>Aside to Jakor, you are mistaken. NMSF status is determined entirely by PSAT test scores. NMF status is determined by the content of the application. Nobody knows the precise method, but based on past CC threads we can say with reasonable certainty that it does factor in both grades and qualifying SAT scores.</p>
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This is correct. NMSF is determined only by PSAT. In order to advance to NMF the student has to submit an SAT score to NM corporation (in addition to completing the paperwork), and the SAT score has to “confirm” the PSAT score (i.e. has to be approximately in the same range). The SAT can be taken before the PSAT.</p>
<p>My D took a slightly different approach by taking the SAT in Jan. of her junior year, immediately after getting the results of her PSAT. She took a class to prepare for the PSAT and based on her results, her teacher suggested the SAT timing. She was very happy with her score and never took it again. It was an enormous relief to have one piece of the puzzle complete well ahead of time.</p>
<p>I think your son take SAT in 10th grade only if he could get 2200+, otherwise take it in Junior year.</p>
<p>It would be much more useful, IMHO, to take an SAT II in a subject he’s taking this year in which he is doing well.</p>
<p>For example, if he’s taking chemistry or biology this year, June would be a good time to take the SAT II in that subject. At no point will he be more prepared. (Although I would get the college board or PR prep book and make sure all the material is covered–it isn’t always, even in an honors class.)</p>
<p>On the other hand, his SAT I score is likely to go up in the future, as are SAT IIs in languages and other multi-year subjects. A 2200+ as a sophomore doesn’t look anywhere near as good as a 2300+ as a junior.</p>
<p>I must say that I think your kid would be better served by devoting more energy to worthwhile activities like music or volunteering or athletics or reading for pleasure than by studying for SATs and taking practice tests at this age…</p>
<p>My dd did the opposite-took 3 SAT subject tests her sophomore year because she was finishing up Pre-Calculus and 2 AP classes. </p>
<p>She took the SAT her junior year, but was already done with her subject tests. I really believe the Critical Reading score increases with maturity and another year of being a voracious reader. She had an excellent AP English Language teacher her junior year also.</p>
<p>My gut instinct is you take the SAT when you have your best chance of getting a tip-top score, not when you know you can do fairly well.</p>
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<p>Sort of, only with the ACT. My son had to take it as a sophomore in order to apply to his current school, which has competitive admissions. He got a 35, the highest by 3 points of the 100-odd kids in his class.</p>
<p>Since then, two other kids have also scored 35’s, and there are a few 34’s and 33’s as well. His 35 is still impressive, but no one cares when he got it. All it did was free him from having to take the test again this year.</p>
<p>My advice: Take the SAT early out of curiosity if you wish, but beyond that, think nothing of it. Your highest score is the one that will matter, regardless of whether you were 10 or 18 when you got it. Good luck!</p>
<p>Confidence boost or reality check. Either way it’ll be helpful. You’ll have at least a year and a half to improve if need be.</p>
<p>For high scorers is it worth retaking to attempt a perfect score? Is there an advantage to a perfect score if otherwise you has a near perfect score? Will it look bad to retake it several times?</p>
<p>^No, no, yes. For instance, see what Ys Dean of UG admissions says:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2009/01/16/no-choice-on-scores/[/url]”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2009/01/16/no-choice-on-scores/</a></p>
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<p>What’s your definition of high scorer? (also, in which grade was this high score achieved?)</p>
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<p>From this, I assumed 750+s.</p>
<p>I would agree that a near perfect score would be at 750 or above.</p>
<p>I found out yesterday that my son received a 231 as a sophomore on PSAT and he seems to only get incorrect answers by careless mistakes (e.g. the 2 incorrect math problems were an easy and medium question). So, I’m thinking he has a shot at a perfect score if he gave it enough tries (there’s always an element of luck). I’m wondering if he should try the SAT in the spring or wait until his junior year. </p>
<p>(excuse my typo - ‘otherwise you have a near perfect score’)</p>
<p>No matter how many tried my older son made (not so many!) he made careless mistakes in math. The last time the problem he got wrong was something any fourth grader could have done. He actually ended up with better scores in CR even though he’s a total math/science guy. (Now majoring in comp sci. and minoring in physics.)</p>
<p>tquenn, if he’s agreeable to this quest, I don’t see much of a down side to giving the SAT a try this spring. </p>
<p>If he doesn’t want to take an official test, he could do some practice tests this summer, so he’s had practice going into taking the SAT when he’s a junior.</p>
<p>tquenn, my son got a 2350 on the SAT (as a sophomore), and after the score sank in, he turned to me and started to ask if he should take it again to try for a perfect score; he didn’t even have to finish the question before he got my answer: NO!! He missed two math questions, one of which he realized he’d messed up when working on the next section of the SAT. It was soooo not worth taking again for two wrong answers!!</p>
<p>A 231 on the PSAT is great! Your son will likely do very well on the SAT, and I don’t see a down side to his taking the SAT this spring, either. If he’s interested in taking it, let him take it. If he does really well, he’s done!</p>