Hello all-
Does anyone have insight on what tests students can take at the end or summer after sophomore year to ease the burden of Junior year? In other words, if a student has completed Algebra 2 by the end of sophomore year, is it reasonable to say he would be ready for the SAT/ACT at that time?
What about subject tests?
I am just thinking about how to even things out a bit so all of this testing isn’t on the schedule for Junior year.
Thanks in advance.
Not necessarily. Even the math whiz who may likely get an 800 on the math part may not do well on the EBRW part. IMO, the skills/knowledge needed for the EBRW section are ones that come with age, not innate intelligence. Yes, I am sure that somebody knows a 13 yo who scored a 790 or 800 on that part, but they are the 1% of the 1%; for the vast majority of kids, this is something that improves exponentially over time.
If they are in precalc, they can take Math 2. If they are in, or have finished, bio/chem/world history/level 3+ of a foreign language, they can take those, but may need to to some self study to fill in gaps from the classroom.
My older 2 both had precalculus in 10th and took the SAT math 2 subject test at the end of that year and did well. My oldest also had AP bio that year and took the bio subject test at the same time. My middle kid had regular chem in 10th and looked at the practice tests for the chemistry subject test and decided there was a little bit of material that wasn’t covered in the class so instead of taking it in June that year she took in later the summer in August (just after junior year started but before it got busy) so she had a little time over the summer to self-study the material that wasn’t covered in class.
As far as the general SAT, my oldest waited until January of junior year to get started which was still plenty of time but my middle (who had done really well on the 10th grade psat) decided to take a SAT prep class in September of junior year in time to be ready for both the PSAT and the October SAT and then was done with testing other than APs.
Some of it depends on how the student does on practice tests. The student could take the Math 1 Subject Test. But if there’s interest in selective STEM schools, I’d strongly recommend waiting until finishing Pre-Calc and Trig and taking the Math 2 test.
AP courses would also indicate it’s time to take the corresponding Subject test. Or if the student did very well in a first year course and wants to self study over the summer, August would be a good time.
By the end of Algebra 2 a student has the coursework needed for the SAT math topics, but I agree that EBRW skills continue to grow with time (and the student might learn additional techniques/gain depth in math problem solving). If a student is one of the 0.1% referred to above - 1550+ on practice tests - go ahead and take it (my D did). Otherwise waiting make sense. Take the PSAT as a practice test under real conditions that doesn’t count.
Yes, Junior year is a problem with increasing course complexity and testing overhead.