Taking the SAT in junior year: fall?

Test Preparation
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore in high school and I took the PSAT last October. I'm starting to prepare for the SAT, and I'm planning to take it in October of my junior year and then in the spring of junior year again if I need to.
I know that most people take it in the spring of junior year and then fall of 12th grade, but I think I plan to apply early decision so senior year will be too late.
Does it sound okay to take the SAT early in my junior year? Please let me know what you think or if you have a similar situation! </p>

<p>Thanks! </p>

2

<p>You have to take the PSAT junior year for it to “count” for NMSQT. Focus on that and take the SAT later. </p>

3

<p>It’s fine to take the SAT early junior year. Also most schools will take senior fall sat scores for ED, just check the school’s policy on it’s website. Currently a junior who took the SAT earlier this fall and in January. </p>

4

<p>I took both the SAT and PSAT in October of junior year and the SAT again in March of that year (when I raised my score by 100 points). Your preparation for the SAT also is good for the PSAT.</p>

5

<p>What’s the latest, practically, to take a final ACT and SAT if you’re going for ED/EA? </p>

6

<p>@itsisha–it is perfectly appropriate to take the SAT in Oct of your Jr year as long as you have prepped for it. The SAT prepping will serve you well for the PSAT. If NMSF is a possibility, I would also sit for a couple of practice PSATs just to get used to the timing, but if you prepped for SAT this summer, you could easily take the exam in Oct.</p>

<p>Oct is a QAS month, so you would be able to obtain a copy of the test and your responses vs. correct responses. Delivery is approximately six to eight weeks after the Oct exam date.</p>

<p>As to scheduling second sitting for March….take a look at your school year from both an academic and EC perspective. Try to determine when you will have the most free time on weekends prior to the SAT to sit for practice exams. You may want to consider taking the second sitting prior to spring of your Jr year as you might need the May or June exam dates for Subject Tests, and you may be busy with APs, Finals, Prom, whatever.</p>

7

<p>Your plan sounds fine. The latest test for EA/ED is often in October. However, I would not count on it. You will have a lot of pressure when it is getting close to the deadline and you may not have a chance to look at the score to decide target school before filling applications. Ideally, get all your SAT1, SAT2, and/or ACT done by June of Junior year. Use the summer to compile a list of match/reach/safety schools based on your test scores and GPA. Then visit some campuses over the summer to narrow down the list. Start working on the essays for college applications too. The CommonApp prompts should be out in Spring. By the end of Summer, you should be ready to submit some EA/ED applications. Once school resume, confirm your LOR and submit scores and transcripts. That would be the ideal situation.</p>

8

<p>I’m going to disagree with everyone else. I don’t like your plan. I’d sugges waiting and taking the SAT I for the first time in March. In October, take the PSAT… When you get the results–which is usually some time in December-- see where you messed up and focus your SAT prep on those areas. If you take the SAT in October, you won’t have the PSAT results yet and won’t have that feedback, which for most students is very helpful. </p>

<p>In March, take the SAT. The SAT IIs aren’t offered on the March date. That leaves you two test dates–May and June–for both the SAT I and II. If you are taking the SAT IIs, use one of those dates for them. You can use the other to retake the SAT I if you need to reake. Or you can wait until the fall of senior year and take it. I’d suggest May or June, though. </p>

<p>Again, I think it can really help to have your PSAT results in hand so you know where you fell short before you take the SAT I. Plus, if you aren’t on an accelerated math track, you’re likely to learn some math between October and March which will help your score. </p>

<p>You’re in better shape than most because you’ll have your sophomore PSAT results to guide you. Still, especially if you aren’t accelerated in math, they aren’t as much help because you’ll have learned a lot of math between October of sophomore year and October of junior year. </p>

9

<p>normally, I agree with jonri, but here I do not. You should take it when you are ready. There is no much between Oct and Mar.</p>

<p>Soph summer is for PSAT prep. If scoring highly, then the only reason NOT to take the SAT in October is if you are taking Alg II as a Jr. The PSAT has zero Alg II problems on it, but the SAT has a handful of Alg II problems included. Obviously, if you have just started Alg II, SAT-M will likely be a low score. But if you have completed Alg II as a Soph, you are good to go with the SAT-M.</p>

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<p>If preparing properly over the summers, weaknesses will be readily evident. Not sure the OP needs the PSAT to tell him/her what they are.</p>

10

<p>It’s perfectly OK to take the SAT the fall of your junior year. Over the summer, you should prepare for the PSAT, which is extremely similar to the SAT, and then take both in October. I did this and scored well on both, and didn’t have to take the SAT again in the spring. </p>

11

<p>If you’re a strong student and highly motivated, feel free to take the SAT during your sophomore year.</p>

<p>Most students take the SAT one or more times during their junior year. There are advantages to taking the test earlier rather than later.</p>

<p>Take the Subject tests after you finish the corresponding class and whenever you are prepared to take them. If you plan to take a foreign language Subject test with listening, check the College Board website for test dates.</p>

12

<p>If you have the time and motivation to prep for the SAT the summer before your junior year, I think taking the SAT in Oct or Dec is the smartest way to handle these tests. You should plan to be about as prepped as you’re going to be in the fall of your junior year anyhow if you are trying for NM. My daughter took the SAT in Dec and that worked very well for her, but in retrospect, I think Oct is really the optimal date. That gives you time to retake in March if you need to and still be done with the SAT so as to leave time in the spring (and test dates) for SAT2 and AP tests.</p>

13

<p>My daughter took the SAT in October of junior year (as did several of her classmates) and again on March 8. She is taking Subject Tests in June. She will take SAT in Oct. of senior year if need be.</p>

14

<p>When did this early testing trend emerge? Sure, if you can pull a near perfect score at age 13, take it at age 13. But by and large, any single person can benefit from additional practice and maturity. Just naturally aging should help with the vocabulary, reading skills, writing skills, and math fluency. </p>

<p>SAT testing needs to happen in October because everybody turns into a pumpkin come spring time for AP and SAT 2 testing? And we need entire summers to make college lists? We can no longer walk and chew gum at the same time?</p>

<p>Not even ten years ago, I seldom heard of a junior even ponder take the SAT before March or May. </p>

<p>The SAT is more important in the college application process than SAT 2 and AP scores, all else equal. Why the rush to get this test over with?</p>

15

<p>@satteacher, taking the SAT in the fall of junior year frees up both the May and June test dates for SAT2. A kid taking multiple AP tests in May isn’t likely to have much time in the few weeks leading up to the May date to spend on SAT prep anyhow. With EC’s, school and family events, and the potential of illness, some kids may only have one of those dates available for SAT2s. Taking the SAT in the fall also allows for plenty of time for a retake junior year instead of pushing it off to senior year, when kids are busy with college applications. </p>

<p>For students who are even somewhat accelerated in math, the math portion of the SAT will only become more dim in their memories by senior year. It’s possible they may benefit from those few extra months of high school English instruction, but in their 12th year of schooling, I doubt a few months of instruction will make any significant difference. Instruction is probably balanced out by taking the SAT in the fall, fresher off the summer when most kids have more time to prepare, and before kids are feeling a bit exhausted from a long and busy school year. </p>

<p>Is it a disaster to take in the spring? No, not at all. But for a kid who wants to do well, is pretty busy, and is motivated enough to start planning as a sophomore, it makes more sense to take in in the fall.</p>

16

<p>@satteacher—while I do not now this to be true, I would guess that part of the expedited timeframe is a function of the increase in EA & ED apps. While one can safely take the Oct Sr year SAT and report scores on time for Nov 1 EDs, if that final sitting does not produce the desired results, the ED applicant is out of time. </p>

<p>Increased emphasis on SAT IIs and APs produces a busy May & June. If a student hopes to score well on the NMSQT, a fall of Jr year SAT is a smart strategy, unless as blue bayou above cautioned for students who have not completed Alg 2. </p>

<p>But more important that any of the points listed by all of us is the question of timing for each student’s own calendar.</p>

17

<p>In recent years I’ve seen greater numbers of students advancing more quickly through the math curriculum at their high schools. It’s fairly common for sophomores to be taking Precalculus (or a more advanced math class). By spring, Precalc teachers have covered all the math that’s tested on the ACT.</p>

<p>For such students who also have strong verbal/reading comprehension skills, it makes sense to determine which test is a better fit (ACT vs. SAT) during the sophomore year. It gives them more time to prepare, take, and retake standardized tests without interfering with the AP studying/testing schedule, sports, other extracurriculars, etc.</p>

<p>Recently I’ve worked with several sophomores who “maxed” out on their standardized tests (ACT >34, SAT >2300). Of this group, several already posted 800s on at least 2 Subject tests prior to entering junior year. They are very happy to be done with testing early on. For the sophomores who opted to take the SAT, all had a very easy time surpassing the junior year PSAT/NMSQT threshold score for our state (CA) with minimal prep in the fall. I’ve only had one sophomore ACT test-taker who probably won’t make the NMSQT threshold. He got a little complacent, took the PSAT cold, and will probably miss the cut by one or two points.</p>

<p>It’s my impression that the tests have gotten more predictable in the past few years…</p>

18

<p>@mathyone @CT1417 @Bartleby007 I didn’t mean to imply early testing doesn’t make sense for everybody. I even said sure, go take it at 13 if you can score a near perfect score at age 13. I meant that sarcastically to imply that early testing is fine if you are already in your desired score range before junior year spring.</p>

<p>I’m not saying to procrastinate studying either. Go all out for the PSAT. Sure. But if you don’t think you are ready to break 2300 October of junior year, then just keep at it. Keep studying. Study a little bit every month. Change instructors. Change approaches. Do whatever you need to figure out why you aren’t in the range you’re in yet. </p>

<p>A lot of the juniors I work with, I see natural improvements in their vocabulary and writing skills over the course of that year. They have more books and history topics under their belt for the essay. Just naturally more confidence, a greater vocab, and stronger math skills. And more practice, casually over time, never hurts. </p>

<p>All I’m saying is that I’ve seen a real spike in early testing. SAT 2s and AP exams are not new, and I see folks early test who may not even take SAT 2s or APs in the spring. In either event, all of these exams have been around for years and so has the schedule. I can confidently say that 5-10 years ago, early testing hardly ever happened, but SAT 2s and APs were around then in May and June. The same of 20 or 30 years ago. SAT 2s and APs have become no more or no less important in the college application process.</p>

<p>For the < 1% of people who can pull a 2300+ by sophomore or fall junior year, go for it. As it is, < 1% of people get the National Merit on the PSAT. </p>

<p>But if early test-takers are doing it because they’ll turn into a pumpkin in the spring, they may also be applying to places like Yale and UPenn, which want to see all SAT tests. I don’t think people would want to send a less than desirable score out to these schools just because they’ll turn into a pumpkin when they have to take the Math Level 2 exam in June. </p>

<p>If the SAT studying is being smoothed out over time, there is no cramming in May. It doesn’t interfere with AP or SAT 2.</p>

<p>And as for the SAT 2, we all know that some of those happen before junior year spring. Many folks start on the math level 1 or 2 before junior spring because they’ve already seen all of the math. Or the biology and chemistry often get taken freshman or sophomore year after that corresponding science class. </p>

<p>I work with lots of juniors who got swept up in this early testing mania, many of whom did not seem to benefit from it. They got a less than desirable score on their permanent record and are stressed out about it. They then come to me at that point, and frankly, I would have told them they should have never signed up for the early test unless they were 99% certain that they could break a 2200 or something of the like. </p>

19

<p>@satteacher, I’m not in favor of kids taking the SAT every year from age 13 just to “see where they are” or whatever. I think it’s wrong to stress out young kids with all this stuff. I’ve seen kids that age stressing about college and it’s just really sad. And I know that my community is very laid back compared to some areas. I am sure it’s much worse in some areas. Why can’t we let them be kids? </p>

<p>But if a junior is trying for National Merit money, and most in the 2200 range will be, they need to be at the top of their test prep game in the fall of junior year, so I don’t see much benefit to waiting. They will just have to prep to tread water after that; a waste of time in a busy year. </p>

<p>With regard to completing SAT2 testing as a freshman or sophomore, I think that is extremely rare. I only know of one kid who took any SAT2 test as a freshman. When I heard about it, I was surprised because I’d never heard of anyone taking college tests so early. It hadn’t even occurred to me to sign my daughter up for that test (which she could have taken), but this kid’s parents were particularly knowledgeable about the college process so they were thinking ahead. I would guess that the vast majority of freshmen at our high school have never heard of SAT2’s. </p>

<p>Of course you can take the SAT in May, but if you’ve got 5 AP tests coming up in another 10 days, you might prefer to be doing other things on that Saturday. </p>

<p>I suspect the kids you are working with who “got swept up in this early testing mania” are the kind of kids who are posting on here about how they are going to take the SAT “to get a baseline”, then study, then take again “aiming for 2100+”, then study more, then take again “aiming for 2200+”, etc. I don’t know where kids are getting those ideas. When I see significant improvement, I think most likely the kid didn’t prep seriously the first time around, and needed to learn test-taking skills. If you’re someone who reads the NY Times and perhaps 20+ books a year, those two books you read in English class between December and May really aren’t going to help your reading skills in any significant way. You can see how slowly reading skills are increasing at this age if you look at some developmental standardized testing like MAP. Of course if all you ever read is for English class, it may be a different story.</p>

20

<p>

I get what you’re saying. I’ve certainly worked with a number of students who fit the profile you describe.</p>

<p>However, of all the kids I’ve worked with over the years, I would say that there’s a greater number who waited too long (until junior year) before doing any prep for the SAT/ACT. Geography, socioeconomic status, and other factors are certainly at play here.</p>

<p>Every student is different; consequently, his/her approach to test prep will be different. Strong high school students who plan to apply to selective colleges shouldn’t wait. As mathyone mentioned, those kids need to be well prepared by the fall of junior year in order to do well on the junior year PSAT. That gives them the best chance to qualify as a NMS semifinalist/finalist and get merit aid down the road.</p>