<p>The thread about when to apply to Bama (and following or not following the GC’s advice) got me to thinking and I am hoping for advice from the knowledgeable BAMA parents on this forum. </p>
<p>The guidance dept. at my D’s school suggests that students take their first SAT/ACT in the Spring of Junior year. In fact, they strongly encourage kids to wait until then. </p>
<p>My D is a rising jr. who will be taking precalculus this year. D is prepping on her own for about an hour per day throughout the summer and will take an SAT prep class from a local (not a chain) SAT tutor that has had much success with local kids. The class will start in August and meet on Sundays until the October SAT. I imagine this will also help her with the PSAT. </p>
<p>We plan to take a look at that score and formulate a game plan that will help her prepare for the spring SAT (and ACT). Are we making a mistake?? </p>
<p>My D first took the ACT in the fall of junior year (I forget whether it was October or December). She took it without any prep. Like your D, she took precalculus junior year, and I don’t think there were more than 1 or 2 math questions that she hadn’t covered in algebra 1/2 or geometry. If I had it to do over again, I’d have her take it earlier, not later. The more exposure to the test, the better, IMO. I think your plan makes sense.</p>
<p>My daughter took it June of sophomore year (27), December of junior year (30), March of junior year (required by State…29) and June of junior year (32). </p>
<p>My son, on the other hand, only took it March of his Junior year and got a 32 - he was happy with that and didn’t take it again.</p>
<p>I would have your D take it sooner vs later so you have a baseline to work from. She may only need to take it once or twice - but if she needs to take it 3 or 4 times she will have plenty of time to do that.</p>
<p>DD started taking ACT in 6th grade as part of GT program in her middle school. She took it once every year (6,7,8,9,10) without any prep. Her scores went from 26 to 29, 31, 34 and finally 35. Classrrom exposure to more and more difficult material was the sole reason for the increase in her scores.</p>
<p>the pros’s: She never experienced test anxiety and got comfortable with the test format.
She was able to STOP taking the test sophomore year, which meant she could focus on other things. If she hadn’t done as well, she still had 2 more tries to get a better grade and we still had time to decide on tutoring/review classes.</p>
<p>the con’s: none, other than arranging for the test through NUMATS’ out of grade program so that the scores “wouldn’t count” for college apps until she wanted them to - and the additional fee to have the score she wanted sent to colleges.</p>
<p>Lesson we learned - take it ASAP and without prep. Then your kiddo has a baseline score to evaluate the next move and plenty of time to work on a better score.</p>
<p>I strongly encourage your D to take the October SAT because it would allow her to prepare for the SAT and the PSAT at the same time, and would give her some practice before the PSAT. The October SAT in years past was one of the ones that allowed students to pay an extra $18 to get their actual questions and answers back after the test in order to prepare for a retake, so it would be a good idea to check to see if this is still true (as this is not possible with every date). I think the “wait until spring” advice is outdated with so many colleges now superscoring the SAT.</p>
<p>I recognize that the PSAT is designed to give students practice for the SAT, but it also is the qualifying test for National Merit scholarships. Alabama is particularly generous to national merit finalists.</p>
<p>My children took the October SAT. My D was a NMF and received a scholarship, and my S was NM commended. Perhaps this would have happened anyway, but it certainly didn’t hurt.</p>
<p>You might find more advice on the SAT/ACT forum.</p>
<p>I think the best time to take the first SAT is spring of soph year, then spend some summer time working on weak areas for the PSAT. </p>
<p>I don’t think that GCs really know what they’re doing when they give such advice. They may be thinking that early testing leads to stress, but many GCs don’t know or care much about the PSAT and the NMF process.</p>
<p>I took the ACT the first time December of my junior year and couldn’t get any higher ,
Now I’m studying for the October SAT , but I wish I had taken that one sooner :</p>
<p>My D1 took the SAT for the first time in October of 9th grade. She took it 2 more times after that. She took the PSAT in 10th and 11th grade.</p>
<p>I read some advice about student’s taking the ACT and actually doing better than the SAT. It didn’t think it was possible, but in her case it was true. Took the ACT in 11th grade. She received many scholarship offers and took Bama’s sweet deal. ;)</p>
<p>D2 took the PSAT in 9th and 10th. She took the SAT for the first time in Oct. of sophomore year. She took the ACT in Feb. of sophomore year. She will take the PSAT, SAT this October and take the ACT in the spring as a junior.</p>
<p>I concur with the person that said that taking tests helped the student get over their potential fear of tests. I also think that students should practice taking a “real” practice test under timed conditions. This can help the student simulate the test day and perhaps relieve their anxiety. If they seem ready, let them take the test. </p>
<p>Waiting until spring of junior year isn’t my advice for anyone. I think that October of sophomore year is a good time to start although my D’s (daughters) did it sooner.</p>
<p>My DS took ACT the first time in 7th grade through Duke TIP. The first “real” time was April of Sophomore year, then June of Sophomore year, then last time was April of Junior year. I agree - start earlier rather than later. If you wait until Spring of Junior year, you really only have 3 or 4 chances … which may be enough! But if you want to do any SAT II tests, those will take up one or two of those dates.</p>
<p>My D did all of her testing this Spring - her Junior Year. Her first round of SAT scores (from the March test) stunned us (760 R / 740 M / 650 Wr) since her PSAT scores were good, but not NMSF level, and really changed the game in terms of how we went about looking at colleges for her. Suddenly the merit aid possibilities were looking much brighter, and we started to look for colleges, such as UA, that reward kids like her. She took the SAT again a few months later, primarily to get the writing score up. The other 2 scores came in pretty close to the first round, one higher, one lower. She also took the SAT 2’s and the ACT. It’s nice to be done with all of that heading into senior year & really helps to evaluate college reaches/matches/safeties & possible aid, etc.</p>
<p>D’s HS gave the students PSAT and PLAN tests in 9th, 10th and 11th. She took the actual ACT in October of her junior year, again in Dec (+1) and then in Feb (another +1). She took a couple of SAT’s during that period (and had taken one in 7th grade). She also did SAT IIs in June after soph year, June after junior year, and one in the fall of senior year.</p>
<p>I would question a GC’s suggestion to wait until Spring Junior year. WHY?! There are so many pros (all mentioned here) and only 1 con (the fee). If you have the means to do so, start as early as poss, if for no other reason than to get used to taking the test. </p>
<p>Several local libraries and testing services offer FREE practice ACT/PSAT/SAT tests. While they do not give official results, they are actual full-length tests that can get a student used to taking this beast. Establishing a baseline is a good idea, too. It either stuns the student into action, or reassures them that they are on the right track.</p>
<p>Actually, (if I’m the GC you’re referring to) I wouldn’t advocate waiting until Junior Spring. That’s just what we did since we didn’t know any better. It would have helped a lot to have known earlier whether she was going to be a high,medium or low scorer just for planning and college search purposes. Even as it is, we seem to be ahead of most of her classmates. I will definitely have my younger daughter start earlier.</p>
<p>I’m glad I asked- we figured we had a good game plan on our own, and it’s good to know that other out there have had similar thoughts.</p>
<p>My D took the SAT in 7th grade and the PSAT in 9th and 10th grades. Honestly, I didn’t even think to look at the results from back in 7th grade when pondering this whole thing. I am encouraged with the PSAT as there was a big jump from 9th to 10th grade. We are going to look at the past PSAT’s as we have the booklets, but it sure will be nice to establish a baseline early in 11th grade and work out the kinks, if any. </p>
<p>Gertrude…no, GC = Guidance Counselor, as referenced in original poster’s #1 post, above. If you’re a guidance counselor, sorry if I offended you.</p>
<p>Oops, just figured out that GC means guidance counseler, not me. Anyway, I’m on the “earlier is better” bandwagon. And SAT 2’s should definitely be taken as soon as possible after taking the applicable class.</p>
<p>As mentioned, D took her first ACT in October of her junior year. During that time she was taking a PSAT prep class from a local place whose owner is a household name in many homes with college prep kids. During a planning meeting in Dec/Jan of that year, when she learned that D had already taken the ACT, she seemed quite perturbed. I’m not sure if it was just her bedside manner, if she thought it would detract from her (the owner’s) stats for PSAT scores, or if she truly thought it was detrimental to take it the fall semester. We did see D’s scores increase with each subsequent take so it may have been the additional knowledge gained that helped. However, I’m not sure what the downside is or was. Perhaps if you are applying to a school that requires all scores sent? Not sure.</p>
<p>Son took both the SAT and ACT after 1st semester soph year (which for us ends mid January) </p>
<p>My suggestion is take SAT after Alg 2 regardless of when (what grade classification) that is and then take the ACT when in Pre-Cal because it does test on some Trig which is covered early in Pre Cal.</p>
<p>Nice thing for my son was he was done taking the SAT/ ACT (first tests in soph year determined which one to keep taking for desired result) in Sept of his Junior year and was able to focus on AP classes/exams as a Junior…</p>
<p>Applied to college’s summer before Senior year, no test stress…</p>