<p>New here, just wondering when my Junior should first take his real ACT/SAT... he has taken the PSAT and PLAN last year but just wondering. His councelor said that since he is taking ALG 2Trig this year he should wait until June to take them, but I assume he can take them a view times, so why plan that late? My question is should I schedulce them in FEb and then again in June? He just may not know all the questions, and that just may be counterproductive. Wondering if taking the real onese in June is the best time under his circumstances? Thanks all.</p>
<p>I think the ACT includes Trig, so wait until June to take the ACT. He can probably take the SAT in February.</p>
<p>My daughter took the ACT/SAT in October/November (she’s also a junior) as well as last summer. Her scores didn’t budge so she’s not going to retake the exams until May or June.</p>
<p>If you are doing a prep class for the ACT or SAT, then you should time the test for shortly after he finishes the class so it is fresh in his mind. My son took the first ACT in Feb after finishing the prep class in Jan. He took it again in April and did better even. Not sure I would aim for June since he will have finals to be studying for and may be tested out. You can also take them in the fall of Senior year if you don’t like the scores from Jr. year.</p>
<p>Both of my kids took the SAT in March of junior year. This gave them the chance to retake if they wanted later in the spring. S1 was one and done, but S2 retook in June of junior year, AFTER the APs and IB exams. He decided not to take the ACT because he was happy with his SAT scores. S’s math score went up between March and June, and he did no additional studying. He had learned more math in the meantime, but at least he had a decent March score as a baseline.</p>
<p>If your S wants to take both the SAT and ACT, I’d do one in Feb. and one in March, and leave June open to retake one of them. (Check the calendar for when each is offered.) Some kids do significantly better on one test vs. the other. </p>
<p>Also – if your student needs to take SAT-II subject tests, those should be taken as soon as the corresponding class is taken (i.e., US History at the end of AP US, Math Level II after pre-calc or Math Level I after Alg II/Trig). There is huge overlap between the SAT-II USH and the AP US exams (ditto the AP World History, foreign languages and the AP science exams), so taking those in May works well.</p>
<p>Have your student check whether the colleges on his list want SAT-IIs and what exams. Yes, that assumes he has a list…which can be a whole’ nuther kettle of fish. At least check the in-state schools and if he wants to apply to engineering or specialized programs, some of those want to see specific subject tests.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend that your student not take the SAT/ACT as a senior. There is too much stuff going on that fall to be able to focus on testing, and it will feel even more high-stakes and stressful at that point than it needs to be.</p>
<p>Take away point: take them sooner rather than later. Having scores will help in coming up with a realistic list of schools, avoid stress in senior year and get your kid focused on the decisions he will need to make in the next 18 months. Good luck!</p>
<p>My kids took SATs in March leaving May and June for either a retake of the SAT and or subject tests. One kid didn’t like his May subject test scores and retook them in June and then did the SAT for a second time senior year. If I had it to do again, I might schedule the first SAT in January, so there’s more wriggle room.</p>
<p>He should be practicing frequently and then take them when he feels he is ready - March is a good time because it won’t interfere with finals. He will have June and October for retakes.</p>
<p>SAT in March is considered to have the largest group of test takers annually.</p>
<p>Since there is a large gap between June and October for SAT, it is best to take it at least once by June for a junior. Math is at Geometry level for SAT I and only SAT II Math II will require precalc. Reading and writing scores might improve due to AP English Language in 11th.</p>
<p>If the student is taking APs which have subject tests, it is best to do subject tests in terminating subjects (sciences, US/world history etc) when they are preparing for APs (either May or June).</p>
plan on taking SAT II Subject tests? then you have to set aside at least 1 test date.
plan on taking a review/tutoring class?
plan on apply EA , Ed or any early action schools ? then OCT test date <em>may</em> be the last date to take the SAT ( or SAT II or ACT ) </p>
<p>Our D2 took her 1st SAT in Nov of her Junior year. Then again in May.
We didn’t factor into some time conflicts on a few Saturdays / illness / flu etc .</p>
<p>so take that into consideration too if you know ahead of time if there will be anything your son has to do on those Saturdays in the spring time.
hope this helps</p>
<p>Some students do better on the ACT, some are better with the SAT. Unless the student is taking practice tests with both … unlikely in this case … you may want to plan to take both, and leave room for one retake. In my D’s case, she took the ACT mid-Junior year and SAT late Junior year.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the kid. My older daughter took her first ACT in February of junior year, followed by the March SAT, the April ACT and the May SAt. After that she told me she was done and she refused to go through that again. She was tutored from mid November until around mid March and did not take any subject or AP tests. </p>
<p>My younger one has AP tests in May and possibly one more subject test in June. She does not want to take the ACT or SAT in the spring because she will be focused on these other tests. She started prepping for these tests in the beginning of September and will be taking the SAT and ACT this month, with re-takes in January and February if necessary. After that we hope to be done. </p>
<p>Maybe you can consider April and June, and then October if necessary?</p>
<p>Both my S’s took the SAT in March of their junior year. S1 took it again in Oct. of his senior yr. His score went up 40 points. S2 was one and done. Neither of mine did any prep. I think most of my kids’ friends had all taken the SAT at least once by March of junior yr. The ACT is not as popular as the SAT in our area (southeast).</p>
<p>My son’s school recommends taking it for the first time in June of the junior year. This gives them more time to grow academically, and they can still retake in October if necessary.</p>
<p>However, they also recommended taking a sample test of each before registering, to determine which one the student is more comfortable with.</p>
<p>I recommend one before June, so they can take in June if they are not happy. Then by summer you should have a good sense of what colleges to target.</p>
<p>Nov of Jr year, unprepped baseline. Now we know the area he most needs to focus on in prep class. ACT next weekend…same rationale for the early test date. Retake for SAT in March, subject tests in May, even with AP testing. Study once, test twice ;-)</p>
<p>I don’t know why so many people are fans of taking the SAT and then studying. For what other test do you start to study after taking the test? If you want to know where you are weak, take a practice test or two from a test prep book. </p>
<p>OP, you need to look at his schedule, when will he have time to study for the SAT, and if he’s taking a prep class, when will that be? Figure out if he’s going to need SAT2 tests. If not, taking it in March, which still gives him time, including christmas break, to study, and then the option of retaking it in June, makes sense to me. If he needs SAT2s in June, you might want to try the SAT in Feb (is there a Feb date?) with May as a backup.</p>
<p>Agree with mathyone—study first. Take practice tests until happy with score. Save the three ‘real’ tests for closer to test date.</p>
<p>Look at calendar and try to contemplate all that will be on the calendar the several weeks prior to the exam date. There’s no perfect time, but consider sports, prom, plays, AP exams, conferences or other EC activities that will take student away prior to exam. In my very limited sample size of one, the SAT is one test where practice truly improves scores. There are only so many variations on the themes, at least for M & W. CR can prove more tricky for those with less advanced vocabularies, but practicing helps there also, but to a lesser extent.</p>
<p>If taking a prep course, don’t just rely on the prep course. Take practice tests at home in simulated test conditions. As in, use a timer, enforce the break schedule, etc.</p>
<p>No Feb SAT, but Feb ACT is offered. End of Jan, beginning of March, May & June for SAT I and Jan, May & June for subject tests. For OP, I would take March test. The May vs June discussion probably depends on your end-of-school year schedule. Southern schools seem to be out in May whereas here in the Northeast, we have been in school through third week of June due to power outages. None so far this year and I shouldn’t tempt fate!</p>
<p>I had my daughter take the SAT and ACT unprepped. I did it because she did not have experience with standardized tests (private Montessori through 8th grade, so no testing). While practice tests offer some indication, I wanted her to experience the actual testing environment. </p>
<p>If the student has been taking standardized tests throughout their school career and was familiar with the general environment (sitting at a desk, reading questions and filling in bubbles for a timed exam), then studying first may make more sense.</p>
<p>My kids were not into studying for SATs. They took them with minimal studying did pretty well and did a little targeted review for the second round.</p>
<p>I did make my oldest take the school’s highly subsidized Kaplan course to try to get practice at the essay section. However he rebelled and hardly ever went - and there scores on their practice essay tests were so ludicrously out of whack with his actual results I considered them more damaging than helpful. They’d both seen the tests as middle schoolers for Talent Search and both tend to do quite well on standardized tests.</p>
<p>My daughter took the SAT in June of her junior year. Since she only wanted to take it once, this was fine, but it meant she had to take the subject tests in October of her senior year. My recommendation both to the OP and to my son, who is now a junior, is to take the SAT in March, the subject tests in June, and then any retakes, if desired, in October.</p>