When to take SAT (or ACT) for the first time?

My D is a sophomore and is currently taking Pre-Calculus. She will be most likely be talking AP Calc AB next year as a junior.

Would you suggest she take the SAT as early as the fall of junior year so she doesn’t forget the math she took in 7th (Algebra 1), 8th (Geometry), and 9th (Algebra 2)? She is thinking this also gives her the summer to prepare since the school year is so hectic.

Is this a good strategy, or would you suggest she wait? She wants the opportunity to take both the SAT and ACT twice if need be.

Ask her HS guidance counselor.

She will likely do better on the overall test with more time under her belt. Taking the SAT subject test, if she is going to, would be best done sooner. My son said he didn’t need to study for that SAT II math test, telling me “We’re reviewing precalc in AP Calc”. He could have done better with additional study for the subject test. He was going to retake it but (long story) retook the regular SAT in December of senior year- got the perfect 2400. Did not mean he made it into the elite schools. He did practice tests because we insisted and had done the ACT, SAT in middle school for gifted programs. Got an Honors math degree in college (and CS second major).

The ACT and SAT are4 not tests that require study. They do merit practice tests to familiarize one with how they work. Junior year students take the PSAT for eligibility for the National Merit Scholarships. The PSAT as I understand it is meant as a practice for the SAT as well.

Math curriculum builds, so she will be still using skills she learned long ago, and the SAT only includes some trig. My children did not ‘prepare’ except to review the test format. The math section is relatively easy for an advanced math student. Reading however, requires being able to quickly digest and synthesize text and vocabulary. I’m told by excellent students that courses with tons of reading such as AP History and AP Bio helped.

Your question should be more focused on your daughter deciding on an application path. A December/January test will give her scores in time to find match/reach schools of interest and develop a tour list. Visiting schools the fall and spring of junior year while campus is still bustling is optimal. The fall of senior year is packed and there may only be time for a couple of visits or return visits.

May and June are good months to take the SAT subject tests during or just after the AP exams.

Do take the first SAT and/or ACT in the first semester of junior year. Make sure she will prepare for the test(s) thoroughly over the Summer. Try to finish the retake by the end of junior. Then you have some time in the summer to work on the college list and come up with application plan. Avoid retake in senior year as that should be the time finalizing essays and submit applications.

Our plan was take early junior year in September if possible. If happy with scores move on. If not study summer after junior year and take in August. Take subject tests in May or June of junior year if taking them (good to take around same time as AP tests so material is super fresh). Our D had Alg 1 in 6th grade, Geometry in 7th and Alg 2 in 8th through a special program. Great at math but had forgotten some of the earlier stuff and is a bit of a slow processor. She spent summer after junior year refreshing by using sat practice tests and Khan academy. Her verbal scores have always been very solid so we left that alone. I agree with other poster who said classes like APUSH help in that arena as well as with essay section if taking. Essay score came up on second attempt. Summer math study did the trick came up 100 plus points. Happy to be done with testing. One counselor gave us the advice to chose match schools on first attempt scores which was good advice. Now we have a good list with reach, match and safety. Best of luck!

IB class like TROY provedes all AP from 9th grade.Some can not follow.but Most of Asian tend to succeed I heard. If someone know about other IB program can you tell me that how they learn .

For the SAT II subject tests, try to take as soon as your child finishes the corresponding coursework.

Your child will also be taking the PSAT for national merit Junior year (some places October, some places perhaps March). if your child takes in October, you could wait until you get the results back ( I think December)and look at the detailed reports to see where she has done well and where are her areas for improvement. You can probably get an ACT exam in and get those results back.

Practice those types of questions, take in Feb (you will get results back in time to do a second test before the end of junior year if necessary.

Also look at the testing schedule at your school. Most kids take AP exams during the first week of May, so I would avoid the may exam because it could cause too much stress/anxiety for your kid (especially if your kid is prone to anxiety).

If your kid is fee waiver eligible, remember you only get 2 fee waivers for each exam, no matter when you take them.

For both of my Ds (who also took preAP Calc sophomore year) they took tests as follows: SAT in October of junior year. They studied over the summer for PSAT/SAT, and killed 2 birds with one stone. Then in November (or maybe early December, can’t remember) they took the ACT. This left a lot of time to figure out what test was better for each of them, and then there was plenty of time in the spring to retest one of them if necessary.

I actually found the August test to be perfect for subject test if you finish the junior year in June like my D. The June test date is not good due the final exams at school. Also, you will have 2 months to go through the materials that are not covered in the curriculum. For instance, there are some material in Chemistry subject test not in the AP chemistry syllabus.
So, for my 2 Ds, I told them to finish any SAT or ACT retest by April, and neither one needed to take them again after the state mandated ACT/SAT tests in the Spring of junior year.

I agree with beginning testing in the fall of junior year. I also wanted to tell you that DD18 increased her SAT math score by 70 points this August. We were still out on summer break and although there were a ton of kids taking the test, DD related that the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. She believes that helped her relax during the test taking. She hadn’t really done much prep (aside from doing a couple of practice tests) because she had a very busy summer. She had a stomach bug when taking the ACTs in September so the solid SAT result was very welcome!

Thanks, all. This is very helpful. It sounds like fall of junior year for the first attempt may be the way to go, since it will give her the summer to prepare, give her ample time to retake without being rushed, and give her a good baseline so that she knows realistically which schools she should consider.

And thanks to those who mentioned SAT subject tests. I know that at least one school she is interested in requires two, so reading this was a good reminder to have her look into those to see which ones she will take and when.