Anyone's middle school child taking the SATs this Saturday??

[SeaSpray]

I remember a thread on this a while back. Several months ago, actually. And now the time has come for DS12 to take the SATs. He's a 7th grader right now. For the last 2 days he's (finally) been looking over the booklet containing sample problems and the practice SAT test that came when we registered him. He's really interested in it now and he thinks the test will be "fun". LOL Fortunately, he's never been one to get worried or stressed over tests of any kind.

I also have a question: What is considered a decent score for a 7th grader who's taken the SATs? I have no idea what to expect, in the way of a grade. We keep emphasizing to him that this test is simply to gain experience and he shouldn't worry about the grade, and also to expect that he won't understand much of it since he hasn't had a lot of the information in school yet.

Anyone else's middle schooler taking it this weekend??

 

[joeokw]

My 13 yo DS.. is. He is not even going to go over any of the material. I have stressed that this is for practice and it would be funny if he outscores my pitiful SAT high school score. I did not even opned a practice test in high School. I told him that it would be ok if he did just ok. It is hard to say what is good or bad because what is good for one person may be bad for someone else. I've heard that a 12 yo will score about 300- 450 points less than their likely score as a upperclassman.

 

[tar heel]

At the time my oldest son took it, a guidance counselor said to expect a score increase of approximately 100 points a year. Interestingly, when he took the SAT as a junior, he scored exactly 400 points higher than in 7th grade. He also scored exactly what the PSAT predicted.

When my son took it, you had to score 500 on a section for any kind of recognition and 620 on a section for the "grand" ceremony.

 

[Octoberbride03]

I'm probably dating myself here a bit but oh well.

Since when have 12 and 13yos started taking practice SATs???
When i was in school you didn't even get to look at the test at those ages. you took PSAT in beginning of Jr. year of high school, and then SAT in 2nd half of same year. If you didn't like your score you took it again early Sr. year. I wasn't in high school all that long ago.

 

[wdwnutze]

Octoberbride03 - I was thinking the same thing! My son graduated 2yrs ago and he never took the SAT's in the 7th grade. He took them as a jr and a sr. (I think he could have taken them in the 10th grade as well). Seems like a lot of pressure for these kids when they are so young. My dd will be in the 7th grade next yr and I can't imagine her taking the SAT's. Good luck to any of the kids taking the SAT's!

 

[my3kids]

Octoberbride and WDW...these are kids enrolled in a talent search program through Johns Hopkins, Duke, or a couple of other programs around the country. Each state feeds gifted children who have scored in the top percentile of nationally normed tests in lelmentary or middle school into this program. The scores on the SAT as a 7th or 8th grader allow them access to special programs, distance learning, summer camps, etc.

That is why they are testing so young.

 

[my3kids]

SeaSpray: I think the CTY booklet has a chart inside of how many of the kids scored in each range on last years test.

My child's increased 110 points from 7 to 8, and both times, he thought it was really fun. That is not a word I'd ever used to describe my test taking times!!

 

[WDWAurora]

Aw I took it in 7th grade through Duke's TIP program...I really don't remember my score at all though. I wouldn't even worry about the score. I remember not really worrying about the numbers, just knowing that practicing the format, setting, etc. would help when the time came to really take it.

 

[Minnie Mare]

My DD took the SAT's last year in 8th grade. She scored over 520 (verbal) and did receive recognition from John's Hopkins and our Township as well. She didn't look over the practice material and didn't stress over it. However I do think it would have been good to at least look at the practice sheets. I think the key is not to stress. She actually enjoyed taking it, not like her mother Good luck to all taking the test!

 

[SeaSpray]

Thanks for your replies, everyone! Our DS12 does NOT stress over tests, or else I probably would not have let him take the SATs at so young of an age. We've also let him know that it doesn't matter what score he gets. DS12 LOVES learning, loves math, loves tests (believe it or not. lol), and loves school and knowledge in general, so we saw no harm in allowing him to do this.

This is a NO pressure situation for these young kids. Unless of course some nitwit parent pressures them about it. But that's not the purpose or the point of having them take it at this age. They do take it exactly how the older kids do; same location, same test, etc. but the guidance counselor at DSs middle school told me that they do group the middle school kids together. This is something they do specifically at the location here, but I'm not positive if all of the locations do that.

 

[disneyjunkie]

My son is taking it this Saturday. He's 12, and in the 7th grade. Many of the 7th graders at his school are taking the SAT.
He was taking it to get into the John Hopkins Program. However, this week he told me doesn't want to do John Hopkins.

This is the last summer most of his class mates will be able to hang out at camp together. Next summer they plan to start working. (Son has two summers left because his birthday is in October) Now he's just taking the SAT to see what score he'll get and to get used to it before it counts.

The good thing about taking the SAT early is the lack of pressure. I haven't heard my son or any of his friends express concern about the test. I just hear them saying how much fun they think it'll be.

 

[jsmith]

Both of my sons participated in these programs and took both SAT and ACT in middle school-the oldest got an ACT of 35 as a 10th grader and an SAT of 1490 as an 11th grader and he atttibuted this to taking college boards early and often. Talent programs asside, the resulting scholarships made doing this worthwhile.

 

[Deb in IA]

Along with the SAT preparation booklet, we received a TIP brochure that had an article that included a table with a distribution of the scores that 7th graders achieved on the SAT.

If I recall, about 50% of the students were in the 400-490 range, for both the Verbal and Math components.