Any disadvantage to taking SAT as a 9th Grader?

Parents Forum
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Hi All,

My son took the PSAT last fall as a 9th grader and scored 1450 (760 Math/690 EBRW). His school is offering the SAT this spring. Is there any drawback to him taking the test now? It would simply be to see where he is. I do not envision him studying beyond a practice test or two to prepare for the format.

If he does well, he can be full of confidence when he takes it as a junior and maybe keep the math score if he hits 800. If not, he will be motivated to prep for the next one.

Appreciate the board’s thoughts. Thanks.

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not worth the cost or time. If he wants to take a practice tests, buy a book and have him take it at home under controlled (test) conditions.

Don’t forget, the full SAT include Alg II math problems, whereas teh psat does not.

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I think its too early. Maturity/more school alone generally helps with the English part.

I think he can have full confidence based on the PSAT score. You are not going to learn any new information by taking another unprepared test.

My recommendation would be to prep (practice) summer after 10th and take the August and October test. As a bonus he will be very ready for the NMSQT.

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4

More importantly, there is zero advantage to taking it so early. Preparation and practice tests can instill confidence with no downside.

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Couldn’t an argument be made that if you score 800 in math, you can focus future test prep on the reading portion with most universities accepting superscoring?

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Yes. There are threads on kids who scored 1600 as 8/9th grader and are essentially done. If you have one of those kids, then go for it.

How do you know if your kid is one of those kids? As they say, if you have to ask…

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Despite what you read on CC, other than bragging rights, the difference between a 790 and an 800 is negligible. Adcom’s understand that a particular kid, on any particular day, may or may not get a question wrong.

The key disadvantage IMHO is that unless your kid needs a current score for a particular academic program right now, you are sending the clear message that HS is to be spent on the hamster wheel of college admissions.

Your kid did great- buy an ice cream cone, and let him put the entire subject of college on the back-burner for the next 18 months while he focuses on the rest of his life.

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Does your son want to take the SAT now? If he wants to try it and understands that he may encounter material he has not yet studied in school, sign him up.

I would not plan to use his 9th grade scores for college admissions (unless of course he scores a 1600). Above average scores for a 9th grader can be useful for convincing his high school that he is ready for more challenging coursework or admission to gifted/talented programs.

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9

If your S is so strong in math, I don’t think a ton of prep would be needed to do well on the SAT as an 11th grader. And one can’t just take the math section so a score would be on his record for the writing section as well (if applying to a college that wants/prefers all scores to be submitted).

At this point I think your son’s time would be better spent making a meaningful contribution to ECs and enjoying friends and family.

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The only potential downside is if he doesn’t do well and wants to ultimately apply to a school that requires all test scores be submitted (which right now is only Georgetown, although some schools do prefer all test scores like Yale). I would encourage him to wait as well.

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Wouldn’t there also be the possibility of harming his confidence, if he doesn’t score to his expectations?

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While it’s nice to have these tests out of the way…I’m going to say…what is the rush here. This is a ninth grader who most definitely should prep for the 11th grade PSAT. I don’t see any benefit to taking the SAT now and spending time prepping for that now.

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13

Sure.

The argument can also be made that if he can score 800 as a 9th grader, he’d score 800 as an 11th grader.

If he wants to see where he’s at, take a practice test

And be aware that CMU implies that applicants submitting scores only prior to 11th are disadvantaged

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14

I would go for it. There is no disadvantage, and he might just get the score he needs the first time. That would result in lots less stress in junior year.

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15

How? He will still need to take the junior year PSAT which could position him as a NMF.

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16

Sure, but that is the PSAT is not the SAT. He could get it done now, and the SAT from now could be used as the confirming score (I think). Plus, he could use the results now to figure out what he needs to study in the event of a score not being as high as he would prefer.

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More likely it will give a false sense of confidence for the PSAT and English scores will almost certainly need to be raised.

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18

A practice test will serve the same purpose.

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A lot of people perform differently on real tests than practice tests. I think it can be valuable to take an official administration early just to see. For example, my score is 100 points higher on real tests than practices. For some, it is significantly lower. But in the end, it’s up to the OP. There are merits in both going for it and waiting.

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Sure, because every high school kid should spend every spare moment figuring out what they need to study for the SAT instead of… getting an actual education, playing sports, playing in a jazz band, learning to sculpt or knit or having a job, or pretty much anything…

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