I'm considering whether either of our kids (currently in 9th and 10th grades) should take one or more SAT subject tests this year. It's at least possible that the end of this academic year may constitute a high point for their readiness to take certain tests.
More background:
We live in the Midwest. Oldest two kids currently in 9th and 10th grades. Not sure how selective they'll be targeting, or how far from home. If I had to guess, 10th grader will target reach schools between 10 and 20 on USNWR, all the way down to safeties in the 100s, skewing towards the central and southern part of the US, but perhaps including east coast schools. 9th grader may aim a little higher, and will probably have a STEM tilt (MIT and CalTech are possible targets).
Our school gives the ACT (not sure if it's with writing or not) to all Juniors. Given that fact, and that we're in the Midwest, we'll probably lean more towards the ACT in general, though we'll at least look at taking the SAT. 10th grader is signed up for the PSAT - I expect both kids will have a shot at being National Merit Semifinalists, and if they do well enough on the 11th grade PSAT, that will likely lead towards at least one round of SAT testing.
OK, so the SAT subject tests. In looking around a little, the information on these is somewhat nebulous. Required? Recommended? Recommended unless you submit the ACT with writing? Hard to say.
I don't want our kids to do excess testing if there's no real need or benefit, but maybe there is.
Our 9th grader is quite accelerated in Math - is taking Calc BC this year, plans to take the AP test. From 10th grade forward, there's a fair chance he won't take any more conventional math in the Calc sequence, at least until college. He'll probably take AP Stats in 10th, then perhaps overload on science for 11th and 12th grades.
Our 10th grader is in AP World History right now, which is one possible SAT Subject Test. She's in Pre-Calc, but may not go on to take Calc in 10th grade (she's somewhat resistant at the moment - we'll see how it goes over the next few months. So potentially she could take the SAT subject tests in Math and/or World History.
From conversations with folks from the school, I get the sense that SAT Subject Tests are basically off the radar at our suburban public high school (strong, but not upper echelon). The expectation is that most college-bound kids will take ACT and apply to the state flagship or something similar. So there will likely be little to nothing in any of their classes oriented towards the SAT Subject Tests (then again, perhaps this is the norm even in hyper-focused elite east coast schools?).
So, pros of taking the SAT Subject Tests:
1) They MAY want/need them
2) They'll be at/near a high point of readiness in a couple of areas
3) Their testing regime this spring will otherwise be relatively light. Future springs may hold more AP tests, more focus on the ACT (and perhaps SAT reasoning), etc)
Cons:
1) They may not want/need them
2) As 9th/10th graders, they may lack maturity/focus for these tests, compared to waiting a year or two to take them
Thoughts?
(Mods - I realize there's a specific testing forum. But most of the posts there seem more oriented towards preparation, rather than somewhat higher level issues like this. That said, if you feel this post belongs over there, feel free to move it.)
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