American SAT's - has anyone's child taken these?

[BettySuarez]

DC's may have to take them in London as slim chance a move to US may be on the cards in the future (very slim, but we need to be prepared)

I have signed up to receive practice daily questions (from the Fullbright Commision website I think)

Does anyone know what age these questions are aimed at? DC is 16

If your child took them, how did they get on?

My daughter took the ACT which is the alternative to the SAT.

She is 18 and got good marks with the ACT and has consequently been offered a place at college in Michigan where she is going in September.

The senior's tend to take them before admission to college.

Get your child to take practice papers of both the SAT and ACT and compare the scores to see which would be better to do - you can compare the scores using the concordance table (www.act.org/aap/concordance/). Each test is suited for a different type of person depending on whether they are more scientifically orientated etc., so it would be best to try a paper of each and see on which one you get a higher mark on.

Good luck

Thank you twojues , so are the papers aimed at 18 year olds? Wouldn't a 16 year old be at a disadvantage if they took them now?

Will definitely be encouraging lots of practice papers though

and congratulations on your daughters offer of a place in Michigan, this is another option for our daughter if we decide not to relocate.

How did you find the bursary process?

Thank you twojues smile, so are the papers aimed at 18 year olds? Wouldn't a 16 year old be at a disadvantage if they took them now?

A US High School Diploma is about the equivelent of GCSEs, if a UK student has A Levels they usually miss the 101 course in the A Level subject.

My daughter did all the legwork herself to find out what she needed to do, so I can't answer your question as she only looked in to it September last year. She took her ACT test in December (the last test she could do). It is the first time anyone from her school has applied for an overseas college so she was finding out what her teachers needed to complete and telling them. She is very determined and kept badgering them to complete the forms they needed to do :)

Fulbright were quite helpful, so I would email or phone them and ask them about your child's age and whether they would be disadvantaged. I know some of the maths questions C was asked were A level standard as she discussed them with her school friend (my daughter didn't do A level maths) and they had only just covered it in school.

My daughter got an academic scholarship at her chosen college. Unfortunately, it only covers about a 1/4 of the yearly fees, so we are having to save very hard to get the rest.

It's a shame she can't use the student loan system here to help pay for it.

What an amazing daughter you have there, I hope that she enjoys her studies and her time in the US (such an adventure!)

The Fullbright Commission offer a range of open days so we will be making the most of these and I believe that we get the chance to meet representatives from various universities.

I also get sent a SATS question to my inbox everyday but they make me feel and so it's a blooming good job that it isn't me applying

The SATs are taken either in the spring of Junior year of high school (so 16yo) or autumn of Senior year (17yo).

The SATs are generally the preferred test by colleges (over the ACTs).

The test is split into two scores. A math score and an English score. When I took it, each score was split into four sections, so eight in total. It's an eight hour test.

I would recommend getting practice tests so that your child understands the type of questions they are likely to come across

My DS recently sat the SAT. The test has changed to include a third section added onto the classic maths/language tests. It now includes an essay section and the total score is out of 2400 (used to be 1600).

He scored 66%. Not bad considering he did very little prep and was really just curious. He will attend uni here in UK, but has dual citizenship (usa/uk) so wanted to test himself really. Test took 5 1/2 hours with a couple of breaks.

There was a PSAT which friends of mine sat at 16, think it was a formalized practice test. Might be worth looking at that.

Ah, Mycatcoco , I hadn't realised it'd changed. I took it 17 years a long time ago.

Both my boys took their SAT's here in the US. Both were seniors in High school but neither had had their 18th birthday before sitting them.
Older on did PSAT's first in his Junior year before he turned 17 and the basic SAT in his Senior year (math and English) and also did subject testing in History and something else (I forget) his scores were good but not overly fantastic like some kids. He applied to two Uni's here his scores were on the high end for the Cal State school he applied to and middle range for the private Uni, he went to private Uni as it was more prestigious and a better challenge academically. His in UK working now he's done.
Second son did his Basic English and Math SAT's and got mediocre scores, he also did his ACT's in English and Math, ACT scores are used more for East coast Uni's and SAT's are more West Coast, but both can be accepted anywhere.
He's in UK now too waiting to do a Police foundation degree.
Scoring has changed and we took forever to figure out how they had done.

Dual US/UK family here; my kids took the SATs. I'd definitely advise your son to take the PSAT - in October of grade 11 (same as year 11). Most students applying to selective colleges do it - not only for practice but also an indication of how they can expect to do on the all-important SATs.

Many students in academically-oriented communities also take an expensive private prep course (Kaplan or similar).

The best source of information is not Fullbright but the website of the College Board, the (private, profit-making) body that actually sets and administers the SATs.
www.collegeboard.org

ACTs are subject-based (like A-levels) and were traditionally more popular in the South and Midwest. Theoretically, the SATs test academic ability not achievement. Confusingly, there are also SAT 'Subject Tests'. Much depends on where you'll be and what kind of colleges your son is likely to apply to.

How old child is when they take them varies; anywhere between 15 & 19, but usually on the cusp of turning 18.
I recommend PSAT, too, I took that at 16 (I was young in the yr for 11th grade).

It's done in junior year, so age 16/17ish.

AntsMarching has described it well.

There are coaching courses available - look for books online, and prep courses that may be available are worth looking into too. SAT and ACT prep is quite a cottage industry. There are strategies and keys to tackling certain types of question -- many American hs students do SAT and ACT prep courses and can improve their predicted score by several percentiles. This can make the difference between selective and highly selective school application.

The format is multiple choice in every area except some of the maths.

By junior year, students would be in their third year of high school maths and those on a university-bound track would have taken algebra, geometry and be doing pre-calculus. Some students would already be doing calculus. Some would be doing geometry still. A student who wanted to do well would need to be at a solid pre-cal level in maths (getting B and up in coursework). Calculators are allowed iirc but only those that are calculators only, with no qwerty keyboards or phones and no built in programmes. Find out the specifics though.

The writing sample section tends to be disregarded by selective universities as they require applicants to provide a personal essay with their applications (one in particular included among its choices 'So Where Is Waldo Anyway?' this year) and they trust their own readers better than College Board employees to grade applicant writing.

A student who is running out of time should guess and finish.

The SAT subject tests are different.

(The PSAT is different again and is used to determine eligibility for the National Merit Scholarship Programme and also as a predictor of the SATs. You have to register through your school and the school needs to be registered with the College Board, which administers the exam. It can be a predictor of SAT scores but it's not worth doing as the standard in maths is higher in the SAT.)

There is really no such thing as an 'average American high school diploma' American schools vary incredibly in quality as they are controlled primarily by each individual school district. You really can't say 'An American high school diploma is the equivalent of GCSEs' some would be far worse and some would leave GCSE courses and grades in the dust. From one district to another the standard can vary enormously. The SAT and ACT function to eliminate the guesswork by universities as to quality of high school and reliability of teacher recommendations or high school grades