Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment PSAT, PLAN, ACT Aspire for H.S. Sophmore?

While our district, as well as most others near here, does not administer the PLAN, I am certain that districts that administer both do NOT offer them the same day.

There is always a Wednesday date and a Saturday date for the PSAT in mid-October. From what I can find on the PLAN, the school orders the materials and administers it, but there is a large window of time (many months) in which they can administer the test. The only reason a district would offer them the same day is to be lazy pains in the behind.

I don't know what PACT is, unless it is just a change in acronym (to make it like P-SAT, making it P-ACT). I understand that ASPIRE replaces EXPLORE, not PLAN.

In our district they have gone to paying for all 9-11th graders to take the Wednesday PSAT. I assume your school is giving the PSAT on Wednesday, so perhaps you can find a nearby school that gives it on Saturday and he could take it there?

Yes, the PSAT will change in his junior year, but the SAT won't change until spring of his junior year. If he likes the current format, he can take it spring of 10th or fall of 11th grade.

If timed things cause him trouble, then the ACT might be tougher for him. The questions are not tricky, but there are a lot in a short period of time.

I would take advantage of any PSAT/PLAN opportunities because colleges don't see those results. So what if you bomb it? And best to understand which test is right for you, and which sections you need to prep, while in 10th grade.