Now that we are on the other side of that early testing hurdle, I thought it may be helpful to list some miscellaneous tidbits that I wished I had known:
If you want to take the SAT before 7th grade, NUMATS/CTD is the only major talent search that routinely tests 6th graders. Everything is done electronically so you do not need to register separately with College Board.
JHU/CTY will now test students below 7th grade if you register for their talent search by mail and include a specific request for them to mail you the SAT registration materials. You still cannot register for CTY online unless you are at least a 7th grader. In the past, the CTY website specifically state that students taking the SAT below 7th grade or outside their talent search are not eligible for the awards ceremonies. However, students below 7th grade who qualify for SET (700+) are now invited to the Grand Ceremony. In addition, CTY now invites students who already tested to register for their talent search and have College Board send the score report. This has the benefits of making SET automatic (scores automatically/immediately transmitted to SET), receiving an invitation to the Grand Ceremony, and eligibility for the Intensive Studies courses early.
If you take the SAT through a talent search, you can fill out their talent search ID form instead of using a photo ID. However, I would recommend that your student bring a photo ID anyhow to avoid unnecessary explanation/hold-up on test day.
Prepare your child to locate the correct information board, get in the correct lines, and go to his testing room all by himself as parents are not allowed in the building in most normal administrations. I have heard that sometimes the proctors are more lax in special administrations.
Prepare your child to either write in cursive or fake it as he will be asked to copy a statement in cursive.
Prepare your child for questions from other testers as he may be the only obvious young kid there.
Last edited by Quantum2003; 06/26/15 03:11 PM.
