My ds12 asked about taking the SAT because he heard he can get scholarships if he scores high enough. Are there really scholarships available? Is there any other reason to do it? I know there are talent searches at some universities, but I don't think we'd be able to afford tuition. Thanks

Johns Hopkins has a free program for children who score above 700 on either the Mathematical or Verbal (Critical Reading) part of the SAT before their 13th birthdays.

If there are other programs, I'd be interested in hearing about them.

I wonder if your DS12 heard about these scholarships through his school, perhaps. If a teacher or guidance counselor knows of an opportunity in your area, I'd be sure to learn more about it. However, your DS may have heard that high SAT scores can result in college scholarships for high school seniors, which is very true.

Our oldest 2 boys have taken the SAT/ACT via talent searches and while the awards/recognition can be nice, and having the school aware of their abilities is great (for what that's worth), it's simply a good idea to get your DS ready for this type of testing, in an actual testing environment, as soon as you think he's ready. Our 10th grade DS is getting ready for the *real* PSAT, SAT & ACT, so I’m glad he has had testing exposure from a younger age. If your DS does not object to testing, I’d highly recommend it for the experience alone.

Keet
The best part of the opportunity is that the SAT scores get magically erased from.the colleges view. So the only downside is half a day's stress. In addition to helping with advocacy because the number may be higher that the admins, folks will get that your child is different in that they can sit still for that long and even enjoy the experience. If taking a college class during the summer or evenings is even remotely possible then it is worth allowing a willing child to try it

Taking the SAT in middle school was a springboard for my D (now 17) to go to Davidson's THINK program for two summers. She loved THINK, and has written about her experience and how it has affected her college search in her college essays. She was just admitted to University of Chicago with a merit scholarship, and I think her essay really helped. So... it is an indirect connection to taking the SAT in middle school, but it helped her. Also, we registered her scores with CTY (but she missed the 13 year old cutoff for SET by taking the SAT a couple of weeks after her 13th birthday). She was invited to join the online COGITO chat group Johns Hopkins helps run, and that was a huge benefit to her (meeting other PG kids online). No money in that, but it was a very valuable social outlet for her.

Congrats on her admittance to U of C! When your in town drop a line!

Thanks. Actually not sure yet whether she is going to attend U of C (their early process is not binding). She is waiting to hear back from Swarthmore and Harvey Mudd on her applications before making up her mind. But glad she took the SAT early, it helped her with opportunities that paid off later!

I am considering it for my DS9 within the next year or two. My reasons are to give him something that may be a challenge and also to see where he falls.