Yesterday I received SAT scores for DS 11. He was sooooo close to SET (690) that I confess I was a 'bit' disappointed. He still has a yr and a half to make the 10 pts but it was a weird moment of being happy for him and disappointed. His response when I told him the score, "I can't imagine what I got wrong--I was certain I had them all right."

lol! Wow, high expectations, kiddo. Dd came out in the mid 500s for CR and writing and was happy enough with that. She tells me that she might actually look over the prep book/study next year to see how she'd do with some prep. It sounds like your ds should be a shoe in for SET next year.

Cricket2,
I know--my feelings aren't necessarily reasonable, but I feel like this site is like "confession" and I can tell what I wouldn't normal admit out loud.

Dottie,
Yes, it was math.

Crit Reading 580 and the cool thing...610 writing! He made an effort on the essay this year!

It is superb score for a 11-year-old. Congrats!

My older daughter took SAT at age 12. She was a little short too the first time. Then she did it again a few months later and passed the 700 threshold for SET.

SET itself is more a bragging right than anything else. The free Imagine magazine is the only concrete 'benefit' from the program. The magazine is highly recommended but anyone can subscribe. Occasionally you get e-mail about some research/internship opportunities. DDs were not very interested.

You can probably put SET in the college application. But I am not sure whether it helps or not.

Oh, no, I wasn't thinking that you were being unreasonable. He was so close; I can see how you wish it was just that mere 10 pts more. I was more laughing at his comment about thinking that he hadn't missed any. That's some confidence in such a young guy and high expections he has of himself -- and it's great that he feels that confident!

Okay, I don't have anyone near this age yet to know enough about SAT.... what is SET? Figure I can learn now so in a few years.... we'll be there .

Wow! For an 11 year old.... that is AWESOME! He should be so proud!

Ahhhhh! Ok, I was aware of CTY but not the whole SET thing. Awesome! Always good to know!

Dottie, you rock ya know

Always so informative

FWIW, we have not really gotten much from ds's SET membership. It is possible that it is helpful in applications for special programs, but I can't say for sure we've seen any tangible benefit. The magazine is nice, but you can also pay to subscribe. There are not many SET gatherings in our area- we were invited to one informal SET affair about 1.5 hours from us last year, but that's all. I do know of some people who live in more urban areas and have more social gatherings for SET members- I believe that the HEROES group in New Jersey grew out of a local SET community. So, membership can have its perks, but for my family, the perks have been fairly minor thus far.

May be I am in the wrong place here. Any suggestions for my 5th grader ITBS and Cogat testing? Web site or downloads that can help with the test taking. Thanks

Cym - I just wanted to commiserate with you. I know how you feel. DS9 did pretty well on the EXPLORe this year but missed DYS by 2points on the Science. And science is his thing he just didn't finish it. So while he did well, I can admit here (and have to Dottie lol) at being a bit disappointed that he missed by only 2 points (I don't know how many questions that equates to). Sometimes I think a near miss is more frustrating than missing by a mile.

Dazey

I agree getting SET is is hardly a do or die situation. However, I did want to mention one of other benefit - Access to the private member forums on Cogito.org. Our child has enjoyed that community quite a lot and I've appreciated that he has a safe place to talk with other gifted kids like similar interests.

You might want to start a separate thread to get more responses.

Yes, quite true.

I like to make goals and SET was one for DS11--he knew nothing about it till a couple days before the test and I explained it, but I think it helped inspire him. I'm not expecting major benefits from SET, but it's good to have these interim goals--I think.

DS decided to re-test in June and he made SET! 710 math--yeah! Just received the invitation.

Congratulations to your DS, Cym! That reminds me -- I have no idea what my IQ is, BUT my dad spent a couple of years calling me by my middle school SAT score. It was kinda cute (way better than "Princess", at any rate, which is what he'd called me before...)

Thanks Clay and Dottie!

For those parents here whose children have achieved impressive Math SAT scores at an early age -- how did they prepare?

I'd guess that in many cases, the child has a high level of talent and motivation in math, so that he/she can study algebra by late elementary school. Once a child has exposure to algebra and some geometry, he/she has the math background to do well in the SAT if he/she has the talent.

congrats to DS-Cym!! Wow! Yippee!

Seriously - just sitting through a 4 hour test is an impressive feat at 11 years old - and paying close enough attention to show what he knows is something I'm very proud of!

Grinity

Cym-

That's great! I'll bet he's feeling good about meeting that goal.

Congrats to your ds! I'm assuming that his retest wasn't through talent search. Are scores at his age also not recorded permanently if they are done w/out going through talent search? (not that he'd want those scores wiped out of his permanent record!)

SAT scores from prior to 9th grade are not automatically saved past the end of the academic year. If you want the scores saved you must let the College Board know before June of the year tested. The request needs to be made in writing. http://sat.collegeboard.com/register/special-circumstances