Experience with SAT/ACT in SG

[malcontent]

Does anyone have any experience with their child registering and taking the SAT/ACT here in Singapore?

I attempted to go through the process yesterday on the SAT website. All seats are full for Dec 2021 and Mar 2022, but there were a few seats left for May 2022. Do we really need to book so far in advance? That is like 8 months from now!

Also, I noticed the testing locations are mostly at International Schools. I emailed one of them to confirm and they said yes, they accept outsiders. Kind of surprising, but okay.

If anyone has experience, appreciate any info or experience you might have.

[Lisafuller]

Does anyone have any experience with their child registering and taking the SAT/ACT here in Singapore?

I attempted to go through the process yesterday on the SAT website. All seats are full for Dec 2021 and Mar 2022, but there were a few seats left for May 2022. Do we really need to book so far in advance? That is like 8 months from now!

Also, I noticed the testing locations are mostly at International Schools. I emailed one of them to confirm and they said yes, they accept outsiders. Kind of surprising, but okay.

If anyone has experience, appreciate any info or experience you might have.

Now is the start of the college application season, so you should expect seats to be taken. My daughter has taken it twice and will be taking it a third time in October this year. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.

[malcontent]

I have been digging pretty deeply into this and stumbled across Testtakers which I learned is a NY based SAT prep firm with operations here. The guy running it in Singapore, Jeremy Craig, has been here for over 20 years and is a real no-nonsense type of guy, super knowledgeable, and tells it like it is. He even said (to the detriment of his business) anyone applying this cycle doesn’t even need to take the SAT because it’s become optional everywhere except Florida. In California, they have gone SAT blind and won’t even look at it! He also regularly turns away students that want to start prep early. It doesn’t make any sense to take the SAT unless you are at least in IB1 / JC1 / G11. He advises against prepping too early or too much. The gain in score plateaus after 45 hours of prep, so they only start their prep program 8 weeks prior to the test. The other interesting thing he mentioned is to not bother trying the ACT test, people who are registering here have been getting an email stating that the test won’t be held. Finally, in his opinion, taking the test multiple times isn’t generally going to get much better score (if you have had the prep). He also doesn’t recommend too much practice testing either, just get the prep, take the test and be done with it.

My daughter is starting JC1 next year, so I will be following his recommendation… if all goes well, start her prep in Oct and test in Dec next year. That will free her up to focus on JC2 and A-levels the following year.

[Lisafuller]

My daughter is finishing up JC2, so she’s been prepping pretty hard. She’s aware that many schools have gone test-optional, but we think it would be good to take it so tat she can show how she compares to American candidates, since they may not understand the local grading system or syllabus and may dismiss bad grades without considering the difference in difficulty.

[malcontent]

If it’s a large school that has a fair number or international students, they should know. On the school’s website, sometimes they will list the minimum grades typically needed for British system O / A level, sometimes even Singapore specifics are included. At least one that I saw even mentioned IP and H level, so you might be surprised how much they know these days!

Just keep in mind that the US system is very flexible, if she doesn’t get into the school she wants initially, she can attend a feeder school and then transfer after a year or two. Santa Monica college is a good example that feeds into the UC system with a very high success rate. After studying in Singapore, the grades she will get in the US will be stellar, and transfer options will be plentiful.

I myself did this very thing, saves cost too!