The SCAT (School and College Ability Test) is a gifted test by the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (JH-CTY) – to identify and encourage academically gifted students.

Participating in a gifted education program helps academically gifted students maximize their potential and realize their dreams. Qualifying the SCAT test is an excellent way your child can attend the coveted John Hopkins summer programs. Students from grades 2-9 can register for and answer the online gifted test held from July 1 every year to June 30 of the following year.

The SCAT has 3 levels:

Elementary SCAT – For students in grades 2-3 and designed for students in grades 4-5

Intermediate SCAT – For Students in grades 4-5 and designed for students in grades 6-8

Advanced SCAT – For students in grades 6 and above and designed for students in grades 9-12

The best way towards SCAT Test Preparation is to attempt an online SCAT Practice test. This is how an SCAT Practice test will help you max your SCAT prep:

1. Familiarizing yourself with the test format – At all levels, the SCAT has 2 sections: Quantitative (Math) and Verbal Reasoning. Students are given 22 minutes to solve 55 questions on each section which include 5 unidentified questions that do not count towards the final score. A student can choose to have a 10 minute break between the sections.

2. Simulation of the actual test – An online full length SCAT Practice test will help students and parents know what the actual test will be like. Answering an online test is quite different from answering a paper based test. Getting online to practice is a great way to get comfortable and confident for the upcoming SCAT.

3. Time management – Just 22 minutes for 55 questions is no easy feat. With a challenge such as this, it’s imperative for a student to know how to keep cool and cope with the ticking clock!

4. Strategy planning – Often it’s the way you approach a test and tackle the questions therein that can make all the difference with your SCAT Test Preparation. Strategies like elimination and guesstimating can help students arrive at the correct answers even if the exact answer is not known.

5. Type of questions on the SCAT – JH-CTY has not prescribed any syllabus for the SCAT. However, online tutoring companies like eTutorWorld have mentored thousands of children globally to qualify the SCAT test. This has helped their test prep tutors gain enough experience and understanding about the type and difficulty level of the questions on the SCAT which in turn is passed on to the advantage of the students. For example, eTutorWorld’s SCAT quantitative tutors have realized that the questions asked are more about essential concepts than lengthy calculations.

6. Qualifying SCAT scores – Though the JH-CTY declares specific qualifying scores for every SCAT level and section, usually students in the 90+ percentile of a SCAT level, grade and gender qualify for the summer courses. SCAT percentiles are typically used to compare students to the older population. For example, Grade 2 students are compared to the general 4^th graders and so on.

Grade 2 is compared to Grade 4

Grade 3 to Grade 5

Grade 4 to Grade 6

Grade 5 to Grade 8

Grade 6 to Grade 9

Grade 7 to Grade 12

Grade 8 to Grade 12

For more information on talent search programs like the SCAT, you can link to the official JH-CTY page.