Just to elaborate on the NJ post. In NJ, Levels 4, 6 & 7 compete in Fall with States in January. Levels 5, 8, 9, & 10 compete in Spring.
In regards to the conversation about skipping 6 to 7. At dd's gym only once did we have girls skip and that was back when the floor routines changed a few yrs ago. The coaches felt that the girls wouldn't score well with the new more "dance-y" routines, so they scored them out. The coaches has since regretted that and won't do it anymore. Those girls ended up competing 7 for 2 seasons. L6 is really a hard level, but I think those girls that do it reep the benfits. Their form is tip-top and it really makes going to 7 so much easier. My dd competed 6 and did pretty well, but she excelled at 7.
We're getting ready for L8 here and time will tell how she will shape up for this season. Luckily, she still has about 4/5 months to get everything down.