The Case for the October SAT & ACT
For high schoolers, the academic year roars in with early opportunities to take the SAT & ACT. With the addition of an awesome August SAT administration, October no longer serves as the first chance to take either test. However, the month of fall foliage and Halloween treats is still one of the best times to take the SAT and ACT. What’s so great about October, besides pumpkin spice lattes? So early in the school year, classes haven’t really ramped up, which affords busy students a bit of breathing room to prep for the big tests. Most extracurricular activities, with the notable exception of fall sports, are equally slow to start. Thus, students can actually focus on the tests in October. However, other reasons sweeten the deal for October for 11th and 12th graders alike. SENIORS, even those late to the college admissions party, enter October feeling the pressure to finalize…
More Extracurriculars May Mean Higher Scores
Every ambitious or engaged high schooler knows the pain of trying to juggle academic, extracurricular, and social (especially social) commitments, while at the same time prepping for the big tests and working on college applications. Teens tempted to relent in any one area realize that competitive colleges care about more than just grades and test scores; those extracurricular activities matter. The good news from ACT, Inc. suggests that maybe you can have it all. According to ACT’s report on The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2019, involvement in high school activities is often associated with higher ACT Composite scores. ACT researchers cross-referenced average ACT Composite Score and number of activities for graduates of the high school class of 2019, distributing students by GPA. Based on the data, involvement in several high school activities is often associated with higher ACT Composite scores, no matter what a student’s GPA is. However,…
How The SAT & ACT Can Make Us Proud of America
When the 4th day of July rolls around, we citizens of the United States sometimes ponder questions deeper than just where to watch the best fireworks. We think of patriotism and pride, and even the most cynical among us contemplates what really makes America great. If thoughts like these have been rolling around in your head lately, here’s something to consider about American excellence… According to a 2014 tally, over 300,000 students outside the United States took the SAT in more than 1,000 international test centers across 175 countries. In Hong Kong alone, one 2013 SAT administration was inundated by 10,000 test takers. The ACT commands similar–and, in some countries greater–numbers of international test takers, and both tests have seen more test takers last year than ever. Why should students across the world take the SAT & ACT, when only colleges and universities within the U.S. use these scores…
Do SAT & ACT Subscores Matter?
When test scores come back, making sense of it all can be overwhelming. Composite scores, section scores, percentiles—it’s a lot to decipher, and people taking the SAT or ACT for the first time are often surprised by subscores. These tests are broken down into sections, but the sections break down even further into different types of questions. Subscores measure how well you did on each of these types, and they show up on score reports in a couple of different ways: for the SAT, they’re listed at the bottom of the first page, and for the ACT (which calls them Reporting Categories), they’re listed under Detailed Results. The SAT measures seven different subscores: Command of Evidence Words in Context Expression of Ideas Standard English Conventions Heart of Algebra Problem Solving and Data Analysis Passport to Advanced Math On the ACT, each section measures three Reporting Categories. In English: Production of…
When Should You Take The SAT or ACT?
Once you decide whether you’ll take the SAT or ACT for college admissions and scholarship purposes (you probably should), you’ll need to make critical decisions about timelines for prep and testing. My Tests and the Rest podcast partner Amy Seeley and I invited Chariot Learning’s own Jim Reinish to answer the age-old question: “When should you take the SAT or ACT?” I enjoyed this discussion of one of my favorite topics with two of my favorite educators and know that you will too. What are five things you will learn in this episode? When should high schoolers plan to prep for and take the SAT and/or ACT? How do current testing timelines differ from the old testing paradigm? What academic considerations influence testing timelines? What scheduling challenges should be considered during test planning? What personality traits in test takers need to be taken into account? For more links, resources, and…
SAT/ACT Intensive Class – August Afternoons 2022
End your summer strong! This special SAT/ACT Intensive Class is perfect for motivated students looking to learn the powerful strategies and content needed for their best test scores on the August SAT & September ACT. You’ll get in-depth, interactive lessons on math, grammar, reading, and testing content strategies followed by two full-length proctored practice tests and group test review sessions. Students can choose to attend this 26-hour class at our office or online. Instructional sessions run from 2-5pm EST and tests run 10am-2pm EST: August 16, 2-5pm August 17, 2-5pm August 18, 2-5pm August 19, 2-5pm August 23, 10am-2pm (practice ACT) August 24, 2-5pm August 25, 10am-2pm (practice SAT) August 26, 2-5pm This class is open to students from any school for a class fee of $500. We provide curriculum, but students will need the most current editions of The Official SAT Study Guide (order online) and The Official ACT Prep Guide…