Download Our Guide to the New SAT
If you are the parent of a student in the high school graduating class of 2017, you’ve already had your share of academic upheaval. But the biggest change–and the one with the most profound impact on your child’s college admissions prospects–still lies ahead. But fear not, because we have delved deeply into the dramatic revisions to the October 2015 PSAT and March 2016 SAT. Not only have we broken down what is changing and what remains the same, but we share our professional opinions on what these changes mean for the SAT and for you. Would you like a free pdf copy of our guide, Meet the New SAT? Click the image below!
Georgia Tech Superscoring
If you’ve done any research into test scores and college admissions, you know that every admissions office can evaluate SAT and ACT scores in its own way. Some schools will consider your best single administration of the SAT or ACT. Other schools, however, recognize the value in accepting scores from more than one test date. These schools superscore, which is to say they allow you to send scores from multiple test administrations, from which they piece together your optimal score from your best scores in each section. Until recently, then, we’ve had colleges that superscore either the SAT or ACT, superscore both, or superscore neither. However, a new option has entered into the equation: Georgia Tech superscoring. Georgia Tech has a novel approach to the SAT vs. ACT dichotomy. Instead of looking at the tests as separate instruments, the admissions officers see them as interchangeable: Evaluating your Test Scores We…
Smile! Photo Requirements for the SAT & ACT
Considering the high stakes nature of the SAT & ACT, the number of students who have been caught (or not caught) cheating on their tests over the years hardly comes as a surprise. One of the classic cheats has been to hire a youthful-looking professional to test in one’s place. No wonder the testing organizations have been ramping up their efforts in recent years to ensure that the person taking a test is the person who should be taking it! Of course, heightened security leads to heightened anxiety, particularly when test day already evokes such anxiety. One major source of stress has been the photo submission requirements. Both the College Board and ACT require you to provide a recent photo of yourself in order to complete your test registration. The submitted photo is used for identification and test security purposes. Relieve anxiety on test day by making sure your photo…
Average ACT Score By INTENDED College Major
Back in November 2014, I explored the implications (and refuted a misinterpretation) of the data presented in the 2014 SAT Report on College & Career Readiness. The newly released ACT report, The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2014, deserves a similar analysis. This report provides a series of graphical pictures highlighting the college and career readiness of the ACT-tested high school class of 2014, based on ACT College Readiness Benchmarks and scores. The portion of the report most people will gravitate towards is the ACT College Readiness Benchmark Attainment for Top Planned College Majors: 2014 Graduates: The use of College Readiness Benchmarks rather than ACT scaled scores obscures the implications of this data. Let’s clear things up by pegging the benchmarks to scores: The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks for English, Reading, Mathematics, and Science are the minimum section scores that ACT, Inc. associates with a 50% chance of earning…
Can 529 Funds Be Used to Pay for Test Prep?
529 plans, tax advantaged investment vehicles designed to make it easier to save and pay for college or alternate post-secondary training, have been in the news lately. These plans, otherwise known as qualified tuition programs, have become somewhat popular with families all too aware of the steadily rising cost of a college education. Over the years, a number of clients have come to us requesting documentation so they could use 529 college savings plan funds to pay for their SAT & ACT prep. The practice become so common that we started telling new clients about the 529 option as a matter of course. Good thing we’re in education, not tax services! The last time a client commented to me on how excited she was about the option of using 529 college funds to pay for prep, I decided to consult an actual accountant to confirm what I thought was true.…
5 Minutes to College with Mike Bergin
NextStepU has been running a terrifically informative series of short video interviews called 5 Minutes to College. David Mammano, the CEO/Founder of NextStepU, has spent 5 minutes at a time with admissions consultants, career experts, and college sports pros. At last, he’s turned the camera on an expert in test preparation: yours truly! David and I discuss the following essential points in this video, which you are sure to find informative and possibly even witty: Whether the SAT & ACT are here to stay How the ACT differs from the SAT What 5 steps a student should take to prep for the tests When should a high schooler prepare As you imagine, we needed a little more than 5 minutes to cover these topics, but spare just a little more than 7 minutes, and you’ll learn a lot!