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Spotlight on the SAT and the ACT

The ACT is on the rise. Attending the National Association for College Admission Counseling annual meeting in Maryland, I could clearly see that the SAT is continuing to lose ground to its longstanding rival. During a well attended session, SAT Test Prep: Sharing What Works, as soon as one college counselor mentioned the success his students were having prepping for the ACT, heads began nodding in agreement throughout the auditorium. More and more schools, college counselors, educational consultants and tutors are shifting their energies toward this alternative to the SAT.

People love to attack the SAT, which has become a magnet for controversy. Over the years, the SAT has been blamed for many of the ills, shortcomings and inequities of the US educational system. In my research I have found dozens of critiques and analyses of the SAT, exploring its biases, lack of predictive strength and various other failings, whereas critiques of the ACT are conspicuously rare. Most educational researchers have chosen to overlook the ACT, which in turn has benefitted from the relative lack of public scrutiny.  The few researchers who have examined the ACT in the same light as the SAT have discovered that the ACT is not a corrective for the SAT; the ACT shares many of its flaws, privileging the same groups and creating the same social, racial and economic divisions as the SAT.

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What? SAT Prep cool?! What is Demetri Martin thinking? If you need a quick pick-me-up to help you escape the SAT doldrums before Saturday’s test, watch the short video below. And then go look up the word alacrity.

There is no better way to determine if a college is right for you than to stroll the hallowed halls yourself, asking questions, sitting in on classes, eating the food. However, busy schedules and a dream-college list 20 schools long don’t always mix. What to do if you can’t fit in the time to visit everyone of your favored schools in person? Go Internet, young men! (and women; a Horace Greeley allusion for those U.S. History buffs.)

Below are a handful of websites who offer virtual tours of hundreds of American colleges and universities. Did I mention they are free? Well, they are. But, most require that you register with them in order to view more than one or two colleges. You might get useful information from them; you might not. I suggest you set up a filter on your email account and shovel  all their mail to one particular folder to look at at your leisure.

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The Chinese are Coming! This emphatic title lured me and dozens of fellow NACAC (National Association of College Admissions Counselors) conference attendees into a session exploring the expanding impact of Chinese nationals on college admissions in America. It turns out this title was only a setup for a punch line: The Chinese are Coming? The Chinese are here. And this is not news. The presence of China is now firmly established on the world stage. Anyone who happened to watch the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics, anyone who has stepped foot into a Walmart in the last decade, anyone who has taken a peek at the US trade balance or our list of national creditors knows unequivocally that the Chinese are here.

And it’s no surprise that Chinese nationals are entering our universities in record numbers. Our institutions of higher learning have always been the crown jewels of the US educational system. For decades highly talented and ambitious Chinese nationals have made their way to our shores to attend our graduate schools, and now they are coming with increasing numbers to our undergraduate schools.

Perhaps we should be flattered that our institutions of higher learning are so esteemed. Perhaps we should be a bit nervous, as the title of this session insinuated. Perhaps we simply need to adapt to the new reality. Other sessions at NACAC advocated this course of action, boasting titles such as: How to Recruit Chinese Nationals.

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Notes from NACAC

During the 3-day national conference of the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC), I had the opportunity to meet with college admission counselors, high school counselors and educational researchers from across the country. More than 5,000 individuals attended the conference to gain insight into the many changes underway in the world of college admissions: changes in admission criteria, technological developments, new financial realities and the increasing internationalization of American education. Naturally, I gravitated towards all break-out sessions involving the collegiate assessments and their role in the admissions process. Over the course of several short installments, I will impart to you the main lessons I took away from the conference.

Part 1: Technology on the rise in the admissions process

I will never forget the painstaking process of typing up my official application to Penn in the fall of 1993; that was the last time I used a typewriter. A year later I was learning how to navigate the Mosaic browser, surf the web, and send an e-mail. A short year after that, I was logging in to virtual classrooms to chat with my teachers and classmates.

The technologies that were in their infancy when I applied to college have matured to the point of now transforming the face of college admissions. Paper applications are historical artifacts; communications are now taking place by e-mail, Skype and YouTube; colleges are promoting themselves via student blogs, virtual college fairs and podcasts. Vast social networks have transformed the manner in which people learn about schools and communicate with one another.

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What is the PSAT?

The PSAT/NMSQT stands for Preliminary SAT / National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. It is offered during the student’s junior year in either October or November, depending on the particular high school. It is a standardized test that is approximately two hours and twenty minutes long, with two 25-minute critical reading sections, two 25-minute math sections, and one 30-minute writing skills section. The test consists of 48 critical reading questions, 38 math questions, and 39 writing skills question. The PSAT/NMSQT does not require students to recall specific information from classes.

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College application season is coming up on us fast. Between taking the SAT/ACT, writing your application essay and collecting recommendations, it’s easy to overlook something. The following is a checklist you can use to ensure that you don’t forget any important steps in the process.

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We’ve fixed the audio issues some attendees had with our last webinar!

Join ATS founder Jed Appelrouth on August 26, 2009 at 7:00 PM EDT as he talks admissions, applications and standardized testing. The presentation will also be streamed live over the internet. Email or Twitter message us your questions ahead of time, and Jed will answer as many as possible live during the webcast. Links to register for the event can be found below based on how you plan to attend:

• I Will Attend Online
• I Will Attend In Person

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You’ve spent three solid years building your high school resume. But you’re not in yet! The following is a list of “must dos” for your senior year to help ensure acceptance into your top-choice schools.

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Don’t miss the FREE college admissions seminar with ATS founder Jed Appelrouth this Wednesday. If you can’t attend in person, click here to register for the live broadcast. Once registered, you’ll receive a reminder email Wednesday morning with information on how to join the webinar at 7:30 PM EST that night. Registration isn’t necessary, you can use the same link on Wednesday night to view the presentation. Keep checking our website for more details.

Email or Twitter message us your questions ahead of time, and Jed will answer as many as possible live during the webinar.

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The early bird gets the worm, right? Well, maybe in the great outdoors this is the case, but in the high stakes game of college admissions, early decision is not the panacea some might believe. A student with substandard scores and grades will not be admitted to Harvard just because he chose to apply early decision. So if early decision isn’t a guaranteed ‘get-in’ card, what is it good for?

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Okay, you’re a junior, now what? Junior year is the absolute best time to begin the test-preparation process. Almost all college-bound juniors will take the PSAT in October of their junior year. If you get a good score on the PSAT, we highly recommend taking your first SAT in November or December of that same year. If not, plan to take your first SAT in January or March after you have prepped a little.

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All people to feel like they belong. In high school it’s easy; you know exactly where you belong. You belong in one corner of the cafeteria, one section of bleachers at the football games, one  part of the dimly lit maze of hallways. Of course you are free to flit around like the social butterfly you are, but you know where it is that you fit comfortably and choose to spend most of your time. But now there is college. Whether it is 7 miles away or 700, you will have to figure out where you belong all over again. But before you do that, you first have to figure out what school you belong in. There are so many choices: big campus, small campus; active student body, not-so-active student body; urban, rural. Where to begin?

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As you contemplate your fall college applications this sunny summer at the beach, you are probably wondering what kinds of things could give you a “leg up” in the admissions process. Below is a generally accepted list of what admissions officers are really looking for:

1. Strength of coursework – Admissions officers want students who challenge themselves.
2. Grades – Not only do admissions officers want students who challenge themselves, but they also want students who do well in challenging courses. A low grade in a course doesn’t mean you are dumb; it just means you haven’t mastered a subject yet. If you think you need extra, individual help, hire a tutor.
3. Standardized test scores – Admissions officers need a way to level the playing field. An “A” in one school doesn’t necessarily correspond to an “A” in another school. The easiest way for admissions officers to compare students from different schools is to look at standardized test scores. Fortunately, with preparation, almost anyone can improve his or her standardized test scores.
4. Extra-curricular activities – Admissions officers aren’t looking for a laundry list of activities that you’ve tried; they like to see dedication to one or two activities where you’ve excelled or taken a leadership role.
5. Essays – Admissions officers don’t want to see boring essays, so keep them interesting. Take the time to proofread your essays because admissions officers are starting to understand that first-rate writing skills greatly correlate to college success.
6. Interviews – Admissions officers want to know that you have a genuine interest in their institution. The interview will give you the chance to connect with the officer on a personal level. Remember, people tend to gravitate to others like themselves.

Keep these in mind when you’re applying, and good luck!

Have you ever wanted to attend a free college admissions seminar with ATS founder Jed Appelrouth but didn’t have the time or realized that you live on the other side of the country? Then mark down July 22, 2009 on your calendar as the day you can watch the presentation live, streamed over the internet. Watch from home, at the beach or anywhere with an internet connection. The event kicks off at 7:30 PM Eastern with an hour long presentation and 30 minutes of questions and answers with parents and students. Email or Twitter message us your questions ahead of time and Jed will answer as many as possible live during the webcast. To watch the live stream, just visit our homepage that Wednesday night.

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Sorry, pop music fans, we are not giving away tickets. But there are some new tests on NYU’s block. NYU is now offering different testing options starting with students who are applying for the 2010-2011 school year. The SAT and the ACT no longer stand supreme. NYU will now accept a myriad of different testing combinations.

Congratulations, Seniors. You’ve been accepted! You’ve received the thick envelope and are currently stocking up on mascot paraphanalia. The rest of senior year will be a breeze. Why even show up to class? Who cares if your As and Bs start sliding downward toward Cs and Ds? You were accepted; it’s not like they can take it back. Before you toss your text books out your car window and call it day, hold up. Colleges can revoke acceptance. Repeat: An acceptance letter is not a get out of jail free card. A National Association of College Admissions Counseling study in 2008* found that 35% of colleges REVOKED admission offers in 2007. The most common reason? Grades. Yes, you read correctly. Your final semester grades can come back to bite you in the bum. So, pay attention in class and try to keep everything up to your normal standards.  See the charts below for information on what else can cause students to lose their coveted place in the hallowed halls of their dreams.

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Today is the day. Breathless with anticipation, hundreds of thousands of students logged on to their College Board accounts this morning praying for that particular score that would set them free. Some did as expected while some did better, and still others not quite as well. What to do if March was just not your test? Perhaps it is time for you to initiate Score Choice, the new College Board feature that allows you to pick and choose which scores you send to schools.  Before you do anything, however, I suggest you click here to read all the provisions and conditions.

Check your scores here: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/scores.html

The SAT Subject Tests (formerly SAT II: Subject Tests) are one-hour tests that measure your knowledge in particular subject areas and your ability to apply that knowledge. The most commonly taken exam is Math—usually taken at the end of the junior year. Others exams are U.S. History, Literature, and various Foreign Languages and Sciences. Each test is one hour long, and you may take up to three tests in one day. You cannot take the SAT Reasoning Test (the standard SAT) on the same day as the SAT subject tests.

Why should I take the SAT Subject Tests?

Some top-tier schools such as Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Duke and others require the submission of at least 2 SAT Subject test scores. Many other competitive colleges use the Subject Tests to aid in admissions decisions, for course level selection and for course placement.

How can we help?

Appelrouth Tutoring Service provides focused review for almost all SAT Subject Tests. Each individual test prep course comes with a real SAT Subject Test diagnostic exam and corresponding course materials. We suggest a minimum of 8 hours split into 2-hour lessons, but we can customize a course to fit your individual needs. Contact us for more information and to sign up.

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Have you been waitlisted? Wondering what to do next? Should you bake cookies with your name spelled out in sprinkles? Should you write a poignant ballad detailing your immense desire to attend those hallowed halls? Should you just give up?  The Daily Beast’s blog post, “Dirty Secrets of College Waitlists” offers some sound advice from the professional decision-makers. There is even some advice from Pace Academy’s own Gavin Bradley!