
Trung Ngo from LA TUTORS 123 asked me his top 5 questions:
1. All parents want their young ones to do well on the SAT, but few make the effort to examine and just take the test with them—much less simply take the test 7 times. Beyond maintaining your son motivated to achieve success on the SAT, what kept you going from one test to the next?
Well, first of all, i’d say that any parent can do what I did (in other words. motivate a teen to study for the SAT), and it generally does not take 7 tests! Any amount of warm engagement from a parent is going to do (even if they don’t really act like it at first. Be client. They shall!). What kept me going had been that I really like the SAT (crazy as that sounds). It was enjoyed by me… like a crossword puzzle.
2. The College Board reports that 55% of juniors improved their score if shmoop essay writter they took the SAT again in their senior year. Just What is your advice for students retaking the SAT? How can they get the most out of it?
Oh, wow, let me see if I can be brief here: Be methodical with the preparation. The greater vocab, the better. Sit within the front line on test time, if possible. Simply Take the test in a small classroom (not a cafeteria or gym). Try to get a regular desk (i.e. perhaps not a arm/chair desk tablet).
3. You took the SAT 7 times during the period of 10 months: how did your ratings improve from the first test to the final?
4. Having tried a variety of test prep methods, which did you will find the most effective? What set it apart from the others?
5. On your blog, you offer a lot of practical SAT tips that are in a roundabout way associated with taking the test, for example, SAT snacks that are best or picking the right test location. From your experience, what is the single many important tip of this kind?
The Concealed Faces of Test Optional
Many prestigious universities and universities Bates that is including, American University, Sarah Lawrence, Smith and Wake Forest now do maybe not require SATs. The movement has even spawned a sub-category, called ‘test flexible,’ which allows a pupil to determine from a variety that is wide of, including the AP, the ACT, or the SAT Subject tests, as alternatives to the SAT.
But that doesn’t mean that high schoolers should forgo the drudgery and anxiety of attempting to complete well on SATs or virtually any test that is standardized they have to. For while test policies that are optional the impression that colleges wish to diversify their applicant pools, these are typically perhaps not always as noble as they sound. Moreover, a college can identify it self as ‘test optional’ for admissions purposes, but then require test scores in terms of awarding scholarships or determining class placement.
Experts argue that ‘test optional’ universities are simply gaming the operational system to gain status in the positions, such as the U.S. News & World Report positions, which have developed a frenzy of colleges vying to move up in prestige. A policy that is test-optional more applicants, which means more applicants to reject, meaning more ‘selective’ as far as the rankings go. Test-optional does mean that the school’s SAT average are artificially inflated because applicants who do submit ratings have greater scores 100-150 points greater, on average than applicants whom don’t.
There is also the very fact that ‘test optional’ means various things to schools that are different. Students with low SAT scores can be hoping for the chance to be looked at being a whole person rather than a test score, but it is not always that easy. There are policy nuances, such as test optional for pupils with a specific GPA. Or, test optional state schools, but not if you’re an applicant from out of state or abroad.
On the flip part, there exists a chance for some pupils with a high test ratings to work the device with their advantage as the applicant pool at test optional schools is presumably filled up with score-free applications. High scores might even mitigate the consequences a reduced GPA at a test college that is optional.
There is no doubt any particular one test should perhaps not determine an applicant’s possibilities, however in 2009, the school Board began offering ‘Score Choice’ where students can determine whether or not to send SAT ratings from a test that is certain or, if they had a particularly bad early morning, omit the ratings for that time (there are exceptions). And yes, there are definitely other restrictions to the SAT’s ability to capture a person that is whole and truly inequalities whereby those who can afford expensive test prep and multiple testings can gain an edge. But for most students, ‘test-optional’ is more difficult than it might first appear.
