
Trung Ngo from LA TUTORS 123 asked me his top 5 questions:
1. All parents want their kids to prosper on the SAT, but few make the time and effort to examine and just take the test with them—much less take the test 7 times. Beyond maintaining your son inspired to ensure success on the SAT, what kept you going from one test to another location?
Well, first of all, i’d say that any parent can do what we did (in other words. motivate an adolescent to learn for the SAT), and it generally does not take 7 tests! Any amount of hot engagement from a parent will do (even at first if they don’t act like it. Be patient. They shall!). What kept me going ended up being that I actually just like the SAT (crazy as that sounds). It was enjoyed by me… like a crossword puzzle.
2. Year the College Board reports that 55% of juniors improved their score when they took the SAT again in their senior. Exactly What is your advice for students retaking the SAT? Just how can they get the maximum benefit from the jawhorse?
Oh, wow, let me see if I can be brief here: Be methodical with the planning. The greater amount of vocab, the better. Sit in the row that is front test day, if possible. Take the test in a classroom that is smallnot just 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 scores improve from the test that is first the very last?
4. Having tried a variety of test prep methods, which did you find the most effective? What set it apart from the others?
5. On your blog, you provide a great deal of practical SAT tips that are not directly related to using the test, for example, most readily useful SAT snacks or picking the right test location. From your experience, what is the single most 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 choose from a variety that shmoop college essay writing services is wide of, including the AP, the ACT, or the SAT Subject tests, as alternatives to the SAT.
But it doesn’t mean that high schoolers should forgo the drudgery and anxiety of trying to accomplish well on SATs or just about any standard test unless they need 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 school can determine it self as ‘test optional’ for admissions purposes, however need test scores when it comes to awarding scholarships or determining class positioning.
Experts argue that ‘test optional’ universities are simply gaming the operational system to get status in the ranks, especially the U.S. News & World Report rankings, which have created a frenzy of colleges vying to move up in prestige. A test-optional policy means more applicants, which means more applicants to reject, meaning more ‘selective’ as far as the rankings go. Test-optional also means that the school’s SAT average are artificially inflated because applicants who do submit scores have actually higher scores 100-150 points higher, on average than candidates who don’t.
There is also the very fact that ‘test optional’ means different things to schools that are different. Students with low SAT scores can be hoping for the chance to be looked at being a entire person rather than a test score, but it is not always that easy. There are policy nuances, such as test optional for students with a specific GPA. Or, test state that is optional, but perhaps not if you’re an applicant from out of state or abroad.
On the flip side, there’s a chance for some pupils with high test scores to get results the system with their advantage because the applicant pool at test optional schools is presumably full of score-free applications. High scores might even mitigate the effects a reduced GPA at a test optional university.
There is no doubt that certain test should maybe not figure out an applicant’s possibilities, however in 2009, the faculty Board began offering ‘Score Choice’ where students can determine whether to send SAT ratings from the test that is certain or, should they had a specially bad early morning, omit the ratings for that time (there are exceptions). And yes, there are definitely other restrictions towards the SAT’s ability to capture a person that is whole and undoubtedly inequalities whereby those who can afford expensive test prep and numerous testings can gain an edge. But for most students, ‘test-optional’ is more difficult than it might first appear.
