The Effect of SAT Scores on Admissions Decisions
The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) released a study titled, Preparation for College Admission Exams. NACAC's agenda is to influence the way that admissions officers look at students test scores.
The NACAC wants admissions officers to eliminate the practice of using a hard SAT score cut off for determining admission decisions. Professor Briggs of University of Colorado at Boulder and the staff of NACAC conducted a survey to obtain information about the way that standardized test information is used to make admission decisions at four year, degree granting post secondary institutions in the U.S. The survey was sent to 1,075 post secondary institutions with a NACAC membership. 246 institutions completed the survey, a response rate of 23%. (Briggs,p.4)
The survey asked, "In what way are test scores used to make admissions decisions at your institution?" Defined Cut-off Threshold : 21%; Quantitative Index 31%; Holistic Approach:76%. When asked to rate the importance of test scores to admission decisions, "How important are the following criteria in admissions decisions made at your institution?" No/Limited/Moderate/Considerable Importance) 58 percent(127)of the institutions chose "considerable importance," with an average response between the categories of "moderate" and "considerable" importance. Only strength of curriculum and grades in college prep courses were weighted more heavily than test scores.(Briggs,p.8) The responses illustrate the importance of test scores in general and the importance of a small point improvement when applying to schools that have a defined threshold.
If marginal college admission decisions are made on the basis of very small differences in scores, a small gain made through coaching may be significant in yielding a positive admissions outcome where the data shows that an increase of 20 points on SAT-Math or an increase of 10 points on SAT-Critical Reading would, "significantly improve student's likelihood of admission." (Briggs,p.19). This is especially true for more selective institutions.
Research Conclusions
It has been found that even small increases in test scores may increase a student's chances of admissions at selective institutions. However this will primarily be true for students with above average admission test scores in the first place.
The bottom line is that SAT scores matter at selective schools and small increases in test scores can make the difference in being admitted or not.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Why and How to Prepare for the SAT
Why Prepare for the SAT?
The CollegeBoard maintains that the SAT measures reasoning abilities(skills) developed gradually over the years of schooling preceding college. We all have heard of, or know a student(s) who got a 2400 without preparing for the test. This may be true, but 99.99% of the students who score 2400 put a tremendous amount of time and effort into preparation. Applying reasoning and critical thinking skills to the SAT takes practice for mere mortals.
Would you go into the most important athletic event, music recital, theater production of your high school career and say to yourself, "I have been preparing for my whole life for this event and I don't need to prepare any more in the months, weeks and days leading up to the event?" or, "Nothing that I do to prepare will make a difference in my performance."
Let's get real here. The College Board has an online course, they sell millions of prep books. Why would they claim that preparing for the test doesn't make a difference? They are concerned that students who don't have access to test prep materials would be at a disadvantage so they go to extraordinary lengths to demonstrate that test preparation makes a minimal difference in scores. See my 5/21/09 blog titled, SAT Prep, Is it Worth the Time and Money? You Decide. Maybe it is the CollegeBoard's capitalistic aspirations to provide future test takers with materials that will build revenue.
Never the less,it isn't worth the risk not to prepare. At the very least refer to my blog entry of 4/28/2009 titled, What You Can Do to Raise Your SAT Score the Week Before the Test.
If you want to give yourself the opportunity to have an outstanding performance read on.
Preparing for the SAT and ACT is like training for a marathon. You want to start months, even years in advance, (sophomore year is ideal), practice consistently, build up slowly over time to develop your technique, strategy, timing, endurance, speed, and composure.
Technique- Only take real SAT tests. Read the CollegeBoard Guide to the SAT at a minimum, also read Grubers, Complete SAT Study Guide, and Up Your Score. These books will give you ideas on how to tackle SAT questions.
Strategy- Try the techniques in the above books and identify the ones that work the best for you. If you want help sorting through these books, take a class on the SAT from a reputable teacher or find a reputable private tutor.
Timing- Take practice test to develop a sense of how long you can spend on each question in the different sections. Figure out the order that you want to answer the questions within each timed section.
Endurance- Take practice tests starting with one or two sections and adding sections over time until you can comfortably complete an entire test without mental strain. Meaning that you are still alert and thinking clearly at the end of the test.
Speed- Take enough practice tests until you recognize the question as being similar to ones that you have answered in the past and know the fastest most efficient way to answer the question correctly.
Composure- Take enough practice test so that questions won't rattle you, you won't be taken off of your A game by any question. You want to be calm and confident enough to sink the winning free throw with time running out on the clock. That is composure.
Stay tuned for the next blog for a training plan. It is never to early to start preparing.
The CollegeBoard maintains that the SAT measures reasoning abilities(skills) developed gradually over the years of schooling preceding college. We all have heard of, or know a student(s) who got a 2400 without preparing for the test. This may be true, but 99.99% of the students who score 2400 put a tremendous amount of time and effort into preparation. Applying reasoning and critical thinking skills to the SAT takes practice for mere mortals.
Would you go into the most important athletic event, music recital, theater production of your high school career and say to yourself, "I have been preparing for my whole life for this event and I don't need to prepare any more in the months, weeks and days leading up to the event?" or, "Nothing that I do to prepare will make a difference in my performance."
Let's get real here. The College Board has an online course, they sell millions of prep books. Why would they claim that preparing for the test doesn't make a difference? They are concerned that students who don't have access to test prep materials would be at a disadvantage so they go to extraordinary lengths to demonstrate that test preparation makes a minimal difference in scores. See my 5/21/09 blog titled, SAT Prep, Is it Worth the Time and Money? You Decide. Maybe it is the CollegeBoard's capitalistic aspirations to provide future test takers with materials that will build revenue.
Never the less,it isn't worth the risk not to prepare. At the very least refer to my blog entry of 4/28/2009 titled, What You Can Do to Raise Your SAT Score the Week Before the Test.
If you want to give yourself the opportunity to have an outstanding performance read on.
Preparing for the SAT and ACT is like training for a marathon. You want to start months, even years in advance, (sophomore year is ideal), practice consistently, build up slowly over time to develop your technique, strategy, timing, endurance, speed, and composure.
Technique- Only take real SAT tests. Read the CollegeBoard Guide to the SAT at a minimum, also read Grubers, Complete SAT Study Guide, and Up Your Score. These books will give you ideas on how to tackle SAT questions.
Strategy- Try the techniques in the above books and identify the ones that work the best for you. If you want help sorting through these books, take a class on the SAT from a reputable teacher or find a reputable private tutor.
Timing- Take practice test to develop a sense of how long you can spend on each question in the different sections. Figure out the order that you want to answer the questions within each timed section.
Endurance- Take practice tests starting with one or two sections and adding sections over time until you can comfortably complete an entire test without mental strain. Meaning that you are still alert and thinking clearly at the end of the test.
Speed- Take enough practice tests until you recognize the question as being similar to ones that you have answered in the past and know the fastest most efficient way to answer the question correctly.
Composure- Take enough practice test so that questions won't rattle you, you won't be taken off of your A game by any question. You want to be calm and confident enough to sink the winning free throw with time running out on the clock. That is composure.
Stay tuned for the next blog for a training plan. It is never to early to start preparing.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
SAT Prep, Is it Worth the Time and Money? You Decide
May 20, 2009 the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) released a study titled, Preparation for College Admission Exams. The media jumped all over the study because they saw an opportunity to blast the test preparation industry and the CollegeBoard. Market Place, an NPR production ran a lead story on the report with the headline, SAT Prep Courses Get Bad Score. The Wall Street Journal ran the following headline, SAT Coaching Found to Boost Scores--Barely. The Boston Globe headline was, Once Mighty SAT Loosing its Clout. I encourage you to read these articles.
There is important information in the report that is not covered in the "dramatic" headlines used by the journalists to grab your attention and sell papers.
The report was commissioned by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and written by Derek C. Briggs, Ph.D. University of Colorado at Boulder. Professor Briggs is the chair of the Research and Methodology Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is an associate professor of quantitative methods and policy analysis. The stated objective of the study is to determine if the, "benefits [of test prep] that can be expected for the typical student outweigh the costs?"(Briggs p.4)
Summary of Test Preparation Research
There are a number of interesting and relevant facts about the research that didn't make the headlines or the body of the articles.
Briggs writes, "although extensive, the academic research base does have limitations."
There are few published studies conducted on students taking admission tests since 2000 and there are no studies on students taking the SAT since changes were made to the test in 2005. In 2005 the CollegeBoard substantially changed the SAT to respond to criticism that the test put some students taking the test at a disadvantage because of social economic background. The CollegeBoard responded by dropping analogies, adding a writing section,eliminating quantitative comparisons and adding algebra II and trig questions to the math section. The research data doesn't include the new SAT test.
Briggs writes, "many previous studies were conducted on small samples or were methodologically flawed." The vast majority of the research doesn't control for the quality, quantity and method of test prep or the characteristics of the student populations. The vast majority of coaching studies conducted over a 40 year period from 1951 and 1991 tended to involve small samples that were not necessarily representative of the national population of high school seniors taking college admissions exams, and of the programs offering test coaching.
In 1992 51% of high school seniors took college admissions tests by 2004 the percentage taking college admissions test increased to over 63% because states began to administer the SAT or ACT to all students.
Study Findings
"The existing academic research base indicates that, on average, test preparation efforts yield a positive but small effect on standardized admissions test scores. Research suggests that the average gains made by coached students are in the neighborhood of 30 points." (Briggs p. 1) Uncoached students will on average improve their test scores by retaking the test therefore the estimate of the effects of coaching is adjusted to account for this effect. (Briggs, 2004) The 30 point gains referenced in Briggs report are for the old SAT, prior to 2005 and is based on a 1600 point scale.
The consensus position according to Briggs is:
Coaching has a positive effect on SAT performance, the magnitude is small although statistically significant.
The effect of coaching is larger on the math section of the exam (10-20 pints) than for the critical reading section (5-10 points).
The Effect of Different Test Preparation Methods
Briggs studied 1990-1992 test takers and 2002-2004 test takers who previously took the PSAT using a nationally representative samples of high school students. Briggs (2002) and Briggs and Dominques (2009)to evaluate the effects of multiple forms of test preparation for the SAT and ACT. The studies concluded that the only methods of test preparation to have a significant effect on SAT-Verbal and SAT-Math score gains were formal modes of coaching:
Private Tutoring or enrollment in a commercial coaching class. The magnitude of the effect was small- SAT-Math (20 points) SAT-Verbal (10 points).
Students who used a computer program had a small but statistically significant negative effect on SAT-Math score of seven points.
No forms of test prep had statistically significant effects on SAT-Verbal scores.
Students who had not previously taken the PSAT, enrollment in a special high school class was associated with a statistically significant negative effect of 10 points on the SAT-Verbal. (Briggs 2002, Briggs and Dominque 2009)
Although the articles published in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, NPR and others call into question the validity of spending money on commercial SAT coaching it is important to ask if your child has the skills and discipline they need to compete for admissions to selective colleges. Would they benefit from the structure and coaching available? Ask about the methodology that the tutor/coach employs and the credentials of the coaches/tutors. Would you want your child to take the most important test of their academic life without preparation? Both the SAT and ACT encourage test takers to prepare.
Your comments are welcome.
There is important information in the report that is not covered in the "dramatic" headlines used by the journalists to grab your attention and sell papers.
The report was commissioned by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and written by Derek C. Briggs, Ph.D. University of Colorado at Boulder. Professor Briggs is the chair of the Research and Methodology Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is an associate professor of quantitative methods and policy analysis. The stated objective of the study is to determine if the, "benefits [of test prep] that can be expected for the typical student outweigh the costs?"(Briggs p.4)
Summary of Test Preparation Research
There are a number of interesting and relevant facts about the research that didn't make the headlines or the body of the articles.
Briggs writes, "although extensive, the academic research base does have limitations."
There are few published studies conducted on students taking admission tests since 2000 and there are no studies on students taking the SAT since changes were made to the test in 2005. In 2005 the CollegeBoard substantially changed the SAT to respond to criticism that the test put some students taking the test at a disadvantage because of social economic background. The CollegeBoard responded by dropping analogies, adding a writing section,eliminating quantitative comparisons and adding algebra II and trig questions to the math section. The research data doesn't include the new SAT test.
Briggs writes, "many previous studies were conducted on small samples or were methodologically flawed." The vast majority of the research doesn't control for the quality, quantity and method of test prep or the characteristics of the student populations. The vast majority of coaching studies conducted over a 40 year period from 1951 and 1991 tended to involve small samples that were not necessarily representative of the national population of high school seniors taking college admissions exams, and of the programs offering test coaching.
In 1992 51% of high school seniors took college admissions tests by 2004 the percentage taking college admissions test increased to over 63% because states began to administer the SAT or ACT to all students.
Study Findings
"The existing academic research base indicates that, on average, test preparation efforts yield a positive but small effect on standardized admissions test scores. Research suggests that the average gains made by coached students are in the neighborhood of 30 points." (Briggs p. 1) Uncoached students will on average improve their test scores by retaking the test therefore the estimate of the effects of coaching is adjusted to account for this effect. (Briggs, 2004) The 30 point gains referenced in Briggs report are for the old SAT, prior to 2005 and is based on a 1600 point scale.
The consensus position according to Briggs is:
Coaching has a positive effect on SAT performance, the magnitude is small although statistically significant.
The effect of coaching is larger on the math section of the exam (10-20 pints) than for the critical reading section (5-10 points).
The Effect of Different Test Preparation Methods
Briggs studied 1990-1992 test takers and 2002-2004 test takers who previously took the PSAT using a nationally representative samples of high school students. Briggs (2002) and Briggs and Dominques (2009)to evaluate the effects of multiple forms of test preparation for the SAT and ACT. The studies concluded that the only methods of test preparation to have a significant effect on SAT-Verbal and SAT-Math score gains were formal modes of coaching:
Private Tutoring or enrollment in a commercial coaching class. The magnitude of the effect was small- SAT-Math (20 points) SAT-Verbal (10 points).
Students who used a computer program had a small but statistically significant negative effect on SAT-Math score of seven points.
No forms of test prep had statistically significant effects on SAT-Verbal scores.
Students who had not previously taken the PSAT, enrollment in a special high school class was associated with a statistically significant negative effect of 10 points on the SAT-Verbal. (Briggs 2002, Briggs and Dominque 2009)
Although the articles published in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, NPR and others call into question the validity of spending money on commercial SAT coaching it is important to ask if your child has the skills and discipline they need to compete for admissions to selective colleges. Would they benefit from the structure and coaching available? Ask about the methodology that the tutor/coach employs and the credentials of the coaches/tutors. Would you want your child to take the most important test of their academic life without preparation? Both the SAT and ACT encourage test takers to prepare.
Your comments are welcome.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
SAT/ACT Comparison; Which test is for you?
The ACT is the other college placement test. It is accepted by almost all colleges and universities including the most selective schools, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford.... Check the college admissions websites for the schools that are of interest to find out the tests they require for admissions. Also visit www.fairtest.org for the schools that don't require standardized tests or have de-emphasized their importance in the admissions process.
Test Description
The ACT and the SAT are timed paper and pencil multiple choice tests with a handwritten essay. The SAT is a critical thinking reasoning test that employs arcane language which makes the SAT difficult for many students. The SAT requires mental quickness and the ability to solve puzzles. The ACT is a straight forward curriculum based test that requires reasoning skills. The SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800 and the ACT on a scale of 1-36. The ACT gives a composite score that doesn't incorporate the score of the optional writing section. The ACT's writing section is optional and the score is not reported as part of the composite score.
Examples of SAT sentence completion questions.
Dangerously high winds _______ attempts to begin the space shuttle mission on schedule, delaying the launch by nearly a week.
(A) thwarted (B) forfeited (C) implemented (D) discharged (E) redoubled
Answer: A
Actors in melodramas often emphasized tense moments by being ______ , for example, raising their voices and pretending to swoon.
(A) imperious (B) inscrutable (C) convivial (D) histrionic (E) solicitous
Answer: D
(The Official Guide to the SAT)
The ACT doesn't have sentence completions questions and instead presents five passages with underlined (bold in this blog) words and phrases. The test presents alternatives to the underlined parts and asks the test taker to pick the best answer.
ACT sample question
For some people, traditional American Indian music is associated and connected with high penetrating vocals accompanied by a steady drumbeat.
A. NO CHANGE
B. connected by some of them
C. linked by association
D. associated
Answer:associated
Preparing for the ACT
Both the SAT and ACT are similar from the perspective that they are designed to test a high school student's academic skills and their knowledge of a standard high school curriculum experienced by college bound juniors. The SAT and ACT both test English language usage, writing, reading, and math. In addition the ACT has a science section which, "measures the interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem solving skills required in the natural sciences." Preparing for the ACT
Reporting Scores to Colleges
The SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800 and the ACT on a scale of 1-36. The ACT gives a composite score that doesn't incorporate the score of the optional writing section. The ACT and the now the SAT allows students to pick the test scores by the date of the test that they send to colleges. The student may pick the specific SAT subject tests that they want sent.
Time Allotted
The SAT allots more time per question for fewer questions than the ACT.
The SAT test is a total of 3 hours and 20 minutes, 170 questions plus the essay (25 minutes). The ACT test including the optional essay is 3 hours and 15 minutes and has 215 questions plus the essay (30 minutes). The SAT critical reading section has 67 questions with 70 minutes to complete them (63 sec. each). The ACT English section is 75 questions with 45 minutes (36 sec. each) to complete them and the reading section has 40 questions with 35 minutes to complete them (52.5 sec. each). English and reading sections combined total 115 questions with 80 minutes to complete them (41.7 sec each). The SAT math section has 54 questions with 70 minutes (78 sec. each) to complete them and the ACT has 60 questions with 60 minutes to complete them (60 sec. each).
Pacing
The SAT organizes its questions by level of difficulty except in the critical reading section. About 87-88% 0f the critical reading and math questions are categorized by the CollegeBoard as easy and medium difficulty. If the test taker answers all of the easy and medium questions correctly and leaves all of the hard questions blank they will score between 660-740 on critical reading and between 660-720 on math. This means that the test taker who is shooting for a score that is in the above ranges could allocate all of their time to the easy and medium questions giving them about 12% more time to work those problems. The ACT does not arrange their questions in order of difficulty making pacing on the ACT more of a challenge.
Guessing
The ACT does not penalize for random guessing where the SAT deducts 1/4 point for every wrong answer in the multiple choice sections. The SAT typically gives five answer choices and the ACT four choices, making random guessing on the ACT more advantageous than on the SAT.
Essay
The SAT writing prompt is less straight forward and the questions are more esoteric than the ACT prompt. The test taker is given 25 minutes by the SAT and 30 minutes by the ACT to write their essay.
The following is the essay prompt from the first practice test in The Official SAT Study Guide
To change is to risk something, making us feel insecure. Not to change is a bigger risk, through we seldom feel that way. There is no choice but to change. People, however, cannot be motivated to change from the outside. All of our motivation comes from within.
Adapted from Ward Sybouts, Planning in School Administration: A Handbook
Assignment: What motivates people to change? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations. (The Official SAT Study Guide)
ACT Assessment Writing Test Prompt
Many high school libraries use some of their limited funding to subscribe to popular magazines with articles that are interesting to students. Despite limited funding, some educators support this practice because they think having these magazines available encourages student to read. Other educators think school libraries should not use limited funds to subscribe to these magazines because they may not be related to academic subjects. In your opinion, should high school libraries subscribe to popular magazines?
In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position. (The ACT, Preparing for the ACT, 2008/2009)
Practice Tests
The ACT provides a free booklet, Preparing for the ACT. The PDF file can be downloaded for free from the ACT website at: http://www.act.org/aap/pdf/preparing.pdf
The file has a full length practice test and answer explanations.
Additional practice test are available by purchasing, The Official ACT Prep Guide from the Makers of the ACT.
The SAT also provides a free booklet, The SAT Preparation Booklet. The PDF file can be downloaded for free from the CollegeBoard website at: http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/sat/sat-preparation-booklet.pdf The Official SAT Study Guide has eight official practice tests with preparation advice and answer explanations.
CollegeBoard offers an SAT Official Online Course with six official practice test, answer explanations and essay scoring.
ONLY TAKE PRACTICE TESTS WRITTEN BY THE ACT AND SAT.
Tests that you find in test preparation books and courses written by test preparation company only approximate the difficulty and nuances of the test questions written by the test publishers.
Watch for a blog entry coming soon on preparing for the SAT and ACT.
Test Description
The ACT and the SAT are timed paper and pencil multiple choice tests with a handwritten essay. The SAT is a critical thinking reasoning test that employs arcane language which makes the SAT difficult for many students. The SAT requires mental quickness and the ability to solve puzzles. The ACT is a straight forward curriculum based test that requires reasoning skills. The SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800 and the ACT on a scale of 1-36. The ACT gives a composite score that doesn't incorporate the score of the optional writing section. The ACT's writing section is optional and the score is not reported as part of the composite score.
Examples of SAT sentence completion questions.
Dangerously high winds _______ attempts to begin the space shuttle mission on schedule, delaying the launch by nearly a week.
(A) thwarted (B) forfeited (C) implemented (D) discharged (E) redoubled
Answer: A
Actors in melodramas often emphasized tense moments by being ______ , for example, raising their voices and pretending to swoon.
(A) imperious (B) inscrutable (C) convivial (D) histrionic (E) solicitous
Answer: D
(The Official Guide to the SAT)
The ACT doesn't have sentence completions questions and instead presents five passages with underlined (bold in this blog) words and phrases. The test presents alternatives to the underlined parts and asks the test taker to pick the best answer.
ACT sample question
For some people, traditional American Indian music is associated and connected with high penetrating vocals accompanied by a steady drumbeat.
A. NO CHANGE
B. connected by some of them
C. linked by association
D. associated
Answer:associated
Preparing for the ACT
Both the SAT and ACT are similar from the perspective that they are designed to test a high school student's academic skills and their knowledge of a standard high school curriculum experienced by college bound juniors. The SAT and ACT both test English language usage, writing, reading, and math. In addition the ACT has a science section which, "measures the interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem solving skills required in the natural sciences." Preparing for the ACT
Reporting Scores to Colleges
The SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800 and the ACT on a scale of 1-36. The ACT gives a composite score that doesn't incorporate the score of the optional writing section. The ACT and the now the SAT allows students to pick the test scores by the date of the test that they send to colleges. The student may pick the specific SAT subject tests that they want sent.
Time Allotted
The SAT allots more time per question for fewer questions than the ACT.
The SAT test is a total of 3 hours and 20 minutes, 170 questions plus the essay (25 minutes). The ACT test including the optional essay is 3 hours and 15 minutes and has 215 questions plus the essay (30 minutes). The SAT critical reading section has 67 questions with 70 minutes to complete them (63 sec. each). The ACT English section is 75 questions with 45 minutes (36 sec. each) to complete them and the reading section has 40 questions with 35 minutes to complete them (52.5 sec. each). English and reading sections combined total 115 questions with 80 minutes to complete them (41.7 sec each). The SAT math section has 54 questions with 70 minutes (78 sec. each) to complete them and the ACT has 60 questions with 60 minutes to complete them (60 sec. each).
Pacing
The SAT organizes its questions by level of difficulty except in the critical reading section. About 87-88% 0f the critical reading and math questions are categorized by the CollegeBoard as easy and medium difficulty. If the test taker answers all of the easy and medium questions correctly and leaves all of the hard questions blank they will score between 660-740 on critical reading and between 660-720 on math. This means that the test taker who is shooting for a score that is in the above ranges could allocate all of their time to the easy and medium questions giving them about 12% more time to work those problems. The ACT does not arrange their questions in order of difficulty making pacing on the ACT more of a challenge.
Guessing
The ACT does not penalize for random guessing where the SAT deducts 1/4 point for every wrong answer in the multiple choice sections. The SAT typically gives five answer choices and the ACT four choices, making random guessing on the ACT more advantageous than on the SAT.
Essay
The SAT writing prompt is less straight forward and the questions are more esoteric than the ACT prompt. The test taker is given 25 minutes by the SAT and 30 minutes by the ACT to write their essay.
The following is the essay prompt from the first practice test in The Official SAT Study Guide
To change is to risk something, making us feel insecure. Not to change is a bigger risk, through we seldom feel that way. There is no choice but to change. People, however, cannot be motivated to change from the outside. All of our motivation comes from within.
Adapted from Ward Sybouts, Planning in School Administration: A Handbook
Assignment: What motivates people to change? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations. (The Official SAT Study Guide)
ACT Assessment Writing Test Prompt
Many high school libraries use some of their limited funding to subscribe to popular magazines with articles that are interesting to students. Despite limited funding, some educators support this practice because they think having these magazines available encourages student to read. Other educators think school libraries should not use limited funds to subscribe to these magazines because they may not be related to academic subjects. In your opinion, should high school libraries subscribe to popular magazines?
In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position. (The ACT, Preparing for the ACT, 2008/2009)
Practice Tests
The ACT provides a free booklet, Preparing for the ACT. The PDF file can be downloaded for free from the ACT website at: http://www.act.org/aap/pdf/preparing.pdf
The file has a full length practice test and answer explanations.
Additional practice test are available by purchasing, The Official ACT Prep Guide from the Makers of the ACT.
The SAT also provides a free booklet, The SAT Preparation Booklet. The PDF file can be downloaded for free from the CollegeBoard website at: http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/sat/sat-preparation-booklet.pdf The Official SAT Study Guide has eight official practice tests with preparation advice and answer explanations.
CollegeBoard offers an SAT Official Online Course with six official practice test, answer explanations and essay scoring.
ONLY TAKE PRACTICE TESTS WRITTEN BY THE ACT AND SAT.
Tests that you find in test preparation books and courses written by test preparation company only approximate the difficulty and nuances of the test questions written by the test publishers.
Watch for a blog entry coming soon on preparing for the SAT and ACT.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
SAT SUBJECT TESTS
June 6th is the best time for class of 2010 students to take the SAT Subject Tests. Check the admissions requirements on the websites of the colleges and universities that you are thinking about applying to and find out if SAT Subject Tests are required or recommended. A small group of highly selective colleges and universities require these tests. You are a candidate for these schools if you are highly motivated academically, your GPA is in the top 10% or so or you have an exceptional skill(s) to bring to the school (sports, math, music, theater...), you have taken more honors and AP courses than college prep.
The SAT Subject Tests are one hour long for each subject. You cannot take the Reasoning Test and Subject Tests at the same sitting. If you are planning on taking the Reasoning Test next fall and/or winter you must take the Subject Tests on another date. Plan ahead! The Subject Tests are "content based" tests, meaning that the Collegeboard (the test writer) is testing you on the material that they think that you should have learned in class. The test is scored on the same 200-800 scale as the SAT Reasoning Test.
Take the SAT Subject tests when the material is fresh in your mind. Don't wait until the fall to take a test on a course that you will finish this year. I advise against giving yourself the opportunity to forget material over the summer that you learned this year. There is also something to be said for being in the test taking mode/groove. Having just completed the SAT Reasoning Test (May 2), with final exams on the horizon and the ACT June 13th you will be in the test taking mode/groove.
Take the tests in the subjects where you excel. If you are strong in chemistry and just finished AP Chemistry you should give the chemistry test a shot. If you are planning on applying to a highly selective math, engineering or science program take the Math II test. You want to demonstrate how you perform when you are up against the best math students. Go to your school's Guidance Office and find the pamphlet titled, "Taking the SAT Subject Test" and check out the question difficulty. If the questions are unfamiliar to you than the test is not for you; but if you think the questions are doable then take the test. Find a copy of , "The Official Study Guide for all SAT Subject Test" and learn more about the tests. Post on Facebook or send a Tweet that you are looking for a copy of the book and some senior may offer their book to you.
Take practice tests to familiarize yourself with the types of questions on the test. You want to be able to recognize the question and say to yourself, "I know how to solve this problem or answer this question."
A college counselor that I know recommends to students that are planning to apply to schools that don't require the Subject Test to take the tests to get a leg up on the competition by submitting strong Subject Test scores along with your SAT Reasoning Test scores. Strong scores will improve your chances of admissions and give you a better shot at merit scholarships.
Good luck! Let me know if you have further questions. I can be reached at bcerf@clubztutoring.com.
The SAT Subject Tests are one hour long for each subject. You cannot take the Reasoning Test and Subject Tests at the same sitting. If you are planning on taking the Reasoning Test next fall and/or winter you must take the Subject Tests on another date. Plan ahead! The Subject Tests are "content based" tests, meaning that the Collegeboard (the test writer) is testing you on the material that they think that you should have learned in class. The test is scored on the same 200-800 scale as the SAT Reasoning Test.
Take the SAT Subject tests when the material is fresh in your mind. Don't wait until the fall to take a test on a course that you will finish this year. I advise against giving yourself the opportunity to forget material over the summer that you learned this year. There is also something to be said for being in the test taking mode/groove. Having just completed the SAT Reasoning Test (May 2), with final exams on the horizon and the ACT June 13th you will be in the test taking mode/groove.
Take the tests in the subjects where you excel. If you are strong in chemistry and just finished AP Chemistry you should give the chemistry test a shot. If you are planning on applying to a highly selective math, engineering or science program take the Math II test. You want to demonstrate how you perform when you are up against the best math students. Go to your school's Guidance Office and find the pamphlet titled, "Taking the SAT Subject Test" and check out the question difficulty. If the questions are unfamiliar to you than the test is not for you; but if you think the questions are doable then take the test. Find a copy of , "The Official Study Guide for all SAT Subject Test" and learn more about the tests. Post on Facebook or send a Tweet that you are looking for a copy of the book and some senior may offer their book to you.
Take practice tests to familiarize yourself with the types of questions on the test. You want to be able to recognize the question and say to yourself, "I know how to solve this problem or answer this question."
A college counselor that I know recommends to students that are planning to apply to schools that don't require the Subject Test to take the tests to get a leg up on the competition by submitting strong Subject Test scores along with your SAT Reasoning Test scores. Strong scores will improve your chances of admissions and give you a better shot at merit scholarships.
Good luck! Let me know if you have further questions. I can be reached at bcerf@clubztutoring.com.
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