(If you’re having similar difficulties deciding between the SAT and the ACT, by the way, check out “SAT versus ACT: The Test-Taker’s Guide”).
First, a word to all you history buffs out there who are currently scheming to just take both U.S. History and World History and wash your hands of the matter: most colleges that oblige you to take Subject Tests require they be in different subject areas.
Before deciding, you should first make a list of all the colleges you’re considering. Then spend some time checking (and double-checking!) their requirements Read the full Article
So you’ve been studying for the SAT for what seems like years now, and your critical thinking, grammar, and math skills are on par with the pros. And yet, you’re finding your dreams of becoming an on-site biologist who studies homeostasis at the Congo River basin have not quite been furthered by all of this study. So how do you show the colleges you’re interested in – well – what you’re interested in? Or that you’re a much more well rounded student than the SAT (or ACT) might have them believe? Further, when do you get a chance to prove to the world out there that everything you learned in your World History class actually “stuck”? Read the full Article
So you’ve been studying for the SAT for what feels now like your whole life… You are now officially in the home stretch, and you’re ready for it to be over – and believe me, I’m ready for it to be over for you. But this also happens to be the week in which I get the most questions about strategy: what, exactly, should you be doing in those final days? The answers are in ways very similar – and in other ways very dissimilar – to what you’ve been doing so far. Below is my list of top dos and don’ts in those final hours. Read the full Article
The SAT essay is – for good reason – always one of my students’ hugest concerns. I say “for good reason” on a number of grounds. In the first place, students sit down to the SAT writing section after years of high school English classes that have instilled in them the process and practice of writing a meticulously organized exposition – one that takes multiple drafts, demands countless hours of editing, and occasionally requires a sleepless night or two. Suddenly they are faced with a 25-minute window in which their first instinct is to squeeze that whole working-and-reworking process into a significantly shorter period of time. Of course, this isn’t humanly possible – nor will it be expected of you. In the second place, the essay is the only section of the SAT that is scored – let’s admit it – subjectively. Read the full Article
Okay, so it’s summer – and many of you have just scrubbed off the last of the school year in the shower. We know all you want right now is to be out in the park with friends – we want that too! But we also know that October is right around the corner, and for many of you, that means the next SAT. And we know that the verbal sections of the SAT (particularly the reading comprehension, simply because the answers are necessarily more equivocal) are often the most difficult to study for in a short period of time. So to ensure you don’t find yourself at the beginning of the next school year, juggling all your new classes while simultaneously cramming for the SAT, we’ve compiled a few suggestions for the summer, so that you can begin studying with plenty of time to spare. If you can set aside just two or three hours a week to study, you’ll be well ahead of the game. Here are our top suggestions: Read the full Article
Just about every senior-year student I’ve worked with has had friends who have taken the SAT as if it were a monthly ritual to be resignedly endured, until he or she was finally able to crawl painstakingly to the mailbox for the very last time to check his or her scores, too exhausted to celebrate the outcome. Those same students most likely had friends who took the test the first time, left the test location and went directly to the public pool (the weather’s always gorgeous when there’s a test to be taken), and were never seen at a test administration site again. Most likely you’ve known students, too, at both ends of the SAT “numbers spectrum.” So where do you fit it? Read the full Article
You’re taking AP classes, running on the cross-country team, performing in your high school play, and volunteering at the local senior center. You’re right on track to apply to college, but you’re also burned out! Why take the time to study for a standardized test you don’t even need for college admission?
There are a few good reasons to take the PSAT: Read the full Article