The SAT changes: What choice should you make?

This is the year for the roll out of the new SAT. The old SAT will be given through January, then the spring administrations will feature the new SAT. You may be wondering what the difference is, so here are the highlights:

        1) The new SAT returns to the original 1600 point scale, with Critical Reading and Math combined. Writing is now optional and has a separate score.

        2) The reading section will have less of those obscure words that students struggled with. It will be focused on evidence-based reading: 
"The new Reading test will be made up of four single passages, each followed by 10‐11 questions, and 1 dual‐passage set, also followed by 10‐11 questions. There will be three different types of passage: (1) U.S. or world literature; (2) history or social studies; and (3) science. Some of these passages will be primary sources pertaining to significant events and ideas in history. Other passages—especially in science and social studies—will contain charts or graphs that you will be expected to interpret and use in connection with the text. And the questions themselves? You’ll still need to identify the main point, the tone or attitude, and the meaning of certain words or phrases. You’ll also need to identify the evidence that supports an answer choice, which means that some questions will be connected." ((http://www.testive.com/parent-resources/new-sat-evidence-based-reading-and-math/))
        
       3) There will no longer be a quarter point loss for wrong answers.

The SAT has also combined with Khan Academy to provide free test prep for the new SAT. In addition, the fall PSAT will be in the new format, so current juniors can compare last year's old PSAT results with this year's to decide if they want to take the last old SAT in January.

Another wrinkle in the fabric is the changing attitudes of colleges to the tests. Colleges are changing both their SAT expectations and the ACT as well, especially for the optional writing sections. In light of this, it is very important to check with the colleges you are interested in for their current testing requirements. Although their websites should clarify things, sometimes it takes time for policy changes to make it to the webpage, so an email or a call to the admissions representative for your area will help you be sure of what you should sign up for.

So, what do I suggest? As I always have, I think juniors should take both the ACT and the SAT. For the ACT, check with the colleges you are interested in about whether to take the optional writing section. For the SAT, it is harder: if you did really well on last year's PSAT, you might want to take the old SAT in January. If you do well on this year's PSAT, then the new SAT may be the best choice, and like the ACT you should check with your prospective colleges to see if any require the writing section. 
The important thing to remember is that your application is more than just your test scores. Do your best,  prepare as much as you can, but try not to get too stressed out about them.

Caution needed in college search

The internet has been a great blessing for college-bound students. Instead of sending out a request and waiting for paper information packets to arrive, students can now find out most anything with the click of a button. But, unfortunately, that can bring out possible problems, as well.
Colleges work hard to have their internet pages be informative and interactive; prospective students can ask for more information with just a click of a button. And they can be sure that they are contacting a reputable website. Big name companies, such as College Board, College Navigator, and US News and World Reports college ranking (as useless as I think most of the rankings are), will probably be no problem, as well. But there are many websites that appear, claiming to provide information about colleges and other college related topics, and how does the student know this is legitimate? I recently read an article that made me wonder: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/01/13/for-those-trying-to-sort-through-the-maze-of-college-options-a-web-site-offers-answers-and-college-officials-shudder/
This article looked at a website claiming to be a "one-stop" website for all college information, but is apparently using logos and other proprietary information without permission. Colleges are concerned that requests for information coming through this site may never reach them. And there are concerns that the information that the site collects about students may be going out to secondary sources that the student is not interested in. Keep in mind that if you provide name, address, email address or other personal information to a site you cannot be sure of, that information may be used in ways that are not in your best interest.
I am not sure why a student would even want a "one-stop" college info site--part of the college search process is finding various sources and comparing their information. Colleges are obviously trying to attract students to apply, but comparing their information against other reputable sources can add more dimension. And, of course, visiting a college is an important step in the application process. Unless it is absolutely impossible, visiting a college is vital to really get a feel for a campus's atmosphere. If you test drive a car that only will cost you $20,000, shouldn't you test out a college you will spend 4 years and much more than $20,000 on?
So be cautious where you give out  your information, and don't expect the college search to an easy, one-stop process. It is worth the time and energy to be sure of your choice before signing that acceptance of admission.

SAT preparation

I am often asked about SAT prep courses, resources, etc. With the increasing competitiveness of college admissions, higher scores can only be a good thing. But the question is always whether spending a lot of money on a prep course is actually worth it. In general, studies suggest that it isn't. So what is effective?
One of the main, cheap ways to prepare for SAT or ACT testing is a simple one: read. Read daily, read a variety of items (no need to tackle War and Peace--the newspaper, biography, essay are all effective) and pay attention to the way the writer writes, as well as the content. Reading provides numerous skills applicable to the SAT or ACT: vocabulary increases, recognition of grammatical structures improves, knowledge of facts or ideas useful for the essay writing section expands. This article (http://www.examiner.com/article/improve-your-sat-score-by-reading-this-summer) provides some ideas for how to approach this simple, inexpensive test prep strategy.
Another cheap way is to find all the free test prep material online. collegeboard.org and actstudent.org will provide daily practice questions, full length practice tests and everything in between. Students who have taken the PSAT also have access to test prep that is focused on their PSAT test results, providing individualized direction for those areas needing improvement.  The website and access code are listed on the PSAT results.
https://www.number2.com/ is also free test prep for either the SAT or ACT. www.khanacademy.com provides tutoring for math concepts. Princeton Review provides free full length tests with detailed performance results that will help to focus preparation. McGraw-Hill also provides full length practice exams and a whole bunch of test strategy videos for a variety of possible problem areas. 
And all of these cost no money at all, just some time on your child's part.

Early Decision Decisions

Juniors are increasingly faced with a major decision on their college applications choices: should I apply early decision or regular? Most early decision applicants are asked to commit to applying to only one school early and committing to attending that school if accepted. This is before even seeing any financial aid details. This is great for those students who absolutely know where they want to attend college and don't have to worry about how to pay for it, but for the majority of students, this can be a problem.
Unfortunately, many colleges have increased the percentage of their classes that are being accepted early decision. This makes sense to the colleges, who are often facing a financial crunch due to state support cut-backs or private school enrollment drops, but it does make the landscape different for applicants, who are faced with making binding decisions before even reaching the halfway point of their senior year.
I recently read an article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mckenzie-maxson/are-university-early-admi_b_5135372.html) discussing the issue of the increasing percentage of students accepted early decision or early admission, which, of course, requires a dropping percentage of students being accepted in the regular decision pool. Students are now feeling the pressure to apply early even when they aren't at all sure that this school is where they want to attend. There is no simple answer to the question, as it depends on the details for each student. These include:

• Is this school absolutely where I want to go? This is the main question for students considering a binding early decision, where you agree to attend if you are accepted. Unfortunately, many students may feel that this is the one in August, but then in January they have changed their minds or found some other great school that they love. Early action, where you don't have to promise to attend, is a better choice, but not always offered by the school a student may want.
• Is financial aid a make or break issue for my family? Early decision commits you long before you even talk about financial aid or fill out the FAFSA, so if the school is on the edge of affordability, it might be best to do a regular application. Colleges do have priorities for their financial aid, as well, and they sometimes use it to tempt a desirable candidate to choose their college, which means there will be less aid available for those who have already committed to the college. In a case where financial aid is vitally necessary and the student is on the high side of average for that school with grades, test scores and other criteria of admission, it might be best to apply later--even with a lower percentage of acceptances in the regular admission pool, a highly qualified candidate will have a good chance of acceptance. Of course, since none of us can predict with any confidence what a given college might do, it's a bit of a gamble either way.
• Is the school a bit of a stretch for me? If your grades or test scores are a bit on the low side and this college is definitely high on your list of places you would be happy to attend, early admission plans may increase your chance of admission, which would make early decision a better choice for you. 

So as you make out your college lists, juniors, keep in mind the available statistics and your preferences when making the decision for early application.

Common Application Woes

It has been a while since I posted anything, since this fall has been filled with making some sort of sense of the "new and improved" Common Application. Like the Obamacare website fiasco, the problems Common App has experienced, as well as caused to numerous students and universities, have become increasingly frustrating.
Although we seem to be through most of the growing pains--after all, I am only getting weekly updates on the fixes instead of daily ones like earlier this fall!--there are still a few things to remember.
1) Do NOT wait until the deadline to submit your Common App. Although colleges have been understanding of the problems students have been having, they still have to get certain things done in a reasonable time frame, and they may not want to extend a great deal of time for you to get your things together. After all, it certainly isn't their fault you waited till 11 pm the night of the due date to try to enter your application. I would aim for a week or two before the deadline, which, if the system totally fails, as it did for one of my students, still gives time to get the application to the college by the due date. Print out a copy of the pdf that is generated when you hit submit, just in case it doesn't go through to the college.
2) Be sure to contact your admission representative if there are issues to let them know what you are doing. If you don't let them know the problems, they can't help or allow extra time for every part of the application to get there. They are aware of the problems and willing to work with you to get your application done. Once again, though, it is not their problem if you wait till the last minute.
3) Pay close attention to what you have to do to get counselor and teacher recommendation invitations sent to those doing the recommendations. For some weird reason, Common App has made this a 2 step process, where you invite or assign the individuals, and then you must assign or invite (see, even I am confused about this!) them specifically for the college involved. This, of course, enables you to choose which recommendations go to which college, but it does mean that you may think it is all wrapped up when it isn't. Check the help menu on Common App if you have questions. Although the whole process has been the stuff of which nightmares are made, they have worked quickly to post solutions to the most common problems.
4) Don't forget to check for supplements--many colleges have writing supplements or want extra information, and until that is completed, your application is not complete. Checking with the college website or the admissions rep may help you to find out what their requirements are.
5) And lastly, make sure  you have actually submitted the thing. Some students are assuming because they have paid and received acknowledgement that payment has been made that they are done. But you must hit submit, which will generate a pdf of the application for your final approval. You must then sign and submit the whole thing for it go through.
And, thankfully, the application season is almost over, and we can all move on the more exciting part--getting those acceptances and making the final decision of which college you will be attending. Not necessarily less anxiety-inducing, but much more fun!

Common Application Woes

As if college applications aren't stressful enough, this year students and counselors alike are battling the baffling new Common Application. Things have gotten so bad the CA has been sending out daily emails about problems and fixes. Unfortunately, the former seem to outnumber the latter.
However, there is some help available, and lots of advice for those struggling with the whole process. The first suggestion is true no matter what--don't try to submit on the day before a big deadline. If the site crashes (and it has already done that on October 14), then you may have a big problem. Work on the application way ahead of schedule and click the submit button well ahead of the deadlines to be sure things work.
Second suggestion: browse around the web for suggestions! Here is one site that may help:
http://drstrangecollege.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/got-common-app-problems-heres-what-were-trying/
It has a handy link to a downloadable guide to the Common App that may save you some headaches. There are some little tricks people have found that may help you avoid difficulties, so scout around and keep ahead of what's happening.
Keep up with news from the colleges you are applying to, as well. Several have changed their deadlines for early decision, some have offered the opportunity to turn in a paper copy of your application, and all are as concerned about getting your application as you are to get it to them. Take advantage of the links to the college, such as facebook pages and twitter, so you can find out the latest news from their admissions departments.
Make sure to check for supplements for each college--not all of them have one, but with the new interface having so many problems, you don't want to miss it. Here is a site that gives a handy chart including whether a college has a supplement, as well as how many recommendations and when the deadlines are. Check it out: https://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/common_app_colleges.jhtml
And don't forget to inform me of the colleges you are applying to well ahead of time, so I can get your documents to the school on time. Although the colleges are adjusting to this unexpected snafu with Common App, they will only be so patient for your application to be completed by school documents.

College Admissions

Wow, time sure flies, and I have obviously not lived up to my goal to post at least once a month. It has been a really busy college application/scholarship search time with this year's seniors, and they are all ready to move on in their college and career plans. But now, it is time to move on to the Class of 2014!
I read some interesting articles today that might shed some light on the whole admissions process.
The first was at http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/selecting-high-school-courses/ about selecting high school courses. Every year students come in to schedule their courses, and sometimes their number one concern seems to be choosing courses that are easy. Not all feel that way, but when those students also tell me that they want to go to a more selective school, red flags go up. Schools look carefully at your academic record, and they are not interested in students who are not interested in learning. A high GPA based on A's in classes like gym or choir will not get you very far at schools with a lot more applicants than freshman spaces.
The second was related: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/30/education/20091130choiceStudentCard.html. This gives a look at how a college collates all that information that they receive. Some of it sheds some light on my job as counselor. When I fill out a Secondary School Report, sometimes called the Counselor's Report, they ask me a variety of questions about your academic record. They ask me about:

• your class rank, which is where you stand among your fellow students by GPA, stated as x/y, with x being your standing and y the total number of students in your class. For example, HGCS's Class of 2014 has 45 members. If your GPA put you at #10, you would be 10/45. Because we are a small school, you can pretty quickly be out of the top 10%, or even top 25%, but college admissions officers understand that smaller groups will require a closer look at grades and test scores. If the class is highly competitive, you can be 10/45 with pretty close to a 4.0 GPA. These are things I will discuss on your report, particularly if your rank is a bit low for your GPA.
• the high school program based on my knowledge about the classes available to you. A student who has taken all or most of our advanced placement and honors classes will have had our Most Demanding level of classes, someone who just took a few may have a Demanding level, those who took none of the advanced classes (including a 3rd year of language) will receive an Average rating. The more selective the college, the more they are going to want to see a higher rating on this one.
• colleges also ask me to send a school profile along with the form, which tells them what courses we offer, and whether we have Honors or AP level courses. It also has statistics on SAT scores and college attendance. This information is considered important; students who have access to only a few AP courses won't be penalized for not taking as many as a student who had access to a lot of AP courses. Of course, another way to improve your application is to show that you pursued other options, such as internships, dual enrollment classes, online classes, summer college credit classes, etc. Colleges are looking for students who are interested in learning, who are engaged in actively pursuing opportunities for that learning. It isn't a requirement, but in an age of increasing numbers of applicants for college spaces, it can make a difference. If this is impossible due to financial issues, having a job is also helpful. You may think serving ice cream at the local ice cream store is not very educational, but holding a job tells the college a lot about your initiative and work ethic.
• information about the other students in the class: they want to know what the highest GPA in the graduating class is. Again, this gives them some information about the competition in your class; if you have a 3.99 GPA and are 12/40, seeing how close your GPA is to the top gives them some perspective. They are also interested in how many of our students go to 4 year schools. This also tells them something about the school environment in which you have spent your 4 years.
• whether you have been disciplined by a suspension: this is limited to the years from 9-12th grade, and should you receive a suspension after you have applied, I am expected to let them know of the change. This doesn't mean that you are doomed as far as admission to your first choice school, but it does mean you need to be proactive if this is the case. You should address this somewhere on the application, and if there is no place to discuss it, you need to type up a short explanation of what happened and what you learned or how you have changed since then. Ignoring it is not a wise choice. And they will be asking me about it, as well, so being accurate is important.

Also on the form shown on the second site I mentioned is your contact with the college. If you have a first choice school, you should be contacting them. Visit the school, and make sure you at least say hello to your admissions representative. Email with questions. If you have an interview with someone, send a thank you. If you never contact them, they will not know you are definitely interested in their school.