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.