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THE WARP AND WOOF OF COLLEGE ADMISSION TESTING

THE WARP AND WOOF OF COLLEGE ADMISSION TESTING. SAT, ACT, Subject Tests: What does it all mean? Cherry Hill West Counseling Office. MYTHS AND LEGENDS ABOUT SAT. The SAT is the most important criterion for college admission…

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THE WARP AND WOOF OF COLLEGE ADMISSION TESTING

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  1. THE WARP AND WOOF OF COLLEGE ADMISSION TESTING SAT, ACT, Subject Tests: What does it all mean? Cherry Hill West Counseling Office

  2. MYTHS AND LEGENDS ABOUT SAT • The SAT is the most important criterion for college admission… • …well, it’s not unimportant, but the primary criterion for admission to virtually every college and university around the world is school performance—strength of courses taken and grades within these. The SAT is relatively more important for scholarship competitions; for schools within the Ivy League and large state university system (because of the indices which they utilize to “compare” students”); for the service academies; and for certain schools with highly technical requirements, but it is not the most critical part of one's application

  3. MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF SAT • If you don’t take the SAT you cannot be admitted to a college… • … there are over eight hundred four-year colleges and universities—some of them quite selective and of high quality—for which SAT submission is optional. Additionally, every college and university in the country will accept the ACT (an alternate college admissions test that originated in the Midwest) in lieu of the SAT

  4. WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT ACT? ACT has a section on Scientific Reasoning—SAT does not; both have reading, math and writing (on the ACT, writing is called “English”) ACT does each content area straight through and student does not see it again—SAT jumps around. ACT sections are longer; SAT sections are shorter though actual testing time is virtually the same (SAT five minutes longer) ACT scoring scale is 1-36; SAT is 600-2400 ACT does not group items in order of ascending difficulty—the first math problem a student encounters might be one of the most challenging in the section ACT does not take off extra points for wrong answers; SAT imposes a “guessing penalty”

  5. MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF SAT • SAT scores from different test dates are cumulative; when you request scores to be sent to colleges and universities, ALL scores from ninth grade forward will be sent and you cannot suppress any results… • …actually, this was the policy of College Board up until March 2009. Beginning with the March 2009 SAT, students have had the right to pick and choose which SAT and Subject Test results (if any) are sent to which colleges and universities. This is called “score choice” which is applicable to both SAT and Subject Tests beginning March 2009 and is retroactive—any tests taken before March 2009 will come under score choice as well if a student takes a test on or after March 2009

  6. MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF SAT • If one takes the SAT more than one time, the colleges and universities average out a student’s scores from among the times the test is taken… • … no colleges and universities known to college admissions counselors engage in such a practice. At virtually every admissions office you will receive credit for the highest verbal score, the highest math score and the highest writing score, independent of when these were taken (there are a scant few colleges that are sticklers and will not split the scores among diverse dates—such schools still do not average, however). For instance, let’s say you take the SAT in May of junior year and score 700 verbal, 550 math, 600 writing. Then in senior year you take it again and you get 650 verbal, 650 math, 650 writing. Your reported score for the purpose of college admissions is then 2000—the 700 verbal from your first date and the 650 math/650 writing scores from your second date

  7. MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF SAT • So if I can choose what SAT scores to send and school give me credit for my best scores, I should take the test eight million times… • Well, um, no—for three primary reasons: self-respect, cost and statistical history. Students who take an SAT a second time have a 62% chance of improvement (statistically); a 29% chance of improvement a third time; and less than a 4% chance of improvement a fourth time. Three and done—try the ACT or apply to schools that do not require standardized testing if your SAT numbers do not appropriately represent you

  8. MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF SAT • It is possible and even desirable to take only one section of the SAT (verbal, math or writing) on a given test date… • … well, technically it’s possible that a student could answer only the reading items and leave blank all other questions—but that would not be wise. In this example, one’s math and writing scores of 200—the lowest possible total—will still be reported, and how embarrassing would that be? It is not permitted to arrange for an SAT administration in which just one section of the test is given

  9. MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF SAT • Studies indicate that the response “C” is utilized most often on the SAT and it would thus benefit a student to guess “C” when s/he is not sure of a particular item… • … actually, legitimate studies indicate no such trend for any response letter. It is not wise to guess on SAT items because there is a penalty imposed for wrong answers such that for every four items answered incorrectly, an extra sum (equivalent to what would come off for one wrong item) is deducted. If a student discovers an item on the SAT unfamiliar to her/him, it is most appropriate to leave this blank rather than guess. On the other hand, if it is possible to narrow down question options so that only two choices remain, then it may be in one’s best interest to guess.

  10. TEST TIMING • Sign up for and take SAT/ACT at least once in junior year; retake in fall of senior year if seeking to improve; • Sign up for and take Subject Tests if required at end of junior year or fall of senior year; • Students may take ACT as late as December senior year and/or SAT as late as January senior year if applying regular decision

  11. SUBJECT TESTS??? Subject Tests were previously called “SAT II Tests,” and before that were known as “Achievement Tests” Each test is sixty minutes long and multiple choice in construction; there are Subject Tests in all five core academic areas (English, math, science, social studies and world languages) Only 32 highly selective schools in the world (28 in US, 2 in Canada, 1 in UK, 1 in Switzerland) REQUIRE that a student submit Subject Tests Scoring scale is 200-800 and extra points are deducted for wrong answers; students may take 1-3 Subject Tests on a given morning; Score Choice applies to all Subject Test results

  12. SO WHEN’S THE NEXT SAT? SAT Saturday, December 7, 2013 Saturday, January 25, 2014 Saturday, March 8 (SAT only—no Subject Tests) Saturday, May 3 Saturday, June 7

  13. SO WHEN’S THE NEXT ACT? ACT Saturday, December 14, 2013 Saturday, February 8, 2014 Saturday, April 12, 2014 Saturday, June 14, 2014

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