Tag Archives: testing

admissions, SAT, test prep

The New Digital SAT

digital sat

Moving into the digital age, the College Board has made the move to provide students with a new digital SAT and PSAT.

The College Board is trying to retool the exam that has stressed out millions of students in the face of questions about whether college admissions tests are fair, or even necessary.

A growing number of colleges have eliminated the requirement that applicants submit scores from the SAT or the competing ACT, and the trend of “test-optional” admissions accelerated greatly during the coronavirus pandemic. More than 1,800 schools did not require standardized test scores for 2022 admissions, according to the nonprofit organization FairTest.The number of SAT test takers declined from 2.2 million high schoolers who graduated in 2020 to 1.5 million in the class of 2021, according to the College Board. About 1.7 million students in the class of 2022 have taken the test to date.

Priscilla Rodriguez, vice president of college readiness assessments for the College Board, said the changes would make the test more relevant.

“In a largely test-optional world, the SAT is a lower-stakes test in college admissions,” Ms. Rodriguez said in a statement. “Submitting a score is optional for every type of college, and we want the SAT to be the best possible option for students.”

Continue reading The New Digital SAT →
test prep

Test Stress Relief Tips for Students

 

test stress

These days, a lot of kids feel pressured to perform academically. Getting into a good college generally requires superior high school grades, and that means passing tests. Even junior high schoolers and kids in lower grades can feel stressed about school, especially right before an important test. In the interest of calming pre-test jitters for all, we offer the following quick tips that offer fast relief.

Study better, not harder

If your child excels at studying and note-taking, they may fare better as test time approaches. Students who brainstorm together in small groups may improve their study skills and boost confidence in their test-taking abilities, so say education experts at Cengage magazine.

Just chill out and relax, relax, relax

There are a number of proven relaxation techniques that can go a long way toward relieving pre-test anxiety. Among them are listening to classical or ambient music, taking a walk to refresh the brain and playing with puppies, according to GoConqr. And never, ever underestimate the importance -and stress relief- of a great night’s sleep. Hours spent asleep help the human brain to store new knowledge into the memory center of the brain where it can be recalled on test day. If you’ve ever tried to concentrate after a missed night’s sleep, you know that this is true.

Snack on chocolate, but make sure it’s the dark kind. Comprising around 70 percent pure cocoa, dark chocolate helps to counteract a stress hormone called cortisol. As an extra added bonus, deeply dark chocolate is known to cause the brain to release the happiness chemicals called endorphins. Sounds like a win-win proposition, right? It is.

Go low tech

Students intent on passing a crucial exam do themselve an enormous favor when they turn off their phones. Checking messages, scrolling a Facebook news feed and messing around on Twitter are fun, but they’re also amazing time-wasters. Students who waste time online may not have enough time to be fully prepared for a test, and that can be a huge stressor.

Teens who meditate tend to be far less stressed than teens who don’t. The ancient art of meditation is a brilliant way to take a relaxing break from study and ‘reset’ the mind. Meditation may also help nervous students to maintain their sense of focus while boosting mental health. Mandalas are a nice part of some student’s meditations. An Adroid app such as mandala coloring book app offers calming geometric patterns and a rainbow of colors that give students a stress-relief break any time they need it. Mandalas aren’t the only things you can illustrate with this free Android app from Google Play. Animal pics, flowers and other entertaining coloring projects come with Coloring Book For Me & Mandala from Apalon.

Puppies, hamsters and fish tanks can be good stress relievers, too. Playing with pets, petting cats and popping bubble wrap are relaxing forms of play that can do much to calm those pre-exam jitters.

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Today’s guest post is from Leo Wright, a Dad who works part time as an assistant at his son’s school. He writes about educating your kids at home, as well as supporting their schoolwork.

admissions, college planning, parenting, test prep, Uncategorized

Top 5 Test Prep Sites

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Your college-bound teen MUST do some sort of test prep. It will improve their scores and give them confidence when they take the test. Preparation and familiarization with the test and its formulas will give them an edge over the students who choose not to prepare.

Here are my recommendations for test prep sites:

elizabethonline

1. TutorsForTestPrep–Elizabeth writes a blog that gives some great tips and discusses the nuances of the tests. She takes the test herself every year and is familiar with its content and knows how to help your teen improve their scores. Read what Elizabeth said about her services:

Outsmarting the SAT

wordnerd

2. WordNerd–Sheldon walks your teen through practice tests, smart sets (words that go together), study roots (prefixes and suffixes) and gives a “nerd” word of the day. This is a good practice site to improve vocabulary. Read Sheldon’s advice on SAT prep:

Creating an SAT Study Plan

mindfish

3. MindFish—Your teen can play an SAT test game to help them master skills and you can dialogue with test prep and admissions professionals and other interested parents.

collegeboardsattestprep

4. CollegeBoard SAT Test Prep–The College Boards FREE test prep site for the SAT with practice tests, question of the day and sample practice questions.

allenprep

5. AllenPrep–Get an Ipod/Itouch/Iphone App here for just $9.99 and your teen can use it to improve their SAT vocabulary. They also provide testing software and offer a 2-day FREE trial to check it out.

college planning, test prep

Creating an SAT Study Plan

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When it comes to studying for the SAT, most students don’t know where to begin.  The easy way out is to head over to the local branch of one of the big prep companies.  But, that route can be inefficient time-wise, not to mention extremely expensive.  The good news is that you can create an SAT course yourself!  All you need is some good materials and a little organization.   Here are a few tips to get you started:

  1. Be sure to get started early, ideally at LEAST three months before test day.  Unless you’re prepping over the summer, school and other activities take up most of your day.  Allow yourself a long time frame so you don’t have to cram for eight hours a day the week before the test.
  2. Plan to average about 30 a minutes a day over that time.  Note that’s an average, not a rule.  Spend a half hour here and there, with maybe couple of hours on the weekend.  Grab fifteen minutes before soccer practice.  Keep a journal of what you’ve done, what still needs to be done, and how much time you’re spending.  And be honest!  You might be amazed how much (or little) time you’re devoting.
  3. Take a timed, as close to real as possible, practice test for starting your prep.  I always recommend downloading the free SAT from the College Board’s website and using that as your pre-test.  Be sure to use the printed version.  Don’t take the online version, since you won’t be taking the real thing online!  Use your results as a guide for your prep.
  4. As for materials, there are unlimited options.  There are online courses, books, iPhone apps, podcasts, computer programs and on and on.  Check out a few options, and see what makes sense for your learning preferences and budget.  The only must-have is the Official SAT Study Guide from the College Board.  It should be your primary source for practice sections.  Use any other resources you like to learn strategy, review math and build vocabulary.  Of course, I am biased towards Word-Nerd.com for SAT vocabulary.
  5. In the early stages of your prep, do practice questions at your own pace.  Treat it as an open book test.  When you make an error, analyze it.  Always learn from your mistakes, as well as your successes.  The same types of questions appear repeatedly on the SAT.  So analyze those errors.  When you encounter a similar question on test day, you’ll know what to do!  If you’re stumped by a particular question, ask a friend or a teacher for help.  Or hire a tutor for an hour or two to get you through the tough stuff.  Wyzant.com is an amazing source for tutors nationwide if you need ideas.
  6. Lastly, ramp up your efforts as the big day nears.  By the last couple of weeks, you should be taking practice sections from the Official Study Guide under timed conditions.  Just be sure to give yourself a break the night before the test.  Nothing will hurt your score more than being tired on test day!

If you have a question I haven’t covered, feel free to send me an email at jenn@word-nerd.com – your question may be the topic of a future post on The Fat Envelope, Word-Nerd’s test prep and college admissions blog.  Good luck everyone!

Today’s guest post is by Jennifer Cohen, President and Chief Word-Nerd at Word-Nerd.com. She offers some great (realistic) tips on preparing for upcoming SAT’s. Word-Nerd.com is your best resource for efficient, fun SAT and PSAT vocabulary prep.

college costs, college guidance, college planning, scholarships, social networks, test prep, Uncategorized

Outsmarting the SAT

elizabeth-kingToday’s guest post is by Elizabeth King, author of “Outsmarting the SAT”. She has successfully led students to score gains of well over 100 points on every section of the SAT. She takes the test every year herself and knocks it out of the ballpark.

The test prep companies would like you to believe that you can’t prepare for their tests, or that you’re already prepared just by having gone to high school. This sounds great: test prep companies don’t have to endorse folks who can help you prepare and it seems like you, the student, is off the hook.

However, I come bearing great news: yes, it’s entirely possible to drastically change your score on both the SAT and ACT. I know, the companies that produce them tell you that they each test “what you’ve already learned in high school” in varying ways. In a perfect world, that would be true, but it’s far more likely that you either never learned some of the material or you don’t remember it when you see it. Both the SAT and ACT test skills you started learning around the age of ten. You’ll want to brush up.

I’m also going to let you in on a little secret: your friends (the people against whom you’ll be competing for college admission) may be preparing and just not admitting it. Yes, seriously. Let’s face it: acting like you care about standardized tests is not traditionally considered cool. However, I can’t tell you how many students I have that are friends that say “don’t tell so-and-so we’re coming to you” or the number of kids that are tucked away by themselves at the bookstore cafe on Saturday morning perusing a prep book. Not only that, I would say that it’s extremely common for someone to tell me his SAT score (happens all the time) and quickly tack on a lame excuse, like, but I was out partying the night before or but it’s not like I studied for it.

Bsat-testut let’s face it. College admissions officers don’t care how cool you are and are given no indication of how much you may or may not have studied for exams. They simply see a number and assess you accordingly. Moreover, while you may think you’ll get away with an hour or two of looking over a sample test the night before, in some areas or schools it’s completely normal to spend six months to a year preparing for the test. Right now, somewhere in the world, a student against whom you’ll be competing for college entry is preparing for the SAT or ACT.

Now, look: just because I’m asking you to prepare doesn’t mean I’m condemning you to taking one of those 8 week 4 hours every Saturday morning courses with a huge prep company. In fact, the National Association of College Admissions Counselors released a study in 2009 that said your score will likely only go up around 30 points if you do so. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to invest 32 hours of my life preparing for something, I want to make some serious progress.

Here are some first steps to get you on the road to a score that represents you well:

–Pick your battle. Take a practice ACT and SAT test (available on the web). Think about which test is more comfortable for you. The math on the ACT covers more topics, but it generally feels more straightforward. The reading comprehension on the SAT is more conceptual; you’ll also want to consider the breadth of your vocabulary and how quickly you can learn new words. Vocab is pivotal on the SAT. The pace of the ACT is a little faster; the SAT is slower but longer.

–Prepare. Get a copy of The Official SAT Study Guide or The Real ACT Prep Guide and thoughtfully go through the material. For every mistake you make you’ll want write a note, and every mistake will fall under one of two categories: a rule/fact/equation you didn’t know (e.g. a particular geometry rule) or a question style (e.g. you know a particular geometry rule but you didn’t realize you needed to use it because of a confusing element in the question). Write all this down and review it!

–Ask for help. Rather than looking for guessing strategies on those questions with which you struggle, take the time to actually learn the material. Find a tutor or get a prep book that thoroughly teaches concepts rather than guessing rules. Remember that it’s possible to learn everything tested on the SAT and ACT, and I guarantee you’ll walk into the test more confident and away from the test center with a higher score and a better shot at entering the college of your dreams if you’ve taken the time to learn the material.

–Plan ahead. Know test dates ahead of time and don’t wait till the last minute. Remember, the competition is out there. Arm yourself and earn a score you can be proud of.

Contact Elizabeth at:
Elizabeth King Coaching, Inc.
http://tutorsfortestprep.com
On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elizabethonline

admissions, college costs, college planning, extracurricular activities, scholarships, test prep, Uncategorized

More valuable tips and advice

For my loyal readers, I thought I would post the links to some posts I have done on other websites and blogs. All offer valuable information for parents of college bound teens.

Preparing Your Student for the Future
If your child is just starting high school, you’re probably not thinking about college yet…but should you be?

It’s Test Time!
The SATs and ACTs… Are these standardized tests striking fear and dread in your home? Suzanne Shaffer of Parents Countdown to College says the key to success is practice and she shows you where to find FREE help!

Searching for Scholarships

The best advice I can give any parent of a college-bound teen is to start the scholarship process EARLY. Don’t wait until senior year and scramble around trying to find scholarships. Here are 10 tips on searching for scholarships.

Visit these sites and gather some valuable information. Sign up and join GalTime for even more valuable parenting advice. Encourage your teen to enter Diploframe’s scholarship.

admissions, test prep

The Test Prep Controversy

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test-taking

In today’s Education column of the New York Times, the President of the College Board addresses the question of the value of SAT Prep courses.  This has been a long standing debate and the theories vary depending on who addresses the question.

According to Mr. Caperton:

Success on the SAT, and more importantly success in college, begins in middle school and in the early years of high school. The best way for students to get ready for the SAT is to take rigorous, challenging courses in high school and to study hard and do well in those classes.

But, there were some interesting comments that followed the article that give differing opinions about test prep. The bulk of the comments were either from parents or students who had availed themselves of test prep services and were able to raise their scores significantly; thus justifying the cost involved. I found the comments more interesting than the article.

I tend to agree with one comment which stated that the SAT measured the students test taking ability before it measured their cumulative knowledge. Some students take tests well; others do not. If those who do not test well take the time to familiarize themselves with the test itself, it will help them be less anxious and more confident on test day.

Read my article on GalTime for some tips on preparing for those college admission tests.