June SAT Scores are Online

I'm always excited to call the parents of our students the day scores are posted to their accounts. And I've learned that this phone call is priceless, namely, for that one parent who can't recognize progress. These parents--despite what they've said throughout the prep process--have forged lofty score expectations for their child. When the scores are posted, these parents can no longer hide their feelings. They're disappointed.

The trouble is, these students have typically earned an incredible score increase, usually 150 to 300 points. It's just short of USC score averages--or some school that Mom knows she can openly brag to her friends about if her son is admitted.

Parents, I know it's hard to understand the SAT (or ACT) score system, so I will use an analogy; I'm even confused by the scaled scores. Imagine you're a newbie to golf and it takes you 120 shots to complete 18 holes (Par is usually around 74). For the next 3 months, you practice 5 hours per week. On a warm San Diego morning, you ask your best friend to join you for a round of golf--the same course you played 3 months earlier. You shoot an 87. Your friend, who claims he hasn't played all year, shoots a 79. You're devestated. You consider giving up golf. You're thinking, "How the heck did my friend, who never plays, beat me?" Unfortunately, your friend had played golf every day during the Summer bewteen the ages of 8 and 13.

I see the SAT (or ACT) the same way. First, it's a skill game. Skill development takes time. Second, if you're friend--who is not nearly as smart as you are in math--is scoring dramatically higher, you're friend most likely logged many hours of his childhood reading, while you were doing something else. Now you have to make up for those missed hours of reading.

Reconsider the Cost of Tutoring

I'm often entertained by the range of prices for tutoring. For example, I recently read an ad on Craigslist in which the tutor was asking for $20 per hour. The tutor was even willing to drive to the student's home for an extra $5. If you're truly knowledgeable and you value your time, $20 is a shockingly low price point--especially for an educator. Not only do you need to know the material your teaching, but you also have to explain it in a way that makes sense. And if you're really doing your job, you need to develop a system of study with the student so she can continue to excel outside of tutoring sessions. Now, think back through your high school years and write down the number of "really good" math teachers you had who truly inspired you. My math teacher count is at one.

Consequently, I encourage parents to rethink the cost of tutoring by challenging your typical cost-benefit analysis. Hiring a professional should be your only option. After all, it's your child's education and development.

Think of academic tutoring as a price per month as opposed to a price per hour.
Stop thinking of the cost per hour, and think of it as cost per month. If you hire a tutor, you're not employing them 9 to 5. Therefore, a professional academic tutor who meets a student once per week at a rate of $75 per hour, actually costs $300 per month. That's probably less than your car payment--and chances are you won't pay anything to your tutor when school is out (not the same for a car company). Due to holidays and breaks, you will probably pay $2000 for a tutor throughout a school year. Not bad.

Distribute SAT/ACT Prep as a cost over 4 years.
If you're serious about doing your best on the SAT or ACT, you will need to prepare. Since this is part of the high school experience, distribute the cost over 4 years (or 48 months). That $4000.00 private tutor starts to look like a good deal at $83 per month. Prep may even cost less than your gym membership.

Misusing Score Choice

Last week, I spent 20 minutes on the phone with a prospective parent (if you ask any of my colleagues, it was probably more like 40 minutes since I'm known for spending too much time on the phone). The conversation was typical progressing from "Could you describe your program?" to "When should we start prep?". As I shared our recommended testing timeline, she asked about Score Choice. I advised her to use Score Choice cautiously since some colleges, such as Stanford, are requesting that you send ALL of your test scores. "Really?" she responded, "I have a friend who is having her son take his Subject Tests several times, and they are only going to send the highest scores".

Consequently, I took this opportunity to point out the flaws of the bulk testing strategy when it comes to the SAT, ACT, or SAT Subject Tests.
#1 - Students tend to perform better when they don't have other options. It's better to encourage a student to focus on a specific test date, and to establish a serious practice regime.

#2 - Standardized tests are still used by colleges because they offer consistent measurements. In other words, scores don't change unless the test-taker learns to change. Taking the test multiple times is statistically proven to lead to limited--if any--point gains.

#3 - Students can't review their exams, unless it's one of three exams released by College Board or ACT each year. It's frustrating to take an exam, earn a score, and not have the option to review your missed questions.

#4 - Some schools require students to send all their tests.

#5 - Taking an official test requires time and money. It doesn't make much sense to spend $45 (plus gas) and 5 hours of a Saturday taking a test you're not ready for.

Fluid Study Skills

Yesterday, as I watched an 1500 meter Track and Field Championship on ABC, I started to think about study skills. Why? Just stick with my analysis for a second. As a group of five girls pulled away from the pack, I noticed two girls at the back who were working incredibly hard--much harder than the leading pack. The last place girl was running upright with limbs that seemed to work sporadically. The front girl had a slight forward lean with perfectly synchronized arms and legs. Each trailing runner within the lead pack had a similar, seemingly effortless stride.

As I watched the race develop, I had an aha moment. The trailing group, while working hard, was just like the students with inadequate study skills. No matter how hard they work, they will never win the race. They will always come up short because their form is flawed. Fortunately for students, study skills are much easier to change. Work on studying in the lead pack.

How to Spend Your Summer

Enjoying it!

Really though, summertime is a wonderful opportunity to start anew. You can reflect on the previous year; examining what you did well, what you didn't do well, what you enjoyed and didn't, what your accomplishments and achievements were, and how you generally felt. You can also spend time considering your next school year: would you like to perform better? what would you like to achieve? are there activities you'd like to join or leave? What do you want to do?

This is a question you'll have more and more freedom to answer as you grow, and which becomes more important each summer, and each point of reflection. Use this time well. If the opportunity of a good college is in your sights, what do you need to change to make that an even greater possibility? What do colleges look for? These are the questions worth asking of yourself.

Summer is also a great time to get ahead in your schoolwork, or develop a skill. Everyone knows that practice makes perfect in sports, but few consider how it applies to academics. Whether you want to improve your grades, your SAT scores, your guitar chords, your jumpshot, or your serve, practice is necessary. While there are no mandatory classes, use this time to learn skills at your own pace.

And of course, as we said earlier, enjoy your summer!

Summer Reading

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." - Joseph Addison

So school is out, you're done with finals, and it's time to relax. However, during San Diego's June gloom, enjoying a day at the beach doesn't seem too likely. During the drizzly days of summer, what could be better than curling up inside with a good book?

There are many resources to help you choose a book to kick back with - your local librarian will be able to help you find anything you're looking for and make some helpful suggestions for summer reading. College Board has a list of books for the college bound here...incidentally, those books all include some vocabulary that would be useful to know on the SAT! If you just want to relax with a novel, here's a top 100 list that includes some of my favorite books: Pick a book and go for it!

Really, it doesn't matter what you read; reading anything and everything will boost your verbal skills and help you both in school and on the SAT. Read online articles from the New York Times. Read your favorite science blog. Read a comic book and then go see the movie. Read the backs of cereal boxes! Reading stretches your brain and helps you to understand more of the world around you. There's nothing better on a cloudy June day than a cup of tea, a comfy chair, and a book to take you into another world.

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Moana's summer reading list includes: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Mind's I, Le Ton Beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language, and the rest of the Master and Commander series.

Do Colleges have an SAT or ACT Score Cut-Off for Applicants?

Yes. In a study by Derek C. Briggs, Professor at University of Colorado at Boulder, and NACAC, they reveal that some colleges use a cut-off score for applicants. Although most--if not all--colleges and universities argue that they use a holistic approach in evaluating students, this study reminds us to be cautious of the actual implementation of a truly holistic approach.

During this study, NACAC sent a survey to hundreds of admission counselors, asking about the effect of a 20-point increase in an SAT math score and 10 points in reading on a student's likelihood of admission.

The conclusion: small point gains can greatly influence a student's chances of admission. The 30 point increase becomes even more significant for students applying to highly selective schools that demand high scores since the score impact increases with higher scores. Just another reason to spend some extra time training your brain for the SAT or ACT.

Misleading SAT Companies

In January of 2009, I wrote an entry about the exploitative practices of a few SAT prep companies. I argued that no prep company can produce a practice SAT or ACT with the same statistical accuracy of the real test. Well, someone at the Wall Street Journal agreed with me. In this article, John Hechinger writes,

Jonah Varon, a straight-A student at Lowell High School in San Francisco, took a mock SAT from a test-prep company last year and scored 2060 out of a possible 2400. A few weeks later, with no tutoring, he took the real test. His score: a perfect 2400, or 340 points higher.

Mr. Varon, who is headed to Harvard in the fall, was suspicious. The coaching company, Revolution Prep, of Santa Monica, Calif., says its mock tests are calibrated to be at the same difficulty level as the real SAT. So why had it seemed to the student so much harder?

After gathering test scores from 15 classmates who had had similar experiences, Mr. Varon and classmate Lydia O'Connor wrote an article for their school newspaper claiming that the mock test was far more difficult -- or was scored more harshly -- than the actual exam to make Revolution Prep appear to be raising test scores more than it actually does.

What do I take from this example? Be very careful as you shop for the best way to prepare for the SAT or ACT. If your school seems to promote one company over another--and it should--find out why. Does your school support the program because it's being paid OR does it support a company because student experiences have been positive?

Finally, when it comes to establishing your baseline scores, USE an official test. Official tests are available on the College Board and ACT websites. Use these tests to establish baseline scores and avoid the contentious Mock Exams.

Link to Official SAT

Link to Official ACT