I know most students are preparing for their midterms right now. Getting ready for these exams do not need to be a painful process. Being a great test-taker is about learning how to maximize your time, so start planning now! Just a little bit of extra preparation will help you learn and retain more for test day. Read on and good luck!
1. Make the TIME to study
2. Use the TIME wisely
3. Apply the TIME well on the test
With just a little bit of time on your side, you will surprise yourself with how much you know and retain for test day. Your formula for finals success is easy: TIME x 3!
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• Read, read, read! (novels, not comics)
• Get a set of flash cards (SAT/ACT Vocabulary) and start on them early. • Read the newspaper. • Visit a news website such as NY Times, CNN and read the top stories. • Do crossword puzzles. • Write in a journal or as much as possible. • Solve logic puzzles. • Answer the SAT question of the day on-line. • Take the practice tests offered on-line or at your school . Many Early Decision or Early Action student applicants are finding that they've been neither accepted nor rejected, but deferred. A deferred application is considered again along with the applications submitted during the regular cycle. This complex alternative is so tenuous and uncertain that it is impossible to predict the outcome.
If you find yourself in this limbo, here are some guidelines for how to proceed. 1. Don't Panic. Remain calm. Most likely, if you've been deferred your credentials are in the ballpark for getting accepted. If they weren't, you'd be rejected. So that's the good news. However, your application wasn't so far above average that the college wanted to give up a spot in the entering class until they could compare you to the full applicant pool. The percentages vary from college to college, but some students do get accepted after being deferred. 2. Find Out Why You Were Deferred Unless the college asks you not to do so, give the admissions office a call and try to find out why you were deferred. Be polite and positive when making this call. Try to convey your enthusiasm for the college, and see if there were particular weaknesses in your application that you might be able to address. Practice with our consultants before you make this call to the college's admissions office. 3. School Guidance Counselor Your high school counselor can find out some information from the college admissions for you. Contact Lee Academia to find out kind of information they can obtain for you and how you can approach your counselor for the information. 4. Be positive and Be Polite As you try to get out of deferral limbo, you're likely to correspond with the admissions office several times. Try to keep your frustration, disappointment and anger in check. Be polite. Be positive. Admissions officers are remarkably busy this time of year, and their time is limited. Thank them for any time they give you. 5. Send a New Letter of Recommendation Is there someone who knows you well who can really promote you effectively? If so, an additional letter of recommendation might be a good idea (but make sure the college allows extra letters). Ideally, this letter should talk about the specific personal qualities that make you an ideal match for the particular college that has deferred you. Lee Academia can help you decide who to ask for this new letter of recommendation. 6. Send Supplemental Materials Many applications, including the Common Application, provide the opportunity for sending in supplemental materials. Try not to overwhelm the admissions office, but you should feel free to send in writing or other materials that will show the full breadth of what you can contribute to the campus community. 7. Update Your Information Chances are the college will ask for your midyear grades. If you were deferred because of a marginal GPA, the college will want to see that your grades are on an upward trend. Also, think about other information that might be worth sending:
8. Have a Back-Up College or two While many deferred students do get accepted during regular admissions, many do not. You should do all you can to get into your top choice school, but you should also be realistic. Make sure you have applied to a range of reach, match and safety colleges so that you will have other options should you get a rejection letter from your first choice. 9. Letters If you have been deferred but have new information to present to the college, you'll want to write a letter presenting the updates. Contact Lee Academia. They can help you formulate letters to "pursue the waitlist". Remember, the advice above is general and that every college and university has its own policies when it comes to sending in additional documents. Check with your college and work with Lee Academia on this process to make your college years, wherever you attend, meaningful and successful. When should students take the SAT or ACT? Does it make sense to take both tests?
I recommend that students take the SAT or ACT in the spring of junior year and retake that same test in the fall of senior year, if necessary. May is a perfect month for the SAT since students can order “Question and Answer Service” (which is only offered three times a year), a terrific study tool for the next round. Taking the May SAT also allows students to take SAT Subject Tests in June, close to the end of the semester in which they are studying those subjects. The ACT Q&A service, “Test Information Release,” is offered in April and June. June is the best time to take the test, when courses are nearly over and students have learned more math, which is relevant on this test. Then take the test once more in September or October. Colleges accept both. For students applying to colleges that require the SAT + SAT Subject Tests, or ACT alone, and who do not have strong SAT Subject Test options, the ACT is appealing. For students who are weak in reading and vocabulary but strong in math, the ACT is often the better option. Otherwise, the SAT is generally considered the more coachable test. Students can take a practice test in each to get the definitive answer of which test is a better fit for them. Under what circumstances should students retake the SAT or ACT? How much better should a student expect to do the second time around? Although the trend is to take more and more tests, there are several reasons students should not retake the SAT or ACT more than once. Students’ time could be put to much better uses than prepping for and retaking tests, too. Students who study for these tests tend to make a big jump in scores after their first course of study: 50 points or more in each SAT section, 2-4 points in each ACT section. After that, many students plateau out, but still manage to raise their scores in the fall, sometimes an additional 50 points per SAT section, and a 1-3 points on the ACT. Since colleges pick the best scores to make a superscore, nearly everyone should take the test again in the fall. Many students pull it all together then: They are a half-year older than when they first took the test; they’ve grown and matured over the summer, too. A number of factors lead some students to see big improvement in the fall test. Even if they only pick up a few points here and there, it adds up and overall is likely to be much higher than initial scores. What is your advice for parents, when it comes to helping your child juggle the necessary components of admissions (exams, essays, paperwork, tours, etc)? Every student and family is different, but the demands of college applications and admissions are the same: burdensome and stressful! Students need to be willing to accept some parental help and guidance but may rightfully reject meddling. Families should sit down early in the process and establish roles, boundaries, and procedures for making sure everything gets done. Personally, I have no objection to allowing a student to delegate much of the logistics and bookkeeping to parents. Some students are not ready to take on that responsibility or are too busy juggling school and test prep and all the rest of their responsibilities. It does not mean that they are not ready to go on to the next step. Essays, however, and anything that is supposed to be in the student’s voice should not bear any parent’s fingerprints. Should students ever cancel their scores on the ACT or SAT? If you feel you did particularly bad is it a good idea to cancel your test? Both ACT and SAT scores may be cancelled within a few days of the test, but students should really have a good reason to do so, not just nerves. It really is difficult to predict one’s score based on a gut feeling after taking the test, but if the student was ill or had any other extraordinary circumstance that would have affected his or her test performance, cancellation is a last resort. Remember though, most colleges will superscore the results from all the SATs taken, and a growing number of colleges will do so for the ACT, too, so even if the results in one or two sections of the test are poor, a higher score in another section generally makes it all worth keeping, since that score would benefit the overall score compilation. For students taking the SAT Subject Tests, note that score cancellation affects all tests taken that day. Even if the student is concerned about one of two or three tests, it probably would be wiser to keep all the scores. Most colleges allow Score Choice, so any weak scores can be suppressed later. October
Sept 7 : Registration deadline for Oct SAT
Sept 8 : ACT (ACTStudent.org) Sept 21 : Registration deadline for Oct ACT Sept 21 : Late registration deadline for Oct SAT Oct 5 : Late registration deadline for Oct ACT Oct 6 : SAT (CollegeBoard.com) Oct 7 : Start Preparing for December SAT with Lee Academia The big advantage to test prep is improved scores, but no method of preparation is magic. SAT/ACT prep methods work when students put in the time and effort. To find the method right for you, you need to understand the pros, cons, and costs of various test prep methods.
Benefits of Test Prep The ultimate objective of any SAT or ACT program is improved test scores, but in order to score better, students need more than a review of test content. Some students know all the content needed to earn a perfect score, yet they still struggle due to problems with pacing, test anxiety, test format, and lack of familiarity with question types and test structure. Any quality test prep method should address these areas:
Private Tutoring One-on-one or small group tutoring allows for personalized instruction and often the best results when it comes to score improvement. In an individual setting, students are most accountable for completing assignments and all the time is dedicated to making sure that student improves. The drawbacks to private tutoring are cost and quality. Cost is obvious; you are paying for the instructor’s time and experience. A complete test prep program delivered one-on-one can cost between $1,200 and $10,000. Quality can be an issue in private tutoring. Anyone with an SAT book can call himself or herself a tutor. You want an experienced instructor who specializes in SAT or ACT prep. Group Classes Group classes are one of the most popular methods of test prep, because they are more affordable than private tutoring. Students receive the same information, but in a group setting. For some, a group is better because they learn from the questions of others and feel less pressured than in a one-on-one setting. Group programs offer a more consistent quality of information, but there are still huge variations. The big name test prep companies have consistent materials, but college students trained on the workbook often teach those classes. You can get some good teachers. But you can also get the instructor with no classroom management skills or the one who spends half the class on break. Classes usually range in cost between $500 and $1400. While you may be able to find some bargains, ask around for recommendations because cheaper is not always better. Online Programs For those of us who grew up before email, internet, and smart phones, it can be difficult to imagine taking classes online. But online education is the way of the future and some universities offer entire degree programs online. Online test prep can take many forms. Some require students to “attend” class at specific times each week to watch the lessons live; others allow students to access lessons at any time. Online classes can offer all the same benefits of a traditional class with added flexibility. The drawback to online education is accountability. Some students need the structure of a traditional class. The cost of online programs varies considerably, often based on the quality and quantity of information. Some programs cost less than $100 while others are as much as $3000. Again, do your research and get recommendations. Self-Study Finally, the least expensive method to prepare for the SAT or ACT is to study on your own. Some students are dedicated enough to review without guidance and these diligent scholars can teach themselves for the cost of materials alone. Self-study works best for bright students who are already good test takers. They already know most of the test content and don’t have problems with nerves, so these students just need to study the format of the questions and exam to develop test-taking strategies. Keep in mind that the primary factor in score improvement is effort. The best tutor can’t help the student who refuses to study. But everyone learns differently, so you need to find the right balance of information, motivation, and accountability. If you begin early, you can experiment with different test prep methods until you find the one that works for you. Prepare for the October and November SAT!
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Stephenie Lee
Stephenie, having been a tutor/instructor/mentor since 1996, discovered her passion and founded Lee Academia Educational Consulting, LLC. after she left the dental and medical field. She loves teaching/mentoring and counseling her students. Her passion lies in educating others and helping them pursue their educational path. Today, certified in College Counseling and with more than 10 years of experience, Stephenie and her team continues to blog about current updated educational news and events. Archives
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