TESTING AND THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PROCESS WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN,

1
TESTING AND THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PROCESSWHO,
WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW?

• Rhonda Paules- Guidance Counselor

2
REVIEW WHAT ARE COLLEGES LOOKING FOR?

• GRADES- TRANSCRIPT-9TH-12TH
• TESTING- SCORES FROM SAT/ACT
• EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
• LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

3
ARE STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES REALLY IMPORTANT?
4
WHAT TESTS ARE OUT THERE?

• PSAT/NMSQT
• SAT
• SAT IIS (SUBJECT TESTS)
• ACT

5
PSAT/NMSQT

• PRELIMINARY SAT- NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP
  QUALIFYING TEST
• SOPHOMORES AND JUNIORS
• MID OCTOBER EACH SCHOOL YEAR
• SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR TOP SCORING
  JUNIORS- NATIONAL MERIT
• CRITICAL READING, MATH AND WRITING SECTIONS

6
PSAT/NMSQT

• 2 HR. 10 MIN. TEST
• COST- FREE TO AHS STUDENTS
• 5 SECTIONS- TWO 25 MIN. CRITICAL READING, TWO 25
  MIN. MATH, ONE 30 MIN.WRITING
• CRITICAL READINGSENTENCE COMPLETION AND CRITICAL
  READING QUESTIONS
• MATH MULTIPLE CHOICE PROBLEM SOLVING AND GRID
  INS
• WRITING SENTENCE ERRORS, IMPROVING SENTENCES,
  IMPROVING PARAGRAPHS

7
The PSAT/NMSQT is scored as follows (SCORES
RANGE FROM 20-80 ON EACH SECTION)
Back to to
8
HOW DO STUDENTS GET RESULTS?

• SCORE REPORTS SENT TO HIGH SCHOOL
• GUIDANCE COUNSELOR PRESENTATIONS IN 10TH AND 11TH
  GRADE ENGLISH CLASSES IN LATE DECEMBER/EARLY
  JANUARY
• COMPARING PSAT/SAT SCORES
• PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SON/DAUGHTERS GUIDANCE
  COUNSELOR WITH QUESTIONS

9
SAT

• INCLUDES- CRITICAL READING, MATH, AND WRITING
  SECTIONS
• ALL SECTIONS SCORED ON A 200-800 POINT SCALE- FOR
  TOTAL OF 2400 POINTS
• 3 HRS. 45 MIN. TO COMPLETE TEST

10
SAT-WRITING SECTION

• 1 HOUR TOTAL FOR WRITING SECTION
• 35 MIN. MULTIPLE CHOICE-IDENTIFYING SENTENCE
  ERRORS, IMPROVING SENTENCES, IMPROVING PARAGRAPHS
  
• 25 MIN. WRITTEN ESSAY

11
SAT- CRITICAL READING

• 70 MINUTES TOTAL
• TW0-25 MIN. SECTIONS
• ONE-20 MIN. SECTION
• READING COMPREHENSION- SHORT PARAGRAPHS
• SENTENCE COMPLETION
• PARAGRAPH LENGTH CRITICAL READING

12
SAT- MATH SECTION

• 70 MINUTES TOTAL
• TWO-25 MIN. SECTIONS
• ONE-20 MIN. SECTION
• ARITHMETIC, ALGEBRA I, GEOMETRY, ALGEBRA II
• ALSO SOME STATISTICS AND DATA ANALYSIS
• MULTIPLE CHOICE AND STUDENT PRODUCED RESPONSES

13
SAT

• HOW TO REGISTER- PAPER FORM OR WWW.COLLEGEBOARD.CO
  M
• WHEN TO REGISTER- JUNIOR YEAR (TYPICALLY IN THE
  SPRING)
• REGISTRATION DEADLINES
• HOW MANY TIMES SHOULD A STUDENT TAKE THE SAT?
• WHERE DO STUDENTS TAKE THE SAT?
• HOW MUCH? 43.00

14
SAT

• SAT PREP OPTIONS-BOOKS/CLASSES
• SCORES AVAILABLE BY PHONE AND ONLINE APPROX. 3
  WEEKS AFTER TEST
• SCORE REPORTS MAILED APPROX. 3-4 WEEKS AFTER TEST
• HOW TO SEND SCORES TO COLLEGES? COST- 9.50 PER
  SCHOOL- 4 FREE SCHOOLS AT TIME OF REGISTRATION

15
SAT TEST DATES2007-2008

• TEST DATE REG. DEADLINE

OCTOBER 6, 2007 SEPTEMBER 10, 2007
NOVEMBER 3, 2007 OCTOBER 2, 2007
DECEMBER 1, 2007 OCTOBER 30, 2007
JANUARY 26, 2008 DECEMBER 26, 2008
MARCH 1, 2008 JANUARY 29, 2008
MAY 3, 2008 APRIL 1, 2008
JUNE 7, 2008 MAY 6, 2008

16
COLL./UNIV. AVG. SAT SCORE
TEMPLE 980-1180
PENN 1330-1510
BLOOMSBURG 930-1110
PENN STATE 1090-1300
BOSTON UNIV. 1220-1380
UNIV. OF MD 1170-1360
GEORGE WASH. 1290-1460
UNIV. OF DE 1090-1270
PRINCETON 1370-1560
17
SUBJECT TESTS/SAT IIS

• WHAT ARE THE SAT SUBJECT TESTS?
• ABOUT 20 SUBJECT TESTS AVAILABLE
• WHO SHOULD TAKE SUBJECT TESTS?
• WHEN SHOULD STUDENTS TAKE SAT IIS?
• COST-8 PER TEST 20 BASIC REGISTRATION FEE-
  44 TOTAL IF TAKING 3 TESTS
• REGISTER WITH PAPER FORM OR WWW.COLLEGEBOARD.COM
• MOST COLLEGES RECOMMEND/REQUIRE 2-3 SAT IIS
• HOW TO SEND SCORES TO COLLEGES?

18
COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES WHO REQUIRE SAT IIS

• UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
• PRINCETON
• YALE
• COLUMBIA
• DUKE
• GEORGETOWN
• UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
• EMORY
• JOHNS HOPKINS
• LEHIGH

19
ACT ASSESMENT

• MORE POPULAR ON WEST COAST
• MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST-APPROX. 3 HOURS- 3 HRS. 25
  MIN. WITH WRITING
• COVERS FOUR SKILL AREAS- ENGLISH, MATH, READING
  AND SCIENCE
• WRITING- OPTIONAL- 30 MIN. PERSUASIVE ESSAY

20
ACT

• ENGLISH TEST- 45 MIN.- PUNCTUATION, GRAMMAR,
  SENTENCE STRUCTURE
• MATH TEST- 60 MIN.- ARITHMETIC, ALG. I,
  GEOMETRY, ALGEBRA II/TRIGONOMETRY
• READING TEST- 35 MIN.- READING PASSAGES/QUESTIONS-
  BASED ON PROSE FICTION, SOCIAL SCI., HUMANITIES,
  NATURAL SCIENCES
• SCIENCE TEST- 35 MIN-INTERPRETATION, ANALYSIS,
  EVALUATION, SKILLS REQUIRED IN THE NATURAL
  SCIENCES (I.E.. GRAPHS, TABLES)

21
ACT

• SCORES RANGE FROM 1TO 36 FOR EACH SUBJECT-
  AVERAGED FOR A COMPOSITE SCORE- HIGHEST COMPOSITE
  SCORE36
• WHO SHOULD REGISTER?
• HOW DO STUDENTS REGISTER?
• COST- 30 BASIC FEE 14.50 FOR WRITING- TOTAL
  44.50
• DO COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES LOOK AT THE ACT AS EQUAL
  TO THE SAT?
• MAILING SCORES TO COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES-
  TELEPHONE OR ONLINE- 8.50 PER SCHOOL
• WWW.ACTSTUDENT.ORG

22
UPCOMING ACT TEST DATES REGISTRATION DEADLINE
FEBRUARY 9, 2008 JANUARY 4, 2008
APRIL 12, 2008 MARCH 7, 2008
JUNE 14, 2008 MAY 9, 2008
23
QUESTIONS??
24
UPCOMING SEMINARSTUES. NOVEMBER 27TH-
NAVIANCE WEB-BASED COLLEGE PLANNING THURS.
DECEMBER 6TH- HOW TO EVALUATE A COLLEGE

• .