30-Second Summary   What's Happening   Since 2020, many colleges have made the SAT/ACT "optional" for admission. However, at competitive "test-optional" colleges, most students still submit SAT/ACT scores—and are admitted at higher rates.   Why It Matters   Families need to understand how to navigate test-optional policies given their individual goals and circumstances.   The Main Takeaway   All students should take a practice SAT and ACT.  Most students should take the official SAT or ACT.  Prepare for the SAT/ACT if your baseline scores are below the norms at your colleges of interest (or below the cut-off for your scholarships of interest).  For each college you apply to, decide strategically whether to submit your official scores.   What You'll Learn in This Article   This article defines key test-optional terms and walks through a step-by-step approach to navigating practice testing, official testing, and score submission based on your goals.   Read On   Watch This Blog as a Video What Is the Recent History Behind Test-Optional? What Testing Policies Are Colleges Currently Using? Why Is Testing Relevant Today? How Should I Approach Testing Given My Goals? Need Personalized Guidance on Your SAT/ACT Strategy? Meet with an Expert.

 

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Topics: College Admissions, ACT, SAT, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage

 

 

30-Second Summary   Why This Matters   Despite test-optional policies, all students should take a practice SAT and ACT to inform their testing strategy.  Families need to know why, when, and how students should use practice testing as part of their SAT/ACT strategy.   The Main Takeaway   The three steps to developing your SAT/ACT testing strategy are: Step 1: Determine whether to focus on the SAT or ACT, and establish your baseline score.  This is where practice tests come in. Step 2: Set your target score based on your college and scholarship goals. Step 3: Select your study strategy.    What You'll Learn in This Article   You'll learn the importance of practice SAT/ACT testing, which practice test(s) to take, when you should take them, and what you should do with your scores—all depending on your individual goals.   Read On   How Should I Approach the SAT/ACT Testing Process? Why Should I Take Practice SAT/ACT Tests? Which Practice Test(s) Should I Take? When Should I Sign Up? What Should I Do After the Practice Tests?

 

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Topics: ACT, SAT, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage, PSAT

 

 

30-Second Summary   What's Happening   The new digital SAT is arriving in March 2024—and the last ever administration of the existing paper SAT will be in December 2023.   Why It Matters   Many 11th graders (Class of 2024), and some 10th graders (Class of 2025), should take the existing paper SAT before it's gone for good.   What You'll Learn in This Article   This article provides a step-by-step approach for 10th and 11th graders to develop your SAT/ACT testing strategy with the digital SAT in mind.   Read On   Watch This Blog as a Video Digital SAT Implementation Timeline Action Plan - Class of 2024 (11th Graders as of February 2023) Action Plan - Class of 2025 (10th Graders as of February 2023) Need Personalized Guidance on Your SAT/ACT Strategy? Meet with an Expert.

 

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Topics: College Admissions, ACT, SAT, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage

 

While everyone hopes they'll be able to take the SAT or ACT just once and be done with the process, the reality is that about half of all students take the official test again—even if they had completed an SAT/ACT prep program before their initial testing attempt.  If you’ve taken the official SAT or ACT, and your score has left you wondering whether you should retake the test, what should you do next?  We'll help you answer that question in this post.

 

"When Anna got a great practice test score after her prep class, then her real test was a drop from that score, yes, it was a little disappointing.  But you have to know that you could have a bad test day any given day, right?  There's no downside to retaking the test...so just keep [trying] until you've got a good test [score]." -Ransom J., parent of student at West Anchorage High School who took the official ACT three times, ultimately earning a 94th percentile score is matriculating at Washington and Lee University

 

Note: This article is for students who have already taken the official SAT/ACT at least once.  If you haven’t taken the official SAT/ACT yet, see this blog post: 

When to Prepare for and Take the SAT/ACT: 3 Questions to Help You Decide.

 

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Topics: College Admissions, ACT, SAT, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage

 

NOTE: This post is targeted at juniors (10th graders as of May 1, 2022).  If you have already taken the PSAT (11th graders of May 1, 2022), check out this post instead.

 

Summer is an important time for rising juniors to learn about the PSAT and determine whether it’s worth preparing for the test to potentially qualify for recognition and funding under the National Merit Scholarship Program.  Alaska students earning Semifinalist, Finalist, or Winner status have access to generous scholarship opportunities at a variety of colleges. In this post, we’ll break down what’s on the PSAT, how the National Merit Scholarship Program works, and what rising juniors should do ASAP—ideally before August 15, 2022—to see where they stand.

 

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Topics: Financial Aid & Scholarships, ACT, SAT, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage, PSAT

 

10^th and 11^th graders: Your SAT or ACT scores will likely play a significant role in your competitiveness when applying to colleges, with 88% of colleges placing considerable or moderate importance on students’ standardized test scores for admissions purposes.¹  Given the importance of your SAT/ACT scores, how should you develop your testing calendar and plans?  In this article, we’ll review three questions to help you decide when you should prepare for and take the official SAT or ACT—including what sophomores should do over the summer to determine whether they may be competitive for National Merit recognition on their junior year PSAT.

 

Here's everything covered in this post:

• How Should I Approach the SAT/ACT Testing Process? 3 Steps to SAT/ACT Success
• When Should I Take My Practice SAT and ACT?
• When Should I Take My Official SAT or ACT? 3 Questions to Help You Decide
• Next Steps: Checklist for Rising Juniors
• Next Steps: Checklist for Rising Seniors

 

First, let’s start with a high-level overview of SAT/ACT testing strategy.

 

 

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Topics: SAT Subject Tests, ACT, SAT, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage, PSAT

 

If you took the PSAT in October 2019 as either a 10^th or 11^th grader, you should have received your scores on December 10.  What do your scores mean?  How do they relate to the SAT/ACT?  How does the National Merit Scholarship Program work, and what are the Alaska qualifying scores?  And now that you have your scores, what should you do next?

 

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Topics: Financial Aid & Scholarships, ACT, SAT, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage, PSAT

 

Updated January 19, 2021 - The CollegeBoard has discontinued the SAT essay.  At this point, only a handful of schools schools require or recommend the ACT Writing (essay).

 

Updated May 22, 2020 - Over the last two years, a variety of high-profile colleges have announced that the SAT/ACT essay will now be optional for applicants to their schools because they believe a single essay cannot reliably predict a student’s college writing capabilities. As of this posting, only a few colleges require or recommend the SAT/ACT essay.  Finally, Princeton, in a move mimicked by Brown (and likely other colleges soon), has made the SAT/ACT essay optional, but instead requires all applicants to submit a graded writing sample. Should YOU plan to take the SAT/ACT essay? Here’s how to decide.

 

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Topics: ACT, SAT, College Admissions: Explore Early, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage

 

 

Developing a working college list no later than junior year, and finalizing it before senior year begins, is what sets the most competitive applicants apart.  If there's one thing about college admissions that high school students should learn upfront, it's that all roads in high school lead from where you intend to apply to college.  The colleges on your list will determine the minimum GPA you should aim for, which standardized tests you need take (and the scores required to make you a competitive candidate), how many essays you will need to write, what kind of scholarship opportunities may be available, which other application deliverables you may need to prepare, application/testing/scholarship deadlines, and much more.

 

Whether you're a sophomore or a senior, it's never too early to start thinking about where you aspire to attend college, and how you can start building your application assets to be a competitive candidate by the time you apply. In this post, I'll explain our five-step process to identifying your colleges of interest.  I'll also describe how I work with my college admissions consulting students to professionally guide them in developing their preliminary and final college lists.

 

Step 1: Start Early

Step 2: Consider Your Assets and Preferences

Step 3: Research Colleges

Step 4: Develop Your Preliminary College List

Step 5: Finalize Your College List

 

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Topics: College Admissions: Explore Early, 9th Grade - Freshmen, College Admissions: Excel Academically, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Apply Right, College Admissions: Test Well

 

 

"What I really liked about working with you the most was the essay refining part because it kept me on track. And I like to say that I would have been able to stay on track, but I definitely would not have because there were times when I would sit down on the weekend and be like, 'Okay, I'm meeting with Kimberly on Monday. I have to write this essay or I'm not going to have anything to show her.' So that in the moment kind of sucked. But looking back it was really good for me. Otherwise it would have not been good. I was also really happy about this feedback that you were able to give me with my essay and how I was able to make it as good as it could be."

-Anja L., graduate of Dimond High School

 

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Anja L. is a Dimond High School graduate.  During spring of her junior year, Anja began working with us in a college admissions consulting program.  We began working together to build her college list, enabling her to visit colleges during the summer.  In addition to college research and list building, I also assisted Anja planning and developing of some of her college essays (including her main Common Application essay) and optimizing her SAT testing plans. Anja concurrently completed a 12-hour SAT Individual Prep program and received one-on-one academic tutoring in her precalculus class. Over the course of her SAT prep program, Anja increased her SAT superscore to 1450 (97th percentile).  Anja was accepted Middlebury College, Colorado College, University of Vermont, and Montana State University, where she was awarded a $46,000 scholarship, for which eligibility criteria generally include 95th+ percentile SAT/ACT scores, 3.8+ GPA, track record of leadership/honors/high-impact extracurriculars, and essay application.

 

In this post, I share excerpts from an interview with Anja, during which we discussed the college list-building process (including some of the tools she used), essay development, and her SAT preparation experience at Frontier Tutoring.  Responses have been edited for length and clarity.  Use the links below to jump to the questions you're curious about.

 

-Kimberly Hewitt, Business Unit Manager - College Admissions Consulting

 

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Topics: College Admissions, ACT, SAT, College Admissions: Explore Early, College Admissions: Excel Academically, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, College Admissions: Apply Right, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage, Interviews