TESTING AND THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

PROCESSWHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, &

HOW?Rhonda Paules- Guidance Counselor

REVIEW: WHAT ARE COLLEGES LOOKING FOR?

• GRADES- TRANSCRIPT-9TH-12TH • TESTING- SCORES FROM

SAT/ACT• EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES• LETTERS OF

RECOMMENDATION

ARE STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES REALLY

IMPORTANT?

WHAT “TESTS” ARE OUT THERE?

• PSAT/NMSQT

• SAT• SAT II’S (SUBJECT TESTS)

• ACT

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

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 READING=SENTENCE COMPLETION AND

CRITICAL READING QUESTIONS• MATH= MULTIPLE CHOICE PROBLEM SOLVING AND

GRID INS• WRITING= SENTENCE ERRORS, IMPROVING

SENTENCES, IMPROVING PARAGRAPHS

Back to to

The PSAT/NMSQT is scored as follows:(SCORES RANGE FROM 20-80 ON EACH SECTION)

each correct answer 1 full point, regardless of level of difficulty

each unanswered question 0 points

each incorrect answer to a Student-Produced Response question

0 points

each incorrect answer to a multiple-choice question

minus 1/4 point

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/DAUGHTER’S GUIDANCE COUNSELOR WITH QUESTIONS

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

SAT-WRITING SECTION

• 1 HOUR TOTAL FOR WRITING SECTION

• 35 MIN. MULTIPLE CHOICE-IDENTIFYING SENTENCE ERRORS, IMPROVING SENTENCES, IMPROVING PARAGRAPHS

• 25 MIN. WRITTEN ESSAY

SAT- CRITICAL READING

• 70 MINUTES TOTAL• TW0-25 MIN. SECTIONS• ONE-20 MIN. SECTION• READING COMPREHENSION- SHORT

PARAGRAPHS• SENTENCE COMPLETION• PARAGRAPH LENGTH CRITICAL READING

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

SAT

• HOW TO REGISTER- PAPER FORM OR WWW.COLLEGEBOARD.COM

• 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

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

SAT TEST DATES2007-2008

TEST DATE REG. DEADLINEOCTOBER 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

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

SUBJECT TESTS/SAT II’S

• WHAT ARE THE SAT SUBJECT TESTS? • ABOUT 20 SUBJECT TESTS AVAILABLE• WHO SHOULD TAKE SUBJECT TESTS?• WHEN SHOULD STUDENTS TAKE SAT II’S?• 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

II’S• HOW TO SEND SCORES TO COLLEGES?

COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES WHO REQUIRE SAT II’S

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

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

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)

ACT

• SCORES RANGE FROM 1TO 36 FOR EACH SUBJECT- AVERAGED FOR A COMPOSITE SCORE- HIGHEST COMPOSITE SCORE=36

• 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

UPCOMING ACT

TEST DATES

REGISTRATION

DEADLINE

FEBRUARY 9, 2008 JANUARY 4, 2008

APRIL 12, 2008 MARCH 7, 2008

JUNE 14, 2008 MAY 9, 2008

QUESTIONS??

UPCOMING SEMINARS

TUES. NOVEMBER 27TH- NAVIANCE WEB-BASED COLLEGE PLANNING

THURS. DECEMBER 6TH- “HOW TO EVALUATE A COLLEGE”

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