“Be Prepared” 

- The Boy Scout Motto

According to the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, in 2004 the average ratio of applications to admissions officers was 395-to-1.  (In New England, where many of the nation’s most selective college are located, the ratio is 480-to-1!)

“This [statistic] may help to explain one key trend in admission: the rise of the importance attributed to standardized admissions tests by colleges and universities.  Over the past 15 years, the number of colleges and universities attributing ‘considerable importance’ to standardized test scores rose from 46 percent in 1993 to 59 percent in 2004.  (Source: NACAC State of College Admission)  As the application caseload rises, particularly at selective and large institutions, the process becomes more methodical, making it harder to conduct ‘holistic’ application reviews.”  (Source: NACAC Environmental Scan: The College Admission Counseling Landscape, 2006)

It was actually 59 percent in 2005 not 2004, and the span covers 13 not 15 years.  A starker contrast would have been 43 percent in 1994 compared to 61 percent in 2003, just a decade later.

But the point is made nonetheless.  The pendulum has swung back.  SAT  scores are as important as ever.

So what’s a poor test-taker to do?

In a word, prepare, prepare, prepare.

That said, there’s no need to register for a high-priced SAT prep course.  The Kaplan course currently costs about $900.  At the time of writing, the Princeton Review website was down, but I am sure the price is similar.  On the whole, SAT prep courses are not much more than high-priced babysitting services.  I know, I taught one (I will not say by which company I was employed).  The classes are full of kids who are not engaged, no matter how engaging the instructor; if they were active and interested, they probably would have done better on the SAT in the first place (not always the case, of course, so read on).  And as for the money back guarantee, read the fine print.  The student must attend all the classes, do all the homework (there’s tons of it!), and sit for the course a second time.

Or a student can purchase an “interactive handheld tutor” for $150.  Granted, I have not used it, but I can say for sure that sitting for the SAT is definitely not like playing a video game, and the only electronic device a test-taker can use during the SAT is an approved calculator.

So what do I need, you ask?

Honestly, about $30 and a little self-discipline.

Lots of anecdotal evidence points to the book Up Your Score: The Underground Guide to the SAT (Berger, et al.).  It retails for $11.95.  And it actually makes studying for the SAT enjoyable!  Well, as enjoyable as it can be.  How enjoyable can a root canal be, right?  Use it in conjunction with the College Board’s Official SAT Study Guide ($19.95).  Fifteen minutes – maybe half an hour – a night, five nights a week.

The key is to start early.  After a student receives her tenth grade PSAT scores is best.  She has an official benchmark to start with, but she’s starting about as early as is reasonable.  Any earlier is simply twisted, I say.  But if a student doesn’t start until after the spring SAT of his eleventh grade year, he still has all summer.

That’s where the self-discipline comes in handy!

One caveat.  It is relatively easy to raise math and writing scores.  (The math on the SAT is limited – arithmetic, algebra, geometry; and the essay prefers a very basic five-paragraph theme.)  The reading section, well, that’s a whole ’nother ball of wax.  The College Board itself tells us that the only proven way to ensure a high reading score is read, read, READ!  Lifelong readers score well on the reading section, Johnny- (or Janie-) come-latelies don’t.  So, kids, start reading.  It will improve your SAT score – and heck, it might even make you smarter!

But what about the rare few students who work assiduously in school, get the highest grades in the toughest curriculum, but still can’t manage anything better than ‘modest’ SAT scores?  (That’s what college admissions officers call them, by the way, ‘modest,’ not ‘bad.’)

There are actually many, many SAT-optional colleges, including some of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges – Bard, Bates, Bowdoin, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg, Holy Cross, Mount Holyoke, Sarah Lawrence, and Union, to name a few.  (A full list can be found at fairtest.org.)

There are also a number of large state universities that will not consider SAT scores if a student’s GPA and/or class rank are high enough.  George Mason in Virginia is one such school – not a short order given its rising profile (remember that Cinderella story run at the NCAA championship during last year’s March Madness?) and the fact that it is now Virginia’s largest university.  It’s also had two Nobel laureates in the past decade – which is two more than UVA, by the way.  Hats off to Andrew Flagel, the Dean of Admission (and a former colleague).

And if, owing to strength in particular subjects, a student can manage strong scores on Subject Tests or AP tests, a handful of colleges allow students to mix and match, including Connecticut College, Hamilton, and Middlebury.

Posted by Frank Betkowski at February 26, 2007 10:05 AM

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