The SAT reading comprehension section can often be a time crunch for many students. This video demonstrates a systematic approach to quickly reading and analyzing a passage in order to answer questions.
No matter how many times your parents have repeated it to you, it never quite sinks in – If you fail to plan you plan to fail. While this feels a bit dramatic, in a test like the SAT or ACT it is important to realize that preparation can have a significant benefit on your score and on opportunities that stem from this such as college admission and scholarships. While many students have performed well in high school, standardized admissions tests can be a limiting factor because students often fall into a few common traps, such as the idea that being a good student translates directly into a high performing standardized test taker. While this may be true for some students, it often is not the case. College admissions exams often require knowledge on how to study for and take a standardized exam. The best way to overcome this hurdle is by creating a study schedule and planning for test day ahead of time.
Students who decide to take the SAT Chemistry subject test generally feel that they are well suited for the test because they are doing well in the high school chemistry course they are taking at their high school. What I have found though is that they may not be aware of the specialized preparation that is needed in order to get a top score on the exam beyond their study for the course they are taking at school. There are several reasons for the need for specialized preparation for the exam. This article explains what those are and what the student can do to be better prepared for the test.
Plenty of students take AP courses as a way to prove to colleges that they are capable of handling exactly the sort of work that universities demand of students. However, while taking the courses themselves is often quite important in admissions decisions at American universities, the scores often matter more for the purpose of getting advanced credit. Therefore, for many students, the difference between a 4 and a 5, depending on the university that he or she ultimately ends up attending, is not that vast.
In our last blog post on this topic, we explored why today’s high school students must be so productive in high school. Getting good grades isn’t quite enough anymore. You need to show a variety of interests and ideally achieve leadership positions outside the classroom to maximize your chances of admission to a top college. We offered a six-step process to being more productive in high school:
Most students know they need to be productive, because getting into an excellent college requires much more than good grades nowadays. It now requires a well written application highlighting many interests and accomplishments, including a high GPA.