Got Tests?

There's a recent article in the New York Times discussing whether students should take/retake the ACT/SAT. There's lots of information available about this issue. The college admissions consultants at College Connectors consider the testing piece of the admissions puzzle very carefully. Here's our answers to the questions:

ACT or SAT?

How many times should you retake it?

First of all, we live in the Midwest - what some people describe as the Fly-Over part of the US. Of course, that's where the ACT people live too. So, we've never thought the ACT was inferior.

We let people know off the bat that colleges will consider the results of either the ACT or SAT in their admissions decision and to reinforce what others have said, test scores aren't the most important part of the admissions decision anyway.

We advise students and parents that the goal of the either test is to get a score that accurately reflects a student's ability. We sincerely suggest to parents: "The goal is NOT for your teen to have a score you can brag about at a cocktail party".

With this guidance, we suggest students pick one test, a test date that's convenient for them, prepare for the test starting about 6/8 weeks ahead of time, and plan on taking the test once.

Preparation can take lots of forms: buy a book and go through it on your own, take a class, hire a tutor, create a study group with your friends. Whatever, just prepare. We don't think that taking the test officially one time 'just for practice' counts.

Of course, there are times when even we suggest a retake. For example, if the student was ill and couldn't concentrate and scored lower than we'd predict based on their PSAT, PLAN and/or grades, he should retake it. Or, if one of her scores was way out of range compared to the others(ACT sub scores that is), she can think about retaking it.

Most importantly, however, if the student is applying to a college that offers merit scholarships, a retake might be necessary. Consider the case of a student with a 27 ACT score. If the college awards $5000/year to a student with a 27, and $10,000/year to a student with a 28, another stab at the test, another Saturday morning, and the $$ cost of retaking the test could have a great financial payoff and is warranted. The ROI potential in this case is $20,000. Not bad for an 18 year old and a few hours of work. Remembering all the time that it's just as easy to score one point lower as it is to score one point higher.

According to our research, the classes a student takes and the grades they get in high school are more important to colleges than test scores. The pieces of the college search puzzle need to fit together. An over-sized testing piece won't help the solution.

College Visits - shopping or buying trips

Parents often ask, "When's the best time to take my child on college visits?" My quick answer is, "Whenever you can". Fall or summer or spring or winter, whatever works into your busy family schedule, that's the best time.

College Visits fall in to two categories, shopping or buying visits.

Shopping visits take place during the sophomore and junior year and are best designed to help students clarify the criteria they want in a college. Here are three helpful questions students can be asking themselves at this stage in their search:

1. What do I like about this college?
2. What do I dislike about this college?
3. What questions do I have about this college?
   

Students limit the value of visits when they ask themselves the single question: Do I want to apply here?

Criteria can be clarified by visiting colleges that may or may not make it to a student's final college list. That's why I recommend that in 10th and 11th grade, students and their families take advantage of local college visits. Even if a student has committed herself to the "2 state away rule"*, visiting colleges in her back yard can help identify college characteristics that will make a campus a good match or not.

The importance of the idea of shopping visits is exemplified by the recommendation we make for all of our Minnesota students. We recommend that they participate in the Minnesota Private College Week. This year, June 21-25 is the week. During this week, all of the private colleges in Minnesota open their doors to prospective students. There's a variety of schools in this group: rural, urban, suburban/religiously affiliated or not/selective to vary selective/liberal arts to programs with career options...... Throw in a visit the the University of MN and a mid-size public university and students will have visited a very wide variety of campuses. With this knowledge and experience, they can move towards clarifying the criteria that are important to them, based on experience, rather than just based on assumptions. This investigation period is crucial to a successful college search.

Buying visits take place once a student is admitted to college. That's during the senior year. By this time, students should have in mind clear criteria of what they want in a college. During their shopping visits, they compare the colleges on the criteria important to them.

*2 state away rule - I'm going to a college at least two states away from where I live.

Happy Trails!