10th Grade Night

Tonight’s Agenda Meet the Guidance Dept. High School Timeline Courses Offered ACT, SAT, SAT IIs Deciphering a Transcript Well-rounded vs. Angular? Questions

Mizrachi Guidance Active Facebook page* Online scheduling Hours: T/W/Th 9-3:30PM in Room 238 Guidance page on website Bulletin board next to Room 238 It’s never too early to meet your guidance counselor!! *Facebook.com/FuchsMizrachiCollegeGuidance

High School Timeline Busy year – took OGTs, PSATs, hopefully involved in some ECs 4

High School Timeline 11th grade: PSAT (October) Take Mizrachi’s sample real ACT (December) ACT (February/April) or SAT (March/May) Lead or initiate an extracurricular activity AP U.S. History, AP Biology, AP Psychology (May) Spring lunch workshops Choose teacher recommenders for college Rough drafts of college essays (summer) College visits (summer)

High School Timeline 12th grade: Continue pre-college testing (Sept/Oct) Lead or initiate an extracurricular activity Finalize teacher recommendations (Sept!) Narrow down college lists Complete college essays College visits Apply to college! (Nov 1 – Feb 1) AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP Lit, AP Econ (May)

Courses Offered 7

Courses Offered Math Jewish life Campus size Location Available majors Grade Courses Offered Honors track available Notes 9th /10th Geometry Algebra II Yes Switches between geometry and algebra on alternate years 11th Pre-calculus Honors pre-calc is prereq. for AP Calculus 12th AP Calculus Statistics AP No See above

Courses Offered History Jewish life Campus size Location Grade Courses Offered Honors/AP available Notes 9th Humanities (Modern Europe) Yes 10th Humanities (United States) Used as barometer for AP US History in 11th grade 11th Contemporary History AP US History No AP AP US History continues into 12th Grade 12th AP Economics Economics Gov’t (2nd sem.) State req. Jewish life Campus size Location Available majors

Courses Offered English Jewish life Campus size Location Available majors Grade Courses Offered Honors track available Notes 9th /10th Humanities Yes Honors is prereq. for AP in 11th grade 11th AP Lit English Lit AP No Test taken at the end of senior year 12th See above

Courses Offered Science Jewish life Campus size Location Available majors Grade Courses Offered Honors track available Notes 9th /10th Chemistry Biology Yes Girls and boys switch between Chem and Bio on alternate years 11th/12th AP Biology AP Psychology Physics Forensics AP No

ACT, SAT, & SAT IIs 12

Overview All colleges accept either the ACT or SAT High school GPA and test scores are the most important factors in selective college admission There are currently 850+ test flexible schools (ex. Brandeis, NYU, GWU. Touro) Keep these tests in perspective!

Important Questions! Should I take both the ACT and the SAT? How do I know which is the better test for me? When should I start taking the SAT or ACT? Will I also need SAT II Subject Tests?

SAT/ACT Breakdown by State

SAT/ACT Dates and Cost SAT ACT October 3 September 12 November 7 December 5 December 12 January 23 February 6 March 5 (New! ) April 9 May 7 June 19 June 4 $39.50 w/o essay $43 w/o essay, $54.50 w/essay $56.50 w/essay www.collegeboard.org www.actstudent.org

SAT New rollout this month (March 2016)! Current SAT New SAT Scoring Out of 2400 Out of 1600 Wrong Answer Penalty -1/4 point None Sections 3 (critical reading, math, writing) 2 (math, evidence-based reading and writing) Length of test 3 hours, 45 min. 3 hours w/o essay, 3 hours, 50 min w/essay Essay Required (1/3 of writing section score) Optional

ACT Straightforward, predictable test 4 sections in total: English, math, reading, and science. There is also a 5th optional essay section Total time: 2 hrs., 55 min. without essay; 3 hrs., 25 min. with essay Students only need to submit the highest score Cornell, Tufts, Rice, Yale require all tests to be submitted

ACT 1-36 points per section All 4 subtests are averaged together for a combined score. The ACT folks round up! A 36 is the highest possible combined score No guessing penalty Cornell, Tufts, Rice, Yale require all tests to be submitted

What SAT/ACT Score Do I Need? Some examples: School SAT/ACT Score Yeshiva University 1070-1330/23-29 Rutgers 1190-1370/26-31 Ohio State University 1230-1420/27-32 University of Maryland 1330-1460/29-33 Brandeis University University of Pennsylvania 1420-1570/32-35 Reminder

SAT IIs Required by some schools (ex. Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell) In some cases, the ACT w/writing can substitute for SAT IIs, so always check admissions websites! (ex. Barnard, Boston College, Yale, UPenn) Scored on a scale from 200-800 20 subject tests offered across 5 subject areas: history, math, science, English, foreign languages Cornell, Tufts, Rice, Yale require all tests to be submitted

Deciphering a Transcript 22

Transcript, cont’d Jewish life Campus size Location Available majors

Transcript, cont’d Jewish life Campus size Location Available majors

Well-rounded vs. Angular? 25

Well-rounded vs. Angular Colleges want a well-rounded freshman class, not necessarily well-rounded students Passion is “in!” Extracurriculars are important, but be authentic Don’t forget about student employment! Cornell, Tufts, Rice, Yale require all tests to be submitted

Extracurriculars Junior Entrepreneur Achievement Prog. Student council Model U.N. Investment club Art club Photography Club Debate club Mizrachi Mayhen Acapella Athletics: soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball Jewish life Campus size Location Available majors Note that employment is in!!

Questions? 28