SAT,® ACT,® OR BOTH?

AGENDA SAT, ACT OR BOTH? PRESENTED BY: William H. Floyd Truths and Misconceptions AGENDA Similarities and Differences Improving Your Scores PRESENTED BY: William H. Floyd Outreach Manager, College Prep Programs

TRUTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS

WHAT DO THESE TESTS MEASURE? Admission tests.. True False … measure intelligence? … can be used to award aid? … reflect your GPA in high school? … predict your college GPA? … can be prepared for? … should be prepared for? … test what you’ve learned in HS? 

STUDENTS OFTEN STRUGGLE WITH ACT/SAT   STANDARDIZED TESTS HIGH SCHOOL EXAMS TIMING/NUMBER OF QUESTIONS Race against the clock Done in plenty of time! CONTENT Covers years Covers chapters TESTS Stress test alert! What have you learned recently ESSAY Limited time Hours & Weeks READING OMG! 1 minute left already! Take your time WRITING/ENGLISH Grammar rules Grammar has much less emphasis MATH Tricky and comprised of 4+ years; all or nothing Straight forward and generally focused on 1 year; do your best GRADING Machine Human

TOP FACTORS FOR FIRST TIME FRESHMEN 1. Grades 2. Test Scores 3. High School Curriculum

ADMISSION FACTORS Considerably important: High School Transcript Test scores Moderately important: Essay/writing samples Teacher & counselor recommendations Class rank Smaller institutions are more likely to rank subject tests, portfolios, interviews, and work experience as considerably or moderately important. https://www.nacacnet.org/globalassets/documents/publications/research/2018_soca/soca18.pdf

DID YOU KNOW: Colleges have no preference whether you take the ACT or SAT, but tests are used to grant scholarships - almost 200 merit scholarships are tied to ACT and SAT scores!

BIG QUESTION: SAT or ACT? REAL QUESTION: Why not both?

BUT DON’T TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT! Princeton University’s Dean of Admissions summed it up this way: “For us, more information is always better. If students choose one or the other, that’s fine, because both tests have value. But if they submit both, that generally gives us a little more information.” Guidance Counselor at Richwoods HS in IL: “The mantra from college admissions counselors has increasingly been to advise students to take both.”

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

TESTS AT-A GLANCE BOTH THE ACT AND SAT HAVE: Over 3 hours of testing time Limited time per question Answer choices (mostly) Math, Reading, and Grammar questions TESTS AT-A GLANCE ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., which is not affiliated with The Princeton Review..

ACT SECTION-BY-SECTION English 45 minutes 75 questions Math 60 minutes 60 questions Reading 35 minutes 40 questions Science Writing (optional essay) 40 minutes 1 essay Total with Writing 3:35 215 questions

SAT SECTION-BY-SECTION Reading 65 minutes 52 questions W&L 35 minutes 44 questions Math (No calculator) 25 minutes 20 questions (calculator) 55 minutes 38 questions Essay (optional) 50 minutes 1 essay Total with Essay 3:50 154 questions

WHAT ABOUT THE ESSAY? Fewer than 20 schools require the essay The University of California system contains nine of those schools. We recommend you take the essay, but don’t sweat it!

SAT SCORING ACT SCORING MATH 200 – 800 READING AND WRITING 200 – 800 TOTAL 400 – 1600 ACT SCORING ENGLISH 1-36 MATH 1-36 READING 1-36 SCIENCE 1-36 COMPOSITE 1-36 https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/act-to-sat-conversion

TEST WRITERS EXPECT YOU TO RESPOND IN A PREDICTABLE WAY COWS PRODUCE MILK COWS DRINK WATER

TEST WRITERS EXPECT YOU TO RESPOND IN A PREDICTABLE WAY If a store raises the price of an item by 20%, then decreases the new price by 15%, what was the percent change in the price of the item?

WHAT ARE SOME COMMON MISTAKES? Answering questions too quickly  Careless answers  Doing work in your head  Misreading the problem  Don’t understand what to do 

A good score is the score that gets you into your dream college. 28 1460 1560 29 1180 WHAT IS A GOOD SCORE? 32 1210 1370 1400 34 31 1280 25 A good score is the score that gets you into your dream college. 33 21 1600 1330 24 35 1540 20 1350 1490 36 1250 23 26 22 27 1420 1300 1510 1140

WHERE YOUR SCORES CAN TAKE YOU SCHOOL SAT* ACT* Harvard 1550 34 Loyola Marymount 1270 29 Penn State University 1220 27 Stanford 1530 33 Texas A & M University 1200 UC, Berkeley 1440 32 * SAT scores are reflective of the Critical reading and Math scores. The data is self-reported from the schools and represents data during the 2015-2016 school year. * ACT scores are self-reported from the schools and represent data during the 2015-2016 school year. ** Average merit award for qualifying individuals provided by schools.

GUIDING YOU ON YOUR COLLEGE JOURNEY https://www.princetonreview.com/journey GUIDING YOU ON YOUR COLLEGE JOURNEY We’ll help guide each step you take. Visit princetonreview.com/journey to: Maximize your score potential, find your dream college, and more!

IMPROVING YOUR SCORES

STRATEGY: PACING 540 26 correct 58 attempted 32 incorrect 26 610 580 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 58 26 610 580 38 attempted: 30 correct +4 20 guesses 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 58 30 34

ceton Review Methods MATH STRATEGY: PLUGGING IN 10 If Claire is C years old and is 6 years younger than Alan, in terms of C, how old will Alan be in 3 years? 16 19 Target Answer 10 C-6 C-3 C+3 C+9 C+5 = 4 7 13 19 15

GRAMMAR STRATEGY: USING CONTEXT The scientist’s work in the field of physics continued to influence the public’s understanding of the subject. No change Continue Will continue Has the ongoing effect of continuing Watch the context.

GRAMMAR STRATEGY: CONTEXT The scientist’s work in the field of physics continued to influence the public’s understanding of the subject. His research will redefine a common misconception held by many people. By conducting this experiment, the scientist will become more famous than Albert Einstein. No change Continue Will continue Has the ongoing effect of continuing Keep it consistent.

CREATING YOUR PREP PLAN Step One: Take a Practice Test Learn What You Need to Do Step Two: Prep For Your First Test Buy a Book Self-Prep Online Take a Class Work With a Tutor Step Three: Take Your First Test Get an Official Score Step Four: Prep For Your Second Test Take a Different Test or the Same Test Readjust Your Plan Step Five: Take Your Second Test

https://www.princetonreview.com/college/act-test-dates https://www.princetonreview.com/college/sat-test-dates

GETTING INTO COLLEGE IS ABOUT MORE THAN SCORES BETTER GRADES Z 3.8 BETTER SCORES 1450 BETTER APPLICATIONS

QUESTIONS? South High students get 20% off SAT or ACT courses and 10% off Tutoring To see upcoming courses, free events, and discounts: http://www.PrincetonReview.com/SouthHS princetonreview.com 800-2REVIEW /ThePrincetonReview2 @ThePrincetonRev ThePrincetonReview SAT and AP are trademarks registered and owned by the College Board, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse this product. PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation which were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product. All other tests are registered trademarks of their respective owners. None of the trademark holders are affiliated with The Princeton Review or these products. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University.