1. College and Career Planning 101

2. PSAT When: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 7:50 to 10:30 Where: Testing in your homeroom Why: practice for the SAT and National Merit Scholarship How do I prepare: Go to - www. Collegeboard. Com/quickstart Create an account or sign in to your college board account And enter the “online access code” from last year’s PSAT

5. NAVIANCE

15. SAT vs. ACT SAT ACT TYPE: Reasoning, Problem Solving, Aptitude Test Sample Question: What is your view of the claim that something unsuccessful can still have some value? CONTENT: Math- Algebra 1, Geometry & Algebra 2 Reading- Sentence completion, short & long reading passages, reading comprehension Writing- An essay, questions related to: grammar, usage, & word choice FORMAT: Begin with 25 minute essay, alternate randomly from math, reading and writing in 10-25 minute sections SCORING: Each section is 200-800 points, 2400 is the highest score. There is a guessing penalty. TYPE: Knowledge, Curriculum, Achievement Test Sample Question: In your view, should high schools become more tolerant of cheating? CONTENT: Math- Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry and Trigonometry Reading- Four passages: Prose Fiction, Social Science, Humanities and Natural Science English- Grammar Science- Charts & Experiments Writing- Optional, but cannot be used in place of the SATs if not completed at most institutions FORMAT: Begin with and alternate randomly between 60 minute sections of Math, Reading, Science, or English, complete with optional 30 minute writing section SCORING: Each subject is scored 1-36 and averaged to create a composite score, 36 is the highest possible score There is no guessing penalty. (At some institutions ACT scores can be used in place of SAT & SAT subject tests)

16. WHEN SHOULD I TEST? Students take the PSAT in October of their sophomore and junior years (during the school day) and have the opportunity to take SAT/ACT practice tests through the PTO sophomore and junior year Students should take the SAT and/or ACT during the 2 ND Semester of junior year Statistics show students often see an improvement in their score from the first testing to the second, but not generally on a third testing unless some sort of prep is completed

17. HOW DO I REGISTER? PSATs: GVHS registers all 10 th and 11 th grade students for this test. The test is taken in October during the school day. SAT: Students register online (collegeboard.com) ACT: Students register online (actstudent.org)

18. JUNIOR MEETINGS Junior parent/student night will be held on Thursday, November 10 th. Parents are invited to junior meetings Junior meetings will begin after junior parent student night (Mid-November) Junior meetings will cover the college or career process

19. What can I do now to prepare for the college process? GPA/Rigor most important Take the PSAT seriously and use your results to prep for taking the SAT Take a practice ACT Sign up for college visits/ visit a variety of colleges Build your resume/ take a leadership role/ volunteer

20. Questions???