Weekly Wisdom

Synopsis:
ACT vs. SAT, Start year off with a bang, “Safety Schools”, The Myth of Selectivity, The Claremont Colleges.

Introduction:
This week we’ll discuss the ACT as an alternative to the SAT, and the importance of encouraging your junior students to start the year out with a bang. In our application tips section, we’ll cover the misguided “safety school” concept a bit, and take a brief look at The Claremont Colleges.

We have received a number of questions about forwarding the newsletter. If you wish to forward the newsletter to a friend, it is best to hit the link below, not simply forward the e-mail to them. That way, they get a fully functioning version of the newsletter, as some people have complained that forwards from within e-mail programs seem to forward a non-linked newsletter. Enjoy this week!

Weekly Wisdom for Sophomore, Junior & Senior Parents

The ACT is a viable alternative to the SAT. In the last four years, since we started teaching to it, we have seen students who had only ACT scores go off to Yale, the UCs, Stanford, and many other top schools. The bias against the ACT is mainly in the minds of parents of students at top private schools who feel that they must have a standard “SAT score” to judge the merit of their son or daughter’s application. In fact, most ACT takers, not understanding their scores, simply “convert” them to SAT scores to judge how well they did. The truth is, colleges receive thousands of applications every year with ACT scores attached to them, not SAT scores, so the college admissions people know what an ACT score means. And there are a number of advantages to the ACT, some of which we will outline right now.

First of all, and most importantly, the ACT is automatically score-choiced. This means that your scores are not seen by anybody, except you, until you release them. If your child takes the ACT seven times, and scores spectacularly well on the 7th time, colleges do not need to see the first six at all. This is not the case with the SAT, as all records are automatically sent to the colleges.

Second, all evidence points to the ACT being less biased both culturally and sexually. Girls perform better on the ACT and there is a much less pronounced ethnic split on the test. Finally, the ACT tends to favor precisely those high-GPA students who perform poorly on the SAT and need coaching. The ACT is an achievement test; it assesses what students should already know. The SAT I is more like an aptitude test; it attempts to measure critical thinking ability, particularly in the area of problem solving, as well as test-taking skills. This makes the SAT slightly more coachable, but makes the ACT a favorite among students who dislike the particular style of the SAT. Consider finding out about the ACT; it is a viable alternative and often the preferred test for high-achieving students.

Upcoming Deadlines

• August 20th – last day to register for the Sept. 25th ACT test
• Sept. 3rd – late registration deadline for the Sept. 25th ACT
• Sept. 7th – last day to register for the October 9th SAT & SAT II
• Sept. 15th – late registration for the October 9th SAT & SAT II
• Sept 25th – ACT Assessment Test
• October 1st – last day to register for Nov 6th SAT & SAT II
• October 9th – SAT & SAT II !

Articles in the News

Some articles and sites this week about rankings of schools. The first one is an article about why rankings are sometimes not to be trusted. You can read it here.

http://collegeapps.about.com/cs/rankings/a/aa011004.htm

The second is a website which, interestingly, does it college rankings based on student surveys. It’s fascinating to see which colleges come out on top for student satisfaction.

http://www.studentsreview.com/top_50_universities_ranking.php3

The third site is Kiplinger’s college rankings, which can be sorted using a variety of tools, so you can see how schools stack up in different areas such as average SAT/ACT score, selectivity, etc. You can read it here.

http://www.kiplinger.com:80/tools/colleges/index.html

Ask The Experts

asktheexperts@thepreptalk.com

This week’s winning question:

Q: How many “safety schools” should we apply to?

A: This question is one of our favorites. The entire concept of “safety schools” is, we think, misguided. As far as we understand, the idea behind “safety schools” is that you apply to them because you have a near-guarantee of getting in. We feel that this is not enough reason to apply to a school. So many students end up at schools they never really wanted to go to in the first place because of this routine. We prefer to advise our students to find “solid schools” – schools that are somewhat less selective in admissions, but nonetheless offer a solid educational opportunity. If you are thinking “safety”, well, anyone can pick a safety. If you’re thinking “solid”, it takes a little more work, but in the end, the school is a better fit and promises a far more rewarding experience than suffering through four years caught in a safety net.

Application & Essay Tips

This week we offer you not a tip, but a statistic. This statistic is given in an effort to get rid of the myth of selectivity. The latest info is hard to come by, but by almost any measure, there are truly only a handful (maybe thirty) schools that are highly selective, meaning that they accept fewer than 30% of their applicants. This is vital information to remember because it is the myth of selectivity that fuels the anxiety about college admissions. Keep it in mind.

Featured College

The Claremont Colleges

The five schools of the Claremont Colleges are: Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Claremont Pomona, Scripps, and Pitzer. Students who have attended any one of these schools are extremely loyal and find that they love the experience. Often, applicants for college who might want to stay in California or near Los Angeles forget about these five schools sitting about 35 miles away.

Pomona, the largest of the five, is the 4th-ranked liberal arts college in the country by US News. It is extremely academically oriented, but, as with all liberal arts schools, has traditions and a lively school atmosphere that inspire loyalty.

Harvey Mudd, the “nerdy” school of the five, is a scientific, engineering, and math haven. Harvey Mudd is routinely listed in the top five engineering and mathematics programs in the country, along with neighboring CalTech. If you want to work your butt off while staying in a smaller school with normal people by your side, Harvey Mudd may be the place for you.

Pitzer is the wild-child of the Claremont schools, with more alcohol and drug use, and a flexible curriculum that allows students to study abroad, and complete only a small number of required courses.

Scripps is an all-women school in the Claremont Consortium. A hard “core” curriculum and a more intense academic life than many expect await students here, though the campus’ beauty may well be worth it.

Finally, last but not least, there is Claremont McKenna, the most straightforward liberal-arts school of the five. Claremont McKenna boasts a similar reputation to Pomona, with slightly less rigid standards. Still, Claremont McKenna is no slouch academically, routinely ranking in the top 10 liberal arts schools in the country.

Overall, any look at one of the five colleges in the Claremont Consortium is impossible without looking at the other four. These schools share a common library, bookstore, and feel, though their individual focuses also can not be underestimated. There is plenty of inter-school socialization, and, though each campus is technically distinct, there is so much play between them that a student at any one of the five can have the best of both worlds; a smaller, liberal arts education with the resources and potential socialization of a large university.

10th&11th Grade Tips

The most important advice that you can heed at this point is to not let any extracurricular activity (unless it is so important that it might be a recruiting issue) derail your student from starting the academic year off with a bang. Sophomore and Junior year grades are the biggest piece of the college admissions puzzle, and you want to get a good start. Teachers are human, and they form their opinions of students quickly and tend to stick to their opinions through the year. A good start sets the right tone, and if your student is too worried about SAT prep, community service, and ninety other activities, the grades are the first thing to suffer. Trust us, it won’t be their social lives they sacrifice!