CK Posts

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This is a well-written balanced article on some of the main points regarding the new digital SAT exam that will be arriving in 2023 for students outside the United States and in March 2024 for U.S. students. 

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The most noticeable difference will be the significantly shortened reading passages. In fact, I'd be hesitant to call them passages at all; paragraphs are more like it. Each reading paragraph will be followed by only 1 question. You read that correctly -- ONE. This means, of course, then that there are a greater number of paragraphs. However, that's not even necessarily the case because the new SAT combines the reading and writing sections.

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While the current exam has a separate reading and writing section, the new test has both sections in one "module," so you see the following in each of the modules:

1) not too difficult fill-in-the-blank vocab

2) reading comprehension based on short paragraphs

3) grammar / writing problems similar to the current tests

4) transition word problems

5) summarizing bullet points

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Though the test is a full hour shorter than the current test, the content being tested has remained pretty much unchanged. The only noticeable difference may be that in the math section, there will be no more complex (imaginary) problems. Speaking of the math section...

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The current exam has both a shorter non-calculator allowed math section and a longer calculator allowed section. The new test has two math modules that are of equal duration, and calculator is allowed for both sections. Students who get nervous without their calculators by their sides will have one less thing to worry about. 

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Over a month ago, I created a short but informative cartoon video on my YouTube channel about the new digital SAT exam. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd encourage you to watch it. Here's the link to it:  https://youtu.be/4iO360B2_Jk

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This refresh is the first since 2016, when it was last updated. Overall, I think the new digital SAT is a good update and it will be a refreshing take on an enduring test. 

This should come as no surprise to those who have been following recent college admissions news. There is a disturbing trend -- for colleges, at least -- that has emerged in the last few years; the number of students who are enrolling in colleges has decreased across the country. Many smaller colleges have even shut down due to financial insolvency caused by decreased tuition revenues. 

With the pandemic came difficulties for students looking for open testing centers. As a result, colleges temporarily adjusted their testing policies to test-optional. I think most colleges assumed that this would pass with the pandemic, but perhaps an unexpected benefit of going test-optional was the increased revenue from a vastly greater number of students applying to colleges. 

Test-optional policies saw students apply who would otherwise have not even considered it in the past. This phenomenon did not dissipate, as colleges may have initially assumed. Now, in the post-pandemic world, colleges have every financial reason to maintain their test-optional policies. 

Yes, they cite more equitable admissions and increased access to higher education for underrepresented minorities, but I have a difficult time being convinced that that is really their primary motive for making test-optional permanent. Data just does not support their claims that any significant number of percentage of underrepresented minorities are now attending college. 

Hurting their credibility further, the vast majority of prestigious colleges still consider legacy status of applicants. There is no more lopsided benefit that favors the wealthy than considering legacy in college admissions. Still worse, top colleges reserve a certain significant number of freshman spots for high performing athletes, who are predominantly from wealthy families. 

I personally have nothing against high income families -- there is nothing at all wrong with having a high income -- but I AM against hypocrisy that exists in prestigious American colleges. Rather than talk about admitting more students based on holistic methods by merely going test-optional, they should just be honest about the much needed financial boost and lower admittance rates this policy affords them. 

If they were serious about giving more students who would otherwise be passed over opportunities to study at their schools, top colleges would do more than merely go test-optional; they would revamp their entire admissions system, something none of the top colleges is likely to do. 

Lastly, do they really expect us to believe that a student who does not submit an SAT/ACT score is just as likely to be accepted as a student with equivalent credentials who ALSO has a killer SAT/ACT score? Who are they trying to kid?

This article does a good job of explaining the differences among the various types of college application deadlines as well as a list of some colleges for which applying early action/decision might increase the likelihood of a qualified candidate getting accepted.

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Early action and early decision deadlines are usually 11/1, but can be as late as 11/15. Regular decision deadlines are typically in early to mid-January. Students who apply by the early deadline will usually get their decision letters before Christmas Eve. I say usually because some colleges do not release early application decisions until later January, but that's the exception. Students who apply by the regular decision deadline can expect to get their decision letters in March and April. 

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The difference between early action and early decision is that early decision is legally binding, whereas early action is not. This means that if you apply early decision and you get accepted, you MUST attend that college. There are hefty penalty fees if you do not. Early action has no such requirement. 

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Is there an advantage in applying early action or early decision? As far as acceptance chances, the general answer would have to be, "yes." That being said, this would only apply to students who are well qualified. A student who would not have otherwise gotten accepted should not expect to increase his/her chances by applying early. Also, applying early, especially early decision, increases a candidate's chances of acceptance more for some colleges than others. Here is a list of colleges from the article that accept 50% or more of their incoming freshmen from their early application pool:

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Emory

Colgate 

Swarthmore

Tulane

Middlebury

Washington University in St. Louis

Pitzer College

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The following colleges have lower early application acceptance rates, but their acceptance rates for early applicants are at least twice the rate for regular applicants. 

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Brown

Dartmouth

Duke

Johns Hopkins

Rice

UPenn

Vanderbilt

Amherst

Williams

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In conclusion, I encourage all of my students to apply to as many early action colleges as possible. There's no downside to doing so. However, students should only apply to an early decision college (and you can only apply to one early decision school, by the way) if and only if you can answer YES to the following two questions:

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If you get accepted all of the colleges you apply to, would you still want to attend this one?

If you get no financial aid at all from the college, would you still want to get student loans to attend (or will parents pay for all of it)?

I loved the premise of this article because it addresses something that I think is critical to teach our children -- self discipline. 

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The ability of a child, any person for that matter, to control himself is critical to achieving goals and experiencing joy in life. I've often said to my two sons from an early age that, "if you don't manage yourself, someone else will manage you for you." It's a life lesson that I think is so important, especially with boys. 

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Learning to control your emotions, desires, fears, body, and yes, even what and how much you eat are important aspects of a successful and happy life. In our digital world, this is not an easy thing to do, however. I'm no psychiatrist, but I have a theory that much of the ADD and ADHD cases we observe today have much to do with the lack of self-regulation that our kids have experienced in their younger years. 

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My sons love playing internet video games as much as any other kid, but I have them use a countdown timer to alert them that it's time for a break. When the timer goes off, they exercise, clean their work area, feed the fish, take out the garbage, etc. The point is to do something completely different from the digital world they were just in. I also have them do many household chores on a daily basis to teach responsibility and accountability. On top of that, we spend a lot of time together in many social situations where they can learn to practice self-regulation. 

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Kids don't come with instructions so it's up to us parents to teach and train them what is right and just and true. One of those critical things is self-control.  

In the name of diversity, colleges have used affirmative action policies to attract and enroll underrepresented minorities. This policy has caused high emotions on both sides of the debate. Many Asian American students protest that such policy unfairly decreases their chances of getting accepted to top colleges. Others argue that it is needed to give underrepresented groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans opportunities they would otherwise not have.

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Before delving into this pit, let me back off for a minute and make an observation that I think is important. Over the last 14 years or so, I've guided nearly a thousand students through the college prep journey and observed the outcomes of students graduating from myriad different colleges. If I were to just get to the point, I would say that career success has very little to do, if anything, to do with what college a student graduated from. It has everything to do with how competent a person is in what he/she does. 

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That being said, is it then important for students to get accepted to only the "top" colleges in the country? No, not for career success anyway. The race in admissions debate is primarily one that centers on top colleges. If you look at the demographic of most public universities, there is a wide representation of both race and socioeconomic backgrounds in the student body. Not so in, let's say, the Ivy Leagues. 

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Frankly, whichever way the courts decide to rule on affirmative action, I personally think that students who are bright and work hard will still rise to success in their eventual careers, regardless of their race. If you are turned off by colleges using race as a factor in admissions, I would apply to more public colleges both in your state and out-of-state where race based admission is less critical. If you absolutely positively MUST apply to and get accepted to a top college, I would reassess your assumptions and motives. I most cases, it's probably due to ego and/or parental pressure. 

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There are many things in society that are not fair. As citizens, we certainly should voice our concerns and raise awareness on issues that impact us, but some things may not change despite our efforts. Or it may take years for the change to take effect. In either case, I think the most important things to keep in mind is that WHERE one goes to college is not nearly as important as WHO you are. 

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Our worth and value does not come from what college we graduated from, how much money we make, or what company we work for. It is bestowed upon us by our Creator the moment we were born as human beings in His image. 

Some of the best colleges in America -- the world -- are liberal arts colleges, but they're underrated because most people are not familiar with their names or how they're different from non-liberal arts colleges. 

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Liberal arts colleges are typically a lot smaller with very small class sizes, some as small as 7:1 student to teacher ratios! They also focus heavily on reading and writing throughout the student's entire four years of study, even if the student majors in the sciences or math, for example. 

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In this article, it lists the top 10 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. that have the best value -- highest quality with lowest cost. The list was compiled, as usual, by U.S. News & World Report. 

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1. Principia College in Illinois

2. Williams College in Massachusetts

3. Amherst College in Massachusetts

4. Pomona College n California

5. Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania

6. Wellesley College in Massachusetts

7. Bowdoin College in Maine

8. Grinnell College in Iowa

9. Claremont McKenna College in California

10. Davidson College in North Carolina

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As I stated earlier, you probably have not heard of most of these colleges; most have not. However, a liberal arts college education can be one of the most academically enriching -- and challenging -- a student can experience. As great as small class sizes and personal relationships with professors can be, however, it is not for everyone. 

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Years ago, the mother of one of my high school students called me to ask for my advice for her older daughter who was in college. She was a physics major who attended Loyola University in Baltimore, MD, a liberal arts college. Her mom was concerned about her grades; it was pretty low. She could not understand why her daughter was required to take history and English literature classes when she was a science major. It was obvious that neither the mom nor the daughter knew what a liberal arts college was. After hearing my explanation about it, they were both surprised. In the end, I advised the student to transfer to a non-liberal arts school where she could just focus on completing her physics degree. She transferred to University of Maryland Baltimore County and graduated. 

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Several years ago, another parent called me for consultation about her son who got accepted to Williams College. I commended her son on getting into such an elite school. She didn't sound so excited, however. She commented that almost none of her friends had heard of Williams College. I reassured her that regardless of what her friends knew or didn't know, Williams was one of the top colleges in the country. 

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I have heard Harvard professors admit that there is no A equivalent grade at Harvard to match an A grade at a top liberal arts college such as Williams or Amherst. Liberal arts colleges are tougher to get high grades in because so many of the required liberal arts courses are based on subjective grading based on a professor's experience, judgment, and assessment. This is not a bad thing, since that is the only way to grade such assignments, but it's to say that when a student graduates with honors from a liberal arts college, that's a very impressive feat!

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Case in point: I once hired a tutor who graduated with honors from Swarthmore College. He was one of THE best writers and writing tutors I had ever met. His liberal arts education, along with his natural strengths in reading and writing, made him a formidable educator. 

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Students who are strong in the liberal arts field -- who love reading and writing -- should seriously consider applying to and attending a liberal arts college, regardless of whether your friends have heard of the school! The list from this article is a great starting point. 

In this article, a counselor who works at a college laments the fact that so many students do not finish college but are saddled with student loan debt. She found herself in a system that made getting into debt too easy with no economically viable off-ramp for those who never graduate. In the end, she lost her purpose and quit. 

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This article, like so many others, focuses on the student loan debt problem that plagues millions of Americans, even those well into their middle-aged years. I personally know people in their forties who have nearly $500,000 in student loan debt, with no real plan to pay it off anytime soon. 

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I have often thought, and told parents and students, that student loan debt is a self-inflicted wound. Nobody forces anyone to get into debt. It's not so different than getting into a lot of credit card debt and not being able to pay it off. It was a personal choice. 

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What I just stated may arouse anger in some people. They argue that it was the only way to get a college education to better their lives. They did nothing wrong. There was no other way. 

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In almost all cases, I think that's a cop out because there ARE ways to get a college degree without going into debt. I've seen many people do it. 

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The problem is that too many people buy into the myth that there is something magical about getting an expensive education at a well-known college. These are the same people who look down on community colleges and public universities, thinking that they want to get an education at a "good school." 

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Truth be told, how successful a person will be in their career has nothing to do with what college he/she graduated from. It has everything to do with how GOOD he/she becomes at what he/she does, and this is determined by grit and mindset, not college name or rank. 

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The former counselor who wrote this article was justifiably frustrated because she met the students too far downstream. Students should be told the truth about career success when they are in middle and high school, not after they have already entered college. 

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Rather than following the crowd and opting to attend expensive name-brand schools, here's a simple plan to get a college degree without going into student loan debt:

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1. Attend a community college / local public university while working 15-20 hours per week. 

2. Commute to college from home. This will reduce college expenses by almost 50% in many cases.

3. Take the minimum number of credits for a full time student or attend part-time if possible.

4. Work more during winter, spring, summer breaks to save up and/or pay for tuition. 

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I made several YouTube videos about this. If you want to watch it, here's the link: https://youtu.be/SnidSiwFe_k

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There is always a way if there's a willingness to be open and learn different ways to achieve a goal. If you're serious about graduating college with no student loans, consider carefully the steps I outlined above. 

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The truth about college is this: it guarantees nothing. YOU have to make smart choices that will NOT make you have regrets years down the road. Think longer term, get the right information from people who know what they're talking about, and don't listen to the crowd (they're usually wrong).   

When the pandemic began, many of my students found that SAT testing centers were closed. Consequently, some of my students travelled hours to other states to take the exam. I even had a student go from Maryland to Ohio, and two others who went to Pennsylvania! 

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Aware of situations such as these, colleges decided to implement test-optional policies. Most assumed this as a temporary measure until the pandemic blew over, but something happened that made colleges stay with test-optional: many more students applied, resulting in acceptance rates that dipped to record lows.

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Colleges love low acceptance rates because they make the colleges appear more selective. For example a college whose acceptance rate drops from 30% to 15% can pretend that they are a much more selective institution, when in fact the percentage decreased purely due to the higher number of students who applied. Plus, a $65 application fee times tens of thousands of more students isn’t bad for increased revenue!

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A few years have now passed and data shows that for competitive colleges, the vast majority of enrolled students submitted their SAT/ACT scores. This is not surprising since standardized test scores add another element to a student’s profile that helps them stand out. It is no different than taking more AP classes and participating in extracurricular activities in order to be a more competitive candidate for college.

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Though colleges have benefited from going test-optional, this article sheds light on the flip side of the coin. Due to the high number of applicants, admissions officers are bogged down and overwhelmed by the applications they have to review. Essays are being glanced at for sometimes seconds rather than minutes. Applications are divided among various admissions officers so no one person gets a holistic picture of the student. To make things worse, the increase in enrollment of underrepresented minorities hasn’t materialized even close to what colleges expected and desired.

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So realizing this, will colleges go back to requiring standardized tests? Some already have, and others will surely follow, but my guess is that the majority are making too much money from going test-optional and it's making them look too good to go back. 

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Regardless of what colleges do for their own interests, students must make decisions that are in their best interests. Students should, as they always have, try to become the best candidates for colleges as they can by taking a rigorous course load, participating in activities that they care about, and studying to get high scores on the SAT exam, especially for those who attend schools in competitive districts. 

Due to factors like the recent pandemic that created the test optional policy in most US colleges and universities, students over the past several years have applied to a higher number of colleges than ever.--

This is a trend that I’ve been experiencing in my own SAT / College coaching business. This phenomenon is even more visible in highly competitive school districts such as Howard County and Montgomery County in Maryland state and Fairfax County in Virginia.
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While the test optional policy has given reason for students to bypass the SAT and ACT exams, students must realize that the vast majority of students who not only apply but get accepted to colleges have submitted standardized test scores.
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To maximize their chances of getting accepted to colleges, especially competitive ones, students should consider that colleges have always been AP optional and even activities optional. However, how competitive of a candidate would a student be who has taken no AP courses or activities?
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The same common sense logic flows for test optional. It’s a fact that students who submit high SAT/ACT scores are much more competitive candidates than those who don’t.
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As colleges acceptance rates drop, and there’s no reason to believe this will change anytime soon, students should continue to strive to become the strongest candidates possible by doing well in school, pursuing their passions, and studying hard to score high on standardized tests. 

This is a great article that echoes what I’ve been saying for many years as a college prep coach.
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I’ve seen terrible cases in which parents take out loans that they will never be able to repay, just to send their kids to an expensive private school. This unfortunate choice is often motivated by the mistaken belief that a higher ranked college delivers a better education (whatever that means) or they better prepare (whatever that means) a student for their careers. The fact is, college name guarantees nothing as it relates to career success. Both historical data, and my own 15 year corporate experience, clearly reveal that college rank or name does not dictate or even predict career success. Career success is determined by the person's mindset (a topic too involved to go into here).
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Okay, back to parents taking out loans they won't be able to repay...

In one case, parents took out all of the equity they had in their house to send their two daughters to very expensive private schools. Their income wasn’t that high and they didn’t have a huge savings or retirement account. It pained me to see them make the decision because I know the family personally. It was an emotional decision that will hurt them financially for many years, if not til the end of their lives.
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As I’ve advised parents for almost 15 years: there IS a way to send your kids to college with little or no student debt. AND college rank and name will have no effect on the eventual career success of your child.
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So PLEASE soberly and rationally consider all options before you make the financial mistake that millions have made.
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Here’s also a link to a YouTube video I made on this topic:
https://youtu.be/SnidSiwFe_k 

This is a great article on the REAL costs, chances, and pitfalls of trying to become a student athlete in college.
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In my years as an SAT prep tutor and college prep coach, I’ve seen the hard realities this article talks about.
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Most high school athletes will never even get close to thriving in college athletics, yet so many spend too much time, money, and energy - not to mention academic sacrifice - pursuing a fantasy that will never materialize.
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Unless a student is one of the top athletes in the country, I encourage my students to merely treat their high school sport as a hobby. It’s not worth ruining your GPA and SAT scores to go all-in in sports.
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Even for top athletes I advise them to consider their long term career goals after college before putting all their eggs in the sports basket.
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There are so many activities that take up less time, money, and energy in high school that are more impressive for college admissions than sports. Don’t fall into the hype that being heavily involved in high school sports will get you recognized for any special treatment by colleges.
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Sports are great, and I personally love them, but high school students and parents should view its merits with a sober mind.
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In the end, I say focus on academics and don’t let anything take priority over your grades.

Advocates of test-optional policies that are now prevalent in most colleges across the country claim victory because they see standardized tests as another stumbling block to equity. They argue that those who submit standardized test scores are primarily from wealthier families who can afford tutoring to get higher scores, making the requirement of submitting standardized test scores unfair and unjust. 

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So now that test-optional admissions has been a thing for a few years, did it work? This article argues that it has not. Equity is a complicated thing. The motive to ensure more students from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds get a chance to attend college is a good thing, but the methods colleges use to try to achieve this is rarely effective. This equity game that colleges play is not new; it's been a game they've been playing for decades. Yet, it seems that underrepresented minorities have not made up much ground in populating college campuses. 

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As often is the case, institutions treat the symptoms without understanding the root causes. If an African-American, Hispanic, or Native American student (the 3 traditionally underrepresented minority groups in America) really wants to go to college, I personally believe that our education system allows them to. I have seen students whose odds were stacked highly against them, whether financially or otherwise, beat the odds by climbing the ladder of higher education, one rung at a time.  Some attended community college -- while working 20 hours per week -- got their associates degree, and transferred to a four-year college. Others have sought help from counselors, teachers, and mentors who provided the resources and information to the student, opening doors that would otherwise not have been visible to the student. 

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Merely making colleges test-optional will do little (if anything at all) to close the equity gap. The other point is, some people just don't want to attend college, and they do fine in their careers. It's much more a matter of personal mindset and grit than it is about taking a standardized test or not. 

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I would suggest colleges do more to ensure that the education a student receives in college is of the highest quality rather than spend time trying to play equity games that don't work anyway. Maybe if colleges were better at what they do at a more reasonable cost, more students (including those of underrepresented ethnic groups) would be motived to attend. 

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As we all experience in life, it is not about everything being equal; that is not the goal. That is also not possible. The goal should be to give necessary information and opportunity to all and let them make the choices on their own. 

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Colleges should look for students who truly want to learn and better themselves, not students of certain skin color or ethnic backgrounds to make their freshman class look diverse.