March 31st, 2010 by Joe Connell
Looking at the “sticker price” of some colleges today over the course of four years appears to be the cost of taking out a home mortgage. For example, the cost of many private colleges is approximately $35,000 for one year — $25,000 for tuition + $10,000 for room and board. Over four years, that’s $140,000. That amount of money seems intimidating, but it’s not the entire story.
For students who choose to attend private colleges, the tuition price is often steep. However, approximately two-thirds of all full-time undergraduate students receive some form of free money in the form of grants or scholarships. The largest per student amounts of grant and scholarship money go to students at private colleges, so that $35,000 annual “sticker price” is much less for many students. And, there is more good news.
According to the College Board, “53 percent of students attend four-year schools with annual tuition and fees below $9,000.” Many of those less expensive colleges are state institutions that can offer lower tuition through their receipt of public funds. So, if you’re willing to look around, there are options that provide different pricing.
In sum, I recommend students apply to both private and public colleges and compare costs. Next week, I will provide steps for both juniors and seniors to get moving in the financial aid process – one key to choosing the right college for them.
Joe Connell has been helping high school students transition to college for the last nine years through positions in admissions, new student orientation and retention. Currently, Joe is the Director of Academic Services & Testing at Dutchess Community College (NY); he has previous work experience at William Paterson University (NJ), Marist College (NY) and Miami University (OH). Joe has presented on issues related to college students' transition and success at both regional and national levels and has taught both SAT preparation and college courses for the past eight years.
March 16th, 2010 by Joe Connell
Should I send my SAT scores to colleges or wait to see what they are? Students often ask this question because they are nervous about their results. The good news is that most colleges take a student’s best results from multiple test dates. Hopefully, that knowledge helps a student relax more each time he/she takes the test.
The College Board (the makers of the SAT) through Score Choice, a feature created in 2009, allows students to send only the scores they want to various colleges. I recommend taking advantage of this feature. This feature gives students more ownership over how their scores are used.
Ultimately, the scores a college requires you to submit are up to them. Each college has slightly different requirements. In general, most colleges will combine a student’s best individual section scores (i.e., Critical Reading, Writing and Math) from multiple test dates (e.g., March, May and October) to create their best combined score. This is why it’s often beneficial for students to take the test multiple times and use test preparation services. To find out what a particular college prefers, contact them directly; this list of SAT Score-Use Practices provided by the College Board also provides a good place to start.
Good luck on your Spring SAT tests!
Joe Connell has been helping high school students transition to college for the last nine years through positions in admissions, new student orientation and retention. Currently, Joe is the Director of Academic Services & Testing at Dutchess Community College (NY); he has previous work experience at William Paterson University (NJ), Marist College (NY) and Miami University (OH). Joe has presented on issues related to college students' transition and success at both regional and national levels and has taught both SAT preparation and college courses for the past eight years.
March 12th, 2010 by Kate Hedman
The New York Times recently published an article called Test-Takers’ Rights, providing a useful outline of some of the things that are required in a testing environment. Reading it should help prepare you in case something goes wrong.
To clarify the last point on their page – you can get your scores cancelled if you choose to. The article mentions that “best you can hope for is a refund or a free retake.” The refund or retake is in addition to your scores being cancelled, which the College Board will do for you if you ask them by the Wednesday after the test.
Kate Hedman, MSEd, has been helping students succeed on the SAT for seven years. She has been a verbal teacher with ESC for six years, and taught high school English for three years. She loves reading about new advances in brain research that she can use in the classroom to help her students learn how to achieve higher scores on the SAT.
March 3rd, 2010 by Kate Hedman
It’s news to nobody that the environment in which a student takes a test can affect his or her score. That’s why teachers take such care in preventing talking during exams, seat students where they cannot read off of each other’s papers, and make sure desks are clear of materials that would facilitate cheating. So one would expect the SAT environment to be no different - to be a tightly regulated place where students’ scores should be based only on their merits in a standardized environment. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Just as there are variations in environment from classroom to classroom – wooden walls versus cinderblock, rural versus urban environments – there are variations in environment on test day, and these variations can affect students’ scores.
There are, however, ways to mitigate some of the possibly adverse effects of an unfamiliar or unusual testing environment, the best of which is foreknowledge of the particulars of the testing room. If it is possible, arrange to take the SAT in an environment with which you are familiar, preferably where you have sat for an exam previously or where you have at least spent some time. Be familiar with the noise level, seating arrangements, lighting, chalkboards and whiteboards (where proctors may write the time), and visibility of clocks in the room.
If, on the day of the exam, you encounter an unexpected environmental problem, like being seated next to a particularly annoying test taker, then ask your proctor for help. The College Board says that it’s up to the proctor whether, for instance, a student gets to change seats, so by all means be polite when making requests. Your final out if something in the environment causes you problems is the College Board itself. They will cancel your scores if you request that service by the Wednesday after the test day. Remember: be prepared to speak up about problems, or forever live with your SAT scores.
Kate Hedman, MSEd, has been helping students succeed on the SAT for seven years. She has been a verbal teacher with ESC for six years, and taught high school English for three years. She loves reading about new advances in brain research that she can use in the classroom to help her students learn how to achieve higher scores on the SAT.
