1600 is perfect again! On the SAT that is. On March 5, the College Board announced its plans for a redesigned SAT which will be introduced in the spring of 2016.

The updated exam will feature three sections: “evidence-based” reading and writing, mathematics, and an essay. The essay portion will be optional, which goes against the previous change made to the SAT in 2005.

Makers of the SAT said the new exam will feature “relevant” vocabulary words students are likely to encounter in college, a more in-depth focus on fewer math topics, and questions asking students to cite specific passages supporting their answers.

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Between deciding what colleges to apply to and then filling out your college applications, getting into college is stressful. On top of selecting, applying and getting accepted into a college, there are the ever-dreaded standardized tests. Most schools base their acceptance of a student on their high school GPA, high school extracurricular activities and standardized test scores. Each college varies on which version of standardized test that they require for acceptance, whether it be the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) or the ACT (American College Test) but standardized tests are a must for the college-bound student.

The stress of these tests is huge, but reading the scores can be just as intimidating. Prior to taking your test of choice, (it doesn’t hurt to take both, if you are still undecided) you can arrange to have your scores sent directly to the colleges and universities of your choice, but you’ll want to know your scores, and what they mean, to see if all your hard work paid off.

For those taking the SAT, the following information can help you become comfortable with reading your SAT test scores so that you’re ready when you receive them. Read the rest of this entry »

The results are in and high school students everywhere are scrambling to know how they did on the SATs. They’re that first real step toward college and one of the more determining factors in where a student will go. This week, the SAT scores were published leaving many students questioning what that number actually means. Determining whether you have a “bad” score or a “good” score is still relative, dependent on the school you’re applying to.

A perfect score is 2400, scoring 800 in each of three areas. In 2008, the average scores for the three sections were:

• 502 - critical reading
• 515 - mathematics
• 494 - writing Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to a new rule by the College Board, high school students will soon be able to send only their highest round of SAT scores to colleges. This new new rule goes into effect for the high school graduating class of 2010. As of now, students can take the SATs as many times as they like, but they have to report all of the scores to colleges. Now, they can choose which scores to send to colleges and which scores to forget about forever.

An important note: students won’t be able to choose the highest scores on each section. That is, if your highest critical reading score was on one test, and your highest math score was on another, you can’t combine the two high scores. Instead, you’ll choose the round of scores that overall are the best.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this idea. The advantage to a unreported do-over is that students get a clean slate. If you have a bad day the first time you take the SAT, you can erase that and try again. Hey, if only everything in our lives came with a clean slate!

One problem with this is economics. The SAT costs $45, and for some students, that’s a burden. Some students may not be able to take the test again, which means this is yet another systematic disadvantage that poorer kids face when applying to college.

To some degree, it does seem like this new policy won’t have a major effort. According to the College Board, most students only go up 40 points the second time they take the test-and their scores often go down if they take the test more than twice. If your score only goes up 40 points, there’s no real advantage of schools not seeing your first score.

In addition, it’s questionable as to how much it really matters if schools see weaker SAT scores. That is, if you scored 250 points higher the second time, will the school really hold the lower score against you? If anything, they might see the jump in points as a sign that you’re willing to work hard to improve-something all colleges want to see in a prospective student.