March Madness

By Deborah L. Carter

hile Hollywood recovers from months of hype over little gold statues, and basketball aficionados wage bets and verbal warfare over who will be in the Final Four, March typically brings a different kind of madness to those longing to be college bound. High school seniors anxiously await the esteemed fat envelope and dread the skinny ones, and high school juniors are overwhelmed with acronyms like SAT, ACT and the test formerly known as SAT II. So, how do you make sense of all this madness?

For the most part, high school seniors have done much of the hard work, having completed their entrance exams and applications, submitted paperwork for scholarships and financial aid, and now are working diligently to keep from succumbing to senioritis. Even seniors, however, can escape March Madness by doing a little more “due diligence” on key colleges, preparing for interviews and financial aid negotiations, and planning real or virtual campus visits.

For most high school juniors, March heralds their first exposure to the dreaded standardized test, the SAT, and the concept of “registration deadlines” and “test preparation” for the SAT as well as the ACT. To make matters worse, this year marks the introduction of the “new SAT”, and these changes and uncertainties have contributed to the madness.

Making its debut in March, 2005, is the new SAT with a three-part format. Says the College Board, “The new SAT will have three scores, each on the familiar scale of 200-800. The score will include writing (W 200-800), mathematics (M 200-800), and critical reading (CR 200-800).” The mathematics and critical reading scores equate to the old “math” and “verbal”, but the writing component is totally new. The new format adds an additional half hour to the total test time.

The SAT Subject Tests (formerly called the SAT II) are changed mainly in name only. These are tests that fall into five general subject areas (English Lit, History, Math, Science and Languages) and are designed to demonstrate advanced knowledge in these subject areas. The new writing section of the SAT will replace the old Subject Test (SAT II) in Writing. Most students that take the SAT Subject Tests will take them toward the end of their junior year or the beginning of their senior year. It’s advisable to take an SAT Subject Test shortly after completing a course in that subject area.

Not much change here. The ACT still includes four subject areas, and emphasizes knowledge of these subject areas rather than the critical thinking stressed in the SAT. New for this year is an optional essay question that some college admissions offices may require in the future, so be sure to check individual application requirements. The state of Colorado mandates that high school juniors take the ACT on a specified date, and many students will take the ACT again on one of the national test dates in their junior or senior years.

The new SAT is new to everyone, even to college admissions officers, so no one knows exactly how the writing score will be used or evaluated in its inaugural years.

For colleges requiring the SAT, virtually all will require the new SAT with Writing for students graduating from high school in 2006.

Different colleges have differing admissions requirements. Find out which standardized tests are required by your colleges of choice well before the application deadlines so you have a chance to take and possibly retake the correct tests.

The SAT Subject Tests are required or recommended by a number of the most selective colleges, as well as some state public university systems. It’s up to you to find out which ones!

An increasing number of colleges welcome either the SAT or the ACT. Others specify one or the other as an admissions requirement.

Illinois and Colorado are the only states that mandate a specified ACT test date for high school juniors. This year, Colorado’s state-mandated ACT will be given on April 27, 2005. But beware! Many schools outside of Colorado will not accept scores from this sitting, and require that the student submit scores from an alternative national ACT test date.

Some students experience better test scores with the ACT and some excel at the SAT. Use this to your personal advantage, but make sure to check carefully the admissions requirements of each school.

While most college admissions officers will state that academic record and rigor of high school curriculum are the most important criteria for admission, many schools will look next to standardized test scores as a key factor. Therefore, it will be to the student’s advantage to perform well on these tests. Preparation is paramount, and students may choose self-administered practice tests, formalized test prep courses, private tutors, or the more affordable study manuals or internet-based prep tools to help boost their scores. Many students opt to take the tests multiple times, in an effort achieve higher scores, and most colleges state that they will accept the highest submitted scores, even combining the highest individual scores from different test dates.

So, arm yourself with knowledge to help tame this month’s madness. Do your research. Be prepared. Remember you are not alone. And, above all, stay calm and focused. Even the new SAT is really not all that new.

Deborah Carter is Director of CollegeConnection, LLC, a company specializing in student-centered college search and application consulting services. Contact Deborah at info@CollegeConnection.cc