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By the time students reach high school, they are tired of taking standardized tests. But this is just the time when students need to be most diligent.
Standardized tests in students’ earlier years are most important for their school and school district, to determine if educational goals are being met and to rank how the school/district compares to others in the state and nation. But when it comes to the SAT exam, things get personal.
The SAT is a standardized test that is marked on a curve — placing college bound students in competition with each other. Students get two scores, each in the range of 200 to 800. One is for “Evidence-based Reading and Writing,” and the other is for “Math.” (There is also an optional essay, scored in the range of 6 to 24 points.) In order to get a median score of 500 on either of the two main categories, a student needs to correctly answer approximately half of the questions correctly.
While a “combined” score of 1,000 will get students into some schools, the colleges most popular with many New Jersey students are seeking substantially higher SAT scores. The average SAT score is 1300 at Rutgers (New Brunswick), 1270 at The University of Delaware, 1370 at Villanova, 1385 at Lehigh, and 1425 at NYU.
But it’s not just for college acceptance that SAT scores are so important.
It’s also the cost of college that is greatly impacted by SAT scores. A college education is one of the largest expenses that most families will face in their lifetime. The amount of money they will pay is often directly correlated to their child’s SAT scores, as almost all colleges award merit aid (scholarships) based on SAT scores since it’s the only level playing field on which to compare students from thousands of different high schools and from very varied educational experiences.
So students should take the SAT as often as necessary in order to reach their potential.
It’s given seven times each year: October, November, December, March, May, June, and August. Students can take the test as often as they like, and colleges (with a few exceptions) never know how many times a student has taken the test. When it comes time to apply to college, students pick and choose which scores (obviously the highest!) to send. Many colleges even allow students to “Superscore,” sending their highest Evidence-based Reading and Writing score from one test and their highest Math score from another.
Of course, preparation is the key to a student improving his or her scores. It’s not a secret as to what material is covered on the SAT. By learning the strategies for each test section, and practicing with official test material and having wrong answers carefully explained, students can often increase their SAT scores by hundreds of points — greatly minimizing the college debt they (or their families) need to incur!
Taking the SAT is an investment of $43 and a Saturday morning — but it offers the best potential for maximizing the money that your colleges of choice will offer.
Susan Alaimo is the founder and director of SAT Smart and College Bound Review. For more than 20 years, SAT Smart has offered in person and online tutoring, PSAT/SAT/ACT prep courses and College Application Services by Ivy League-educated instructors throughout Central Jersey. Visit www.SATsmart.com, www.collegeboundreview.com or call 908-369-5362.
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