The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

SAT/ACT

SAT Cheating: Does the Crime Pay?

What happens when someone is caught cheating on the SAT or ACT test? Apparently not much, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. The testing services don’t notify colleges about cheating incidents and they also don’t inform the students’ high schools. The fraudulent SAT scores are simply canceled. The cheaters are welcome to take the tests again. The...

SAT versus ACT: How to Compare the Test Scores

Millions of teenagers have suffered through both the SAT and the ACT in the hope of getting the best scores possible to impress college admission officers. Some teenagers fare better with the SAT, while others swear that the ACT is a friendlier test. But what bewilders many teenagers and their families is how the scores compare to each other. The...

When the SAT Flunks Its Own Test

A study released today couldn’t have made the executives at the College Board happy although they put on their game face when discussing the results. Research indicates that the “improved” SAT test doesn’t predict college success anymore than the old version did. Three years ago, the College Board added a writing section to the SAT, which was already testing teenagers...

The Chinese SAT

On Saturday, high school students around the country were taking the SAT. As hard as that test is, the Chinese have it much worse. For Chinese teenagers, everything was riding on the National College Entrance Exam last week. The test, which drags on for two days, determines not only where students get to go to school, but what their majors...

Getting Into College Without the SAT

We all know teenagers who don’t test well. There are all sorts of legitimate reasons why some students, even bright ones, can’t earn decent numbers on the dreaded SAT test. It used to be that parents and students could rail all they wanted against the test, but it wouldn’t matter. Colleges and universities wanted to know what their applicants’ scores...