The College Solutions Blog

August 1, 2014

I recently ran a post that Brian Eufinger, who is co-owner of Edison Prep in the Atlanta, wrote that suggests that the ACT has recently gotten harder. If you missed that post, here it is: Is the ACT Getting Harder? Today I’m sharing an email that I received from Jed Applerouth, the owner of Applerouth Tutoring Services, about the evolving...

July 27, 2014

Students who perform poorly on the SAT or the ACT enjoy the option of applying to test-optional colleges and universities. At schools that have embraced this policy, teenagers can typically apply to schools without having to submit their test scores, which can boost a teenager’s chances of getting into more prestigious schools. This might sound great for students who struggle...

July 22, 2014

Today I am happy to share an interesting article that Brian Eufinger, the co-owner of Edison Prep in Atlanta, wrote regarding undetected changes in the ACT that he says are making it harder for high-achieving students to earn stellar ACT scores. I can always count on Brian to share insightful observations about what’s happening with the ACT or SAT. And boy...

April 22, 2014

In case you missed it, the College Board recently released many more details about its planned revision of the SAT test. You can see what’s in store at the College Board’s website dedicated to the SAT changes that are slated for the spring of 2016:  DeliveringOpportunity.org. I wrote a post for my college blog at CBS Moneywatch last week about...

March 6, 2014

Get ready. The SAT is going to change in significant ways. The new SAT will probably end up looking more like the ACT. The changes that David Coleman, the College Board’s president, announced today sure look like the College Board is moving the SAT away from being an aptitude test (the “A” in SAT used to stand for aptitude) and...

February 18, 2014

Research that’s being described as a landmark study was released today that shows that high school students with strong grades and lower standardized ACT and SAT scores do as well in college as those who perform better on the standardized tests. The ambitious study, which was conducted on behalf of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, compared the academic...

January 17, 2014

A couple of years ago I listened in on a webinar about SAT strategies that impressed me. The guest speaker was Jeb Applerouth, who runs an eponymous test-prep firm that’s headquartered in Atlanta. Jeb gave me permission to share the following blog post where he discusses  whether there is an ideal time to take the SAT or ACT.   Lynn O’Shaughnessy...

December 4, 2013

Hi everyone – I will be launching a six-week, online course called Cutting the Cost of College beginning Feb. 12. Please scroll down to the bottom of this post to learn more and email me at Lynn@TheCollegeSolution.com if you want further notifications! Lynn O’Shaughnessy The College Board is delaying the roll out of its new SAT test. The launch of...

August 21, 2013

According to the just released ACT scorecard for 2013 high school graduates, the composite ACT score has  dropped to its lowest level in five years. The latest composite ACT score is 20.9. That represents a .2 point drop from last year’s scores. The highest ACT score possible is a 36. Scores declined for all four tested areas – English, Reading,...

March 5, 2013

If your child plans to take the ACT test, you should know about ACT superscoring. To understand what superscoring is, here’s some background: Historically, college admission offices used a student’s composite ACT score that’s made up of four underlying categories: English Mathematics Reading Science The test maker averages the four subcores, with each ranging from 1 to 36, to create...