The College Solutions Blog

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

SAT/ACT

A Baby SAT Test Bites the Dust

How would you like your kid to take a pre-pre-pre SAT test? The College Board thought this would be a ducky idea. So last fall the testing juggernaut announced that it was going to inflict a baby SAT on — get this — middle schoolers. “This is not a pre-pre-pre SAT,” a College Board VP insisted at the time, but...

Cutting the Cost of College With Better Grades

One morning at a breakfast chat with parents at my son’s high school, the principal mentioned that he is always amazed at how few students at the end of each semester ask teachers how they might improve their grades. It should be a no brainer, the principal suggested, for students to ask their teachers if they can do extra credit...

ACT vs. SAT: How to Compare Scores

This is prime test-taking season for the SAT and ACT. My niece and nephew both took the ACT in St. Louis earlier this month. I know a bunch of teenagers, including my son, who will be taking the SAT soon. Both tests play to different strengths which is why plenty of kids end up taking the SAT and the ACT....

The Odds of Getting into Berkeley or UCLA

Some high schools prepare teenagers for college better than others. Duh. But here’s something that many parents in California don’t realize. Sending your child to a top high school could reduce their chances of getting into UCLA or Berkeley. During the past couple of weeks, I’ve run into parents who are mystified and angry that their teenagers didn’t get into...

Eating for the SAT Test

Usually when my son Ben arrives home after school he strides right past my office and pretends he doesn’t hear my stock question: How was your day? But yesterday was different. He walked up to me and mumbled something that sounded like, “Mom, you were right.” I was stunned and curious about what could have prompted this remarkable observation. “You...

Getting a High SAT Score

Does a teenager who wants a high SAT score need to take an expensive SAT preparation class to do it? I don’t think so. I think the key is motivation. If a teenager wants to do well on the SAT test and he or she works hard towards that goal, a higher SAT score is almost inevitable whether he takes...

6 Ways to Improve Your SAT Essay

Want to know how your teenager can improve the score on his or her SAT essay? I learned a few tips last night when I shared the stage at a high school college event with an SAT guru from the Princeton Review. She shared with the crowd these six SAT essay tips: 1. Come prepared. Show up on test day...

Surviving Bad SAT or ACT Scores

What adjective would best describe your SAT or ACT scores: A) Transcendent. B) Puissant. C) Sublime. D) Dreadful. If your answer was “D,” here’s news that can chase away that funk: The number of SAT and ACT-optional schools continues to climb so even if you don’t earn a good SAT score or good ACT score, there is hope. FairTest.org, the...

February 17, 2009

SAT-Optional Schools and Inflated Scores

Are SAT-optional schools inflating their standardized test scores? That was the question that I explored in my blog yesterday. I promised then that I would share the fascinating findings of a study that touches upon this very issue. The study, conducted by Maguire Associates, a highly respected higher ed consulting firm in Concord, MA, suggests that schools making the SAT...

February 16, 2009

The Cynical Take on the SAT Test

More than 820 colleges and universities no longer require students to submit their SAT or ACT scores to be considered for admission.While that’s wonderful news for anybody who bombs on the SAT or ACT test, there is an ugly side to the test-optional movement that you should know about. I began wondering a few months ago about whether the published...