Decoding Standardized Testing: Choosing Between SAT, ACT, and Test-Optional Policies

Webinar Transcription

2024-12-12- Decoding Standardized Testing: Choosing Between SAT, ACT, and Test-Optional Policies

Anna:

Hello, everyone. Good evening or afternoon or morning, whatever time it is from wherever you’re joining us in the world. We’re really happy you’re here for our webinar on decoding standardized testing. My name is Anna Vande Velde. I will be your moderator today. I’m a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor, have been with the company for over three years now.

They asked me to give you just a bit of my background. For undergrad, I studied psychology at Carnegie Mellon. Thought I wanted to be a clinical psychologist, but ended up at Harvard Law School where I graduated a few years ago. So in addition to my work with CollegeAdvisor, I’m a nonprofit defense attorney, and I live in Ottawa, Ontario.

To orient everyone with the webinar timing, because that’s truly more than you need to know about me, we’ll start off with a presentation, then answer your questions in a live Q& A. On the sidebar, you can download our slides, and you can start submitting questions in the Q& A tab now. There’s no need to wait until the end of the presentation to submit those.

Um, And with that housekeeping out of the way, I’m going to turn it over to our presenter to introduce herself.

Mariko: Hi everyone, my name is Mariko Rooks. I am a senior advisor here at CollegeAdvisor and I’ve been here since 2020, so quite a long time at this point. I graduated from Yale twice, once in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in the history of public health and a double major in ethnicity, race, and migration, which is our ethnic studies major.

And then I was enrolled in a combined bachelor plus master’s program. So I also walked away with a master’s in public health a year later in social and behavioral sciences with a concentration in US health justice. Now I work for the CDC foundation as an epidemiologist and I primarily focus on water safety and drowning prevention, but I do really love helping other folks through the college process.

So I’m very excited to be here tonight and to talk to you a little bit about standardized testing and also some of the changes that are coming up in the standardized testing options that you’ll have this coming year.

Anna: Thank you so much, Mariko. We’re lucky to have you here with us tonight. Before I turn it over to you for your presentation, I thought I’d get a sense of who’s joining us. So I’m going to open a poll right now. Please let us know what grade you are in. If you’re here as an educator, If you’re a guardian or parent support person, please select other.

While we wait for your responses, Mariko, my family is getting feet of snow in western New York right now. Ottawa has a few inches, so weather’s on my mind. Because I’m sure we have students joining who are considering Yale. I was wondering, could you share a bit about what the weather is like in New Haven, Connecticut?

Mariko: Wow, I feel like I’m on the news. Um, so I am from Los Angeles, California, which is where I am based now. So I will say that New Haven was a pretty big shock to me. It’s not going to get as cold in New Haven as it is in some of the schools that are further north. Harvard and Boston, or definitely not as cold as Dartmouth and New Hampshire, but there definitely is a lot of, uh, colder rain, particularly because we’re near the coast.

New Haven is a port city, and you’ll also see snow. We’ll get a couple of good snowfalls a year. In the past few years, unfortunately due to climate change, the fall has stayed warm for much longer. So great for people who are from warmer climates, but a little unfortunate for, um, the overall state of the planet.

But I think you’ll still get a really nice fall and definitely a real winter. So if you’re someone who’s interested in that for college, I highly recommend. I think it was great to experience and I won’t be experiencing it again for the full four months if I can help it.

Anna: Thank you. So bring a warm coat.

Maybe you don’t need super serious snow boots, um, but be prepared for, for some winter. Thank you. Um, just so you know, we have, I haven’t even split between 11th graders and others. So, presumably, Teachers, parents, um, and the like. So I’m going to close the poll and then turn it over to you to get us started.

Mariko: Awesome. So today I’m going to talk through standardized testing as a whole, what role it plays on your application, and what you can sort of expect out of the review of your standardized testing scores and the standardized testing process. I’m then going to walk through The SAT and the ACT, bearing in mind that there have been significant changes in both, so I’ll try to address as best I can what we know about the current state of both of these tests.

Just a reminder that as I continue to present, if you have questions for me, feel free to put them in the Q& A tab. I will answer those at the end of the presentation. And if you Want follow up from there also feel free to use that Q& A tab if you chat me privately I may or may not see it since i’m the only presenter here today.

So would recommend using that tab All right, so let’s get started The first thing that I think I get asked a lot as a CollegeAdvisor is you know, what? score do I need to have? And how important exactly is standardized testing as a whole? There is a lot of focus and emphasis, I think, especially on the parent side of things, when it comes to standardized testing, because it is Standardized, right?

It is a metric that can be applied across many demographics, regardless of what school you go to and what kinds of classes are offered at that school, how difficult this classes might be, or what assessments you might take to demonstrate your learning at your high school. Your SAT score is still out of 1600, and your ACT score is still out of 36.

So that is why colleges like having, if possible, a standardized academic metric that allows you to compare yourself to folks that are at many different types of school. Bearing in mind, of course, that the type of school you’re at, the kind of education you’re getting, and your background, and so many other socioeconomic factors influence the kind of learning that is sort of done.

And. the uptake that it has for standardized testing. So standardized, but with some asterisks in there for sure. But that’s one of the things that’s nice about having some sort of quote unquote standardized test. Um, it also demonstrates that you can perform certain skills and those skills are, I think just useful life skills, but definitely useful skills in higher education.

So the first thing is going to be quick recall of academic concepts, particularly Foundational and advanced academic concepts in disciplines that will apply to you almost no matter what your major is. And so really the core of this is writing, reading, and math, right? And so wanting to see, can you recall these quickly and can you recall these accurately to demonstrate your knowledge?

These tests also, though, want to test not just your recall, but your critical thinking, your summarization, and your analysis of new material. So if you are faced with something that you haven’t seen before, Do you have the skills? And again, a lot of these skills are learned skills. This is not an innate measure of our intelligence, right?

But do you have these useful skills that you can then apply to many other things outside of standardized testing? But can you demonstrate these skills that are often really useful at the collegiate level? They’re useful in, again, many other circumstances too. And can you demonstrate them in, again, these foundational academic disciplines that will be useful to you in college?

And the last thing is, you know, college and surviving and thriving in college, just like high school or any other form of semi independent education is also about not just what you’ve learned and how you’ve learned it, but about the sort of overall environment of your learning and the skills that you have to produce a good learning environment for yourself.

And so by that, I mean your time management and your organizational skills. A lot of doing well on these kinds of tests has to do with your ability to not just answer questions correctly, but also do it quickly and strategically. And also have a strong plan for tackling the test as a whole, your strengths, your weaknesses, whatever that might be, that allow you to optimize your score.

And so I’ll talk through how to develop some of these skills today as best as I can in an hour. But note that that is what is also factoring into both the score that you get and your college’s assessment of what that score might mean for you. Though of course, again, lots of variety in all of these things.

Some people are just faster test takers than others. And so certain timing skills may not apply more to some people than to other people. And that’s okay too. One of the things that’s sort of been interesting and why I think, you know, you have panels like this, that include test optional is another option here, is that there have been pretty sharp increases in places where you can apply that are test optional, which means that you don’t have to submit a test.

in ACT or SAT standardized test score. The biggest, I would say, concrete pusher of this particular policy in recent years has been, of course, COVID 19. There were a couple of years of classes where students were not able to take standardized tests in person, and even if they did, they had lost so much immediate learning that Standardized tests were not going to be a very accurate metric of anybody’s learning and we’re not tailored towards the kind of learning that was lost during COVID 19 for, I would say, especially the classes of 2021, 2022, and arguably 2023.

I think that as we’ve gone further away from the lockdown stages of the global pandemic, this has started to become a thing that has also receded a little bit in the terms of the tune that colleges have taken on test optional admissions. But for some folks, they really had saw that test optional actually didn’t make a difference, or maybe even helped the cohort of students that they ended up, um, sort of admitting and then that end up going to their schools.

And so some schools have kept this policy post COVID 19, or at least have not made tests required. So even if it could really benefit you to submit a test score, and we as advisors would recommend submitting a test score as you can, you can now apply to these schools without with, to some schools, at least without having a test score at all.

And so that’s a big overall policy shift between sort of, you know, pre and post 2020. I would also say that there’s been a longer dialogue about how good these test metrics are. Um, a lot of the origins of tests like the SAT and including the SAT are unfortunately really wrought with other very problematic scientific ideologies, specifically the concept of eugenics, um, which is that Uh, which is a form of racialized science that, uh, sort of seeks to demonstrate the inherited, inherent intelligence of some races at the expense of other races.

And the founder of the SAT was a big believer in that and was a lot of how the SAT was generated in the first place. And so there is that recognition that number one, the sort of origins of the SAT are complex and fraught. And number two, who does well on the SAT. Because of all the things that are needed to do well on it doesn’t necessarily measure raw intelligence.

It measures your ability to apply certain intellectual skills within a certain setting. Those are all things that can be taught and are therefore greatly advantaged by having the resources and the opportunities to learn those skills. All of which costs money, all of which takes time. And so, there are some different reasons why colleges have started to wait or think more critically about waiting the SAT and the ACT in various years, as well as standardized testing as a whole.

So, these are some just sort of basic overview, uh, this is just a basic overview of sort of where standardized testing lies, what it does, and what some changes have been recently. There are lots of different standardized tests that are a part of a student’s application rate. We’ll talk today about the SAT and the ACT.

Students also have the chance to take the PSAT or the pre SAT as part of their high school testing curriculum options. Often that’s given to you through your high school. That’s a great practice test opportunity and can also lend itself to national merit scholarship opportunities as well. If you’re an international student, there is also a set of exams, um, the TOEFL or the TOEFL that are used, um, that are sort of an equivalent SAT, ACT, although some International students also take those two tests.

And a good thing to note is that it’s not just your ACT and SAT scores that are being looked at, it’s also your AP and IB exams. So those are standardized tests. Those do carry weight. This, the, every college will look at sort of where your school ranks of course. Um, in these exams, um, and what the average for your school is to get a better sense of how well you might be prepped based on the classes your school offers and the scores that your student students will get in those classes.

But bear in mind that again, there are multiple standardized tests that will sort of be important components of your overall collegiate application package. It’s not just this one test that is make it or break it because I think that’s how people tend to treat these two standardized tests. So now we’re going to move on and we’re just going to chat a bit about the SAT first.

I think it’s the most common test. It’s the default test. I would like to, before we begin, really, really make a statement though that it does not matter which one you take, the ACT or the SAT, they are looked at equally by colleges. There is not one that’s better than the other. The differences in terms of why you would choose to take one or the other should be about your test taking style and strengths, not.

Whether a college will like you more if you take one versus the other. And I feel like that’s super important. I also just like the ACT a lot. I root for her. So I think it’s important to acknowledge the SAT is the definitely the most named brand of tests, but she’s not the only test out there. There are two, we’ll talk about both.

Okay, so now that I’ve made this disclaimer, let’s get into the SAT. So the SAT is administered around seven times a year. In the US it’s three hours and 50 minutes long, and the highest score that you can get on the SAT is a 1600. That score is evenly split between math. You can get a maximum 800 score on math and evidence based reading and writing.

You can also get a maximum score on that. These two scores are added together. I’m going to say this again, added together, because this is different on the ACT and it’s important to note, and that will give you your score out of 1600. Okay. So let’s break down the overview of these two components. So the first is math.

Math is 80 minutes. There are 58 questions. You will see a lot of different levels of math on the SAT. You will also see harder math questions depending on how many easier math questions you score correctly on in your first module if you’re taking the digital test. But most of the things that we expect to see guaranteed on the SAT.

Definitely algebra, definitely some sort of more complex word problem solving. They want you to read the word problem and pull out the math equation and then solve the math equation from there. You’ll see some data analysis, so it’ll give you some stuff and then it’ll ask you to do something with, um, the data that’s there.

And different advanced math topics, again, how, uh, Uh, complex the math gets on the digital SAT depends on how many questions you get correct. There’s also the evidence based reading and writing, which splits into two sections. The first is evidence based reading. That’s 65 minutes and 52 questions. This tests your understanding of complex passages.

So it’ll give you a story or it’ll give you an article and it’ll ask you questions about the themes in the article, the vocabulary words in the article. And the different techniques, writing techniques that are used in a particular passage, and you’ll need to be able to identify those things correctly.

Writing in language, however, really focuses on grammar and also making certain word punctuation and writing choices that will build a better sentence or build a better argument across the course of a paragraph or a couple of paragraphs. Um, that’s only 35 minutes and there are 44 questions, but since that section is a little bit more like You are essentially spell checking something that already exists, like spelling and grammar checking something that already exists.

Those questions should hopefully move faster for most test takers. There is also an optional essay that’s 15 minutes long. It is an argumentative essay. You will be given a point and you’ll be asked to take a stance and defend that stance. You do not get any access to outside sources when you do it, though, so it’s anything that’s already in your brain.

Some schools may require the essay. So if you are have at least a general idea of the schools that you think you might be applying to, check and see before you take your SAT if any of those schools require the essay. Not all schools do, but some schools might. I would also say that I would, if you have the time and the money, I would just take the essay.

If it’s not a good essay score, you don’t have to include it in your essay and your testing portfolio. But if it is a good essay score, it can do nothing but help you and it won’t. Hurt you if it’s bad. So that is the SAT. Um, before I move on to the a CG, apologies for that. Uh, a little bit of a quick slide reaction there.

I do want to address the newest component of the SAT, which is taking it digitally as opposed to on paper. So the on paper, SAT has a set of questions. They’re printed out, they’re on paper. They do get harder as they go along for the math. Sort of, but not really. Um, but those are set questions and they stay the same for every single person who takes an on paper test.

However, more recently, the SAT has moved to a more generative, algorithm based digital version. And I think what’s really important to note here is that the digital version and the on paper version are not the same. the same. Everyone who takes the on paper version will get the same set of questions. On the digital test, however, the number of questions you get correct and the complexity of that questions on your first modules, for each of the math and the evidence based reading and writing, will be different.

portions will then determine what questions you get on the second little module for each of these sections. And those questions will be harder if you’ve gotten more questions correct on the first module. They will be easier if you’ve gotten more questions, if you’ve gotten fewer questions correct. But the harder the questions you answer correctly, the more likely it is you will have a higher score.

My. Biggest thought on the digital SAT is that there is very little algorithmic transparency. There’s been a lot of really interesting testing that test prep companies or tutoring specialists have gone in and done to see like, oh, you know, does it matter more if you get X number of questions wrong in first module versus second module.

Does it matter more if the order of those questions is different? And so there’s been a lot of case, case plugins to see how getting more or fewer questions wrong or right impacts your numeric score. But at the end of the day, there, There is no code available that tells us how and why the computer chooses the questions that it gives you based on the questions you get right or wrong at the beginning.

And so there is a lot less transparency with the algorithm so it might hurt you but it also might help you. And so what I recommend taking the SAT. And this is just me as a very analog person. I think you, you know what you’re getting a little bit more with the paper, but that also may not be a possibility in coming years.

So especially if you’re younger, um, or if you only have digital sites near you, I would recommend taking and thinking critically about the digital SAT and doing sort of your own reading. Um, all of the sort of test engineering folks are all third party companies, so I hesitate to endorse one specific strategy, but I would just read up on it for yourself and sort of see what people have been finding because this is a very new thing, and there’s a lot that we don’t know still about what that algorithm looks like and if and when that algorithm is changed, because again, there’s no transparency about it.

Okay, so that’s the SAT. Moving on to the ACT. So the ACT is administered, again, seven times a year in the U. S. It is three hours and 35 minutes, so note that it’s a little bit shorter, and the high score that you can get is a 36. Now what is very different between the SAT and the ACT is that your score is split between English, math, reading, and science, and the way that this works is a little different.

So, What you will do is you’ll take each section, the number of questions correct in each section will translate to a score 1 out of 36. Depending on how many questions there are, that particular, or depending on like how the questions sort out for that particular section on that particular test, sometimes you can get one or two questions incorrect and still have a 36 on a section.

Not always though. What is very different from the ACT, for the ACT from the SAT, is that scores are averaged across all fields for a composite. So notice they’re being averaged as, in terms of, instead of being added together. So the average rate is you add all four and divide by four. So this is a little bit different.

And, you can sort of math it out, but it means that you can do, if you do sort of reasonably well across all sections of the ACT, this really benefits you. But if you really skew, like you are really strong on two sections, but you really drop two sections, you can end up with a lower composite score than you’d like.

Um, and that’s a little bit different than the way the SAT So just again, very different scoring system. When you’re calculating your scores, you’re trying to analyze what the good score is. Those are things to keep in mind. Also, I will say that there is an official translator of ACT to SAT scores and vice versa.

So if you want to get a better understanding of what one score means when it’s translated into the other score, you can find that online too. Okay, so this is the current, ACT test breakdown. The ACT is about to change drastically in 2025 though, so if you are not taking it before that shift in the spring, this is not for you.

I apologize. in general and also specifically right now. So in terms of what we know now and what is the current ACT sort of test component breakdown, this is the version of the test that I took. This is also the version of the test that I have tutored. You can score up to a 36 in each section and the average of four scores is your composite score.

English, 75 questions and 45 minutes. When they say English, this is much closer to the writing section of the SAT. It’s going to be grammar usage, punctuation, sentence structure, organization, style. So again, it’ll be a passage. You kind of like spell check the passage based on what looks correct. Math, or what is correct rather.

Math. 60 questions, 60 minutes. Fewer questions total for math. Way less time to do each question. You will be testing algebra, pre algebra. There is more geometry historically on the ACT than on the SAT, so notice you’ll see coordinate and plane geometry as well as trig, trigonometry. Some SATs can be a little bit more dense in their geometry content, but the ACT kind of consistently has a pretty heavy geometry focus.

Again, as of right now, you will have reading 40 questions in 35 minutes. This is testing reading comprehension directly. So you read the entire passage. There are questions about different parts of that passage. This last section is very different between these two tests, and this is the science section, and that’s also 40 questions and 35 minutes in the science section.

You will be given the text and the results of a scientific experiment. You will then be asked a combination of reading comprehension and sometimes some basic math questions about the process and the results of that experiment. So it is a sort of interesting combination of The reading section, but you’re reading about science.

You need to be comfortable with science reading and reading scientific papers and a little bit of applied math about sort of the relation between cause and effect in an experiment and how that might change over time. Or if the experiment works. So that is a little bit more of an interdisciplinary section, in my opinion.

And that’s a section that some students really shine in. Myself included. I loved the science section. I thought it was really interesting and played, it played to my strengths, which makes sense as someone who is in public health. Some students that is the science section is the death of them. So again, taking practice tests, very important for getting a better idea of whether science is your thing or not in this test.

Okay. So I just gave you that whole spiel, but unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the SAT is changing pretty drastically in spring 2025. The first thing is that the number of questions is reduced. One of the biggest things that was sort of the tagline difference between the ACT and the SAT prior to this change is that, oh, the ACT has more questions, but they’re not always as difficult, and they’re not weighted as highly per question, as opposed to the SAT, which has fewer questions.

but weighted more highly per question. So the ACT tended to favor folks who read quickly. Um, it tended to cover careless, careless quote unquote mistakes a little bit better, um, or margin of error mistakes a little bit better. The SAT tended to favor folks who were strong at being able to answer complex questions that required more weight per question, um, maybe slightly slower test takers.

So that’s a little bit different. Um, that being said, the time is also being drastically reduced from 195 minutes to 125 minutes. So the general assumption is that trend will still hold, that you’re going to have to do more in a shorter amount of total time. Uh, it’s just that The amount of total time and the amount of total questions will be a little bit different.

Um, a big thing is that the science portion will become optional. And so that I think will be a really interesting shift in who decides to take the ACT. And what the score distribution of the ACT is going to look like once certain folks opt out of science, because as I’ve said, the science can be a little bit of a make it or break it for some people.

And we aren’t really sure what schools are going to do in response to this. We also aren’t really sure what test scores are going to do in response to this, because this is new. But I would say that in general, the science optional portion is in large part to sort of make the SAT and the ACT more comparable tests.

So that. More people are encouraged to take the ACT without the weight of the dreaded proverbial science section falling upon them if they don’t feel very strongly about that section, or they don’t feel very strong in their ability to do well on that section. So, you will still have the option to do either the paper and pencil or online version of the ACT.

This I think kind of comes down a little bit more to what you would prefer as a testing medium as the algorithm is not as individualized or generative on the ACT. So I guess it just depends on what you prefer and what’s available in your area.

Anna: Thank you, Mariko. I’m going to interrupt for a minute to do another poll. We are curious to hear where you are in the application process. So students, please let us know. And, um, while you do that, Mariko, I was wondering if I could ask you, Are there costs associated with standardized testing? Do you know how much they cost?

Is there a cost, um, to take and then is there a cost to submit scores? Yes.

Mariko: Yes. So both the SAT and the ACT do have fees that are attached to each time you take the test. So when you’re thinking about how many times you want to take the test and how many times you prefer to take the test, do have a frank conversation with your family or with whoever might be paying for these tests because they do cost money.

Okay. That being said, you can apply for fee waivers. The fee waiver requirements are similar to those for either AP test fee waivers or for free and reduced lunch. So I would definitely recommend looking into that. Um, there is information that the college board provides for the SAT. You can also ask your guidance counselor at your school if you have one for more information about that.

In terms of sending your scores, you can opt into Or out of sending your scores to as many schools as you want, and for like, which specific tests that you want. Um, in terms of like, how much it costs to like, send tests to schools, there is a, and you’ll have to correct me if I’m wrong in it, but there’s a certain number of schools where it’s free.

Um, You do have to pay to send your application to a school. So do bear in mind that your full application will also cost money. Um, so there is not like, if you’re going to send your test to a school, you’re also applying to that school. So like, there’s no way in which all of this is free unless you get a fee waiver.

Um, but you, but opting out of, uh, sending your test scores from a particular test to schools is okay. And that will not cost you money to cancel.

Anna: And I believe just to add to that, I believe that. At least the SAT, if you tell them the day you take it, what colleges you want them to send it to, I think you can send it to four for free.

Mariko: That is my belief too. Um, that policy has kind of fluctuated a little bit in recent years, so I would recommend before you take your test, Go onto the College Board website and make absolutely sure what the policy is for your school and for, or for your schools and for your specific test section.

So that is the like, the, always the disclaimer is, um, again, in this sort of season of testing transition, a lot of things keep changing. So whatever we say, if you take anything away from it, it’s check yourselves before you take the test because we’re not sure how it’s going to change.

Anna: I was going to say, I think that’s a good disclaimer for.

For all advice you get here. Uh, totally agree. Uh, Mariko, so you know, in the room with us, um, most folks are researching schools. A few say they haven’t started yet. I would argue, you’re here at this webinar, so you started looking into things. Um, good for you. Um, but yeah, that, that’s the breakdown. Makes sense given we had a lot of questions.

Um, I’m going to close the poll and hand it back to you for the rest of the presentation.

Mariko: Awesome. Okay. Well, for those of you who are just starting to look at schools, best of luck in developing your school list. I’ll talk a little bit about how your test score factors into your school list as you’re thinking about completing your school list later in this presentation.

So stay tuned for that. So, when you’re thinking about What factors do you consider taking for these tests? And again, bear in mind, a lot of things are about to change, so not all of this information will be accurate after Spring 2025. The first is the quality versus quantity of questions. The ACT has more questions but less time.

Each question counts for fewer points. And again, there’s this whole averaging of scores across all four sections that’s very different than the SAT. Notice, though, that the number of questions is decreasing, but also the amount of time is decreasing, so it still kind of stands that you’re gonna do more questions in less time, but fewer overall questions, less overall time.

So it’ll be a faster test, is what I’m hearing, if nothing else. SAT, less geometry, higher skills on the math section. Again, there is this sort of weird generative digital algorithm that you want to keep in mind for the SAT. Um, that is been a thing that they have been actively pushing, so they’re really trying to make moves towards everyone taking that test with that generative algorithm as opposed to everyone taking the same.

test. The other thing is that your reading comprehension skills, the focus of them, the sort of focus or prominence that reading plays in each of these tests can feel a little bit different. And this is mainly, again, for the ACT science portion. If you decide to take it science optional, this will be less relevant to you.

But a lot of the science is significant reading comprehension across STEM areas. Questions. And so you need to feel confident, not just in your reading skills, but also in your ability to interpret scientific data. And that’s very different than the S. A. T. And so this means that 3 sections out of 4 on the

A.C. T. require reading. In addition to arithmetic ability on math and science, as opposed to for the S. A. T. It’s. Two halves of one section, but 50% of the SAT, 75% of the a CT. So that’s a little bit different. And again, you wanna play to your strengths here.

Okay. So in terms of taking standardized tests, um, your first test that you’ll likely take, and if you’re in 11th grade, you may have already taken it, is the PSAT or the pre SAT. Your 11th grade scores for that test, um, which you might have taken in the fall, you probably took in the fall. If you’re an 11th grader here.

Only your 11th grade scores will be considered for National Merit Scholarship, um, National Merit Scholarship is an award that you can get that sometimes equates to scholarship money depending on the school you’re going to, but if nothing else is a nice little feather in your cap on your award section of your applications.

And the score that you need to go through the different phases of this process. So being a common dated being a finalist being a semi finalist depends on the percentage of scores. In your state. So for some states, it’s actually a little easier to be in a higher level of national merit scholarship than others.

Again, this doesn’t always equate to scholarship money, but it is a nice. award or designation for a job well done on this test. SAT, ACT, most folks take this their junior spring. So that’s probably a lot of the folks that are in this webinar. You can take this until your senior fall. Normally, the last test that you can take for your scores to be considered with a regular decision application is December.

And so you can submit your application slightly before submitting your test scores, but if you’re doing an application that’s early decision or early action, and it’s due November 1st, you do need to take that test before mid November so that they can evaluate your entire portfolio. Prior to when decisions are released in early December in terms of timing this test.

I would strongly recommend that if you can to take this before you start school your senior year. There are people I’ve seen who have been very successful in taking this test their senior fall, but given the amount of work you will have to do on your actual college applications. It’s best to get this out of the way beforehand, especially if you think you might need to test more than once.

So I did my testing the winter and then the spring of my junior year of high school, and I would recommend, yeah, if you can get it done, Ideally, by the end of that summer, you will be in better shape. You will also have a better sense of where your scores stack up against everyone else’s. Um, and then of course, last part of this is AP tests.

They’re usually based on year that you take the course, though you can sometimes take the test without the course. And so I’ve seen people do that to pretty reasonable success if your school does not offer an AP option for a certain subject. Okay. So, what are some ways to prepare for standardized tests?

Once you’ve decided when you’re taking the test and what tests you’re taking, how are you going to approach this process? What is strategy here? These are the things I would recommend most highly. The first is take time. Full practice tests. Take full practice tests. I’m going to say it again. Take full practice tests and do it in actual testing conditions.

So tell, put your phone on do not disturb. Tell your parents, friends, and enemies to not bother you for that testing time. Hold yourself accountable to taking each section in the time that you know you’re going to be actually given on the test. These kinds of practicing like you play tests allow you to get a better sense of your timing, a better sense of confronting your nerves, and a better sense of what spatial comfort looks like for you.

So if you’re taking an on paper test, what kinds of pens and pencils do you have around? What kind of scratch paper do you want to use? If you’re taking a digital test, right, um, Are you still solving equations on hand on paper? Right? Like knowing these kinds of things and being set and having a routine and those kinds of things makes a huge difference and being able to consistently execute good performance.

on actual test days. So again, my biggest tip is just take full practice tests. I would also say if you’re not sure which test to take, just take two full practice tests of each without studying. It takes at most a weekend and you have a better sense of what the test is and what test feels good for you.

The next thing is, after you’ve taken these full practice tests, you’ve determined what kind of tests you’re going to take. You’re taking your full lengths. Um, really critically review why you missed the questions you missed. Don’t just mark them incorrect. Get a better sense of, not just like, did I understand the concept, but was I misreading the question?

Was I moving too fast? Did I run out of time? Knowing your personal strengths and weaknesses in test taking is huge and is the fastest way to being able to improve as opposed to being like, okay, that’s a 30 out of 50 moving on. Um, so that’s really, really important. And there are different types of mistakes that people can make while test taking.

You can Google those. There are great videos on YouTube about reviewing the types of mistakes that people make. Get familiar with your strengths, get familiar with your weaknesses, be comfortable with both. I would really concentrate your time and effort on topics that are more difficult for you. So if you know, for example, that geometry is your weak point, spend more time on geometry than you are spending on grammar and spelling.

If grammar and spelling is your strong point, you don’t have to study evenly or equally for all parts of a test, but you should be studying equitably to make up for, again, the things that you might need more support on. And everyone’s different, right? Um, and the last thing is just figure out how to minimize careless or sort of user mistakes and errors.

Are you under thinking questions? Are you overthinking questions? Are you forgetting to go back and check your work, whatever that might be, and have a routine that helps you identify that. A big thing that I did and still do if I have to take a test is I try to finish the test early enough that I have time to put my head down physically, close my eyes, and then Sing the chorus of one good song in my head, and then go through the entire test again.

Because that, for me, is something that’s really useful in being able to have a fresh set of eyes on a test. So that I’m specifically looking for careless mistakes. And I will also say the problem solving process out loud. Not so loud that other people can hear me, but out loud. So that I know exactly what steps I took to get the question that I was getting.

And if I am guessing or eliminating answers on a question. Why I eliminated the answers I did and why I’m going with the answer I’m going with, right? So whatever that is for you, have a process and have a strategy. In terms of the day of the test, first piece of advice, get good sleep. Get good sleep multiple nights before, not just the night before.

Um, you’ll feel it, If you did not get good sleep on Thursday and your test is a Saturday, you’ll feel it. Um, if you have trouble sleeping the night before a test, start trying to sleep better earlier so that you can make up for the fact that you may not get good sleep the night before the test. I would lay out all of your testing materials in advance.

Most of these tests start in the morning. Everyone is groggy in the morning. Unless you’re a morning person, in which case, go you. But the most of us are not. So lay out everything in advance. Your ID, which you’ll need to get into the testing center. Your proof of confirmation that you’re taking the test.

Pencils, water, snacks, whatever they tell you, you can bring in, have it laid out, have it ready to go. Be prepared the night before so you can just grab your bag and walk out the door in the morning. Do not cram the morning of the test. I would say in general, do not cram a couple of days before the test.

All research on studying and retention shows that it will not stick in your brain. And if anything, it might make you more anxious. The only thing I would recommend looking at are like really quick vocabulary flashcards if nothing else. The last thing is I would say have a plan for your breaks. So if, so each test will give you certain break times.

Know what’s most useful for you in that break. Um, a lot of times folks go to the bathroom. There are often chances to eat. I would recommend eating if that’s something that feels comfortable for you. So know like what’s most helpful to eat? What is a good test snack for you? Why do you want your carbs?

When do you want your fast sugar? Whatever that might be? What do you want your protein, right? Um, so have have these different plans for not just the time that you’re actually test taking, but for the breaks on the test itself. Kind of like athletes when they have like clear plans for halftime or quarter breaks.

So, of course, maybe none of this applies to you, right? There are some test optional schools, especially again since the advent of COVID 19. Do keep in mind, though, that test optional does not mean that the test scores are not considered, so it may mean that you don’t have to submit a test to apply to the school, but schools may still be factoring in that test score as part of an application.

So, if you have a good score, it can still help you. If you’re missing a score. score, and you’re not in the sort of top range of applicants, it might hurt you. So just really read the fine print on whatever applications you’re submitting, whatever schools you’re submitting to, and have a good idea of how that test score actually factors into.

What you might be seeing for yourself in terms of your overall portfolio and what schools might be seeing of you when it comes to actual review time.

So, that being said, whether you decide to submit scores or not is a personal calculus that we want to sort of take in multiple factors before considering whether you’re going to or not. What I sort of generally tell students is the rule of thumb, and again, this may change from person to person, but You should admit a, you should submit your score if your score is in or above the admitted range for the previous year.

And by range, I don’t mean anyone they admitted, I mean like 50 percent or above. If you’re like right in the middle of the pack or above.

If you are going to a top 20 institution or a similarly competitive institution for your particular program, you are sort of expected still to submit a score. Colleges will be looking for it, even if it’s technically test optional. And a thing that I would sort of really, uh, Keep in mind about the elite schools is that you don’t have to spend so much time maximizing your score that you’re neglecting other parts of your application.

All of the elite schools have a sort of range of acceptable scores. And then from there, a score only really stands out if it’s really, really good or really, really bad. So I would say like for your top 20 schools, you’re really looking at like a 34 on the ACT. The difference between a 35 or 36 rarely breaks.

Or makes a student’s admittance, but it can be useful for students have really similar statistics and profiles. Um, but I would say in general, like, rarely is your standardized test score going to be the thing that truly prevents you or like, seals the deal for you at a school like Yale. I know a lot of students that had perfect or close to perfect scores that didn’t get into a single Ivy League.

I know students that were well below the average for the Ivy’s that did get in and absolutely do deserve their spot, right? So it really, really is, um, a full package holistic review. And this is but one of several important data points. Your test scores, your grades, your extracurriculars, and your essays.

that are all being used to evaluate your profile and what kind of applicant you are and how well defined you are. Now, I would keep in mind, um, that strong test scores can be used to balance out or augment less strong academic performance, especially if there are extenuating circumstances. So if you were really sick or had some sort of large family disturbance for part of your junior year and your grades really dropped.

But you still managed to pull it together and really slay, as the kids say, the SAT or the ACT the summer afterwards, then submitting that stronger test score to augment the grades that were struggling a little bit in combination with an essay about why your grades were struggling can do wonders. In terms of why not submitting a score, I would not submit a score if it significantly drags down the rest of your profile.

So if you’ve done great across the board and everything else, and for some reason that score looks lower than people with your demographics, I would not submit that score. Um, and you can go in and sort of find, right, like, what are the demographics, what are the average demographics of the things you can measure.

for students who get into a specific school, and you can look those up online. Okay, so, um, I’ll round out today by talking a little bit about my standardized testing experience and sort of what I did. Some of what I did is no longer going to be relevant because testing has changed a lot since I applied to college, but hopefully this will get a sense of at least sort of strategy that one can take.

when applying and using standardized tests to boost one’s application. And then I’ll wrap up with some just general thoughts and then we’ll move into question and answer. So these were all of the non AP standardized tests that I took. I took nine or ten AP classes in high school, um, which was slightly above average for the school that I personally went to, which is like, which was like a mid range public school.

Um, in addition to that, I took a test that no longer exists called the SAT Subject Test in Biology, And that was something that was just a sort of helpful feather in my cap at the time. I had done a lot of biology in high school. I am in a profession that is very biology adjacent now. So it was a useful extra test for me to take.

And it was kind of fun. My junior fall, I took the PSAT. And the old version of the SAT. What was sort of unusual for me was that I was also in a time of change. The last time the SAT changed, when it went from being 2400 to 1600. The PSAT was the version of the test that you see now. So the 1600 version. I took it.

I did okay. I wasn’t super satisfied with my overall score. And I didn’t love the testing format. It wasn’t, My particular cup of tea, I that I therefore chose because I had the option to take either the old or the new SAT, I chose to take one of the last sessions possible of the old SAT, and I did okay, um, I did moderately well, but I think I really ran into a specific test that was not compatible with my particular math strength, and so I remember walking out of that test being like, Oh, no, that was not the test for me to take, and I did okay, but knew I was going to need to take it again.

It was at that point, um, that my mom shout out to my mom had said, do you want to at least try taking the ACT? I think You might feel better about it. And it was, again, sort of doing this calculus of the fact that I read a lot that I talked a lot. And so those things are very beneficial, potentially on the CT based on testing format and straights.

Right? And so my junior spring, I flipped to taking the ACT. I found sort of immediately that it was just a better test for me. I like tests that are a little more fast paced. Um, reading and science are my strengths. And I found that the practice tests were a little bit more analogous to the actual test.

Um, My biggest issue, I think, with some of the digital SAT practice tests, and this is something that I’ve also seen be sort of, echoed by folks online is that the official test and the official test prep resources are great. I love Khan Academy, but the level of difficulty on some of the questions doesn’t always translate to what the level of difficulty is on the test.

The ACT, I think though, for me, at least in my experience, both tutoring and taking it, the practice tests and the actual tests are pretty well, like one to one. Um, and so I felt that having that bank of really clear practice tests with a really good feel that were all official from the actual ACT company was really, really helpful for me.

And so I did the entire book, um, and I ended up taking a test that did play to my strengths. I still remember some of the reading passages because I. As a nerd, thought they were really interesting and about cool topics. And so I was able to take that test. That test, again, played to my strengths, happened to be also coincidentally about things that I was interested in and was happy with my score.

So I only took it once. And then I sent in my scores from there. And so, So what I’ll wrap up with based on my experience and everything I’ve explained to you about these tests is, uh, these three tips. My first is find a test that feels right for you. Vibes are important, and knowing what kind of testing you like better is important.

Especially if you’re getting relatively similar scores across the board, choose the test that you like taking more. Um, I would remember that these tests are only a small part of your overall portfolio. So if you test poorly, you can absolutely compensate it. If you test well, great, but you can’t quite rest on your laurels.

Everyone applying to elite schools, um, tests well. So you have to develop a profile beyond test scores and numeric metrics. This is something that I really, really try to emphasize to parents in particular, because It’s very easy to get caught up in what is a very lucrative test prep industry, but your extracurriculars, your community service, your ability to make the world around you a better place outside of school, way more important than how many math problems you can do in an hour.

Last thing is studying smarter is much better than studying harder. I think people also sort of get caught into the addicting trap of rote repetition. And some people are rote repetition learners. The more they do it, the better they get. But given how busy a lot of high school students are and how many other demands are pulling up their time, and also given just sort of what mostly makes sense for folks in terms of doing well on these tests, having a smart strategy, having an analytical strategy, is going to be so much more important than hours spent in rote repetition for the majority of students.

You do need to put in your hours, you do need to spend your time practicing, you do need to spend your time studying, and you can spend a lot less time doing that for a much better result if you have a good plan. Okay, so that’s all I’ve got for you today, and happy to get in some questions and answers with our last five minutes here.

Anna: Yeah, thank you so much, Mariko. Quickly, yes, that is the end of the presentation part. We hope you found it helpful. Please remember you can download the slides from the link in the handouts tab if you want to reference them in the future. I’ve been reading through the questions you’ve submitted in the Q& A and also the ones you submitted when you registered for this webinar.

As we get to each one, I’ll paste it into the public chat so you can see them, then read it out loud before responding. As a heads up, if your Q& A tab isn’t letting you submit questions, just make sure you join the webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page. Okay, diving right into our first question.

Where can students look to figure out if their test scores are within the range of previously admitted students?

Mariko: So that’s a great question. There are a couple of private companies that collate scores every year. Um, if you want the official, official information, College Board normally has a rough breakdown of those scores.

So I would recommend looking at College Board first, but you can also peek into these pretty reputable third party companies if you just want some sort of extra data points, um, to sort of back that up. Some schools. Also post their averages online so you can check school websites directly and you can also see from those school websites how admit patterns have changed from year to year.

Anna: Thank you. I’m going to pause real quick to talk about CollegeAdvisor. For those in the room who are not already working with us, we know how overwhelming the admissions process can be. CollegeAdvisor’s team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts is ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process in one on one advising sessions.

We’ve already helped over 8, 000 families in their college journeys, and I’m excited to share we recently looked at our data. From 2021 to 2024, CollegeAdvisor students were 2. 4 times more likely to get into Harvard, almost three times more likely to get into Stanford, and almost two times more likely to get into Princeton.

So, increase your odds. Take the next step in your college admissions journey by signing up for a free 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team. You can do that by using the QR code on the screen. Go ahead and take a screenshot if you’re not able to take a photo of it right now or download the slides so you have it with you.

But follow that QR code to schedule this meeting. That first free meeting you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations from someone on our team, our team, on what you can do to stand out. At the end you’ll also learn more about the premium packages we offer that pair you with an expert who can support you in building your college list, strategizing standardized test taking, editing your essays, and so much more.

We’re here for the whole process. Um, I want to make sure we have time to get to a few more questions. So I’m going to move on, but I’ll leave that QR code on the screen for you all. Um, let’s see. Back to the questions. Um, Mariko, can you talk briefly about superscoring? Yes. I don’t know what it is. Yes.

Mariko: Yeah, let’s talk about it.

That’s definitely a question that is asked a lot. So a super score is when a college will take the highest score across each section of your test, if you’ve taken that test multiple times and you have different scores on different sections. So say on test number one, you score highly on reading but lower on math.

And then on test number two, you score higher on math, but lower on reading. They’ll take the high reading score and the high math score and use that to calculate your super score across both tests. Not every school does this. Some schools will also ask for all of your test scores across each time you’ve taken the test.

I wouldn’t worry about that too much. I would just say that that is mostly sort of. They want to see improvement across those scores, and not every college will super score the same way. So it’s really important to look at each college’s individual profile and check their websites to make sure you understand exactly how each college will super score.

So just do make sure that you check, um, the other, um, The other options that you’ll have in terms of super score versus a non super score policy are single highest test date, which is your total score, regardless of whether it’s your most recent score, all scores required for review. And of course there are schools that are test optional as well.

A lot of students end up taking a test more than once to see if they can improve, especially if they know that some of their mistakes are mistakes that are not a matter of being unable to understand content but rather are these skills, like time management, or careless mistakes that can be improved upon.

Anna: Thank you. Quickly, I, I think we have time for this one. How many times do you recommend retaking a test to try improving your score?

Mariko: So I think this one’s tough to answer as a blanket statement. It really depends on where you are as a student, how well you do on standardized tests, how confident you are in them, how much time you have to study for them, and also your Both your, like, feeling and capability of being able to improve.

I would say that if you are thinking about taking tests now, I would Probably not take more than three times, but anticipate roughly taking a test twice. Um, so you might take it once, you might take it three times, but be prepared to take it a second time, at least, if not a third time, and structure your study plan and your overall testing plan accordingly.

Anna: I completely agree. Thank you so much, Mariko, for all of your wisdom. Thank you everyone for joining us for our webinar. We had a great time talking about standardized testing. And that’s the end of our time together. Take good care, everyone, and good luck with your applications.