Notice how the older, more experienced student is looking after the younger one? (Photo credit: Oakley Originals via Flickr)
Welcome back everyone!
By now I'm sure all of our Freshman and Sophomores are well on their way to a fantastic start to their high school career. But what about those students that have been there and done that? They need just a little more in the way of advice than just, "study hard." Lucky for all of you, in addition to the basics, we here at Omniac have more specialized things that our upper classman can be doing to improve their college applications!
Junior Year!
This is when most people start to really think about college, but you should have already done some of that stuff already, so you'll be a few steps ahead of your classmates. As always though, there's still plenty you can do.
"Study Hard!"
Thought I wasn't going to tell you this? Well, Im sorry, but there's never a time when you can afford to give up on your grades. The first thing you should do as a junior is take a good, long look at your GPA. If you've kept your nose to the grindstone the past 2 years, it'll be just more of the same for you. If not, then this is the time to try to pull that up. Remember! Most applications will have deadlines in the winter of your senior year, so you only have 2-3 more semesters to improve your grades.
"Take the PSAT"
This test is open to all juniors and there's really just no excuse not to take it. I know it's a long, boring standardized test, but if you do well enough, your college prospects will greately improve. Let me repeat that for emphasis. If you do well enough on this single test (the PSAT), colleges will literally fight each with big handfuls of money to get you to go to their school. And if you don't do very well...then you've only lost about 3 hours. Like I said, there's really no reason not to at least try it out.
"Take the ACT/SAT. Take them early and take them often"
On the subject of tests, when spring rolls around, you should be trying out your first ACT or SAT. These tests are only held 6 times every year; so the earlier you take it, the more time you'll have to
fix any problems you find. And if you get the score of your dreams now, then that's one less thing to worry about next year.
Senior Year!
Here it is! This is what the past three years have been all about. More than any other year in high school, your senior year is all about what you've made of it. If you've had your eye on the prize this whole time, you'll largely be able to sit back and enjoy yourself this year. But if you've slacked off as an underclassman, there'll be no enjoyment to be had as you work your butt off trying to play catch up.
"Avoid Senioritis"
The first and most important thing you can do during your senior year is AVOID SENIORITIS!!! One F or major discipline problem can destroy all the hard work you've put in over the past 3 years. The party that everone is going to or the class that's so easy to skip...is just not worth endangering your future. This is the last year of high school and the end is so close, just a little more work and you'll finally be done!
"Dot your Is and cross your Ts"
You've done all the work already. You've kept a good GPA throughout high school. You've experienced different clubs and activities and lived life outside of the classroom. You've taken your tests.
You've picked your colleges. Now all that's left is to put all that hard work together and wow colleges with your tremendous application.
That's all there is to it. If you can stay on top of everything, you can almost just coast this last year. You may have to take a test again, but at least you know what you need to do to prepare for test day. You will have lots and lots of applications to fill out, but since you've spent the past 3 years building towards this, it should be relatively easy. This is the reward for all the previous years of hardwork you've put yourself though, so enjoy it!
She looks like she's starting to study. Remember that: we'll go back to it again...several times. (Photo Credit: Dawn Ashley via Flickr.)
Hey all!
A new school year is right around the corner, if it hasn't gotten to you already, and there are always things you can be doing to improve your college applications regardless of your current grade. Every year, students of every grade level have questions about things they can do to start prepping for college. As always, Omniac is here with some answers!
So, without further delay, here are a few simple tips that any student can use to help prepare for college!
Freshman Year
In a lot of ways, freshman year is the most important year because it sets the tone for your entire high school career. Rock the socks off it, and you've put yourself in a great position to do the same for the next three years. But if you blow it, you'll spend those same three years trying to dig yourself out of a very, very deep hole.
1.
Study, Study, Study!The number 1 thing you can get taken care ofduring freshman year is
GRADES, GRADES, GRADES! High school GPA is the biggest clue as to how well a student will do in college and it's the most important part of your application. The earlier you can lock down your grades, the better you'll look to colleges.
2. Embrace your next 4 years!
After you get your grades where you want them, the next most important thing is to fully experience high school. Like it or not, this is where you'll spend the next 4 years of your life, and you can make yourself have a great time, or a miserable time. Obviously the better time you're having, the better you'll do academically. Make some more friends, check out sports, or band, or the myriad other clubs that every campus offers. Find your niche, find the thing that makes you special and colleges WILL notice.
Sophomore Year!
You're a year older, a year wiser, and you're hopefully well on your way to having that whole "high school thing" figured out. There are good and bad things about sophomore year: the Good is that you're not a freshman anymore. The Bad, though, is that you're kinda like the middle child of the school. You don't get all the cool stuff that the juniors and seniors get, but you're held to a much higher standard than the freshmen. That doesn't mean you can let sophomore year go to waste. There are still lots of things you can be doing to make this year great!
1. Find "Yourself" and make that person AWESOME!
After the obvious (keep those grades up!), the best thing to work on is YOU! Ya know, the unique individual things that make you stand out. Hopefully, you have a couple of ideas about what those things are, and you might have even found extra curricular activities that let you show your passions off. Dive as deep as you can into your activities and make them your own!
2. Take your show on the road!
Let's say that you've been finding things out about yourself that are unique and great and you've been exploring those things through your school. Fantastic! But there are plenty of other avenues outside of school that are just as good, if not better. Always remember that, in addition to big changes in your education, your high school years are about big changes to you and your community. Taking whatever skills and talents you have to help better your community is not only just an all-around good thing, but it will look even better on your application than school-sponsored events!
Thanks a lot for checking in with the first part of this series. We certainly hope that all Freshmen and Sophomores are able to put these ideas to good use so they can have a spectacular start to high school! Come back next time to see our tips for upper classman!
Welcome to the December 23, 2009 edition of the Carnival of college admission. We here at Omniac are wrapping things up for the year, but we've got just enough time to share the latest Carnival of College Admission with ya! Check out some of these awesome links!
Choosing the Right College
For an unorthodox education, you may want to look for a unique experience. Here are a few schools worth checking out courtesy of Kathryn Hawkins. She presents Want a Unique Academic Experience? Try One of These Schools posted at My College Guide.
Baker Jason presents 10 Non-traditional University Rankings that should help you get a grasp on some different schools available to you. It's posted at Online University Rankings 2010.
Jennifer Meyer presents 10 Most Selective Universities in the US posted at College Stats.org,
saying, "You aced your SATs and your GPA is 4.0. Do you think you can
get into Harvard or Yale? If you don’t excel in sports and if your
father is not a senator, your admission be subject to a number of
arbitrary whims, including the side effects of food poisoning."
College Life
Beware the lure of Greek life! It can be dangerous! Barbara Williams fills us in on the Top 10 Worst Greek Hazing Scandals & Stories at Online Colleges.net.
Kaitlyn Cole helps all of you college students struggling in the dorm with 100+ Helpful Tips for Surviving and Thriving in Dorm Life and 101 Ways to Hack Your College Cafeteria at Online Colleges.net.
College is a tough time for poor students even when the US isn't in a recession. Jim Wang helps all students out with 40 Money Tips for College Students posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
Financial Aid
Ron presents Student Aid Eligibility posted at ScholarshipBeat, saying, "Eligibility for federal student aid is based on financial need as well as several other factors. The financial aid administrator at the college or career school you plan to attend will determine your eligibility."
Getting Admitted
Want to join graphic design school, but don't know how much it costs? Let Tom Tessin give you the low down in his article How Much is Graphic Design School? posted at FCC Student Blog.
Sophie presents Vital Must Know College Terms- Your Personal Cheat Sheet and a fantastic video post titled Critical Tips for Navigating the FAFSA web site at Sophie's Blog.
Angela Martin presents 50 Great Blogs for College Admissions posted at Online Colleges.org.
Tell her if you know of any others!
That concludes this edition. Now we can get back to wrapping presents...
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Over the years, we here at Omniac have done a lot of work to keep our finger on the pulse of the ACT. Technically, the test isn't supposed to change without ACT notifying test takers, but we all know that small changes creep into the test over time.
While ACT releases a good deal of material every year to students for us to study, we don't rest until we feel like we've experienced the test exactly the way our students do on test day. That means...we have to take the test too.
Today, I'm introducing a new feature here to our blog. We want to share the information we get from taking the test with our readers, especially those students who are trying to figure out what to study and where to work on their test taking skills. We're hoping that it helps all of you make better choices about what to study!
To be clear: we will not be posting questions, answers, or other direct material from the test. Instead, we want to highlight the big trends that are shaping up and draw your attention to specific topics that we think are important. In addition, we want you to know how hard we thought the exam was relative to past exams.
WHAT WE SAW (September 12, 2009 ACT)
Section 1: English
Difficulty: Medium
The English section was an extremely typical exam for the September 2009 ACT. We saw the usual split between Grammar and Rhetoric and plenty of questions that asked students to remember how punctuation marks, verbs, and pronouns work.
This year, we did see a slight decrease in punctuation questions and a slight increase in verb questions. Also, a good number of the verb questions provided answer choices that weren't even real words: ranned, wented, threwed, etc. Students should use these "verbs" to their advantage by getting rid of answer choices that can't be correct.
Section 2: Math
Difficulty: Hard
The Math section for the September 2009 ACT was a tough section filled with tricky questions. We saw the typical six math subjects (Pre-algebra, Algebra I + II, Shape Geometry, Coordinate Geometry, and Trig), but the focus shifted from the usual Pre-algebra and Algebra I to Shape Geometry and Algebra II.
There were several questions that appeared to be trying to slow students down. Upper-level math problems for this test seemed to be specifically guilty of this, introducing concepts like the Law of Sines and the absolute value of complex numbers. Students would have been served well by skipping such questions.
Overall, students should not see huge drops in scores on the Math section. While it was hard and students probably felt like they were drowning in numbers, the test is scaled for a reason. All the students will labor under the same burden for the September 2009 ACT and the scale for the scores will reflect that.
Section 3: Reading
Difficulty: Easy
We are always hesitant to say that a section is easy on the ACT. However, it's been a while since we've seen such a manageable Reading section. Containing the usual four sections (Prose Fiction, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Science), the September 2009 ACT featured clear writing and compelling topics that made the Reading section a relative breeze.
The Prose Fiction section, as usual, proved to be one of the most difficult sections for students to understand. While most of the questions were easy to solve, the remaining problems were vague and unhelpful. Once again, the Science section was a pleasant alternative for students seeking to find easier questions.
Section 4: Science
Difficulty: Medium
The September 2009 ACT ended as it began: the Science section was a straightforward version of the test we've seen a million times before. Just like the English subtest, the Science section had the usual breakdown of questions with the usual levels of difficulties. Any student who invested time into learning how to break down and solve basic Science questions was well-rewarded on test day.
However, we did see a few questions that struck us as odd. It's commonly accepted that the ACT Science contains very little actual science, but this year featured a few questions that required students to know the basics of Chemistry and Biology! It's difficult to prep for questions of these type because we have no idea what the ACT thinks is important (Acids/Bases, Cell Mitosis, Photosynthesis, ets?) We urge students to continue to focus on the big picture, eliminating answers they know are wrong and focusing on questions they can score points on first.
September 2009 ACT Overall
Overall Difficulty: Medium
As you can tell from the notes above, this was a pretty typical September ACT. We fully expect students to show strong improvements if they've worked hard to learn new skills since their last test. Students probably felt frustrated by the Math section, but as long as they didn't let that struggle get them down, they should have bounced back well on the other sections.
Also, it's worth noting that the ACT instructions about snacks aren't accurate. Your ACT ticket says that snacks are "Not allowed," but it's perfectly fine to eat them on the break if they fit in your pocket. You just aren't allowed to bring them into the test room.
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Got any notes for us about your test? Please let us know in the comments!
The week before an ACT exam is always a stressful time for students. Many test takers try to cram last minute studying sessions into their already busy schedule to bring up their ACT score as much as they possibly can. Unfortunately, the ACT isn't a test for which one can study; it's an exam for which one has to practice!
Practicing is quite different from studying. It's quite likely that you already know all the math formulas, science theories, and grammar rules that you need to be successful on the ACT. Instead of trying to learn more, as you would for a traditional exam, any work you do at the last minute needs to focus on using the information you've already got.
With that in mind, let's take a look a five tips that can help you get the most out of the small amount of practice time you've got!
1. Get The Right Materials
There are a lot of ACT books out on the market. While Princeton Review, Kaplan, and others have books that promise to raise your score, trying to implement any of their techniques at the last minute is probably going to do more harm than good. Focus your efforts on trying actual problems out and get The Real ACT Prep Guide from the makers of the ACT. Doing real problems is the best way to get ready for what you're going to see on test day!
2. Don't Answer Every Question
Most students try to answer every question on the test, regardless of difficulty. This is a mistake! Instead of trying to do all 60 math questions in 60 minutes, focus on doing 40 or 50 questions as correctly as you can. Every question is worth the same number of points, so focus on getting the easy questions right first!
3. Bubble in Every Bubble
While you should take your time and answer questions slowly, you shouldn't leave any bubbles blank. The ACT doesn't mark off extra points for wrong answers, so you should always guess. The worst thing that can happen is that you get a question wrong, costing you nothing. The best thing that can happen is that you get a free point!
4. Do Timed Sections
While it's tempting to pick through the book you've purchased, you need to actually sit down and take a few timed sections. That means getting Mom or Dad to time you as you try to do as many questions as you can within the time limit. You might not have time to take an entire practice test, but a few timed sections can give you a much better sense of how many questions you can do and keep your accuracy up!
5. Get Up Early on Test Day
You have to get up early enough on test day to wake up your brain. That means that if the test is at 8:00 AM, you need to be awake and active by 7:00 AM at the latest. It's also a good idea to eat something resembling a real breakfast and engage your brain so that it's as awake as you are. I suggest a crossword, video game, or a fight with a sibling you don't like very much.
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Any other tips you've found useful on test day? Let us know in the comments!
It's easy to underestimate how complex the University of California admissions process can be for students. While the UC system has a reputation for excellence even among the best public colleges, it's shocking to look over the actual requirements that students must meet to apply. Many parents and students I work with assume that the UC application is much like the application to Arizona State or University of New Mexico and are shocked to find out how detailed their child's submission needs to be to even be considered!
This last month, however, the UC Board of Regents took a massive step toward simplifying their application process by eliminating the requirement that students take the SAT Subject Exams. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:
"UC was the only public education system in the country that made students take two SAT subject tests. The result: 22,000 high school graduates in California were disqualified in 2007 from applying to the university who otherwise would have been eligible." - SFGate.com
The change in UC admissions policy will be effective for the graduating class of 2012, but already speaks volumes about the role that testing is going to play in the UC system far beyond the next few years.
First and foremost, it's clear that the UC's interest in testing has declined dramatically. While rumors swirled that the changes to the SAT made in 2005 were largely the result of the University of California's influence and sway, it appears that the Board of Regents has focused their attention on GPA and college prep courses rather than expanded testing requirements. If they've already forced the SAT to redesign the test to suit their needs, they don't seem to think more forced dealings with College Board were a worthwhile use of their time when it came to the Subject Tests.
Secondly, it's widely believed that the Subject Tests are actually better indicators of college success than the original ACT or SAT themselves. The fact that the UC system opted to drop these test doesn't bode well for the future of the ACT and SAT. I wouldn't be surprised to see the primary tests continue to decrease in importance over the next few years. The dropping of the Subject Tests means that the UC system might even go test-optional at some point!
All in all, I think it's a massive victory for proponents of a smart, balanced application process. Some observers like Thomas D. Elias are even arguing that the changes reflect "an affirmation of higher standards combined with greater opportunity for students who have dealt with hardships and received poor counseling in high school."
It's hard to see anything but good in that!
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Got something to say about the SAT Subject Tests? Miss them already? Let us know in the comments!
Hey all!
Over the past few months, Omniac has been proud to help the Carnival of College Admissions by supplying blog posts and even hosting! We love how awesome all the links are that Mark Montgomery collects!
This week the 13th edition of the Carnival was released and we were once again proud to be a part of it. Here are a few highlights:
- The current recession has made many students re-think their college
choices and even transfer to a more affordable school. Student blogger,
Ally Demos from myusearch.com, presents a video blog about how the
economic crunch is affecting college students. Elizabeth Kudner
presents College Students Feel the Economic Crunch posted at myUsearch blog.
- Sarah Scrafford presents 100 Awesome Open Courses and Lectures for Digital Artists posted at Online Universities.com
- Eric Perron, the host of our last edition of the Carnival of College
Admission, likes to talk back to the television. He offers his
critique of a recent program on college admission, aptly titled Come On “CBS Early Show”, This Is The Best Advice You Have To Pay For College? posted on his blog, Dream Strategy.
Go check the whole thing out! It's definitely worth it!
As you may recall, College Board announced over the summer that they would allow students to pick which SAT scores would be sent to colleges instead of forcing students to send a cumulative record their scores. I pointed out at the time that this policy change was a pretty cynical move on College Board's part, since they killed a program in 2002 that did the exact same thing because it "hurt more students than it helped."
At the start of 2009, several colleges weighed in on the issue as well, choosing to either accept or reject the College Board's plan. Some influential schools like Harvard accepted the new reporting standards, but others chose to reject it and have demanded that students send all of their scores. Stanford was especially public and vocal about rebuffing the Score Choice program. The Stanford Director of Admissions, Shawn Abbott noted:
"We want to discourage students from taking the SAT more than once or
twice, and believe that programs like Score Choice encourage applicants
with resources to take the SAT excessively to improve their scores. [...] I wouldn’t agree with the notion that Score Choice relieves pressure or
stress,” he said. “I would argue instead that such programs only
encourage students to take more tests to improve their scores at all
costs." - The Stanford DailyTo some degree, this development totally caught me by surprise.
The SAT Score Choice program is supposed to let students choose the score they want to send to the schools. If the program isn't universal, then they aren't really choosing anything! Instead, some schools are promising to ignore the scores they would probably chose to ignore anyway.
Look at Harvard's statement concerning Score Choice:
"Students applying to Harvard are free to use the College Board's new
Score Choice option and/or a similar option already offered by ACT.
Score Choice rests on the same principle that has supported our
admissions process for decades — that applicants should be free to
present their own best case. We have always counted an applicant's
highest test scores and have allowed students to decide whether they
wanted to send all their test scores." - Harvard's WebsiteIn short, they are accepting Score Choice because they already counted your highest scores and ONLY your highest scores. Stanford is rejecting Score Choice for the same reason that Harvard is accepting it. They already counted ALL your scores and want to continue counting all your scores.
How should you respond to all this? Take the ACT.
The ACT allows you to send your single highest score to any school in the country. It's a significantly shorter test than the SAT, clocking in at nearly an hour less with the optional essay. Students enjoy that the ACT is direct and to the point, lacking many of the "tricky" question types that make College Board and the SAT famous. And more importantly than anything else, the makers of the ACT aren't involved in the backroom shenanigans that surround all of this Score Choice nonsense.
So unless you fall into the small category of students who naturally test better on the SAT, now is the best time to avoid College Board (and the SAT) altogether.
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Still planning on taking the SAT? Tell us why in the comments...
How many skulls do they have on file? (Credit: Marynno via flickr)
Yale's Skull and Bones society is being sued for having a set of Skull and Bones...Geronimo's to be exact! - The Paper Trail
A high school in Florida is trying to graduate students with an Associates Degree as well as a diploma. - MSNBC
Worried about finding a good job after college? Several universities are improving their ability to help students find work after graduation. - NY Times
The story of two College Board employees drive to desegregate SAT testing sites in the south is being told now for the first time. - Fox News
The Roanoke Times takes a strong stand against a push by Virginia lawmakers to designate more spots for in-state students - The Roanoke Times
Don't you just hate that guy who's always correcting people's grammar? Well, sometimes it pays to be that guy. - Kansas City Star
Go College has a new guide on debt that's a must read for any student preparing for life after high school - Go College
Hunter High in Utah finds out that continuing their IB program is more challenging than they thought - Salt Lake Tribune
It's inevitable. Every term, I have students who come to me a few days before the ACT and sheepishly confess that they are not registered to take the test.
Their reasons are many: They forgot. They were sure they registered, but now found out they didn't. They were convinced that registering for a tutorial meant that we would sign them up for the ACT. Mom thought Dad had done it; Dad thought Mom had done it.
Regardless, the sad fact remains that they've prepped for a test, but aren't enrolled for the test date.
Luckily, ACT has planned for this occurance and lets students attend the test on a "standby" basis. So if you've forgotten to register and your test is bearing down on you, here's what you should do:
- Go to your high school counselor and get a paper ACT registration.
- Go to ACT's list of test centers and find a testing site near your house.
- Fill out your paper registration and place a check for the test fee + $40 Standby fee inside the registration. Seal the envelope and make sure that your return address is on it.
- Make sure you have a photo ID with you and your sealed packet.
- Go to the testing center you've selected well before 8:00 AM. I would suggest going as early as 7:00 AM to make sure you get a seat.
- Wait in line until they call for standbys. Hopefully, you are at the front of the line and they take you first.
I've told literally dozens of students these same instructions and have never had a student turned away by the test proctors. But make sure to get to the testing location early to be sure! And next time register online!
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Did you forget to register for the ACT? Drop us a note in the comments section and let us know what you did!