A little Advance Planning Goes a Long Way

It may seem like a cliche, but it's true - a little planning can go a long way towards eliminating stress for yourself, your parents, your teacher and your counselor - all people who's help you're going to want when it's time to apply to colleges.  Over the last couple of months, I've fielded many frantic questions and requests from students who need something - a letter, a form, official transcripts, recommendations; and they need it yesterday.  I'm glad to say I was able to meet all those requests, but that might not always be the case.  I would hate to see a student not get into the college of his choice because he waited until the last minute to ask for something - and then couldn't get it in time.

So juniors, listen up!  This is the time for you to get all your ducks in a row, so to speak.  Major college application season in California is November of your senior year, and once school starts up in the fall, November will be here before you know it.  Sophomores and Freshmen - it's not too early for you to begin planning, either; you'll be that much closer to ready come junior year.  Read on for a step-by-step guide to what you should be thinking about now, to make next fall that much easier on all of us.

Juniors

Make sure you know what the admission requirements are for the schools you plan to apply to.  Taking a step back, make sure you know what schools you want to apply to.  If you haven't decided yet, now is the time.  Hopefully you've narrowed down your long list of colleges to between 3 and 8 you will apply to come fall.  Check out minimum GPA requirements, standardized test (SAT or ACT) requirements, deadlines, and necessary essays and personal statements.  You can get started on your essays and personal statements this summer.  If you need letters of recommendation, start thinking about who you will ask, so you can let them know immediately after school starts in the Fall.  Finally, make sure you've registered for the SAT or ACT if you need it for your application.  If you plan to play a sport in college, make sure you are registered with the NCAA eligibility center as well.

Most importantly: meet with your counselor before the end of the school year to make a plan (and a calendar) for your applications come fall.

Sophomores

Begin your "long list" of colleges - all the colleges you can find that you might be interested in; if you've already started this list, keep looking and adding to it.  Begin preparing for the SAT/ACT.  Meet with your counselor to discuss what courses you should take your junior year to make your college application as strong as you can.  And while you're at it, hit the books to finish this semester's classes with the best grades you can possibly manage.  Remember - when reviewing applications, most colleges (including UC and CSU) look at 10th and 11th grade GPA - so this semester and your next two are your best chance to bring your GPA up to something the admissions staff will be impressed with.

Freshmen

Start searching online for colleges that might be of interest to you.  There are many great internet resources out there, including College Navigator, College Board, and CSU Mentor.  All of these sites have search engines to help match your interests and preferences to colleges.  You might also check out Colleges that Change Lives to find out about smaller, special interest colleges you might not come across in larger search engines.  Meet with your counselor to choose courses for next year - and to make sure you have the courses to prepare you for more challenging courses your junior year.  Also ask your counselor about taking the PSAT in the fall - it's a great way to practice for the SAT later on, and if your score is high enough, you might qualify for some scholarship money for college.

All Students

Meet with your counselor before the end of the year and make a plan!  The hour or so you spend planning this spring will undoubtedly save hours and hours of headaches later - for you and your support staff.

Non-test options

Having recently completed a post on college admissions testing, specifically SAT and ACT, I thought it was only fair to follow up with a discussion of colleges that don't require aptitude or achievement tests for admission.

There are many reasons students may not want to take the SAT or ACT.  Some people feel the tests are biased; others feel they give a very limited view of a student's skills and abilities.  They certainly evaluate  only a very small range of subjects in which a student might excel.  Furthermore, with all the recent talk in education of multiple intelligences, the tests evaluate specific subjects in a way that favors only one type of intelligence - logical/rational.  Students with strengths in other areas may not be able to show their full potential on such a test.  And finally, some students may just not test well, and feel that their test scores are not a good representation of their academic achievement or ability.

If you are reluctant to include standardized test scores in your application - for whatever reason - there are many institutions that do not generally require test scores as part of the admissions process (often referred to as 'test-optional' schools), and the list is growing.  Be warned, however, many of these schools require a much more extensive application, including more in the way of essays and personal statements, in order to sort through all the applicants.

You might also be interested to know that some schools that do require test scores as part of the admissions process use these scores in a formula along with GPA in a way that makes the test scores almost irrelevant for students with high GPAs.  For example, Humboldt State University in Northern California does not require SAT or ACT scores for California students whose high school GPA is above 3.0 (3.61 for non-residents).  Many schools in the California State University (CSU) system have similar policies, although this is not true for UC schools.  It is important to note, however, that the NCAA does use SAT or ACT scores in their calculation of eligibility, although once again, with a high GPA, the minimum score required on the SAT is fairly low.

A comprehensive list of test-optional schools can be found on the Fair Test website.  The list can be sorted alphabetically or by state.

For further reading, a good article on the use (or not) of SAT scores for admission from NPR: SATs Not for Everyone, but Reality for Most

Testing Season

While seniors are anxiously awaiting letters in response to their college applications and continuing to look for scholarships, juniors are just getting into the thick of the college search / application process; researching colleges, taking or preparing for SAT or ACT tests, and wondering if it will ever end.  Sophomores - I suggest you read this, too; it's not too early to start preparing for your college entrance exams!


So which test should you take - the SAT or the ACT?  And how to best prepare?  It can be mind boggling.  The first step is to find out which test is required or preferred by the schools you are applying to.  Most schools will accept either test; in that case it comes down to your own personal preferences.  The SAT includes only math and language arts, while the ACT includes science.  The SAT emphasizes vocabulary more.  The questions on the ACT tend to be more straightforward. On the SAT, there is a penalty for wrong answers (to discourage guessing), while the ACT has no such penalty. My advice is to learn all you can about each of the tests, work out some practice problems, then make a decision.  The following resources should be helpful in this process:


College Board
ACT Student
Princeton Review Article comparing the ACT and SAT


Once you've decided, use the resources on the SAT or ACT page to develop a study plan.


In addition to registration and basic information about the SAT test itself, the College Board website provides a huge list of resources to help prepare.  Check out the SAT question of the day – they’ll email a question to you every day so you can practice.  The site will also help you to set up a study plan for the SAT, and you can even take a full-length practice test – free!  The College Board site also has a wealth of information on college planning in general. For more information, visit the College Board website: http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice


While they won't email it to you, the ACT website also has a question of the day (posted on the site), access to practice questions, and test-taking tips.  You can also order test prep materials through the website, find testing sites and register to take the test.  Although less extensive, the ACT site also provides information on financial aid as well as college and career planning.  For more information, visit the ACT website: http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/index.html


If you like to hedge your bets, you may even decide to take both tests and see which one gives a better score.  Whatever you decide, develop a plan, take the time to prepare, and good luck!