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(FOX25, myfoxboston) – Even in August, classrooms at the Princeton Review are packed with high school students trying to get an upper hand on the SAT.
“I wanted to improve my score and see how much better I can do after a class,” Jae Rhee, a junior at Newton South High School said.
An SAT score od just one small part of an application, but it’s big when it comes to getting into state schools. It’s sometimes among the first things admissions officials check out.
“For them to, based on one number, be completely omitted from the list of possibilities, I can see why that would increase anxiety,” said Christopher Jacobs of the Princeton Review.
You can see why the $1,000 price tag for the class gets easier to swallow, as students and parents scramble for ways to stick out.
“It’s the idea that you have to get into the right college, start your life, then jump into the right job,” said Alexandra Koch, a junior at Newton South.
Koch says she’s been worried about college since she was in 7th grade. It is a reality for lots of students.
“My feeling has always been, start early, it reduces the stress,” says Deirdre Guenther of the Compass Group .
Since navigating the application process can get confusing, a new cottage industry has sprung up – the independent college counselor. For around $6,000 or $7,000, Deirdre Guenther will work with a student, starting early in high school. She’ll keep them organized, on-task, and focused on finding the right school.
“Their college advisor is really their head coach, and their parents should be on the sidelines, cheering for them. And I am their independent, or their private coach, refining their techniques,” Guenther says.
Half the battle is being smart about which schools you apply to.
“Students really need to think about who they are and what they’re looking for, and not worry about that bumper sticker on the back of their parents’ car,” says Kelly Walter, who has been reading college applications for 30 years.
Now, as Boston University’s admissions director, she sees some students trying too hard to create the perfect profile.
“I think so often students are wrapped up in trying to present themselves in a way almost to market themselves. This becomes a PR project for many students,” Walter says.
The race to join clubs, be a varsity athlete, volunteer, travel, save the world – it can all be too much. What does Boston University care most about? Your academic record, including your senior year grades.
“There are certainly a lot of resources available to students and most of those resources are for free,” Walter says.
In the end, it has no doubt become more competitive to get into college, but as with so much else, planning makes the difference.
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/special_reports/college_be_prepared_get_accepted_092709
CNN American Morning aired another segment today critical of the College Board.
To help parents of college-bound students better understand the challenges of the high-stakes SAT college entrance exam, The Princeton Review, Inc. (Nasdaq: REVU), announced today the official launch of its SAT Parent Challenge. Providing a small sample of the kind of questions students will encounter when taking the SAT, the 12-question online quiz is intended to not only give parents the opportunity to test their academic acumen, but experience — if only for 15 minutes — some of the challenges their kids will face when they take the actual, nearly four-hour SAT exam.
Available at http://inquiry.princetonreview.com/ugrad/satparentchallenge, the SAT Parent Challenge features questions from each of the three sections of the exam: Critical Reading, Math, and Essay Writing. After completing the quiz, parents will receive their results from The Princeton Review, as well as examples of techniques that may have helped them correctly answer specific questions.
“Not only is today’s SAT much harder than it used to be, but many colleges and universities have increased their average score requirements for first-year students,” says Robert Franek, Vice President/Publisher at The Princeton Review. “There’s also a growing reliance on college entrance exams to determine eligibility for grants and scholarships due to the dramatic increase in requests for financial aid this year.
Given all of this, there’s no question that parents and students must take these tests seriously and really prepare for them.” Franek noted that according to The Princeton Review’s 2009 “College Hopes and Worries Survey,” when asked to gauge their stress level about the college application process, student respondents indicated higher levels than their parents. Additionally, stress levels were the highest since The Princeton Review began the survey in 2003. “Much of this stress can be eliminated if you understand that it’s not always about learning more — or even remembering what you’ve learned — but knowing how to approach a question on a standardized test.
Bottom line: the right attitude and preparation for taking these tests can be an extremely important influence and play a key role in helping a student achieve the college test score they need and deserve.” As added incentive, parents who take the SAT Parent Challenge between July 3 and August 31, 2009 will be automatically entered into the Parent Challenge Sweepstakes, with three first place winners receiving a Princeton Review SAT Classroom Preparatory Course, valued at over $1,000. About The Princeton Review The Princeton Review (Nasdaq: REVU) has been a pioneer and leader in helping students achieve their higher education goals for more than 25 years through college and graduate school test preparation and private tutoring. With more than 165 print and digital publications and a free website, http://www.PrincetonReview.com, the Company provides students and their parents with the resources to research, apply to, prepare for, and learn how to pay for higher education. The Princeton Review also partners with schools and guidance counselors throughout the U.S. to assist in college readiness, test preparation and career planning services, helping more students pursue postsecondary education. REVU-G SOURCE The Princeton Review Source
PR Newswire: Princeton Review Launches SAT Parent Challenge Posted on: Monday, 10 August 2009, 09:50 CDT NEW YORK, Aug. 10
Dason and Chris, two young Hong Kongers now studying in American universities, talk about their experience preparing for their standardized tests at the Princeton Review in Hong Kong.
In this short video, two members of the Princeton Review Hong Kong team introduce the school and answer questions about what students need in order to apply to an American University.
在這影片中, 兩名香港Princeton Review的職員將會為大家介紹學院及解答有關同學們申請美國大學時應注意的事項.
Senioritis (see nee your right us): n. Low academic performance among seniors in high school, usually caused by the end of college application process. Symptoms include noticeable absence from class, blank stares, and excessive chatter about graduation.
Because second semester grades won’t be released until after admissions decisions have been made, many seniors think their grades aren’t important anymore. Not true!
Second semester grades still impact several things:
1. Graduation: If you fail a required class, you’re not going to graduate. If you don’t graduate, you don’t go to college. Simple.
2. Scholarships: Plenty are based on yearend class rank and academic performance. If you’re requesting a review of your financial aid package, strong final grades can certainly help.
3. Offers of admission: A college’s offer could be rescinded if you mess up your final grades. And your second-semester grades truly matter if you’ve been waitlisted. By submitting strong grades for your senior year, you’re giving admissions committee one more reason to review your application favorably.
4. Advanced Placement: If you plan to take the AP or IB exams, you may be in luck. Most colleges give college credit if you earn a high enough score on these exams, which means you won’t have to pay to retake these classes in college once you’re enrolled.
Juniors! You will be working on applications in September, so start thinking about colleges now. Research online. Talk to friends who will be graduating soon. Talk to cousins in college. If you want guidance through admissions, call for a private introduction to our counseling.
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