Countries sending the most students to the U.S.

So what country sends the most students to the United States?
India, with 103,260 students, followed by:
China, 98,510
South Korea, 75,065
Canada, 29,697
Japan, 29,264

source: 2009 Open Doors Report on International Education

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The proctor of your SAT exam

The SAT may not be a standardized test, as proctors -- far from standard -- can make a difference in students' scores. And even a difference of 20 to 30 points can affect whether a student gets into a school or gets a scholarship.

By RACHEL AVIV

Published: October 26, 2009

WHEN Jordan Reeves took the SAT last January, her eyes kept drifting to the front of the room, where her proctor was assembling bouquets of flowers. The proctor carried on several lively conversations on the classroom phone while snipping stems, Ms. Reeves says. She then arranged pebbles at the bottom of a half-dozen vases, planted the flowers, and lined the finished bouquets in a row on her desk. The process took her the entire length of the exam.

Read more...

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Why Your SAT is so expensive

The exec at College Board, which runs the SAT, makes $900,000 a year.

See the full story by Carol Costello - Correspondent, CNN's American Morning.

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Average SAT Scores

The average (mean) SAT score, according to College Board...

2009 College-Bound Seniors' Average Scores

• Critical reading: 501
• Mathematics: 515
• Writing: 493
• TOTAL: 1,509
  

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How to Send Your SAT Scores

A U.S. News and World Report article offers some useful information on how to submit your SAT test scores under the new Score Choice policy. Check it out here.

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Scores for June SAT tests are arailable

The scores for the SAT and Subject tests in June are now available via College Board.
Register online to check out your score.
More information...

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SAT and disabled students

My child is disabled? How do I know if he is eligible for accommodations to take the SAT?

From College Board...

Eligibility

What are the College Board's eligibility requirements?

If you have a documented disability you may be eligible for accommodations on College Board tests (i.e., SAT, SAT Subject Tests, AP, PSAT). If you are seeking accommodations on a College Board test, you must complete a Student Eligibility Form.

To be eligible, you must:

1. have a disability that necessitates testing accommodations,
2. have documentation on file at your school that supports the need for requested accommodations and meets the Guidelines for Documentation, and
3. receive and use the requested accommodations, due to the disability, for school-based tests.

If any of these requirements are not met, you may still be eligible. You may send your disability documentation with the Student Eligibility Form to the College Board for review and determination. The disability documentation must adhere to the Guidelines for Documentation on page 1 of the Instructions.

What disabilities make you eligible for accommodations?

There are many disabilities that impact a student's academic functioning. Here are a few:

• Blindness/Vision Impairment
• AD/HD (formerly known as A.D.D. /A.D.H.D.)
• Learning Disabilities
• Deafness/Hearing Impairment
• Certain Medical Conditions
• Certain Physical Disabilities
• Certain Psychiatric Conditions

Read the original information from College Board....


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Cheating ont the SAT?

Are you a wannabe pro baskeball player or a British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) player tempted to cheat on the SAT to get a good scholarship in the States?

Don't even think about it. Read this story about how cheating can be detected...

A fake ID and Derrick Rose's test admission slip are all one would have needed to take the SAT in place of the former University of Memphis point guard.

An NCAA notice of allegations charging Memphis' men's basketball program with major violations during the 2007-08 season alleges that Rose had his SAT taken by someone else before his arrival at Memphis.

read more...

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May SAT scores posted on collegeboard.com

May SAT Scores Are Online

Most scores are now available for the May SAT and SAT Subject Tests. View your scores.

Want to study the actual May SAT test and the answers you gave? Click on "Order Score Services" next to your May score information.

Please note that a small percentage of scores are not yet available. If your scores aren't online now, learn why and check back on Friday, May 29, 2009

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Charge: Students in South Korea sent test to Americans

The Korea Times

 

A U.S. institution in charge of administering the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), a standardized college admission test, said Friday it is looking into an allegation that some SAT questions have been leaked by South Korean students, Yonhap News reported.

Local media reports alleged that some South Korean applicants for an SAT test held in Seoul on Jan. 24 smuggled out test papers and sent scanned copies by e-mail to their acquaintances in the U.S. who were about to take the same exam a few hours later.

The U.S.-based Educational Testing Service and the College Board (ETS), the organizer of SAT tests, strictly bans the disclosure of all SAT test papers.

The allegation of test paper leakage, designed to capitalize on a time difference of about 10 hours between South Korea and the United States, has prompted ETS officials to launch a probe in Seoul.

The copied exam sheets are also believed to be widely circulating among private English institutes in downtown Seoul, according to ETS officials.

"The ETS headquarters are currently looking into the allegation of SAT exam paper leakage allegedly involving South Korean students," an official at ETS Korea said.

ETS will announce its probe result as soon as the ongoing investigation is completed, the official said.

30-point bump makes difference in admissions

By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY

 

A 30-point boost in math and critical-reading scores on the SAT reasoning test is statistically meaningless yet could make or break a student's chances of admission at "a substantial minority" of colleges, a research paper says.

And the more selective the college, the more that bump pays off, it finds.

 

Read more…

study on SAT and ACT scores

A study released this morning seeks to weigh the benefits of SAT test preparation, and concludes that gains from such courses can be small, but that small gains often matter to admissions offices.

...

As part of the report, which was commissioned by the National Association of College Admission Counseling, researchers asked nearly 250 colleges whether they used SAT or ACT scores as a cut-off for admission. Of those that accept the SAT, 1 in 5 said they used particular scores on the test as a “threshold” for admission, at least in some cases; among those using the ACT, 1 in 4 described similar cut-offs.

Read entire article

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FW: How to Remember Vocabulary for the SAT and ACT

There are so many vocabulary words to remember for the SAT and ACT.

So how can students commit so many words to memory?

The trick is to make up a story.

For example, suppose the word is “raconteur,” which means storyteller.

You could think of raccoon -- a giant raccoon -- emerging from a park, stomping on all of the houses and building, crushing everything in his path.

That’s obviously a tall tale, told by a storyteller.

The more funny or violent the story, the more likely you are to remember it.

The story must be connected to the word in some way, as raccoon is similar to the beginning of raconteur.

Another word: abstruse, which means difficult to understand.

The first part is like “abs” and the second part is like “truce,” a ceasfire, end of military hostilities or agreement to end a dispute or feud.

You need to relate “abs” and “truce” to difficult to understand.

Well, let’s say your boyfriend, girlfriend or a friend fought with you over your big belly and had pushed and pushed you to improve your abs and wanted you do abs exercises three times a day.

But you come to a more reasonable truce to work out less.

Now picture yourself doing abdominal exercises, with a stack of documents four feet high – the truce agreement --- on your abs.

Picture the heavy stack of complicated documents pushing down on your abs as you do your exercises.

And think about how it’s such a complicated agreement. You can’t really understand this four-foot stack of documents at all.

Now you know: “Abstruse” means difficult to understand. By the way, it’s a word that comes up frequently on the SAT.

Let’s try another word that comes up frequently: Extol, to praise somebody with great enthusiasm.

Well, think of “ex” as in ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend or ex-friend or ex-anybody, even the ex-wife of a neighbor. Now think of “toll” as in a toll booth.

So you drive up to a toll booth, and this ex is at the toll booth and says you are so great, that you have beautiful features, such nice hair and awesome abs (thanks to your abs exercises from that agreement you couldn’t even understand.) It helps to have something visual, so amid the praise the person enthusiastically hands you a vase of flowers and a ring.

Extol, you’ll now remember, is to praise somebody with great enthusiasm.

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The Best Way To Boost Your Score

8th grade assessment test delayed

Citing the dire economic condition of many schools and states, the College Board will delay launching an eighth-grade assessment test designed to gauge students' readiness for college.

The test had been scheduled to premiere this fall, but school districts and states, facing cutbacks, were unable to afford it, a spokeswoman said.

...

The PSAT, an SAT preparation test taken between the eighth and 11th grades, was taken by 3.4 million students in 2006-07.

Read entire article...

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Boosting your Vocabulary

One of the best ways to improve your critical reading score is to boost your vocabulary.
Now improving your vocabulary is just a touch away -- well, an iTouch or iPod away.
The Princeton Review's SAT Vocab Challenge application is available on the Apple App Store.
The software measures a user's mastery of 250 words, including The Princeton Review's Hit Parade, a list of 100 words that most frequently appear on the SAT.

Read more...

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Good Luck on the SAT on Saturday

In two days, students around the world will be taking the SAT.

Many students have difficulty with the newest section, the writing section.

Here are a few tips on the writing section of the SAT.

Faulty Comparisons (look for than, different from or similar to)

• John said the iPhone’s features are better than the Blackberry

o This erroneously compares "features" to the "Blackberry." You must compare features to features.

o Correct: John said the iPhone’s features are better than the Blackberry’s features.

Correct: John said the iPhone’s features are better than the Blackberry’s.

Misplaced modifier ("ing," as in "eating" in an introductory phrase is a hint this might be the error)

• Wrong: After eating a large, seven-course meal, the dishwasher was full.

Dishwashers don’t eat large, seven-course meals.

Correct: After eating a large, seven-course meal, the family filled the dishwasher.

Pronoun

• Make sure pronouns match the nouns they represent.

Wrong: Each football player must return their equipment after he plays the game to avoid paying a fee.

Correct: Each football player must return his equipment after he plays the game to avoid paying a fee.

Correct: Each football player must return her equipment after she plays the game to avoid paying a fee.

Singular

• Everyone

• Anyone

• No one

• Each

• None

• Neither

• Either

Make sure there is not “you” in one part and “one” in another part of the sentence.

Make sure the pronoun is not ambiguous. It should be clear which noun the pronoun refers to.

• After Robert and his brother called inquiring about tutoring, Richard told him Friday afternoon would be a perfect time.

o To whom does “him” refer?

• John and his grandfather said his house would be a good place for tutoring.

o To whom does “his” refer?

Make sure you have adverbs when appropriate.

• Wrong: He ran so quick that the police could not catch him.

• Right: He ran so quickly that the police could not catch him.

Only "and" can make a compound subject.

John and Mike are very nice guys.

John as well as Mike IS a nice guy. ("as well as" doesn't make it a compound subject, so "is" is correct.)

With OR, the subject closest to the verb determines whether the verb should be single or plural.

Correct: The students or the coach ends the game. ("the coach ends")

Correct: The coach or the students end the game. ("the students end")

Make sure sentences are parallel

• Robert comes home from school at 3:45 p.m. then eats a snack, prepares for the SAT tutoring and to study.

o “to study” isn’t parallel. It should be “studies.”

o Parallel

Eats.

Prepares.

Studies.

• Robert comes home from school at 3:45 p.m. to eat a snack, to prepare for the SAT tutoring and taking a nap.

o "Taking a nap" not parallel. It should be “to take a nap.”

o Parallel

To eat a snack

To prepare

To take a nap.

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A perfect score

A perfect score of 2400 on the SAT is possible with practice...

Read about it...

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Don't Write Off the Writing Section

The Writing Section received some praise from one of the fiercest critics of the SAT.

The SAT 'at War With Itself'

April 16, 2009

SAN DIEGO -- When American high school students take an SAT that is an hour longer than it used to be, and that includes a writing test many top colleges ignore, Richard Atkinson may be the man they have to thank.

Atkinson is the former president of the University of California. When he announced in 2001 that he was recommending that the university system stop requiring the SAT of applicants, he got the attention of the College Board in a way that other critics of the test never could. The prospect of losing all of those University of California applicants led to all kinds of changes in the SAT (and succeeded in keeping the university among the institutions requiring the test).

...

Prior the reforms of this decade, Atkinson said, the SAT was known for "trickery" and "esoteric analogies" that encouraged students to try to learn test-taking skills. He applauded the elimination of the much-mocked analogies section and applauded especially the addition of the writing test to the SAT. Not only does it test something that students actually need to do in college, Atkinson said, but it sends a message to high schools to take writing instruction seriously.

Read more...

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Studying for the SAT as early as possible

Some people start studying for the SAT as early as age 11. Here's the story from The Baltimore Sun:

The competition to get into selective colleges has become a complex, multi-year process that leaves high achievers and their families plotting strategies to get a fat letter from a top college.

...

Acing multiple tests is another way to play the game well. Kevin Chow started at age 11 by taking a prep course for the SAT he would take in high school. By sixth grade he dreamed of Stanford. By senior year at Pikesville, he was applying early to beat the admissions odds, submitting his near perfect scores. It worked.

While he acknowledges that that may have been extreme, most students applying to college now take a course before they sit for the SAT. Baltimore County, for instance, requires nearly every junior to take the half-year course. Many students go far beyond, spending $1,000 or more to enroll in six- or eight-week courses that are supposed to raise their scores.

Read more

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Is Score Choice a good idea?

It's a mixed bag, according to a Washington Post story on Score Choice...

Many colleges have long said they take into account only the highest scores for each section anyway. Some admissions officials say students who use score choice might lose out.

"My concern is that with the score choice, they can only send the scores from one sitting," said Lorne Robinson, dean of admissions at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., which is requiring students to send their entire SAT transcript. He said Macalester combines high scores for each test section and doesn't think too much about the rest.

Read more

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Q: Can you please explain this new Score Choice option for the SATs?

Q: Can you please explain this new Score Choice option for the SATs?

A: Score Choice was announced in June 2008 and goes into effect in March 2009. This enables students to take the SAT multiple times and/or to take Subject Tests and to selectively choose which scores get sent to colleges. You must send all section scores from a particular SAT test date. This means that you can't send just your Critical Reading score from the October test, for instance; rather, you must send all three section scores from a given test date. With Subject Tests, you can take up to three on one day and then ultimately choose to send only one or two of those tests.

But there's a catch. Colleges' policies regarding Score Choice are evolving, and some have announced they will require applicants to submit all of their scores. Schools that have announced that they will require all scores include (but are not limited to) Stanford, University of Southern California, University of Pennsylvania and Pomona College. Be sure to check the policy of each school you're applying to before making any decisions.

Read the entire Q&A, which also addresses the date when college applicants should commit to a university...

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SAT scores can have impact beyond college

SAT scores can have impact beyond college

March 20, 2009
BY Gerald M. Bradshaw
...

Many advisers fail to emphasize the changing nature of the job market. For applicants seeking employment in major consulting firms, the reporting of SAT scores is standard practice.

...

If your son or daughter plans to compete for admission to an elite college, he or she better start preparing early to score well on the SAT, with the further knowledge that a job could hang on the outcome. Grades alone no longer can pull you through.

An extra 100 or 200 points on the SAT can make or break a student's chances for that dream job. The Wall Street Journal reports there are clear cutoff lines: the going minimum at Hotjobs.com for entry-level consulting positions is 1,350 on the critical reading and math sections of the SAT.

Read the entire article...

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SAT Score Choice

SAN JOSE, CA (KGO) -- For a lot of students, taking the SAT can be very stressful. So now the College Board says it has come up with a way to reduce that stress and give students a new option when it comes to their test scores. However, this new SAT policy is controversial.

As of March, students taking the SAT will decide which test scores are reported to colleges. The College Board, which issues the SAT, calls it "score choice."

...

Under the old policy, every time a student took the SAT the scores were automatically sent to the university of his or her choice. But now students can pick their best sitting. The College Board says this kind of control improves their odds and reduces a student's stress level.

Read more...

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Which test should you take: The SAT or The ACT?

Which test should you take: The SAT or The ACT?
That depends.
Here's an article that answers the question.


ACT versus SAT: which college exam should you take?

Should a high school student take the ACT test, or is the SAT test better? How do the PSAT and the PLAN tests affect college admission?

The answer is that each situation is unique. It depends on the college that the student wants to attend, as well as the strengths and personality of the student.
You should ask yourself several questions before deciding whether to take the SAT or ACT, which are the two primary college admissions examinations.

The PSAT is the practice test for the SAT. The PLAN is the practice exam for the ACT.

Confused yet? Click here for a chart outlining details of these four main college entrance exams. This chart also has links to register for the tests.

Student who are undecided about college should consider taking all four exams. Some colleges are partial to either the ACT or the SAT. However, many colleges will let students use either score for admission or scholarship purposes.

If the college of your choice gives you an option, the SAT may be a better test for you if you did well on the PSAT.

Read more...

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Opposing view: Score Choice helps everyone
New policy gives students a break if they have a bad day on test day.

By Laurence Bunin

The College Board, owner of the SAT, recently launched Score Choice, a feature that allows students who take the SAT more than once to select which SAT scores to include with their college application.

The SAT's previous one-size-fits-all policy of automatically sending all scores to every college isn't consistent with the reality that different colleges use scores differently. All colleges establish their own admissions policies, and today, many colleges don't require all test scores. It's worth noting that colleges cannot "accept" or "reject" Score Choice; instead, it's an optional feature for students. The SAT doesn't release scores to colleges without student permission. Students are expected to follow the score-reporting requirements of the colleges to which they apply.

read more...

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Last Minute SAT Strategy

From Huffington Post...

1.4-million high school students take it each year. Parents spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, preparing their offspring for it. It is the biggest boogeyman most teenagers will ever face. It's the S.A.T. test. The greatest number of high school juniors take the test in March, so they know if they need a retake in May, in anticipation of those college applications going out in the fall.

Ed Carroll analyzes tests for the Princeton Review, one of the biggest test prep companies in the U.S.(princetonreview.com).

He gave these tips to on Huffington Post...

#1
"Write everything down," says Ed. The biggest mistake kids make when taking the test is not writing on the page, not crossing out bad answers, not underlining sentences in the reading, not working the math on paper, according to Ed. "They think by working things out in their head they'll save time, but they end up making more mistakes," declares the master test taker.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roseanne-colletti/last-minute-sat-strategy_b_174468.html

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Music To Your Ears

LONDON, March 13 (UPI) -- A study by a doctorate student who looked at the music U.S. students like and their Scholastic Aptitude Test scores suggests U2 fans are generally smart.

The Sun newspaper of England said Virgil Griffiths' comparison of students' SAT results and the artists they list on social networking Web sites showed fans of Beethoven were rated the most intelligent, while devotees of U2, Radiohead and Bob Dylan also scored highly.

People who love Queen, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra and Bob Marley scored around average and above in the study, The Sun noted, while followers of the singers Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z had lower than average SAT scores.
...

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Improving Your Grammar

The SAT demands detailed knowledge of grammar and writing. Read these books to help you improve your grammar.

This fun book about grammar turned out to be a best seller.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves

This book on good grammar and writing is a classic and should be required reading anyone who wants to write well. It's very concise.
The Elements of Style

A bit longer than the Elements of Style, this book also should help you improve your writing.

On Writing Well 30th Anniversary Edition

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Can I cancel my SAT test score?

Surprisingly, yes, you can cancel your SAT test scores at the test center or shortly after you take the SAT.
But there are time limits.
For more information, see this page from The College Board, which administers the SAT.

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