Response to Britt on SAT retakes

Posted by Dee

AdmitSpit received the following comment from Britt today on the post titled, “Typical SAT scores for specific top schools.”

“I need help. Is it wise to repeat SAT in January? I got a good math score but my critical reading was below 600 but above 500. I want to go into a mathematical based field. Please help me before I register to do it over. I want to go Columbia.”

I think Britt’s comment dances around the essential question: under what circumstances should I retake the SAT?

My answer to this is, if you think you can score higher AND you want to score higher, retake!

It’s that simple, I believe. I scored a 2230 on my SAT the first time I took it, and for me, while I think I could’ve scored higher, I did not really want to score higher. Both parts are essential to deciding whether or not to retake.

What I mean by “I did not really want to score higher” is that the idea of sitting in the designated SAT administration classroom for four hours did not, for me, outweigh

A “duh” tip #4

Posted by Dee

The question was recently posed to AdmitSpit by a student of whether or not he should take the SATII tests if he was applying to Yale.

He had already taken the SAT Reasoning exam but wasn’t sure if he wanted to waste the time taking the SAT Subject Tests as opposed to just taking the ACT exam.

Based on the post titled, “Standard list for colleges’ standardized testing requirements” he knew that Yale required either the SAT and two SAT Subject Tests or the ACT test with writing.

So, if you’ve already taken the SAT, then just take the SAT Subject Tests for two hours, as opposed to doing the ACT with writing which takes four hours! It seems obvious enough I’d think, but apparently it warrants writing a “duh” tip about. Only point against this would be if you didn’t have two subjects you were good enough at and preferred to take the more general ACT instead; but, that said, I think it’d be rare to be in such a position where your ACT would be better score-wise than two subject tests.

Words from the admissions bins

Posted by Doreen

I came across this article in a newsletter my high school sends out every so often regarding college admissions.

Apparently this was compiled by a member of the National Association of College Admission Counseling, or NACAC. Enjoy!

“Are you sure you sent my recommendation?”

It might help to know that colleges face a mountain of admissions mail every day–mail that requires very systematic and careful handling. As a result, there will be a very reasonable delay between the moment your application arrives at the admissions office and the time it is processed and placed into your file. Let’s hear from the experts on this:

From a large public university: 
“I wish I had a photo that I could send you of thousands of pieces of mail sitting in the mail bins waiting to be processed. Maybe this bit of information will help… we employ an ‘army’ of students to help us process the mail. We receive so much mail that all some students do is simply slit open envelopes, other students will date

A “duh” tip #3

Posted by Dee

Memorize all the directions for the SAT and ACT before you arrive at the test!

No one needs to spend their precious standardized testing time reading the same mundane directions when it’s always the same! Know what you’re doing before you get to the test so you can jump right in and get started on acing it.

UC’s “new” testing requirements outlined

Posted by Dee

Just to be clear, as there is apparently some confusion regarding which tests the University of California accepts and does not accept, AdmitSpit will detail below the UC’s latest testing requirements. I write “new,” because it’s not really all that new; these guidelines have been around since March 2005. Know that the rules affect students entering in the fall of 2006 and later.

Either take the ACT Assessment plus Writing or the new SAT Reasoning Test.

Then, also take two SAT Subject Tests in two different testing areas or subjects. But, pay attention to the list below regarding which ones the UC accepts and which ones they don’t.

Under the English category, UC accepts only the Literature SAT Subject Test.

Under History and Social Studies, UC accepts either U.S. History or World History.

Under Mathematics, UC accepts only the Math Level 2 exam.

Under the Science category, UC accepts Chemistry, Physics, or Biology E (ecological emphasis) or Biology M (molecular emphasis). (For a more detailed explanation of the difference between the two and how to choose between E or M, see the AdmitSpit posted titled, “Biology E vs. Biology M.”)

Under the Language category, UC accepts French, German, Spanish, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Chinese with Listening, French with Listening, German with Listening, Spanish with Listening, Japanese with Listening, and Korean with Listening.

So, be careful to note in particular that, as of Fall 2006, completing the SAT II: Math Level IC or the SAT II: Writing will NOT be accepted for fulfilling the UC application requirements.

Recommended SAT Subject Tests for special UC programs

Posted by Dee

Although it is only required to submit two SAT Subject Tests from different subject areas for the University of California application, certain UC programs do provide recommendations on which two you should take. This applies in particular to students applying for more science-based majors or programs.

It is strongly recommended that students submit scores from the SAT Subject Test: Math Level 2 and from an SAT Science Test (either Chemistry, Biology E or Biology M, or Physics) that is “closely related to the applicant’s intended major” for the following UC colleges, programs, and majors:

At UC Berkeley, College of Engineering or College of Chemistry. At UCLA, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. At UC Riverside, the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering. At UC Santa Barbara, the Engineering major and the Computer Science major. At UC San Diego, the Jacobs School of Engineering and any biological or physical science majors.

And, at UC Irvine, for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, it is “strongly recommended” to take at least the SAT Subject Test: Math Level 2 as one of the two SAT Subject Tests submitted.

Typical ACT scores for specific top schools

Posted by Dee

Thanks to a comment by Rocketsr71 on the post titled, “Typical SAT scores for specific top schools,” it is clear that some AdmitSpit readers are wondering about colleges’ ACT expectations. I couldn’t find a comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the ACT expectations at each of the top schools, so I created one! The name of each school, along with any ACT score statistics or information, is provided. This data was taken from each college’s admissions Web site.

Brown: No ACT information. =(

CIT: For students admitted for the Class of 2010, the middle 50% of ACT scores was 33-35.

Columbia University: I couldn’t find any ACT information for either the College or Engineering.

Cornell: No information on ACT scores.

Dartmouth: For the Class of 2009, the middle 50% of ACT scores for students who

Other sites that can help!

Posted by Dee

I’m really glad that thus far plenty of students have found AdmitSpit helpful! That said, I’m writing a post now about Web sites that I found helpful last year during the college admissions process.

1. College Confidential – www.collegeconfidential.com

Actually, most of the College Confidential site is pretty useless, but the message boards are rather informative. That said, I would not recommend spending too much time surfing the message boards. Lots of students post stats about themselves and ask others about their chances of getting in to particular schools. This can be very misleading and can give you either false hope or a major confidence downer! Sometimes people have valuable tips though so it’s worth taking a look at, even if just for entertainment purposes.

2. The College Board – www.collegeboard.com

I know they’re not our favorite people to visit, but the College Board does control a lot of aspects of the admissions process. When I first heard about setting up an online account with the College Board, I expected them just to send me spam and that it was an unnecessary step, but thanks to whoever gave me that advice. Definitely DO sign up for a free account on the College Board site. Signing up online makes it much easier to register for the College Board tests; registration takes around 3 steps or so, and it’s much more efficient and much less time-consuming.

In my opinion, the College Board’s rather comprehensive profiles on each college are an okay place to start, but honestly, if you want really great information about each college, you’ll have to go to each college’s actual Web site.

3. US News and World Report – www.usnews.com

The infamous annual college rankings from US News and World Report constitute a good starting place for learning about which colleges are considered top and which ones are, well, not. But, be critical because the metrics they use to rank schools stir much debate. Some other reputable ranking organizations to consider would be the Times Higher Education Supplement (see the AdmitSpit post titled, “World university rankings 2006 released today“) or the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Institute for Higher Education.

If you have any other great college admissions Web sites that you have or are using, send us a comment!

College, Confidential?

Posted by Helen

At my high school (and I’m sure at yours too, if applicable), it seems as though all anybody talks about these days is college. However, more specifically, people always want to know how YOU did on the SATs, or where YOU are applying early. When the question is reciprocated, they tend to give an ambiguous or indirect answer. This brings me to wonder: how much information about your college process is too much to share with friends?

I’ve come to the conclusion that it is really a personal decision. If you don’t mind telling 50 people what you got on your SATs, or what your GPA is, or your top ten schools in order (yes, I swear I really have been asked that once), then go ahead and paint the town red. If you are uncomfortable sharing this information, I assure you there are plenty of ways to answer questions without actually answering them.

However, no matter how (un)comfortable you are telling people about your great college quest, here are some things that you should always keep in mind:

If you…

1) gush about how great a school is expect your friends to apply there. This is a big one. The more people that apply to a school, the more selective the school becomes, and therefore the harder it is to get in.

2) share your SAT scores with people they will compare you to others whose SAT scores they know. If I had a dollar for every time that I have heard “Did you hear that Joe got a 2150 and Joann only got a 2070? I thought Joann was way smarter than Joe!” I would be a very rich gal.

3) tell somebody which school you are interested in they may prove useful to you in ways you never imagined. Recently when a college representative visited my high school from a university I am particularly interested in, an old English teacher personally introduced me to the representative as “a very promising student.” It turns out they were friends, and that personal introduction would not have been possible had I not told my old teacher that I was interested in the school.

4) tell 50 people where you are applying early decision, you will also have to tell 50 people whether or not you got in – which could be incredibly fun, or incredibly heartbreaking.

5) keep too much secret, let’s face it, you will be kept out of a lot of conversations.

So the next time somebody asks you to rank your top 10 colleges in order, before you answer make sure that you actually want to answer the question. And if you do not want to, it is always easy to make the question into a form of a joke… Currently, my Facebook says that I am attending Kansas Bible College next year, and double majoring in “Intelligent Design,” and “Evolution as a Conspiracy Theory.”

What you need for this Saturday’s SAT

Posted by Doreen

The College Board’s next SAT seating is this Saturday, November 4. That means, it’s not too late to order AdmitSpit’s exclusive “SAT/PSAT Vocabulary Association Guide.”

This guide was featured in AdmitSpit’s post titled, “Sentence completion vocab lists: the new and better way.” These booklets only cost you $17, and you don’t even need to pay shipping or handling!

Check out the AdmitSpit Store, and scroll down to the order form to get your own booklet!

(By the way, we ship these booklets just by normal US mail, so no guarentees that they’ll arrive by Saturday, but if you’d like us to ship the booklet faster, send our Managing Editor, Doreen, an email and she can chat with you about shipping options. You’ll find her email address written on the order form at the AdmitSpit store.)

Price update!!! Now all the books are $17. Why the price increase?! Because now AdmitSpit has decided to send all the booklets via priority mail, so that you get them faster!