IMPORTANT | ACT/SAT TESTING REQUIREMENTS FOR FALL 2021

Many colleges have changed or are in the process of changing their testing requirements for students entering in the Fall of 2021. Some are waiving ACT/SAT tests entirely, while others are "Test-Optional" or "Test-Flexible." 

You should check the websites (typically under Admissions/Prospective Students) of respective colleges of interest for specific testing requirements.

While not necessarily the gospel, here is a link to colleges that are...

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I came across a website recently, by way of Twitter. Suffice it to say it was one of the many SAT preppies out there – an SAT Dude, in fact -- touting the benefits of preparing for the dreaded standardized test. In this instance, MATH. The tricks of the trade disclosed, so to speak.

The title to the particular post intrigued me, as did the post’s content. It was called, How To Solve “Shaded Region” Questions.

Finally. Someone who could show me just how to find the solution to those conf...

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Here they come. Changes to the SAT. 

A New SAT Aims to Realign With Schoolwork

The Story Behind the SAT Overhaul

College President: SAT Is Part Hoax, Part Fraud

Once upon a time, College Board (the folks who stick a No. 2 pencil in one hand, and pick your pockets with the other) owned the field. Now, with market share down around 50%, they're looking to get back in the game.

Yes, it was all fun and games until the folks at College Board, The Once Great and Powerful, realized they weren't making qu...
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SAT  Test Dates Registration Deadline Late Reg Deadline Details DEC 7 Nov 8 Nov 25 Register Jan 25 Dec 27 Jan 14 Register

ACT Test Dates	Registration Deadline	Late Reg Deadline	Details
DEC 14	Nov 8	Nov 9-22	Register
FEB 8	Jan 10	Jan 11-24	Register

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The dates and registration deadlines for ACT and SAT have been released. Gone are the days of a summer SAT, and even the September SAT has fallen by the wayside. Pity the student who was hoping to have the SAT scores in time to apply for Early Action or Early Decision, which is typically mid-October to early November for most colleges. What were the folks at College Board thinking? [READ, The College Board Drops The Ball.]

Here are the ACT/SAT schedules. Take note and register early. Once spac...
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"At South Side Middle School in Rockville Centre, on Long Island, more than half of the eighth-grade class, 134 out of 260 students, opted out of the exams..." So reported The New York Times in an article on New York's standardized English Language Arts (ELA) exam for third and eighth graders. [Standardized Math exams are scheduled for next week.]

The protests, certainly not restricted to Rockville Centre, Long Island, or, for that matter, New York, are not so much aimed at the so-called Commo...
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The news from College Board that they intend to "revamp" the SAT came as no surprise to The College Whisperer™.

After all, back in the day, SAT was the acronym for Scholastic ACHIEVEMENT Test, purporting to test what students had actually learned. It didn't.

As students, parents and college admissions committees began to figure out that Achievement was to the SAT as Water was to Oil, the less than venerable standardized test for college admission was "revamped," and, though it was still the ...
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G.R. of Old Westbury, NY writes:
My son, a high school junior, is in the process of finalizing his program for the senior year. His Guidance Counselor has suggested he take five (5) Advanced Placement (AP) courses, including Economics, Chemistry and Physics. He is also being offered a college level course, for which he will receive credit from a local college. I'm cool with the college level course, but five AP courses? Seems a bit much to me. What do you think?

The College Whisperer ™replies...
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If this had been an actual indicator of how well you'd do in college, rather than a money-grabbing raid on our collective bank accounts, signifying little more than grand theft corporate... If only...

Anyway, with the new year comes new registration dates, test dates, find out your scores dates, for the dreaded ACT and SAT. Open those study guides -- and your wallets...
...

Feb. 9	ACT	Jan. 11 (1/18 with late fee)	Feb. 25	Mar. 1
Mar. 9	SAT only	Feb. 8 (2/22 with late fee)	Mar. 28

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A new year brings renewed opportunity to test your mettle -- as well as your aptitude -- on the ACT and/or SAT.

Which test to take? Our advice, to the lovelorn, forlorn and test worn: Take the SAT and the ACT once. Then, repeat the test on which you fared better.

That said, here are some upcoming dates to remember --

SAT Test Dates	Registration Deadline	Late Registration Deadline	Details
JAN 26	Dec 28	Jan 11	Register Here
MAR 9	Feb 8	Feb 22	Register Here

...

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How many, among the college-bound crowd, remember the TV game show Password, let alone Allen Ludden, the show's host (also known as Betty White's husband)?

That's all right. How many students applying to college actually remember the required passwords -- let alone user names -- for all the websites they visit?

Passwords. The bain of the Internet age!

"Oh, no worries. My computer saves all my passwords." Yeah, except when it doesn't. Or it crashes. Or it conjures up a laundry list of user names ...
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Watching the Olympic games, The College Whisperer is awestruck by the seemingly superhuman athletic performances, from swimming to gymnastics to beach volleyball. The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition. WOW!

And to think, the difference between getting a medal and going home without one is sometimes determined by one one-thousandth of a point or of a second. One one-thousandth. Can you imagine that?

Well, consider this. When reducing -- by formu...

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You've battled your way through the application and admissions process -- and won! You've bitten every last nail and given new meaning to the term, "high anxiety." You've met deadlines set in stone and waited for what seems like eons. You've gotten that letter -- or email -- that moment of truth you have been waiting for. You've been accepted to the college of your choice (or mom's choice... Whatever :-). You're in!

Now what?

Take a couple of seconds to relax (there will be plenty of time to sl...
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Not only do summer internships make great experiences for high school students, they also make for fantastic resume builders. And some summer internships (though few and far between) actually pay!

Add to the mix summer internships that can whisk high school students away to enticing locales such as London, Chicago, Boston and LA (not to mention the most exciting city in the universe -- NYC) and you've got a recipe for a summer that will truly top them all.

Check out summer internships for high ...
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We've said it before. A multi-billion dollar cottage industry, built upon the foundation of standardizing achievement and aptitude, demonstrating neither. A rite of passage dreaded by generations of students, frowned upon by parents, and increasingly mistrusted by college admissions officers. An angst-driven, anxiety producing, stress inducing pressure cooker that elevates "teaching to the test" to the next level of absurdity.

Of course, we couldn't have said it better than Newsday, in an arti...
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M.B. of West Hempstead, NY, by way of Binghamton University, writes:

I'm preparing to take the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) on Monday, On a practice test, the antonym of the word, carom, was called for. Carom. Please tell me there's an antonym for this word that a soon-to-be college grad might know?

The College Whisperer responds:

Carom? Sounds like something Captain Kirk would say in a low budget version of Star Trek. "Mr. Spock, you have the carom!"

Carom (krm), defined by Webster's as (1) A coll...
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E.L. of Searingtown, NY writes:

HELP! I am about to take the SAT and the ACT for the second time this fall, and need guidance and advice to raise my score, significantly. Have gone the test-prep class route before, with limited success. Can you recommend an individual tutor to assist on both substance and technique?

The College Whisperer responds:

No question, you need a competitive edge when applying to colleges these days. The same holds true when preparing for the SAT, ACT and SAT Subject Tes...
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S.L. of Williston Park, NY writes:

With the senior year of high school yet to begin (I'm counting the days), our daughter -- an otherwise well-rounded honors student -- is driving her Mom and Dad bonkers. We say "up," she says "down." We say "no," she sulks, broods, and exhibits defiance in every way. Is this normal? The stress is almost unbearable, and we have yet to begin applying to colleges. [I can only imagine!] What can we do to achieve detente?

The College Whisperer responds:

Define "nor...
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G.S. of North Woodmere, NY writes:

I hear tell that Cablevision is offering FREE online PSAT and SAT courses to Optimum subscribers. Is this true? If so, is it worth it?

The College Whisperer responds:

You hear tell correctly. Cablevision (which is not the parent company of College Connection) is offering Optimum customers in good standing the opportunity to register for a FREE online PSAT or SAT course (said to have a $99 value), offered in conjunction with Kaplan, the test prep people. The off...
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L.S. of Bellmore, NY writes:

I can't take the studying for the (expletive) SATs. Is all of this really necessary?

The College Whisperer responds:

For years, the SAT (Scholastic Achievement Test cum Scholastic Aptitude Test) has had its detractors -- The College Whisperer among them -- and, of more recent vintage, has come under fire, from college administrators and students alike, as being unfair, biased, and fundamentally flawed, demonstrating neither achievement nor aptitude.

DUH!

Indeed, as any...
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D.R. of Floral Park, NY writes:

Is attending a college's orientation really necessary?

The College Whisperer responds:

Yes. Yes. And allow me to reiterate. YES!

You don't say whether you are a student or a parent, but, in either case, taking advantage of all that college orientation has to offer is critical -- and loads of fun.

For the student, hey, this is where you'll be spending the next four, and very exciting years of your life. Check out the facilities, from dorm rooms to lecture halls. Ta...
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Walter Kirn, author of the novel Up In The Air, wrote for The New York Times Magazine:

Class Dismissed

According to the unwritten constitution that governs ordinary American life and makes possible a shared pop culture that even new immigrants can jump right into after a few movies and a trip to the mall, the senior year of public high school is less a climactic academic experience than an occasion for oafish goofing off, chronic truancy, random bullying, sloppy dancing in rented...

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D.G. of Mineola writes:

My son will be a high school senior this fall. He's an A student and is considering taking several AP courses, as recommended by his guidance counselor. Are AP courses really worth the extra time, work and effort?

The College Whisperer responds:

To paraphrase the GEICO commercial, Does Elmer Fudd really have trouble with the letter "R"?

AP -- Advanced Placement -- courses do a whole lot more than set the stage for college, preparing young minds for the rigors and challenge...
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M.B. of West Hempstead (by way of Binghamton) writes:

I just completed my Junior year in college (doing very well, thank you), and am preparing to take the GRE this summer. I bought the review book (did I really have a choice?), and find it so perplexing to not recognize so many of the vocabulary words, let alone to not find them in Webster's dictionary. I understand that graduate schools want to admit only the cream of the crop, but is the GRE really necessary? [By the way, I'm an English maj...
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E.L. of Jericho, NY writes:

Are these expensive SAT prep courses worth the money?

The College Whisperer responds:

Funny you should ask.

An article just came over the wires from Associated Press in which it is reported that Princeton Review, one of the big boys in SAT/ACT prepdom, is "voluntarily" removing language in their advertising that offers a "guarantee" of a score increase if you take their review course.

Take a look at SAT prep company stops claiming 255-point boost.

Pay Princeton Review o...
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Steve of Rockville Centre, NY writes: 

What's the story with IB programs?  In 2006 if my daughter had picked a State college, she would have gotten 32 credits for her IB diploma (that's one whole year of college).   She chose a private university and had to fight for the 1...

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B.R. of Old Westbury, NY writes:

Simple question. Should my child take the ACT or the SAT? Which do colleges prefer?

The College Whisperer responds:

If only the answers were that simple.

I remember, way back when in elementary school in Bayside, New York, having to take a standardized exam known as the Iowa Test, leaving me to wonder whether students in Iowa were, at the same time, taking New York Tests.

We've gone from way too much testing, and unfounded reliance thereon, to teaching solely to t...
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