When Should I Take the SAT or ACT?
While most people would tell you that the “right time” for students to take the SAT or ACT is spring of their junior year, the reality is that it depends on a few things. One of the most important factors in determining a student’s testing timeline is whether or not the student has completed Algebra 2.
If you’ve taken Algebra 2, you’re probably ready to start prepping! And if you haven’t taken it, you aren’t ready and you’ll likely be frustrated, because you’ll be presented with math questions you have absolutely no idea how to approach or solve.
So here’s how we advise our clients:
If you take Algebra 2 in 10th grade, great! During the summer between 10th and 11th, take a full-length practice SAT, and a full-length practice ACT. These will not be fun. And they should be real, retired exams (see below for explanation on this). After you’ve taken both practice tests, it’s time to determine which you like better, and on which you sc...more
Grades, SATs, rec letters, awards, or essays: which is currently most important in the admissions decison?
This is less a matter of “currently” than of type of college. Some colleges, particularly state flagship public universities like the University of Minnesota, don’t care at all about recommendation letters or essays. There’s no place in the application to include those things.
Other schools practice “holistic” admissions, which means they take all of these things into consideration. Lets look at what admissions officers gain from each of these application pieces:
- Transcript: Your grades in individual classes show your level of mastery of the material in those classes. Some students just do better in STEM classes than they do in English/history, or vice versa. Your cumulative GPA gives a feeling for how you do overall in the context of your school. Your transcript also shows the amount of rigor of your high school program. Have you taken the hardest classes available to you?
- Standardized test scores: Your SAT and ACT (and, in some cases, SAT subject tes
Q&A With A College Admissions Expert
This interview was originally published on the
Varsity Tutors website.
Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Evelyn Alexander provides college admissions counseling services to a number of students and their families through Magellan College Counseling. She is an alumnus of Johns Hopkins University where she also served as a volunteer admissions recruiter for 15 years.
VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application?
Evelyn: College applications are generally available the summer before the student’s senior year. The Common Application, for example, should open in August for the Class of 2015. While I would advise students to start their applications as early as possible, I would also encourage them to start exploring colleges long before the summer before senior year. I start working with students at the beginning of junior year, digging into possible majors and car...more
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