Be MORE than your SCORE

You need to be MORE than your score…

What is it that makes the SAT so important?  Certainly it has history behind it.  The first administration of the test was in 1926 when it was given in 72 different locations, mostly to young men and women applying to Yale and Smith colleges.  Since then it has become an essential part of the applications process at most of America’s finest colleges and universities.   In recent years literally several millions of high school Juniors and Seniors sit for the exam around the world.  All with the same goal in mind – being admitted to the University they CHOOSE.

 At the same time colleges and universities have a similar goal.  They want to successfully recruit and admit the students they CHOOSE.  Despite all the controversies and debates about standardized testing in general and the SAT in specific – it continues to be a powerful force in the process.   Those three numbers compare students around the country and around the world to one another in the eyes of admission committees.  

The SAT Reasoning Test scores matter …

There is no point in thinking otherwise.  Each student should give full effort to preparation for success on the SAT.  No other single measurement of the application is as ‘quick’ a qualifier as those three ‘little’ numbers.

BUT…….

Consider this – there are only 181 different SAT I scores possible.  No, seriously.  Three tests – each scored from 200-800 in 10 point increments.  181 ‘baskets’ into which the approximately 4,000,000 members of the class of 2011 will be sorted. 

Where a specific applicant gets ‘sorted’ is an indelible ‘line in the sand’.  The SAT I is, unquestionably, a high-stakes test.  It may or may not predict college success but it predicts college CHOICES better than any other single part of the graduate’s application packet.

The Competitive Advantage –

With only 181 groups created by sorting based on the SAT – it takes more.  In 2001 Richard C. Atkinson, then president of the University of California, suggested ignoring the SAT’s and adopting what he called a ‘holistic’ evaluation of each student.   The SAT’s are still a part of the UC qualification index but a wide array of other aspects of the student’s background, achievement, and accomplishments are considered as well.  This is just as true at colleges and universities across the country.

DON’T WAIT until it’s time to fill out the college applications to build the qualifications needed.  Simple as that - start now to discuss and plan the three aspects of your application schools will be evaluating – academic achievement [grades],  test scores, and accomplishments [experiences outside the classroom].

Larry Brown
Overlook Tutorial Academy


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