Greetings from Seattle, where the NACAC Conference (National Association for College Admissions Counseling) is just winding down. Yesterday, Harvard’s Dean of Admission, Bill Fitzsimmons, who led a 21-member commission in a year-long study on the use of the SAT and ACT in college admissions, announced their overwhelming conclusion: these tests — as well as preparation for them — are here to stay!

The tests have great predictability and give clarity to an application; however, the abuses that have become inherent in their use must be addressed. Although the Commission looks forward to future testing based more on curriculum, the members agree that colleges need to review their testing requirements, that they should stop using score cutoffs to determine scholarships, and that they should account for inequities among applicants when it comes to test scores. They further recommended that the National Merit Scholarship Corporation stop using cutoff PSAT scores to determine National Merit awards and that U.S. News & World Report stop relying on SAT scores for their rankings, thus inaccurately imputing an institution’s quality to its average SAT scores.

The Commission called for further research, including the value of test preparation and the effective uses and abuses of standardized test scores.

Judi

Why would anyone want to climb a high peak? The famous rejoinder, of course, has long been, “Because it’s there!” Moving right along, people from all walks of life ask a similar question regarding MySpace and FaceBook: Why publish items of sometimes keen personal interest for all the world to see? Answer: because it’s there. And, by the way, we’re deep in the throes of the Information(-glut) Age.

Well, it turns out that kids applying to college who have also rambled and gamboled in FaceBook may well have their “personal” pages read by an admissions counselor. A recent Wall Street Journal article said as much, as did a spate of articles indicating that admissions people in a growing number of institutions are peeking in to gain a wider perspective of applicants. It’s not always the “red flag” item in an application that may set off the easy web search. Simply put, build a MySpace image of one sort or another, and “they will come.” It seems inevitable.

So what’s the advice here? It’s essentially what Judi Robinovitz has been saying for about two years. Tastes differ. Colleges have serious ideas about the kind of collaborative education community they want to promote. Outré ideas may be fine for some, but not for all. While anyone may make the rational claim that web censorship is wrong, the reverse argument follows: abusers of trust—or at least people who might not be able to see things your way—are out there ready to consider whatever you have to publish. To say that caution is required by high school students who use these humongously popular sites would be an understatement. Rather than decreasing, the unknowns surrounding personal revelation on the internet may be increasing. As with everything, only time will tell. What’s your strategy today?

Barry Mallis

Do you wonder why Florida seniors often have trouble getting into their first-choice colleges? Blame it on the SAT!

Florida’s average combined reading and math SAT score remained the same as last year at 993 (out of a maximum of 1600). For individual exam sections, Florida’s average score was up two points in writing (481), up one point in math (497) and down one point in reading (496) compared to 2007. With the national average of 1017, Florida scores are among the lowest in the nation.

What this really means is that Florida students need to do more preparation for the SAT – and take advantage of the new selective reporting option that goes into effect starting with the class of 2010. Thus, juniors should start preparing for the SAT in the beginning of the school year – like NOW! – and take the SAT several times throughout the year since they can suppress scores they don’t like! Continued preparation, especially with real tests, coupled with actual test-taking experiences, will certainly lead to significantly increased scores!

Special notes…

[1] Students will have to “opt into” this new selective reporting service, but the College Board has not yet announced how students will do this.

[2] Students who attend public high schools in Florida will need to keep scores off their high-school transcript to prevent colleges from seeing scores they suppress. Call us to learn how to do that!

Judi

Welcome to Score At The Top’s Blog. This Blog will serve as a commentary on the world of education and will cover topics from across the board, i.e., the latest developments in the SAT/ACT, college admissions, politics, education in general, and what’s going on in the rest of the world. Stay tuned for Blog entries from our directors, our tutors, and even our founder, Judi Robinovitz.