Connecticut High School Juniors: The one thing that can change dramatically in 2018 – SAT Scores

I am reading The One Thing, a book that posits that we should focus on our energy on the one thing that can change our lives.  Scattered attention on half a dozen things often leads to mediocrity.  I thought of this in relation to many of our college counseling clients throughout Connecticut.

When we meet for college counseling, the students are typically in the second half of junior year.  Our meetings usually occur after Connecticut high schools release PSAT scores which typically is in mid-December.   The student’s activities can be increased incrementally.  The tennis player can become captain and the clarinetist can make Eastern Connecticut’s orchestra.  Grades, of course, should always be a focus. But students, with 2.5 years of grades in the books can only do so much to shift their GPA.  Neither the increased accolades in activities nor the improved grades – at this stage – will affect the student’s chances for college admission as much as a 200 point score improvement in the SAT.

The one thing that students can change dramatically: test scores. Through the years of working with students throughout Connecticut, we know these shifts can radically change one’s entire college prospects.