“This looks like the ACT.” Paul, a junior at Branford High School, noted. He was reviewing the new SAT for the first time. The SAT has long been the dominant standardized test for college admission. The ACT, traditionally the test used by many Midwestern and Southern colleges, gained tremendous popularity in the last decade. Since […]

“The ACT Science section is more like reading than math.” Hannah, a senior at Old Lyme High School, said with delight. She had been dreading the thought of the science section because she was a verbal whiz who did not like math and science. Her dislike of science, however, stemmed from her poor grades in […]

“The SATs are a weapon in my arsenal.” Repeated Julia laughingly.   Julia, a junior at Mercy High School in Middletown had scored a 700 in reading and 650 in math. She was looking at colleges that generally wanted a combined 1250-1300. I pointed out that the SATs were now a weapon in her arsenal because […]

  “I’m terrible on the SATs.” said Kerry, a junior at Choate. As has become routine, I reviewed Kerry’s scores and explained that scoring in the 92 percentile nationally is not terrible. Routinely, I discuss the challenges of SAT and ACT scores with Connecticut students and need to impart the thought that these tests generally […]

“Do you think my child will do better on the SAT or the ACT?” asked Mrs. Greenberg, a mother of junior at Daniel Hand High School in Madison. Of all the misinformation and partial truths that I hear passed around the parent water cooler, the myth that some students will do extraordinarily well on the […]

“What is a good SAT score?” Michael, a sophomore at Daniel Hand High School asked. Through the fifteen years of teaching SATs to Connecticut students, I have been asked this question over a thousand times. “Where do you want to go to college?” That would be my most common response. “The SATs are relevant in […]

“When should I guess?” This is a question that I have answered several thousand times through the 15 years of training Connecticut students to master the SAT. The new SAT has fortunately provided a simple answer: “yes.” The current SAT had a guessing penalty such that there was a deduction for missed answers. The new […]

“I use my calculator to think.” Said Jessica, a very bright Waterford High School junior said as she evaluated the new SAT math section that prohibits the use of a calculator. Jessica had taken the new PSAT. Although the results have not been released, she felt that she did well on the PSAT math section […]

“Am I correct that the new SAT Math section is far harder than the current SAT?” Over twenty high school guidance counselors throughout Connecticut have called me with this same question. Most are wondering how to advise their college bound juniors about the SAT. The general assertion is correct. Having gone through all published official […]

“How is that wrong?” Jason, an East Lyme High School junior, exclaimed as he navigated the Writing and Language section of the new SAT. The sentence at issue: “The competition between my brother and I for house ping pong champion was intense.” I explained that prepositions like “between” required object pronouns to follow. “Me” is […]