Follow the money: why SAT-ACT prep leads to merit aid

I was at the Saybrook Point Inn’s restaurant Fresh Salt a few weeks ago.  The waitress handed me a bottle of wine – “the couple over there sent this to you.”  To my chagrin, I didn’t recognize them. This is not particularly uncommon as I often know my students better than their parents, particularly those who I have in my SAT-ACT class.  I walked over to thank them and they introduced themselves as parents of a student who took my class a full year ago.

“He received a $16,000 yearly scholarship.  $64,000 total. You might not remember but when we discussed signing up for your Old Saybrook SAT class you mentioned that merit money was increasingly tied to test scores.”

The proud father went on to note his son’s massive improvement from his PSATs to his SATs and the worry that he and his wife had about paying for college.

From both professional and now personal experience (I’m also a proud father!), I can say with absolute certainty without worry of any self-consciousness that colleges award merit money based, in part (perhaps LARGE part) on SAT and ACT test scores.

My self-consciousness used to come from the dread of appearing self-serving.  Now, I am fully confident that our SAT-ACT class is a wise investment for parents figuring out how to pay for college.