Five Widespread Myths About the SAT Exam

Myth #1: If you took the PSAT as a sophomore, there’s no need to take it as a junior.
Students who take the PSAT as sophomores, or even freshmen, are doing so strictly for practice.  These scores cannot be used for any purpose, other than to indicate in which areas you need more practice.  The junior year PSAT is also called the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Exam (NMSQE) and all National Merit scholarships and recognitions are based on this test.  Junior year PSAT scores are also shared with colleges who use the information for recruiting purposes.

Myth #2: Colleges know how many times you’ve taken the SAT.
No, they don’t.  College Board records all of your SAT scores, and when you are ready to apply to colleges you log into your College Board account and literally check off which scores to send.  You can choose to send your scores from only one test date or from several.  But until you pay College Board to send your scores ($12 per college), colleges have no idea of any of your scores or test dates.

Lifetime Salaries Vary by Millions Due to Major

As millions of students head off to college each fall, well-meaning parents often encourage them to choose the major of their dreams.  Sometimes, students have known for years the particular career that would be perfect for them.  Other times, students enter college “undecided” and end up making a decision as they move through their coursework. But few students realize the economic impact of their choices.

On average, an individual with a bachelor’s degree earns nearly twice the lifetime income of someone with a high school diploma. But just as significant – from a monetary point of view – is the choice of major that can either launch a student into a high paying career or leave the graduate struggling to pay off skyrocketing student debt. In fact, college graduates with the highest-paying majors earn $3.4 million more than those with the lowest-paying majors, over the course of their careers, according to a study by the Georgetown University Center of Education and the Workforce.

Stand Out on College Apps with Personalized Essay

High school students in the midst of the college application process are most likely working on The Common Application that is accepted by more than 800 colleges, including the majority of institutions most popular with New Jersey students.  It requires one essay, and students can choose from a variety of topics or one of their own creation.  Due to the importance of writing an interesting, grammatically correct, essay most students get help from a variety of sources. In many schools, the writing of this essay is incorporated into the English IV curriculum with teachers editing their students’ rough drafts. Often parents, relatives or friends offer their input as well. At times, a private counselor is hired to insure that an impressive essay is submitted that is likely to garner the approval of college admissions officers.  The end result, according to colleges, is that most of the essays they receive are good enough to be published. The problem: they seldom reflect the students’ independent work.

Get Paperwork Ready For October 1st FAFSA Launch

Families of college-bound students can soon learn exactly how much the federal government thinks they can afford to contribute to their child’s college education.  The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, usually referred to as the FAFSA, will go live at 1:00 a.m. on October 1st at www.FAFSA.gov. This is the one form that all parents must file if they hope to get any federal money for college. 

The newest FAFSA will use financial information from a family’s 2018 taxes.  Most people will be able to make use of a “shortcut” offered on the FAFSA, which is the I.R.S. Data Retrieval Tool.  As long as you have already filed your 2018 taxes, you can check off that you want the FAFSA to link into your previously filed taxes and automatically fill in the numbers on all of the financial questions.

Cut Time, Money and Stress on the Road to Success

College bound students who know what they want to do with their life can often cut years of education, a great deal of stress, and a substantial amount of money from their higher education experience.

Many colleges offer dual degree programs whereby students move right into a Masters or Doctorate degree program upon completing their undergraduate education.  They often do not have to take entrance exams, eliminating the need to repeat the stressful process of preparing for, and taking, standardized tests.  Basically, as long as they meet certain requirements during their undergraduate years, they move right into the advanced degree program in their chosen field.