New SAT Exam Announced That Is Shorter and Digital

High school students dreaming of a college education will have a newly formatted exam to deal with, effective the spring of 2024.  That’s when College Board will launch its redesigned SAT exam in the United States.

College Board recently announced that it is once again revamping the SAT exam, which was first administered in 1926 and has undergone many revisions through the years. The change is big news to the nearly three million students who take the SAT each year at some seven thousand test centers in more than 170 countries.

The newly formatted test will first be introduced at international test sites in 2023, before launching at U.S. test sites in the spring of 2024.  The most significant changes are its format, which will switch from paper to digital, and its length, which will shrink from three hours of testing material to two hours.  The new test will also reduce the length of reading passages and allow for the use of a calculator on all, rather than just some, of the math problems.

Are Advanced Placement Courses Really Necessary?

If last year’s numbers are any indication, some three million students will be taking five million Advanced Placement (AP) exams this spring.  These three-hour exams, offered in May of each year, mark the culmination of college-level courses offered to high school students. Currently, there are 38 AP courses in the Arts, English, History & Social Science, Math & Computer Science, Science, and World Languages & Cultures, although not all are offered at every high school. The curriculum for each of these courses is written by The College Board – the same folks who bring you the SAT exam.  Students who score 3 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5) are offered college credits by many of the nation’s colleges and universities. 

Parents and students often ask, “Are AP courses really necessary?”  The answer is both yes and no –- depending on the student’s ambitions and college goals. When students apply to college, they are basically in competition with their peers.  Most colleges want a geographically well-rounded student body.  So, college admissions officers will compare all applicants from the same high school and favor those with the most impressive academic record based on SAT scores, GPA, and competitive course load.  While there is no college in the country that outwardly states a requirement for AP courses, students are well aware that these higher-level courses, which indicate an ability to successfully complete college-level work, are viewed most favorably by college admission staff.

COVID Still Impacting College Application Process

By observing students in the high school class of 2022 anxiously submitting their college applications, there are many lessons to be learned by those who will be following in their footsteps.

Don’t procrastinate. Since students are allowed to submit their highest SAT scores on college applications, those who start taking the test early in their high school years enjoy a significant advantage. Even though many colleges, in the midst of COVID, remain “test optional,” they obviously admit – and award scholarship money to -- the most impressive applicants.

Identify a “passion project.” Colleges are not seeking Renaissance people who are mediocre at a multitude of activities. They are attracted to students who demonstrate expertise in a specific activity, in any field. Students should identify their area of passion, and then aim for an impressive accomplishment. Students I’ve recently worked with, who have gained acceptance to elite universities, highlighted passion projects such as creating an award-winning app, interning at a prestigious medical lab, and becoming accomplished on the French horn.

How to Identify Safety Schools for Potential College List

College-bound students, in New Jersey and across the country, are finding that gaining admission to the most desirable colleges has grown increasingly competitive in recent years.  Even students with near-perfect SAT scores, weighted GPA’s exceeding 4.0, and a multitude of Advanced Placement (AP) courses, are finding it extremely challenging to secure a “You’re Accepted” email from the top echelon of schools.  

Recent statistics from U.S. News & World Report show that the acceptance rate at the vast majority of the “Top 100” most selective colleges was at or below 25%. Included were such popular schools as New York University (NYU), Boston University, Northeastern University, Georgetown University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Duke University.  Not surprisingly, the Ivy League schools had single digit acceptance rates, with the exception of Cornell University at 11%.

Many Top Colleges Are Still Accepting Applications

If you’re a high school senior, with hopes of attending a great college in the fall, all is not lost if you have not yet applied to, or gotten accepted to, your dream school.

Although the application deadline has passed for all of the Ivy League schools, and many other elite institutions, there are many colleges popular with New Jersey students whose application deadlines for the 2022-2023 academic year fall in February or even March.

While this is not the ideal time for college-bound students to begin the application process, those who find themselves in this boat – due to procrastination, challenges from COVID, or any other reason – should follow a few guidelines.

New Year’s Resolutions for College Bound Students

Students who are still choosing their New Year’s resolutions might want to consider some that could set them up for success when the time to file college applications rolls around.  As students prepare to embark on the first few days of the 2022 academic year they may want to resolve to:

Manage Time Effectively.  This is an important habit to develop before embarking on your college journey where good time management skills will have a major impact on your academic success.  Practice setting a schedule, indicating when you will start, and finish, working on each long-term assignment and studying for each exam. Be sure that procrastination is not one of your traits.  

Put Free Time to Good Use.  College admissions officers at every school look carefully at applications to assess which students have demonstrated a solid commitment to volunteer activities.  Colleges know that if you have developed the habit of helping others while in high school, you’ll most likely be a contributing member of your college community. An impressive list of extracurricular activities, both in and out of school, can boost applications. If you’re at a loss for ideas, check out Zooniverse.org which offers virtual opportunities for students to contribute to professional research in a gamut of fields.

Colleges That Produce the Most Grateful Grads

Students nearing the end of their high school years often search for information about the “best” colleges. There are many publications and online resources that provide this subjective data, often based on multiple variables. The U.S. News & Word Report Best Colleges guide, for example, gathers data from colleges on 17 indicators of academic excellence, weighting each factor differently.  The scoring breakdown includes such categories as Outcomes, Faculty Resources, Expert Opinion, Financial Resources, Student Excellence and Alumni Giving. That last category, Alumni Giving, is weighted at just 3%.

But Forbes believes that Alumni Giving alone may be the key to predicting a student’s ideal college. For the ninth consecutive year, Forbes published its version of a Best College listing based on only one criterion: Alumni Giving. The thinking is that the better one’s college experience, the greater the likelihood that he/she will show gratitude in the form of a donation. Hence, Forbes titles its listing the “Grateful Graduates Index.”

The Grateful Graduate Index measures two criteria: the seven year-median gifts per full-time enrolled student, and the average percentage of alumni who give back, regardless of the amount of the donation.