SAT and ACT- some important tips

Across the country, high school juniors are getting ready to take the SAT and/or ACT. Here are seven ways for teenagers to improve their SAT and ACT scores or limit the damage of mediocre results:

1. Don't pick a test based on where you live: Students on the West and East Coasts typically take the SAT. In the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states, the ACT is dominant, while teenagers in the South tend to split their allegiance between the two. The worst thing you can do is take a particular test because your friends are.

2. Select the test that plays to your strengths: Teenagers who tend to earn high ACT scores have a strong memory, are fast readers, and can process information quickly. In contrast, students who ace the SAT tend to be strong readers, possess strong vocabularies, and enjoy test-taking strategies. You can learn more about the differences in the tests in this blog post that I wrote for CBS MoneyWatch. To obtain a more in-depth understanding of what the ACT and SAT measure, I'd suggest reading The Princeton Review's ACT or SAT? Choosing the Right Exam for You.

3. Take a practice test: You will form a better idea of how well you might fare on either test if you take sample SAT and ACT tests. Sample SAT tests are available on the College Board website. You can find ACT questions on the ACT website; in addition, for $24.95 or less online, you can buy a book from the testing company, The Real ACT Prep Guide, that contains three ACT tests.

4. Use online test prep services: There are lots of online resources that are free or modestly priced for prepping for the tests. Here are three that I like: Grockit, Number2.com, and ePrep.

Application Essays Tips for Writing Your Way Into Your Top Choice School

Nearly all colleges rate application essays as either important or very important in their admissions process. A poorly executed essay can cause a stellar student to get rejected. On the flip side, exceptional application essays can help students with marginal scores get into the schools of their dreams. The tips below will help you win big with your essay.

Avoid the List
Many college applicants make the mistake of trying to include all of their accomplishments and activities in their application essays. Such essays read like what they are: tedious lists. Other parts of the application provide plenty of space for you to list extracurricular activities, so save your lists for the places where they belong.

The most engaging and compelling essays tell a story and have a clear focus. Through carefully chosen detail, your writing should reveal your passions and expose your personality. A thoughtful and detailed narration of a difficult time in your life tells far more about you than a list of competitions won and honors achieved. Your grades and scores show that you’re smart. Use your essay to show that you’re thoughtful and mature, that your personality has depth.

A Touch of Humor (but just a touch)
While it's important to be thoughtful and mature, you don't want your college application essay to be too heavy.

5 Tips for Securing Recommendation Letters

Writing college applications can prove to be a big job—especially when you have a "story" to tell. Students tend to focus on the essay—and, sometimes, the interview—in conveying key messages. In doing so, they completely overlook a potential source of powerful testimonials to their stories: letters of recommendation from counselors, teachers, coaches, and mentors.

Letters of recommendation are important to admissions officers because they provide contextual interpretation of your academic performance. Writers share critical insight into your work habits and learning style as well as your ability to respond to challenges and setbacks. They can help explain irregularities in your academic program and/or performance and shed light into key factors that define your learning environment.

So who should you choose to write your letters? The people best positioned to support your application are those who know you well from your recent work in the classroom. They are familiar with your intellectual abilities and academic skills. They have watched you respond to a range of challenges in the classroom and understand your capacity and desire to learn.

They are your teachers, counselors, and advisers—they are your champions. Let them help you.

The following are five tips for securing recommendation letters that can help strengthen the overall presentation of your applications. As you anticipate the start of your senior year, keep the following in mind:

Write About Something That Made You ‘Feel Deeply’

The essay rules may be changing on the Common Application, but that doesn’t change some basic rules about creative writing.

Anxious college applicants who are worried about their essay topics might feel relieved to know that Michael Winerip, our New York Times colleague, has written a piece on Booming in which he shares college essay advice that he’s given to his neighbors:

They come to me browbeaten and defeated. They ask if it really is true what the 19-year-old campus tour guide told them — that most people have a first draft by eighth grade. They are convinced their child’s future depends on this. They have blown up the essay until it’s as big as the complete works of Leo Tolstoy.

So much worry for 250 to 500 words about something important that has happened to them.

Mr. Winerip’s piece may have come just in time; at least some of the advice he describes seems universal enough to apply to any essay prompt. He encourages writers to learn more from failure than success and to be honest about who they are. One student who was “terrific” at partying, Mr. Winerip writes, wrote an essay about his knack for organizing social events. He was accepted into the college of his choice.

Tips for writing an Effective Application Essay

When you apply to college, you’ll need to complete an essay as part of your application. This is your opportunity to show admission officers who you are and to provide information about yourself that didn’t fit in other areas of your application. The essay also reveals what you can do when you have time to think and work on a writing project.

The number one piece of advice from admission officers about your essay is “Be yourself.” The number two suggestion is “Start early.” Check out these other tips before you begin.

Choose a Topic That Will Highlight You
Don’t focus on the great aspects of a particular college, the amount of dedication it takes to be a doctor or the number of extracurricular activities you took part in during high school.

Do share your personal story and thoughts, take a creative approach and highlight areas that aren’t covered in other parts of the application, like your high school records.

Keep Your Focus Narrow and Personal
Don’t try to cover too many topics. This will make the essay sound like a résumé that doesn’t provide any details about you.

Do focus on one aspect of yourself so the readers can learn more about who you are. Remember that the readers must be able to find your main idea and follow it from beginning to end. Ask a parent or teacher to read just your introduction and tell you what he or she thinks your essay is about.

Tips for filling ISFAA - International Student Financial Aid Application

ISFAA

Many aspiring college students who do not live in the United States do not realize that they too can get financial aid to study at a college in the United States. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you it's a fun and easy process, but it is very doable for international students to get financial aid to study at a college in the United States. Just like U.S. residents, you will need to fill out a form and make sure that the college of your choice accepts financial aid for international students.

Financial Aid for International Students: Step 1
You will need to obtain an International Student Financial Aid Application or ISFAA. You can purchase this form on the college board website or you can download it for free from the college of your choice that accepts international financial aid. The ISFAA is comprised of seven sections and all sections need to be filled out completely to be eligible for international financial aid.

Financial Aid for International Students: Step 2
You will start by filling out Section A which includes the students personal information, marital status, names of former colleges, citizenship and type of visa. Once this section is complete you will move onto to Section B which includes the students parents personal information, parents employer and parents educational information. After this is complete you will delve into the financial stuff of the financial aid for which is Section C through Section G. Keep in mind the US currency exchange rate. This is crucial and will need to be stated in the ISFAA as well as all required documents.

Financial Aid for International Students: Step 3
The ISFAA requires extremely detailed financial information. Anything having to do with you and your families assets and income will need to be declared and well documented. They want to know everything such as when the house you live in was purchased, how much is was, present value etc. They will even ask about things such as valuable artwork owned by you family so be prepared and get anything that has to do with money and assets ready before you begin filling out the ISFAA.

Barnard College

Mission Statement : Barnard College aims to provide the highest quality liberal arts education to promising and high-achieving young women, offering the unparalleled advantages of an outstanding residential college in partnership with a major research university. With a dedicated faculty of scholars distinguished in their respective fields, Barnard is a community of accessible teachers and engaged students who participate together in intellectual risk-taking and discovery. Barnard students develop the intellectual resources to take advantage of opportunities as new fields, new ideas, and new technologies emerge. They graduate prepared to lead lives that are professionally satisfying and successful, personally fulfilling, and enriched by love of learning.

As a college for women, Barnard embraces its responsibility to address issues of gender in all of their complexity and urgency, and to help students achieve the personal strength that will enable them to meet the challenges they will encounter throughout their lives. Located in the cosmopolitan urban environment of New York City, and committed to diversity in its student body, faculty and staff, Barnard prepares its graduates to flourish in different cultural surroundings in an increasingly inter-connected world.

The Barnard community thrives on high expectations. By setting rigorous academic standards and giving students the support they need to meet those standards, Barnard enables them to discover their own capabilities. Living and learning in this unique environment, Barnard students become agile, resilient, responsible, and creative, prepared to lead and serve their society.

Location : Broadway, New York

Funding : 3-4 full scholarships a year. On the admissions front, Barnard is the most competitive of all the women's colleges.

Fact : Barnard College is one of the original "seven sister" colleges. Closely affiliated to Columbia university so you can share courses. On a four acre urban campus.

Amherst College

Mission Statement : Amherst College educates men and women of exceptional potential from all backgrounds so that they may seek, value, and advance knowledge, engage the world around them, and lead principled lives of consequence. The Department of Physical Education and Athletics promotes this mission through the offering of recreational, intramural, club and intercollegiate activities that encourage students to shape their education within and beyond the curriculum. Academic excellence, high ethical standards, good sportsmanship and equal opportunities are the foundations of the Department’s commitment to the health and well-being of the students and of the greater campus community.

Location : Amherst, Massachusetts

Funding : Need blind admission for foreign students – very good. Meets 100% of demonstrated financial need.

Endowment : $1.461 Billion

Fact : Constantly ranked as one of the best Lib Arts College in the US. Very good Study Abroad Programme.

Specialism : American Studies, Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought; and Neuroscience

Percent of Applicants Admitted : 13%

Testing :
SAT Critical Reading: 660 / 760
SAT Math: 660 / 770
SAT Writing: 670 / 770
ACT Composite: 30 / 34
ACT English: 31 / 35
ACT Math: 29 / 34

TOEFL waived if above 700 on SAT Critical Reading

2 Subject Tests required

Commonapp Supplement questions : 

In addition to the essays you are writing as part of the QuestBridge application, Amherst requires a supplementary writing sample from all applicants. To satisfy Amherst’s supplementary writing requirement, you may choose either Option A or Option B. Before making a choice, you should review the following descriptions of both options.

Essay of Harvard Accepted International Student (from Nepal)

Essay of Harvard Accepted International Student (from Nepal). Got full ride at most ivy leagues.

The Flag waves, duty calls…

On the morning of August 15, 2003, I awoke to the alarming sound of gun shots. A moment of sinister silence followed; my skin tightened, and in the dark corners of my mind I could already envision what had just taken place. With tears impairing my sight and fright impeding my thoughts, I speedily stumbled and staggered my way down the stairs, out of the house and onto the road. The scene I saw there that morning changed my life.

On the indifferent dirt road, in a pool of blood lay the body of my uncle, dead. Three young Maoist rebels had just taken the life of this army colonel outside his own house. Lying flat on the street, he had died in the same uniform that his father and grandfather before him had once worn for their country. Weak and still breathless, I stood there watching as the rest of the family, army-men, and pedestrians dragged his motionless corpse into the army jeep, hoping against hope that he would come back to life. The three bullets in his chest not only killed my uncle that morning, they killed the future of his children, the aspirations of his family, and his dreams of one day becoming a general like his father. The ongoing bloody rivalry between the people of Nepal and the revolutionary Maoist extremists, who have been using violence in trying to usurp democracy, had found another victim.

As I walk the rugged and cramped streets of Kathmandu, I often reminisce about a place far away, a place where I spent my childhood, New York City. The son of a Nepalese diplomat, I was raised in a world that seems very distant today. The wide streets of Manhattan, the extravagantly expensive Fifth Avenue shopping malls, the idyllic smells of Central Park in the winter, hotdogs in the summer, and the nonchalance of childhood; all just memories now of a life I used to know. It is different here in Kathmandu. Insurgency, poverty and political unrest are a part of everyday life.

Crack the SAT with Xiggi method

First off, let me assure you that there are no earth-shattering secrets in what has been dubbed as the Xiggi method. I think that it is mostly based on common sense. After all, how hard is it for anyone to figure out that the more one practices, the more one improves. However, there are a few elements that seem to work better than others. Also, I may be able to point to certain elements of a preparation that yield lesser results. For instance, I do not recommend to spend MUCH time reading lists of words.

In the past I have compared an SAT preparation to the preparation for a marathon. It is not necessary to run 26 miles each day to prepare for a race. It is better to prepare your body for the grueling race in smaller installments and build resistance and speed by repetition. I do not think that there is ANYTHING wrong in trying to emulate the testing conditions by setting aside a few Saturdays at the kitchen table. It is, however, not necessary, especially in the phase where you build knowledge, confidence, and time management. I would recommend 10 installments of 30 minutes over taking an 5 hours ordeal. One of the keys of a successful preparation is to establish a number of intermediary targets. First, you want to make sure you understand the test and its arcane language. Then, you want to test your current knowledge. After that, you want to make sure you understand what TCB considers correct answers. As I will post this afternoon, I even recommend taking a test WITH the answers in front of you. Obviously that test would not establish a valid yardstick score wise, but it will go a long way to build confidence in your own ability and recognize the few traps that ETS uses.

Who Needs Prep for the SAT?

Before answering that question, I should address another question. Who LIKES to prepare for the SAT? That one is easier to answer ... nobody in his or her right mind would enjoy to spend hours practicing the lost art of filling little oval bubbles! However, there is so much at stake, that the sacrifice becomes bearable. One compromise might be found in the form of transforming the SAT into a game. In fact, there is a small amount of satisfaction ?if not pleasure- in finding ways to beat the SAT writers at their own game.

Dear College freshmen,

As you begin your college experience, and I prepare for my 10-year college reunion, I thought I'd leave you with the things that, in retrospect, I think are important as you navigate the next four years. I hope that some of them are helpful.
Here goes...

1. Your friends will change a lot over the next four years. Let them.
2. Call someone you love back home a few times a week, even if just for a few minutes.
3. In college more than ever before, songs will attach themselves to memories. Every month or two, make a mix cd, mp3 folder, whatever - just make sure you keep copies of these songs. Ten years out, they'll be as effective as a journal in taking you back to your favorite moments.
4. Take naps in the middle of the afternoon with reckless abandon.
5. Adjust your schedule around when you are most productive and creative. If you're nocturnal and do your best work late at night, embrace that. It may be the only time in your life when you can.
6. If you write your best papers the night before they are due, don't let people tell you that you "should be more organized" or that you "should plan better." Different things work for different people. Personally, I worked best under pressure - so I always procrastinated... and always kicked ass (which annoyed my friends to no end). Use the freedom that comes with not having grades first semester to experiment and see what works best for you.
7. At least a few times in your college career, do something fun and irresponsible when you should be studying. The night before my freshman year psych final, my roommate somehow scored front row seats to the Indigo Girls at a venue 2 hours away. I didn't do so well on the final, but I haven't thought about psych since 1993. I've thought about the experience of going to that show (with the guy who is now my son's godfather) at least once a month ever since.
8. Become friends with your favorite professors. Recognize that they can learn from you too - in fact, that's part of the reason they chose to be professors.
9. Carve out an hour every single day to be alone. (Sleeping doesn't count.)