When it comes to prepping for the SAT, most students and parents view the PSAT, or Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, as a simple test-run of moderate importance. However, the PSAT—and your student’s results—wields more influence than you might realize.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) conducts the National Merit Scholarship Program, an annual nationwide academic competition for high school students. The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) is the route of entry into the National Merit Scholarship Program. If you did not take the 2020 PSAT/NMSQT (offered in October 2020 and January 2021) due to illness, emergency, or other extenuating circumstance (including school closures) and you meet all other program entry requirements (given on the next page), you must follow the instructions specified below to enter the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Who is eligible for accommodations on the SAT/ACT? When should you begin the process? What are the different types of accommodations? How do colleges view SAT-ACT tests taken with accommodations?

A question students ask when preparing for the SAT and ACT is: “Should I take the test with or without writing?” The answer has evolved since the new SAT was introduced in March 2016.

The Essay was always optional on the ACT. Prior to the launch of the new SAT, the Essay was required. Scores from the Essay were combined with the scores on the SAT Writing section. Since the Essay was a required section on the Old SAT, students taking the ACT needed to take the ACT with Essay as well.

Collegeboard’s recent announcement regarding shelving SAT Subject Test and Essay on the SAT test has generated a lot of concern. These tests have long served a niche role in admissions as a way for students to amass extra credentials to show their prowess for ultracompetitive schools. For many years, Ivy League schools and others, including Georgetown University, have recommended, encouraged or accepted subject test scores in addition to the required scores from the main SAT or ACT.

Students getting ready to take the SAT, should be ready for a surprise section on the test day. Instead of a typical three hour 4-section test, they may be asked to take close to four hour test with the 5th section in there.

SAT, ACT test day checklist is created to make sure our students are ready to battle the tests. These are difficult tests, not only for what is on them but also for how long they are. From start to finish, students will end up spending close to 5hours at their test center. To stay mentally and physically focused for such a long day does require extra attention. Hence, what you do on the final day before the test and on the test day itself is extremely important, so please print out and read through the practical “checklist” below.

While SAT/ACT scores are by no means the determining factor in college admissions, they play a significant role. Most colleges strive to receive more applicants than their admitting batch of freshmen, so they begin by looking at course rigor, GPA and standardized test scores.

SAT Subject Tests are one hour long tests, used for college admissions purposes. There are about 24 different subject specific tests that are offered by Collegeboard. So how you decide ‘which ones are needed?’

ACT recently announced significant changes that will go in affect September 2020. These changes are in administering, super scoring recommendation and retesting that will impact those students taking ACT test Class of 2021 and beyond.

When registering for the SAT/ACT, you should consider whether to choose the optional Essay or not. It’s a good idea to check the policies of the institutions you’re interested in to see if they require it for admission.

As part of registering for the SAT/ ACT test, Collegeboard and ACT allow you to be able to send your test scores directly to four colleges at no additional charge. Collegeboard even extends a nine-day grace period after the test day to send scores at no additional fee.

Given that most students take SAT and/or ACT more than once in order to get their optimal score, one of the most common questions that many students and parents have is which scores to share with colleges and how to do so. Collegeboard and ACT give students the flexibility to choose which scores (by test date for the SAT and ACT and by individual tests for the SAT Subject Tests™) to send to colleges. However, the main caveat is that this must be done in accordance with an institution’s stated score-use practice. This practice is known as Score Choice.

In the past couple of days there have been several announcements from Collegboard and ACT regarding their upcoming testing dates. We have recapped relevant headlines and come up with recommendations that we feel should serve our students. Since every student is different, these recommendations may need to be tailored to his/her situation.

Students who take the PSAT test in their Junior Year of high school are automatically entered for National Merit Scholarship competition.

Students who qualify for extended time will still have the same total amount of extra time. Before, students could spend their extra time (1.5 hrs) on whichever of the four tests they chose. Now that time is proportionally allocated across the four subject tests. This is a change for the ACT but exactly how the SAT allocates extended time.

The change takes effect September 2018.

When working toward SAT or ACT test, taking a full-length actual conditions test is one of the most important parts of preparation. These practice tests not only provide you with a score but also highlight your test-taking tendencies. How do you manage your time, do you get distracted easily, and what kind of test anxiety do you have?