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April 6, 2023Get Smarter Prep

Advice for the Upcoming Digital SAT

The SAT is currently in the process of transitioning from its current format to a new digital version. Here are some key facts about the timeline of the change and how it might impact your (or your student’s) prep process. 

For more information about the difference between the two tests, please check out this post.

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You may have heard that the SAT will soon transition to a digital format. Indeed, the transition has already begun. International students taking the SAT this semester (spring 2023) will take the digital version of the test.

For US students, the fall 2023 PSAT will be digital, and the digital version of the SAT will be administered starting in spring 2024.

What does this mean for students? 

Class of 2024

For students in the class of 2024, the digital version will likely not be a concern. These students took their PSAT in the fall of 2022. Future SAT administrations in the spring and fall of 2023 will all be using the current (paper) version of the test. This includes all test dates through December 2, 2023. Most students will complete any standardized testing for their college applications during that first semester of senior year. 

Class of 2025

Things get a bit more complicated for the class of 2025. These students will be taking the digital PSAT/NMSQT in October of 2023. We generally don’t recommend PSAT prep, as it isn’t a great use of time and resources for the overwhelming majority of students. 

However, if we do recommend PSAT prep for a student, we often suggest they take the SAT that is closest to that PSAT date, to make the most of the preparation time they have spent. For the class of 2025, though, the SAT administrations surrounding their PSAT will be quite different. Preparing for the (new) PSAT will not translate directly into preparing for the (old) SAT.

Our recommendations are always tailored to individual students, and we encourage you to reach out to us with questions! But the class of 2025 will be dealing with both versions of the test; the new, digital version will be what they see on the PSAT and in the spring of their junior year, while the old, paper version will be the tests administered during the fall of their junior year. This will make SAT prep for these students more complicated, and might be one of many factors that leads students to consider the ACT instead. 

Class of 2026

For the class of 2026, we would not recommend students begin their prep process until the spring of 2024 at the earliest (the end of their sophomore year). By this point, the transition to the digital SAT will be complete. 

At this point, the major concern for students interested in the SAT becomes the availability of practice materials. Any time a test is redesigned, a lot of the available material becomes obsolete. For a student who is already near their goal, this is less of a concern, but for a student hoping for a significant improvement, they might work through the available resources quickly and then be left scrambling for practice material. This will be a significant consideration in our recommendations for the class of 2026, and possibly beyond, depending on how much additional material is made available moving forward. 

SAT timeline

As always, we’re happy to answer any questions you have about these changes and what they mean for you! 

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The New Digital SAT
March 8, 2023Get Smarter Prep

How Different Is the New Digital SAT?

How Different Is the New Digital SAT?

The SAT is currently in the process of transitioning from its current format to a new digital version. Here are some key facts about the difference between the two tests. For more information about the timeline of the change and how it might impact your (or your student’s) prep process, please check out this post.

Digital vs Paper

The new SAT will be digital, unlike the current version, which is mostly administered on paper. Some schools have administered computer-based SAT School Day exams. This is not the same as the new digital SAT. The current computer-based SATs have been the same types of exams as the paper tests, whereas the new digital SAT has significant differences. 

Length

The new exam will be about 2 hours and 15 minutes long, including a break, compared to the current exam, which is about 3 hours and 20 minutes, including breaks.

Sections

The current SAT has 4 sections: Reading, Writing and Language, Math (no calculator), and Math (Calculator). The new digital test will have just two sections: Reading/Writing and Math. The new Reading and Writing section includes a lot of topics that would have been tested in the current Reading or Writing and Language sections. Questions about grammar and punctuation, reading comprehension, and charts and graphs are all combined into one section. 

Computer Adaptive

The new test is computer adaptive. Each section is divided into two modules. Depending on how you perform in the first module, the second module will be easier or more difficult. According to College Board, “being adaptive means we can fairly and accurately measure the same things with a shorter test while preserving test reliability.”

Passage Length

Currently, the Reading and Writing and Language sections are passage-based, with multiple questions coming from each passage. The new Reading and Writing section does not follow this format. Each individual question is based on its own short passage.

No-Calculator Section 

There will no longer be any no-calculator Math section. A calculator will be allowed on the entire Math section. (There is a built-in calculator, or a student may bring their own.) There are, of course, more differences than we have included here! This is just an overview of the changes to the test. 
SAT timelineIf you have any further questions, please reach out to one of our tutors. 

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SAT Test Dates '22-'23
August 10, 2022Get Smarter Prep

SAT Releases Test Dates ’22-’23

If you have your mind set on taking the SAT, CollegeBoard has released all the 2022-2023 test dates available to students. Registration is open for all students for the 2022 SAT dates and will be open for spring 2023 dates in the fall. Take a look at the test dates below and in particular the registration dates attached to those specific dates.

SAT Test Dates '22-'23

Deciding Factors

There are several items to think about when deciding which test date is right for you including, your academic load, sports schedule, extra-curriculars, job schedule, etc. Only you can determine if you are able to handle adding test prep for eight+ weeks on top of your schedule.

Keep in mind, you and your tutor will meet once a week for an hour and a half, plus you will have about 2-3 hours of SAT homework to finish each week before your next tutoring session.

No matter which test date a student chooses, it’s important to prioritize those 8-10 weeks of test prep in order to put your best foot forward for the SAT. If you need help figuring out which test date is best for you and how best to prepare for the test, please reach out to us. Our SAT experts are here to help!

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College Entrance Exam
May 3, 2022Get Smarter Prep

College Entrance Exams: How colleges know what you scored

If I were to ask 10 different families about the submission process of their student’s ACT or SAT results, I would almost certainly get an equal number of different answers.  How do you know what will be seen by admission professionals and what won’t!?  My philosophy, always assume the college(s) will receive your official scores!  Here are a few key points in which all other assumptions can be effectively null:

  1. Transcripts – For the 89% of students that attend Public schools, expect your high school to submit your scores to colleges on your official transcripts.  There are even a few Private schools that include this info on your transcripts.  In fact, some colleges even accept these as official test scores – as they’re coming from an official source, ie.  not the student, nor the family.
  2. Application – You’ll quickly find out that when submitting College Applications – whether the Common App or to a particular school – it will ask about the student’s academic background and college entrance exams test scores.  At the end of almost every application, the student signs it, declaring the information provided was complete and accurate.  I have known students to have their acceptances remitted because a school found out the information from the application painted a different picture than what truly exists.
  3. Collected – Often times, when students attempt to only send the highest scores, all of their scores are disclosed to a college – again because the college expects a complete and accurate portrayal of the student’s achievements and scores.
  4. Purchased Lists – It seems to be a little known fact, but one of the primary ways in which colleges get a student’s information is from the ACT, SAT, PSAT, and EXPLORE.  Colleges often times purchase student’s information based upon a score range – so even if they don’t know your actual score – they will most likely know a narrow score range in which you fall within.

 

So, how should a student go about sending their scores?  First off – I would recommend taking a FREE Practice Test for both the ACT and SAT – so you can determine a baseline and develop a strategy that is right for the student.  These scores are not recorded in the student record, but provide an accurate measure of the student’s ability with these particular college entrance exams. 

Secondly, I would never recommend that a student take an official test unless they felt prepared and confident in their ability.  While an abnormally low score won’t necessarily affect admission at most universities – why provide any university with a reason to doubt their admission decision?

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ACT Myths
May 3, 2022Get Smarter Prep

ACT and SAT Myths

Periodically we hear ACT and SAT myths circulating around the Kansas City area, some related to us by parents, others related to us by our students. We’ve collected a few of them here – some to roast, some to verify as truth, but mostly to inform about disinformation. We hope it is helpful!

1. Isn’t the SAT for East and West Coast schools only?

Ah, one of the most popular and longest-lasting myths. Absolutely not.

One of the first items of research for us was actual verification of the fact that not one of the schools in the top 100 of US News and World Report had a preference for a particular test. My staff has personally called every single one of their admissions offices and the answer remains the same: We have no preference.

2. Don’t they take my best scores from various tests and create a “best score” for me?

Depends on the test and depends on the school. For example:

The ACT offers a Superscore – the average of the four best subject scores from each ACT test attempt—and counts it as your official score. However, not all colleges Superscore, so students still have to do their own research when it comes to their college lists.

University of Southern California – takes your best per section on the SAT. So, for example, if I got a 730 Reading, and 770 Math on one test, and a 710 Reading, and 700 Math on another, USC would pick your 730 Reading, and 770 Math to give you a score of 1500. A mythical score based on two different tests, but hey, we’ll take it!

University of California, Los Angeles – only takes your best composite. So, here score choice works well because you can send them your best score after you’re done testing for the last time.

3. Shouldn’t I just take the test over and over and keep trying to do better? I’ve got nothing to lose.

I can’t begin to imagine the stress of taking the ACT or SAT 2-3-4-5 times in the hopes of getting higher scores. Our philosophy is and remains, prep using us or some other prep program, take it once, maybe one more if you want AND need a higher score. Maybe a third time if we are one point away from a scholarship or an athletic spot or if you are trying to Superscore and need a higher score in one particular subject.

It’s not like students have a bunch of time to study for these tests over and over, or a surfeit of Saturday mornings to spend in a classroom for 3.5 hours testing. Three or fewer. That’s our general rule.

Sign up for a free practice test to find out where you stand!

4. Shouldn’t I just take this at the end of my junior year so I don’t stress about it? Junior year is supposed to be the most important year academically, right?

Right motivation, wrong strategy. Absolutely junior year is the year. It’s the toughest, most grueling, most relevant for college admissions.

The answer to this question is not cookie cutter. I can rephrase it to read: “When should we take the test for the first time?”

I would answer that by asking: “When are you most available to prep?”

Some people play sports year round and so summer is a great time for them to prep leading into a September or October test date.

Others prefer to prep in Fall or Spring. The answer depends on your student’s time resources to dedicate to prep. And, if you’re like some of my students, there is never any extra time, so the sooner we start, the better.

As far as prep goes, my only recommendation is to prep towards a given test date. It makes sense to go to summer clinics for sports because you might be competing in tournaments throughout the summer or because you want to keep your skills up for when the season restarts. But to do a test prep class and then not take the real test for months? What can be retained for all those months without constant practice? That’s why we never have classes at Get Smarter Prep without a test date that we are working towards.

Remember, if you ever have any questions about anything regarding standardized testing, feel free to contact our team.

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Changes to the SAT
February 9, 2022Get Smarter Prep

More Changes to the SAT

CollegeBoard made the announcement that they will make the transition to the digital SAT at international test centers in March of 2023 and at U.S. schools and test centers in spring of 2024. What stays the same and what will change?

The digital SAT will continue to measure the knowledge and skills that students are learning in school and that matter most for college and career readiness. The test will still be scored on the same 1600 scales as before and will be administered in a school or in a test center with a proctor present, but not at home. Students will continue to connect directly to scholarships and will also be given accommodations for those students who receive them.

Now let’s review more changes to the SAT that are being made below.

Changes to the SAT

Get Smarter Prep will continue to offer Semi-Private and Private Tutoring for students moving forward with the SAT.

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Choosing ACT or SAT
July 7, 2021Get Smarter Prep

Choosing the ACT, SAT or Both

Choosing the ACT, SAT or Both

This debate may be familiar to many of you. ACT? SAT? Both? Some students and families enter junior year with a perfectly clear answer to those questions, but the reasons behind those decisions may be less clear. Do any of these sound familiar?

  • He’ll take the ACT, of course. He wants to attend a school in the Midwest.
  • We’re an SAT family. Her older brother scored much better on the SAT.
  • Of course I want to prepare for both exams!

The ACT and SAT originated in different places, for different purposes, and developed different reputations over the years. Despite the many changes to each test, some of those perceptions persist.

The SAT, originally developed by the College Board for use in admissions to elite, northeastern schools, remains more popular on the coasts than in the Midwest. The ACT came later, designed to provide an admissions test for regional and public universities that didn’t use the SAT; it is still more popular in the Midwest than the SAT.

Although these regional patterns persist regarding which test students tend to take, the initial reason for those patterns – which test your college of choice might accept – no longer holds. The final school to accept the ACT finally did so in 2007, meaning that the choice of which test to take is really up to the individual student.

So, choosing the ACT, SAT, or Both? There are differences, though, between the ACT and the SAT, that one should consider when deciding between the two exams, and they don’t have anything to do with the geographical distribution of your college list.

First, how strong are you at math? On the SAT, math counts for half of your score, while on the ACT math makes up only ¼. That’s a significant difference. Consider, also, how well you’ll fare without a calculator, as the SAT has a section that must be completed without one.

How much do you want to improve your score? Because of changes to the SAT in 2012, there is much less practice material available than for the ACT, which means fewer opportunities to practice and improve your score. If you’re looking for a significant boost, you might lean towards the ACT.

How much do you struggle with timing? The timing on the ACT is more difficult for some students. The SAT provides more time per question, which might be an asset. Taking a practice version of each will help you to know if that is the case for you.

A final consideration is that the SAT, during and since the redesign, has been a bit unstable. There have been data breaches, score delays, and debates over how the new scores stack up to the old ones.

If you know you’ll be taking an ACT through school, or (for those who haven’t already taken it) you plan to prepare for the PSAT, those factors might influence your choice as well. The goal is to prepare for only one exam.

The ACT (or SAT) is only one part of your college applications, and your college applications are only one part of your life. Preparing for both tests – or choosing the wrong one – is a recipe for doing more work than necessary and taking time away from other activities and classes that make up your high school career.

By Audrey Hazzard, Premier-Level Tutor

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PSAT Prep
July 6, 2021Get Smarter Prep

PSAT Prep?

PSAT Prep? 

This is the time of year that parents come back from vacation to the reality of standardized tests.  Many have just received their child’s PSAT scores.  Here’s one Rockhurst parent’s email to us: “My son, a junior, just got his PSAT scores and is pretty heartbroken about his 210.  Great score, but most likely a point or two below what the cut-off will be.”  I know, it takes some explanation.

Wait a minute, the SAT isn’t a test of how smart you are?

Yes and no. As heartbreaking as this may be for those who did well on their entrance exams years ago, and carved out a life of success for themselves based on these scores, these exams have nothing to do with academics.  It doesn’t even have anything to do with test taking.  It has everything to do with understanding how this particular test is constructed and attacking it accordingly.

Sure, there are plenty of “A” students who do well on this test, but there are also plenty of “A” students who test fine in school who don’t do so well on this test.  What does this mean?  Well, either it means that they’ve fooled teachers and parents for years, and are really not intelligent, or that this test is not about intelligence.  All the SAT (or the ACT) provides is another method colleges can use to eliminate candidates in an ever-competitive pool of high school students.

When do I get started?

The PSAT, which is 2 hours, 45 minutes in length, is offered nationally every year in October. However, for juniors who take the PSAT/NMSQT in October of their junior year, high scores are the basis for National Merit Recognition and subsequent scholarships.

Each section is scored on a scale of 160–760, making a “perfect” score 1520. There are also test scores, cross-test scores, and subscores. There are 2 sections: Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing.

The 3 big scores you should look at:

  • Total Score
  • Evidence-Based Reading & Writing Score
  • Math Score

The PSAT is scored on the same rubric, but a slightly different scale, as the real SAT. While the SAT is scored in a range of 400–1600, the PSAT is scored in a range of 320–1520. However, the PSAT is not an entirely accurate predictor of SAT performance. The conventional wisdom is simply to “add a zero” to the 2 digit PSAT scores, but while this helps give a general idea of scores, it is far from accurate for two reasons:  1) The PSAT is shorter than the real exam, has easier questions than the real SAT, and brings none of the real life actual pressures that that test brings, 2) The scores are set as curved against every single other Junior in the country taking the test that day, making an enormous curve that never occurs on any one of the individual 7 SAT national dates.  This explains how a student can miss one question on a PSAT and lose as much as 5 points – the curve is very steep.

While being a National Merit Scholar brings some cachet to any college application, it also (more importantly) brings cash – be it as far away as USC (a half-tuition scholarship for any Finalist who designates USC as their first choice school) or as close as KU ($10,000/year for the same conditions).

Will prepping for the PSAT help?  If you are a serious contender for a top-tier school, yes.  The reason is that the test is not the only determinant of Semi-Finalist or Finalist status.  If the grades and resume aren’t there, your time is better spent improving the resume you do have and doing well in the classes you are taking.

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