Let’s Get Ready To Rumble

September 08, 2015

I had a dad who was a huge fan of boxing. Whether it was appropriate or not, some of my earliest memories are of my trying to understand why he is so excited when people hit each other on T.V. but seems to get upset when I do the same thing to my younger brother. Eventually I got the difference (admittedly, I was a little disappointed, especially when he ripped off the head of my favorite Barbie doll) but I actually started to enjoy boxing and hearing Michael Buffer say, “Lets get ready to rumble.”

For those of you with kids in school, the second school starts it is like a bell rings and you take off physically and mentally. You start thinking and strategizing about what your kids need physically and academically as well as how you’re going to get them through the next year of school. I had an opportunity to talk to Reecie Campbell, the executive director of a Huntington Learning Center franchise in Dunwoody, Georgia about college planning strategies for high school students and wanted to share her top points about college entrance exams:

College entrance exam scores may play a big factor in your child’s college acceptance. The SAT is more vocabulary and critical thinking-oriented, whereas the ACT is more factual and higher mathematically. Her guidance was to take both tests, ideally in summer of your child’s junior year.

College Entrance Exams=$$$ Your child’s score on the SAT and/or ACT can literally pay for college. There are scholarships for high SAT scores and I learned from her that some colleges let students pay in-state tuition even if they are out-of-state based on college entrance scores and in some cases, high GPAs.

Understand the scoring strategy of the tests. The SAT taken in 2015 will penalize you for wrong answers so guessing may not be a good test taking strategy whereas the ACT only counts the right answers. One piece of guidance she offered was that the SAT’s are being redesigned in March 2016.  The penalty for wrong answers will be eliminated and essays will be optional and have a deeper emphasis on how word choices shape the meaning, tone and impact of the text. A strategy could be for a student to take the SAT this year based on the old standard and then take the ACT, which is not changing, next year.

College entrance exam tutoring can go a long way to help your kids, but she emphasized that a strong academic base is key to good scores. Remember, your child is more than their test scores. Other factors count such as good grade and extracurricular activities as well.

Some schools weigh test scores more heavily than other schools. Websites like CollegeSimply, Princeton Review and The College Board can offer guidance on average freshman SAT/ACT scores for different colleges. If your child is great academically and does poor on a test, then strategically looking at colleges that do not heavily weigh college entrance exam scores may be more beneficial. Conversely, if you have a child whose academic record is not stellar but does great on standardized tests, then looking at schools that weigh test scores more heavily may work.

These strategies can potentially help your kids get into and pay for college. Do you have any other tips to share? Feel free to leave them in the comments section below.