We are talking this month about doing the work necessary to make sure you are ready to go to college. So let's start taking apart what a strong college application looks like.
Academics: Did you take a challenging curriculum? Did you do well in your classes? If you faltered early with grades, did you consistently improve over the years?
*Did you know that students who take math higher than Algebra II have a much higher rate of bachelors degree completion than those who do not?
Class rank: Compared to the students in your class who had the same educational class offerings, where do you stand?
Test Scores: Take the ACT or SAT. If you want your scores to be strong, take challenging courses. Read, read, read. The more you read, the more likely it is that you will be able to do well on the Critical reading and writing portions of the SAT. By all means, take advantage of test preparation opportunities. There are some links in the sidebar of this blog that may be helpful. Saturday, January 23, Kaplan is offering a free full length practice SAT test. Take advantage!
We will continue breaking apart a strong college application in the coming days. Stay tuned!
Thank you for your most helpful blog. It is a great resource to have a place that gives so much good info to students, parents and teachers.
ReplyDeleteI will look forward to including it in my blog roll.
Please have a look at the website for the book I released in October: "The Workbook for Test Success" How to Be Calm, Confident and Focused on Any Test."
It's a comprehensive resource for students, parents and teachers to deal with tests successfully (rather than being anxious and under-performing). The book gives valuable tools that the big test prep companies do not offer.
I would be happy to send you a review copy and would greatly appreciate hearing your response to the book, and, if you feel it has merit, to share it with your readers. If you would like a complementary copy please let me know where to send it.
Thank you for your helpful resource.
With kind regards,
Ben Bernstein, Ph.D.
http://www.WorkbookForTestSuccess.com