In - Your Guide to College Admissions from The Princeton Review

More About Test Score Submission

Earlier this week, IN’s student contributor posted about her decision to submit both her ACT and SAT scores with her college apps. She lamented that, for students who have taken both tests, there’s not much guidance on which scores to submit.

A recent post on the College Planning Blog attempts to sheds some light on this decision. It offers three main points to consider when choosing which scores to submit:

• The ACT and the SAT measure different things. While you’ll find score converter charts online, you cannot directly compare scores between the tests.
• It usually doesn’t help your admissions chances to submit scores from both the ACT and the SAT.
• If your test scores are modest, however, this might be overlooked if you can submit ACT scores to an SAT-heavy school, or vice versa. Why? Schools that predominantly receive scores from just one test (e.g., the SAT) generally publish student score ranges for this test only. So they’re more likely to take a chance on an applicant with modest test scores if these scores are from the “other” test and won’t be published.

Click here to read more on the College Planning Blog.

Colleges: Merit Aid is Non-Negotiable

It’s not uncommon for a college applicant to appeal a financial aid offer if the offer doesn’t allow him to afford a particular school. Colleges are happy to hear such appeals.

However, schools are not okay with applicants who ask for more money even though they have the means to attend.

According to the New York Times, a variety of schools at this year’s College Board Forum have spoken out against wealthy applicants who try to boost merit-based aid offers. These schools all have the same message: aid based on merit is non-negotiable.

While students and families can appeal aid offers based on finances, they shouldn’t do so based on perceived credentials.

Click here to read more on the New York Times.

The New, Maximum-Security SAT

Last month, a New York prosecutor made seven arrests in connection with an SAT cheating ring at a Long Island high school.

At the time, College Board—the company that administers the SAT—maintained that cheating on the test is rare.

However, with the New York investigation now spreading to other high schools—and more arrests expected—it has taken action and hired the former director of the FBI to beef up security on the test.

Changes will be made immediately. Test-center supervisors will receive additional security training in advance of the upcoming SAT on Nov. 5. Additionally, College Board will analyze a greater number of answer sheets from the test to identify cheaters.

Further measures are in the works, and may include taking photos of the students who show up on test day to confirm their identity.

Click here to read more on the Washington Post.

Obama Addresses Student-Debt Problem

In Denver today, President Obama revealed a multipart plan to reduce college-loan payments in the U.S. Click here for a great recap on the New York Times.

The State of College Costs: Tuition, Aid, and Debt

How expensive is the average college education? How much does it usually cost after financial aid? And how much loan debt do students typically have upon graduation?

College Board’s annual “Trends in College Pricing” report answers all of these important questions. Check out the following numbers for the current (2011–12) academic year:

• Tuition and fees average $8,244 at public four-year colleges and $28,500 at private four-year colleges.
• After grants and tax credits, tuition and fees average $2,490 at public four-year colleges and $12,970 at private four-year colleges.

(Note: the above numbers do not include room and board expenses.)

Regarding loan debt, here are the figures for the Class of 2011:

• 56 percent of grads at public four-year colleges had loan debt—the average amount was $22,000.
• 65 percent of grads at private four-year colleges had loan debt—the average amount was $28,100.

Click here to read more on the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Transferring Shouldn’t Be Your Goal, But It Is an Option

The process of applying to colleges and deciding where to go can easily become stressful for students. Focusing on colleges day-in and day-out, it’s natural that many students end up believing their future hinges on whether they end up at the right school.

To ease some of the pressure you may be feeling, I’d like to provide a simple reminder: it’s not the end of the world if you don’t like your college. Simply put, you can always transfer to another school.

Of course, you’d like to get the decision right the first time—it isn’t fun to go through the trouble of applying again—but you shouldn’t stay at a school that makes you miserable just because of inertia.

The New York Times recently published one college student’s story of transferring—click here to check it out.

Juniors: It’s Time to Start Talking About the ACT and SAT

If you’re a college-bound junior, you should take your first crack at either the ACT or SAT early next year.

While the PLAN or PSAT has given you a rough idea of what your score might be, it’s not uncommon for performance to jump up or down on the “real thing”; you want to see where you stand as soon as possible.

Taking either test the first time it is available next year (February for the ACT or March for the SAT) gives you plenty of time to improve your score if you are at all unsatisfied with it.

If you only want a small score boost, you can simply retake the test—most applicants score a bit higher the second time around. If you’re looking for a larger boost, you can take a test-prep course beforehand.

Another reason to take your first ACT or SAT as early as possible: your score will guide your college search. Read more about SAT and ACT test scores and your admissions chances.

So, what should you be doing now as a junior?

Grad Rates Rising for Student Athletes

According to a new report by the NCAA, student athletes are more likely than their non-athlete peers to earn a bachelor's degree within six years.

The report states that student-athlete grad rates have been trending up for all racial groups and both genders. The overall grad rate for student-athletes in the NCAA’s Division I is now 82 percent.

Click here to read more on the Chronicle of Higher Education.

A Student’s View: Should I Send ACT or SAT Scores?

Jennifer Angelo is a high school senior and a contributor to The Princeton Review’s IN blog.

I've finished filling out the Common Application. I’ve made progress on my supplemental essays. And I’ve requested my transcripts and recommendations.

The worst of the application process is over, right?

While I’d like to believe that this is the case, I still have a major hurdle to clear. Specifically, I need to figure out what to do with my SAT and ACT scores.

Even though college applicants can list their test scores on the Common App, the scores we send to schools directly through College Board (the SAT people) or American College Testing (the ACT people) are the “official” scores that admissions officers use.

For someone like myself, who has taken both the SAT and the ACT, it’s now decision-making time: should I send my SAT scores, my ACT scores, or both?

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a simple answer to this question. Some colleges accept ACT scores in place of both SAT and SAT Subject Test scores. Others schools require that you send all of the scores you have ever received.

This lack of clarity unsettles me. I wonder if some schools really do prefer one test over another (even though they say they don’t), or if they’ll be upset if I just send some scores even though I’ve listed them all on the Common App. The stress I’m feeling as a college applicant is leading me to question many things right now.

How to Use Net Price Calculators

By this Saturday, every college in the U.S. will be required by law to have a net price calculator on its website. Many have already posted theirs.

If you’re unfamiliar with net price calculators, they provide students with an estimate of what a particular school might cost after need-based financial aid.

While the idea behind these calculators is a good one, I recently posted about some potential problems you might encounter when using them. For example, it can be difficult to compare different schools’ price estimates when some include merit-based aid and loans in their estimates while others do not.

Still, net price calculators provide extra information. As such, you shouldn’t leave them by the wayside.

USA Today recently posted some great tips for using net price calculators. Click here to check them out.