Hi all! I know it’s been awhile but if you haven’t already gathered from the title, I’ve been pretty busy. But I have a little bit of free time so I thought I’d share some of my recent life experience with you. Two Saturday’s ago, which was March 3, was a pretty monumental moment for me. I’ve been taking the PSATs (practice SATs) ever since freshman year and this year I finally got to take the real thing. And it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (but let’s see how I feel AFTER I get my scores. Lol.)
Earlier this year, aside from the regular PSAT I got to practice with an old SAT test with my wonderful history teacher who treated it as if it were the real thing. He used to be on the board that graded these tests so it was great practice. He graded it (I didn’t do very well) but it definitely prepared me for this day. But let’s first start with the basics. Now in no way shape of form do I know everything, nor am I a guidance counselor or on the college board but I’m just sharing with you guys what I know and what I’ve learned through experience and from what my own advisors and peers have told me. For those of you who don’t know, SAT stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test which is a test that most colleges require to see where you’re at academically and if you’ll be a good fit for their school. Colleges usually give their SAT range when you look them up and if you want to get into Columbia for example and need at least a 1470 on your SAT but only have a 1200, it might be a little bit of a struggle to get in. Not that best case scenarios haven’t happened and people with lower scores haven’t got in but you already know that Columbia will be challenging academically for you and you want to go there, you definitely will need to study hard for the SAT to meet their score range to get in. I can write a little bit more on reach schools and college advice in another post but for now I’ll stick with the different tests. Now placement tests are completely different. Placement tests are tests that you take once you get into college to determine what classes you get put into after you’ve already been enrolled into that college. These tests are given by the college, not by the college board. SATs are not always required depending on what college you’re applying to. Some schools are test optional but most schools recommend or require SATs and or ACTs (I’ll go into that in another post) but their most typical on the Northern hemisphere. Now, you can take the SAT with or without the essay. It’s always good to know whether or not your college requires the essay before you take it. Some colleges may, some may not, I took mine with the essay just in case I may find a college that will need it but if you know definitely which colleges you’re applying to you may not need to take it at all. Some colleges also require subject tests. These tests are about an one to an hour and a half long and they are exactly what they say they are; they are tests on a particular subject that colleges may need to see if you want to study at a particular major at that school. For example, if you want to study biology as you major, they may want to see you take the biology subject test. The entire test will be full of biology and it would probably be best to take it only if you know that’s something you’ll need and do well in as a class. Don’t just take a subject test if you don’t need to because you will have to pay and you cannot take it the same time as your SAT so you will have to come back for subject tests. You don’t want to waste time either. Now there are also AP tests which are advanced placement tests classes that you take in high school after you have taken that particular AP class. I take AP US History and what that means is that I am taking a college level history course. You pay 93 dollars to take the test and if you get a 3 or higher (depending on the college, sometimes it has to be 4) those credits go towards the college that you get enrolled in and depending on what score you got, what score they take, and how well you did in that class. Beware that some colleges may not take you AP credits so make sure you look into that when looking up colleges but if they do accept them, you’ll receive college credit for that class. I think it’s also good to take Advanced Placement classes if you’re good in a particular subject and want to be ahead when you get to college not only in credits but academically. It will save you a lot of time and money in the future so if you have the opportunity, take it. Now that I’ve gone over the basics for the different tests, let’s go into my tips.
And that’s it for all of my SAT test taking tips. I hope that helped. I definitely want to try to do more of these tips for test taking and college process as I go through them so let me know what you think and I’ll try to plan the next one based off of what you liked and didn’t like about this one. Leave me comments down below about your own experiences and any tips you have for me that I can use in the future because we’re working together here on the path towards success. So thanks again, and I’ll talk to you again soon. Until Next Time! With love, Arianna
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AuthorI'm an 21 year old girl who lives in NY. I love to read and write and fashion is my life. Follow me to find out more! Archives
January 2023
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