What You Need to Know About College admissions
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Feeling a little anxious about getting into college? Don’t worry, you are not alone in the sentiment. Most students are very apprehensive about things like their SATS results, feeling that it is the major factor in how a college bases their admission decision.
And, while this is true, college admissions look at many factors before making a decision and about 35 to 50% of that decision is influenced by your high school records.
They look to see if you improved academically during high school or if you let your grades slide a little during your senior year. And yes, they do look at the courses you took, whether or not they were challenging to you and how well you handled them.
But around 25 to 40% of their admissions decision is based on how well you did in tests. Both the ACT and SAT test are used to judge applicants because they demonstrate skills like problem solving, reading and other basic skills.
This is one reason why SAT test preparation is vital if you want to do well and improve your SAT test score.They will check out your activities and other accomplishments.
Colleges feel that if you were active in community services or took a leadership position in an activity, then it is likely you will continue to be active at college. College admissions also base anywhere from 5 to 20% of their decision on essays and recommendations.
College admissions may also look at essays and recommendations to learn things that SATS tests are not able to tell them. They want to know what is important to you and discover your greatest strengths and weaknesses.
Taking SAT preparation classes and a few practice SATs tests improves your chance of getting a higher grade and that along with taking AP (advanced placement) courses shows the college admissions what you are capable of and that you are serious about furthering your education. This is essential if you already have a particular school in mind, as the grades and whole high school time period are under scrutiny.
Hello, Kelsey.
Great information. Thank you.
Since SATs and other standardized tests aren’t going anywhere we need to prepare for them as best we can without going nuts about it.
In addition to the usual test prep strategies, anyone who hasn’t seen Susanne Jaeggi and Martin Buschkuehl’s study on Improving Intelligence by Training Working Memory (PNAS, April 2008), may want to take a look. They recorded increases in mental agility (fluid intelligence) of more than 40% after 19 days of focused training (just 1/2 hour per day). Perfect for students prepping for standardized tests!
I was so impressed that I contacted the research team and developed a software program using the same method so that anyone can achieve these improvements at home.
IQ Training Program
Martin Walker
mind evolve, llc