Post by Brittany V. Generally speaking, it’s not that uncommon to see a decrease in your composite ACT score, assuming that the drop is not substantial (4 or more points). Several factors can contribute to a lower composite score on a retest, but there are steps that you can take as a student to help avoid a drop in your …
What is a Good SAT or ACT Score?
Guest blog post by J.K. Halsted I’d like to propose an experiment. Bring a representative from each college to the Museum of Modern Art and sit them in front of Jackson Pollock’s One: Number 31 (1950). Readers dabbling in art history might recognize Pollock as one of the premier abstract expressionists, and One: Number 31 as the quintessential example of …
15 Things You Need On Your College Packing List
Post by Emily Rothenberg Getting ready to go off to college or are preparing to send your first child to college? Here is a simple list for you of 15 things to bring to college that you may not have thought of yet. Some of these items may already be on your college shopping list, but others – you may …
Does Retaking the SAT or ACT Look Bad to Colleges?
Guest blog post by J.K. Halsted It’s a feeling that every high school student dreads: opening the results of your SAT or ACT and not seeing the perfect score you wanted. Whether that goal was a 1500 or a 1250, there’s an inevitable swell of disappointment, insecurity, and worry. Your mind somehow conjures up the harrowing image of your college …
The SAT Adversity Score
The CollegeBoard is rolling out an ‘Adversity Score,’ which is part of a larger rating system called the Environmental Context Dashboard that the CollegeBoard will include in test results it reports to schools. It has already been piloted by 50 colleges and universities, including Yale. The new score will be rolled out to 150 schools this year and then more …
SAT Scaling: What to do when your SAT score doesn’t make sense
First, what is scaling? Scaling is a form of grading that is not based strictly on the percentage of correct answers (the way a typical school exam is graded). It is a process in which a raw score, or the number of questions a student answers correctly, is converted into a numerical value, for the SAT a number between 200-800. …
The College Application – It’s not only about GPA & Test Scores
To help parents understand these changes and how they affect the college application process, Curvebreakers presents this third installment in our 3-part College Application Series: The College Application – It’s not all about GPA & Test Scores In Part 1 & 2, we discussed that SAT/ACT scores and GPA together make up approximately 60% of college’s acceptance decisions, which still …
Why is high school GPA important to colleges?
To help parents understand these changes and how they affect the college application process, Curvebreakers presents this second installment in our 3-part College Application Series: How does high school GPA influence colleges’ acceptance decisions? Our chart shows that GPA makes up approximately 30% of a college’s acceptance decision – the same as the SAT/ACT score. It is possible – and …
How much does your SAT/ACT score matter?
A lot has changed in the last 20 years when it comes to applying for colleges: SAT/ACT tests continue to evolve; teacher recommendations aren’t the differentiator they once were; and now more than ever, we accept that a student’s abilities can’t be measured solely through GPA and SAT/ACT scores. So, where does that leave college-bound students in 2018? To help …
Is Early Decision a Good Decision for You?
Summer is wrapping up and back-to-school supplies are beginning to crowd store shelves. If you’re a senior stocking up for your last year of high school, though, you’ve got bigger decisions to make than simply which backpack will best withstand the weight of all your textbooks this year. College applications are right around the corner, and if you’ve been toying …