parents/students: navigating the test prep landscape after the new sat

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Navigating the Test Prep Landscape After the New SAT

WELCOME

College Planning Partnerships StrategicPartnerswith

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The New FAFSA Regulations

FEATURED SPEAKER HENRY DELANGELO

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Implications of the New FAFSA Regulations for Families

o Previously, students submitted their FAFSA in the January of the year they would begin college

The earlier a FAFSA is submitted, the greater chance of receiving financial aid. However, universities have deadlines for FAFSA submissions that are often either

difficult or impossible for students and their families to meet because they do not have the tax and income information from the previous year. • Because of this, FAFSA forms were often submitted with erroneous or outdated information

because the most recent income information was not available.

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o The downsides of using last year’s financial information on FAFSA: Taxes typically not done in time to file by college deadlines

• Difficult for many to estimate their tax information Using estimates results in higher level of scrutiny Corrections after taxes are completed can result in aid changes Short time frame for financial decision-making given the May 1 commitment

deadline

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o Beginning in October of 2016, students who will be college freshman from 2017-2018 can submit their FAFSAs for the upcoming year

While the 2016-2017 application deadline will not change, the submission window will begin on October 1 every year after 2016.

OCT1

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o Advantages to using prior-prior year income on FAFSA: Taxes are already completed—no need to estimate FAFSA will be available months earlier IRS data matching will work better Less chance for corrections and changes to aid Results available sooner More time for families to make an educated decision

OCT1

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o This table provides another way of looking at the transition between the old and new FAFSA submission regulations.

If students attend college from

They will submit the FAFSA for

And they will submit the FAFSA form

Income and tax information from

July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016 2015-16 January 1, 2015-June 30,

2016 2014

July 1, 2016-June 30, 2017 2016-17 January 1, 2016-June 30,

2017 2015

July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018 2017-18 October 1, 2016-June 30,

2018 2015

July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019 2018-19 October 1, 2017-June 30,

2019 2016

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o What Does This Mean For Families? Because the deadline is earlier, students should try to have an earlier list of schools

• Students might consider moving the college application process earlier so they are in a better position to submit the FAFSA at its earliest date. In order to send the FAFSA to the correct schools and have the highest chance at receiving financial aid, students need a list of schools in which they are interested.

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o What Does This Mean For Families? You will receive aid information quicker

• Under the new FAFSA regulations, students and families should hear from colleges about their aid packages before making a decision, which could be crucial to some families.

• Additionally, higher education institutions will be able to quickly acknowledge information on the FAFSA that was brought in through the new IRS Data Retrieval Tool, instead of taking the time to verify that information themselves.

• Fewer errors and fewer adjustments means the window for deciding between colleges can expand from 2-6 weeks to as much as 2-3 months

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o Prognostications: Elite institutions and major flagship universities will likely make no changes to

timeline and processes, at least in the initial years. Some private institutions as well as public universities may quickly take advantage

of the ability to create earlier timeline to be more competitive. Many for-profit (proprietary) institutions will likely take strong advantage of the

ability to accept students and fund them on an earlier timeline.

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o Down the road… Increased competition in higher education Number of colleges and universities with earlier timelines for admission and financial

aid will likely increase

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o Prior-Prior Year… Major disruption to the status quo of the college application, admission and financial

aid cycle? Or no more than a small ripple effect?

?

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o The Future? Will the college search process move up 6 months to a year earlier? Will students begin their searches in earnest sophomore year? Or even earlier? Will Regular Decision be more like Early Action?

?

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Why It Is More Important Than Ever for Students to Obtain SAT/ACT Data Points Early in the Game

FAST-TRACKING THE COLLEGE APPLICATION TIMELINE WITH EARLIER TEST PREPARATION

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Earlier application timeline due to changes in FAFSA regulations

SeptemberReview Extracurricular Activities at Your School

Sophomore Year

OctoberTake the PSAT

10

JulyConsider an

Algebra II Bootcamp

SummerBegin Studying for One of the Tests During the Summer

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Fall (2016)Take the SAT or ACT For the First Time

Junior Year

October / November / December / January /

FebruaryRetake the Test if You are Not

Pleased With Your Results

May / JuneStudy for SAT Subject Test(s)

if Necessary

MayStudy for AP Exams if Necessary

SummerBegin Drafting College Essays

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OctoberFill Out FAFSA Form in October

Senior Year

MayStudy for AP Exams if

Necessary

IMPORTANTBeginning in 2017 the SAT will

offer the test in late August

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Making a Decision on Which Test to Study for Is Imperative

Options We Recommend For Our Families

SAT/ACT Diagnostic

------3-4 Hours

1

PSAT + Practice ACT

------6+ Hours

2

Practice SAT + Practice ACT

------6+ Hours

3

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A Lot of The Material Tested on The Exam Students Have Already Learned

Most high achieving students—if they studied—could see reasonable success on the SAT/ACT Reading and Writing & Language tests by the end of ninth grade.

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A Lot of The Material Tested on The Exam Students Have Already Learned

Many of the topics on the SAT/ACT Mathematics tests are taught as early as sixth grade

Early Topics Include:• Percentages• Ratios & Proportions• Adding / Subtracting / Multiplying / Dividing Fractions• Probability• Solving for a single variable• Equations of a line and systems of equations

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THE SAT AND ACT MATH EXAMS

ACT Math Redesigned SAT Math60 minutes, 60 questions (0:53/question)

80 minutes, 58 questions (1:23/question)

Questions are more straightforward – closer to those you’d see on a school test

Questions require more critical thinking, more steps, and more ideas

Considerably larger emphasis on geometry/trigonometry.

Considerably larger emphasis on algebraic ideas and data analysis

Allows the use of a calculator for the whole test

Allows the use of a calculator ONLY for one of two sections.

What Students Will Face on the Math Tests

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PREPARING FOR THE MATH SECTION

What should students practice on to improve their math skills?

There is plenty of practice material available for the SAT and ACT exams.

Free resources include:• Six practice SAT exams and one practice PSAT exam made available on Khan

Academy• Additional SAT practice problems also available on Khan Academy• Three ACT exams available in The Real ACT Prep Guide• Five past ACT exams available as Preparing for the ACT – search google for

this phrase• SAT and ACT subreddits have sidebars with useful information and practice

material (/r/SAT, /r/ACT)

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How to discuss redesigned SAT/ACT scores with students and families

SAT & ACT CONCORDANCE

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How Do the Redesigned SAT, Previous SAT, and ACT Scores Relate to One Another

o In May 2016, The College Board released a concordance table that equates redesigned SAT, previous SAT, and ACT scores to one another.

o SAT offers a Score Converter application on its website and for mobile devices.o Full tables are also available at https://www.satprepct.com/resources/what-do-

my-scores-mean/.

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How Do the Redesigned SAT, Previous SAT, and ACT Scores Relate to One Another

o SAT scores on the new exam are generally inflated, meaning students require a higher score on the new test for it to have the same meaning as the score they achieved on the previous SAT.

o We are concerned that many families won’t be aware of the true meaning of the new scores!

Previous SAT Math Redesigned SAT Math

500 530

600 620

700 720

Previous SAT CR/Writing Redesigned SAT EBRW

500 CR and 500 W 560

600 CR and 600 W 650

700 CR and 700 W 730

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Given That ACT Does Not Acknowledge SAT’s Concordance Tables, How Will Colleges Treat These Numbers?

o We believe believe that colleges WILL use the SAT Score Converter since it is the only tool available to compare Previous SAT and Redesigned SAT scores.

College Board: “For the next few years, most colleges will accept both new and old SAT scores. They will also be converting scores so they can make fair admission decisions no matter which SAT scores students submit.”

College Board: “If you have scores from the old SAT and the new SAT and don’t want to send both to colleges, use the SAT Score Converter to compare them before you choose.”

o Several colleges have made similar indications: Princeton: “The old SAT, new SAT with Essay, and ACT with Writing will be treated

equally…we will consult the concordance tables provided by the College Board to maintain continuity in our evaluation. The tables show the equivalent score on the old SAT for a score on the new SAT.”

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Given the Concordance Tables, How Should Students Interpret Each School’s Score Range on collegeboard.org?

o College Board does not yet provide data on score ranges on the Redesigned SAT for universities. All data available from CB’s Big Future feature use “previous SAT” data.

o Students should take their Redesigned SAT scores and work backwards using the Score Converter tool in order to get their approximate “previous SAT” scores. They can then compare these scores to the score ranges available for each school on collegeboard.org.

o Students should do this as soon as they have their first set of SAT scores returned so that they have a sense of where their scores compare to score ranges of schools they may apply to.

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USING CONCORDANCE TO INTERPRET SCORES


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The SAT and ACT Verbal Sections

ACT ESSAY

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THE SAT AND ACT VERBAL EXAMS

ACT Reading Redesigned SAT Reading35 minutes, 40 questions (0:53/question)


ACT text is harder to read and complete questions under time constraints.

SAT text is easier to get through under time constraints. Time is not a factor.

Time limit per passage: 8:45 Time Limit per passage: 13:004 passages: 1 Prose Fiction or Literary Narrative, 1 Social Sciences, 1 Humanities, 1 Natural Science

5 passages: 1 US/World Literature, 2 History/Social Studies, 2 Science

Questions asked in random order Questions asked (mostly) in chronological order

Test does not include charts and figures Test includes charts and figures

Strong emphasis on finding/recalling factual information within the passage.

Strong emphasis on “Words in Context”, “Support with Evidence” question types.

What Students Will Face on the Reading Tests

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ACT English Redesigned SAT Language45 minutes, 75 questions (0:36/question)


These two sections are very similar!

More focused on grammatical errors and sentence structure

More focused on stylistic elements and paragraph organization

Questions asked in random order Questions asked (mostly) in chronological order

Test does not include charts and figures Test includes charts and figures

Includes questions that ask about the purpose of the passage

More questions involving challenging vocabulary

What Students Will Face on the English Tests

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ACT Essay Redesigned SAT Reading40 Minutes (optional) 50 minutes (optional)Maximum score 12: average of four 12-point scores : Ideas and Analysis, Development/Support, Organization, Language Use

Maximum score 24: 8 points Reading, 8 points Analysis, 8 points Writing

Students will read three perspectives on an issue, analyze and evaluate each perspective, state and develop their own perspective, then explain the relationship between their perspective and the given perspectives

Students will read a passage, explain how the author builds their argument, and support their explanation with evidence from the passage.

What Students Will Face on the Essay Tests

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USE THE BOOKS OFFERED BY COLLEGE BOARD AND ACT!

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What We Have Learned From Colleges About the New SAT


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What We Have Learned from Colleges About the New Scores and How Colleges Are Using/Interpreting Them

o It is a standardized test, everyone gets the same experienceo Colleges will not favor old SAT over Redesigned SATo College will not favor ACT over Redesigned SATo They will use the concordance tables confidently

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What We Have Learned from Colleges About the New Scores and How Colleges Are Using/Interpreting Them

o No Longer Requiring SAT Subject Testso No Longer Requiring SAT or ACT Writing Sampleso What Schools Will Follow?

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CONTACT US

College Planning Partnerships

www.satprepct.com [email protected]

(860) 664-9857

parents/students: navigating the test prep landscape after the new sat

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