Fall Testing

The official e-newsletter of The Equestrian College Advisor.

Guest blog (McKenzie Jenkins):

Money and dressage…well, horses in general really. It goes hand in hand. In some of my previous posts you’ve heard me talk about some of the big names in the horse industry including Bloomberg, Gates and Springsteen. It’s a land of money and they are happy to pour their money into the best horses, the best care for those horses and of course the best equipment. I want to give you a few tips for if you are wanting to compete with the best but aren’t exactly a Springsteen child.  Read More 

"They want to know you're not just using them, that they're not just another institution to you. They're insecure and jealous, so your answer needs to show them you see them as the only one, not one of many." Read More

With tuition bills arriving as the fall semester starts, students and parents might notice a line with a pretty big number next to it: student fees.

Read More

Fall Testing – Pros and ConsBy the time school starts again in the fall, most high school seniors have taken the SAT and/or ACT at least once in preparation for submitting their college applications.  Depending on the scores they received the first (or even second) time around, however, some may consider sitting the test one more time in the fall – but is that wise? The Pros

• For students applying to schools that “super score” (that is, take the highest composite score from each section of each test sitting for the highest possible average), additional scores might bump their score into a new range for merit scholarship.

• For students applying to schools that don’t “super score” but instead take the highest overall score, one additional sitting provides an additional opportunity to boost their overall average before application deadlines arrive.

• For students applying for a regular decision deadline, all scores will be available to the colleges at the time the application is evaluated; they won’t receive additional data after the student’s application has been evaluated.

The Cons

• For students who have already completed a test twice (in spring and summer, for example), the chance of raising a score with a third sitting is slim; anecdotally, many admission counselors see scores begin to decrease on the third sitting and colleges frown on students testing more than three times.

• The pace of senior year (from classes to extracurriculars and the additional pressure of working on college applications) can inhibit a student’s ability to properly prepare for a fall exam and may result in a lower score.

• Seniors who test in the fall for the very first time will not have time to take a second test before the majority of their application deadlines arrive and may be stuck submitting a lower score than they would prefer.

Many juniors also contemplate taking a fall test to evaluate their abilities in advance of their own college application cycle; college counselors don’t generally advise this course of action because students haven’t had the benefit of absorbing much of their junior year coursework and may score poorly as a result.  The spring of junior year is plenty early enough to allow students to not only score strongly, but also to re-test before senior year if they desire.

Share