New Year, Next Steps: Your SAT/ACT Game Plan

Welcome to College Admission Secrets, your new Tuesday companion on the journey to college acceptance. As experienced college admissions coaches, we're here to demystify the process by providing clear weekly action steps, insider updates, and hand-picked opportunities for your family. Think of us as your personal guide, transforming the college admissions journey from overwhelming to achievable.

In today’s email:

• What to Do This Week: Setting Up for a Strong Spring Semester.

• Lesson of the Week: Should Your Student Take the SAT/ACT?

• Additional Resources: Study Habits & Early Action/Decision Takeaways.

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

Week of January 14th

This week is all about setting up a strong second semester. Sit down as a family and revisit your student’s academic and extracurricular goals.

Is there anything that needs adjusting? Maybe a new leadership position to pursue, an AP class to prioritize, or summer plans to start thinking about?

Planning now means fewer surprises later!

Middle School Families

• Middle school is your time to explore!

• Try new activities - from coding to arts to sports - and notice which ones spark joy.

• Keep track of what you enjoy most, as these interests often become meaningful high school activities.

9th Grade Families

• Take a moment to review your first semester performance.

• Set 2-3 specific goals for spring semester, whether it's improving your study habits or getting involved in a new club.

• Start researching summer opportunities that match your interests.

10th Grade Families

• It's time to plan your summer!

• Research and apply for programs, internships, or meaningful projects that align with your interests.

• Popular programs fill quickly, so start exploring options now - whether it's academic enrichment, volunteering, or developing a personal project.

11th Grade Families

• Two key priorities this week: Register for spring SAT/ACT dates if you haven't already, and start building your preliminary college list.

• Also, research summer opportunities that connect with your potential college major - many competitive programs have approaching deadlines.

12th Grade Families

• Focus on scholarships this week - many local and national deadlines are coming up in February/March.

• Monitor your email for any college requests about mid-year grades or additional documents.

• And don't forget to thank those recommendation letter writers!

LESSON OF THE WEEK

Should Your Student Take the SAT/ACT? Here’s How to Decide…

This is a really big question that families often ask, especially since a lot of colleges have been switching back and forth between test required, test optional and test blind/free these past few years.

Here is our recommendation that we share with our own coaching families. Keep in mind that our coaching framework is built on “working smart” through this process.

We don’t believe in just simply taking the SAT/ACT blindly simply because your neighbor’s son or daughter took it 10 years ago.

For us, we want to weigh out the investment of time & resources you’ll need to put in to do well versus the opportunity cost of doing anything else.

Scenario #1: No, Don’t Take the SAT or ACT

If the colleges your student wants to apply to don’t look at test scores, then it’s easy: don’t take the test. It’s simply not a good use of your time.

Test-blind (or test-free) means that colleges will not look at your test scores at all. This means that all the time you spent studying, the stress you felt, and the money you spent on tests might not be worth it.

The most popular college system that is currently test-blind is the University of California system, or colleges like UCLA or UC Berkeley.

Scenario #2: Yes, You Need to Take the SAT or ACT

If any school on your student’s list wants test scores, then yes, the test must be taken.

Even if you are only thinking about one school, if it is your favorite, you should get ready and make a plan to take the SAT or ACT.

It's important to plan for at least two testing days in your junior year. Try to pick one in March or April, and another one in May or June. If the first test doesn’t go well (and it can be really scary), you’ll get another chance.

Scenario #3: Maybe, Because Your Tests Are Optional

This is where many schools are, and the choice gets a bit more complicated.

If a school is test-optional, it means they will look at your test scores only if you choose to send them. Keep in mind that various colleges have started to use other similar terms for this, but they just call it different things.

A few alternative names you’ll see for test-optional are:

• Test Flexible

• Test Recommended

• Test Considered

• No Harm

So, the big question is: should you send your scores or not?

Here are some things to think about:

How good is your student at taking tests?

Some students are natural test takers. I remember working with a sophomore who just finished his PSAT and he got a near perfect score. This student event told me that he didn’t study much for this test.

I recommended that he take his SAT right away, and the student did. Again, he didn’t study. But his score?

1580/1600.

That being said, I can confidently share with you that after working with thousands of students, the majority of high school students are not the great test takers. As a result, the majority of students will need to study twice as hard to get similar results.

It’s like the proverb says: You don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree.

If your student is not the greatest test taker and their colleges are optional, it may be to our benefit to skip the SAT/ACT and focus on other areas.

What is the Target Score?

For your student’s score to be help play a role in admissions, we recommend that their score is in the 50th to 75th percentile of that college’s average. You can do a quick Google search to find this data on any college or university.

So if your student’s practice tests show they are in this range or close to it, it’s a good idea to study more to get better.

We have seen that if a student studies hard for 2 to 3 months, they can usually raise their SAT score by 200 to 300 points, which is similar to a 3 to 5 point increase on the ACT test.

If that possible improvement could help your student reach the goal, it’s definitely something to think about.

What We Usually Suggest

This is a simple plan for the SAT and ACT tests:

• Take the PSAT in the Fall of 10th Grade without studying. It doesn't really matter, so think of it as a starting point and keep practicing.

• Take the PSAT in the Fall of 11th Grade. However…

  • Only study if your student is really close to getting a perfect score and wants to be recognized for National Merit. National Merit could qualify you for a lot of scholarship opportunities, including a potential full-ride scholarship.

  • If not, you can try it without studying. Just think of it like a practice test.

• If you have decided that you will take the tests, then take the SAT or ACT in the spring of 11th grade. It's a good idea to plan for two test dates: one in March or April, and another in May or June.

  • We don’t usually recommend more than two takes because there is a concept of diminishing returns. You can always study more, but the score increase is so small that it won’t play a significant role in admissions.

SOME ADDITIONAL TRAINING VIDEOS

Here Were Our 2 Most Popular Trainings Last Week

Did you know that our college admissions coaches host live training sessions for families just like yours every week? Here are two of our most popular replays from last week that will help you start 2025 strong:

ONE QUICK FAVOR

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