Is there anything else you ought to be doing right now to help get you into college?  Absolutely!

TESTING:

You know that test scores really count, so you took your PSATs .  Now what should you do with the information you got back?

Go to your guidance department and ask for your PSAT test booklet if it wasn’t mailed home to you.  Yes, you can see the questions online with the code number on the bottom of your score report, but you should get your actual booklet.  It’s interesting to know that on the second math question, you put B but the answer was A.  If you look online, you can get the actual question.  But if you look in your own test booklet, you can see how you set up the problem.  Was your multiplication at fault?  Did you use the wrong figures?  Was your equation faulty?  Take a look at the critical reading section.  Did you seem to get the answers down to two and you always seemed to pick the wrong one?  Were you clueless and shouldn’t have answered it?  Or did you mean B but blackened bubble C?

Sign up for spring tests right now.  Go to the College Board website to sign up for the SATs.  Most kids take two SATs their Junior year, so I suggest you sign up for March (which is often a bit harder but is great practice) and May.

You should also go to the ACT website to sign up for the spring ACTs.  They’re given in April and June.  I recommend the April test.  If you do well and want to try again, you can take the June test.  If  you do great, you might be able to skip SAT Subject tests (SATIIs).  Most schools accept ACTs instead of SAT Subject tests, so if you take the ACTs in April, you’ll know whether or not to prep for those Subject Tests in June.  And you must sign up for the ACT with writing.  If you want to use your ACTs instead of SATs to get into college (all colleges accept either SATs or ACTs – which ever you think shows you in a better light is fine), colleges want the ACTs with writing so you have an equivalent test to the SATs, which also have a writing section.

If you haven’t started preparing to take these tests, get going!   Sign up for word of the day email alerts.  Sign up for SAT Question of the Day email alerts.  Start taking practice tests.  Scrutinize the wrong answers to see if you can improve.  Time yourself when you take the practice tests.  Better yet, find a tutor to help you find your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths.

CHOOSING COLLEGES:

Let’s back it up.  You want to be going to visit colleges once the weather turns nice.  You don’t want to wait until the fall.  You hope to apply “early action” to as many schools as possible, so you want to begin your applications over this summer.  Smart move.  So in order to apply to colleges over the summer, you have to have visited some this spring.  And in order to have visited some this spring, you have to tell your parents where you want to visit.  They’re much more likely to cooperate if you have a plan.  For example, you might say, “Mom, I want to take three trips.  I want to see the Pennsylvania/Delaware/Maryland schools in one trip, the Boston area schools in another trip, and the New York State schools to the west in a third trip.”  Mom’s bound to be impressed!

You probably want to take your first college trip mid-March when the threat of snow is passed.  No school looks great in the muck.  Wait until the weather clears.  You can visit schools until the first week in May, when most schools stop tours so the kids who actually attend college can concentrate on their finals before college lets out for the summer in mid-May.  That gives you about 10 weeks to visit schools.  That’s it.

How do you know which schools to visit?  Spend the winter on the computer.  Check out the schools your guidance counselor recommends.  (Don’t put too much stock in Naviance – the sample of kids is too small.  Did that student get into that great school because of his grades or because his parents went there or because he was on the lacrosse team?  No way to know from Naviance.)

The best free site to find and compare colleges is the Princeton Review website.  They keep changing it, but as of today, you get to the school finder by clicking on “Find Your College” under “Know It All School Search.”  Then, under each category in black on the left, you can refine your search until you get a good list of schools that might fit.

The best website that requires a fee is the U.S. News compass.  U.S. News is the group that puts out the college rankings, and for under $20 for a year’s subscription, you can find information that’s hard to find anywhere else.  Most websites can tell you if a school has a study abroad program, but U.S. News can tell you how many students at that school actually take advantage of that program.  Most websites can tell you about the sports program, but U.S. News can tell you how many students actually participate in, for example, club level sports.

You need to build a list of 20 – 30 schools so you have plenty to reject.  For each of those 20 – 30 schools, visit the school’s website.  See if you can find a video on the website.  Click on “send me more information” and enter your name and address.  Go to the website of the major you’re interested in at that school.  Go to the website of any clubs or sports you might be interested in.  Poke around.

Once you’re down to a list of 10 or more schools, group them geographically so you can visit them effectively.  You don’t have to go to every school on your list.  But you should see one large school and one small school, one urban school and one suburban school, and so on.  You’ll soon get a better feel for what type of college feels like home to you.

By the time you’re done with all of that, it will be spring — time to take your tests and visit schools.

Let the fun begin!

Wendy Segal

1.  What do my PSAT scores mean?   On the SATs, the scores range from 200 to 800 in each of the three sections.  On the PSATs, the scores range from 20 to 80 per section.  Same thing minus a zero. Your index on the right is just the sum of your three scores:  critical reading, math, and writing.

2.  What do the percentages mean?  If you scored in the 50th percentile, you did better than 50% of the high school juniors in the country.  You also did worse than 50%.  If you got in the 80th percentile, you did better than 80% of the students in this country, and worse than 20%.  The best you can score is 99th percentile (you can’t score better than yourself!).

3.  Is my PSAT score good?  Did I do okay?  I get this silly question all the time.  Of course you did okay – for someone trying to get into community college.  Did you do well enough to get into an Ivy League school?  Perhaps not (more about high scores later).  Whether or not your score is “good” depends on your expectations.  Did you score better or worse than other kids who get the same grades as you do in the same type of school classes?  Or did you score well enough so that if this were your SAT score, the college of your choice wouldn’t reject you based on your scores?  Those are right questions.  For the answers, you have to contact me individually, or ask your guidance counselor.

4.  How do I know which questions I got wrong?  There’s a code number on the top and bottom on your PSAT score sheet.  If you enter it on the College Board website, you can review the exact questions you got wrong.  Your guidance department also has the test booklet you used to take the PSATs.  All you have to go is go into the guidance department and request your PSAT booklet.

5.  How close to my PSAT score will my SATs be?  If I did well on the PSATs, can I expect to do well on the SATs?  Not necessarily.  Six or seven years ago, before they changed the SATs to include a writing section and before they drastically changed the critical reading section, your PSAT score was a fair predictor of what you might get on the SATs.  Now it seems to bear little relation.  The PSAT questions are a bit easier.  There are more easy/medium questions on the PSATs and more medium/hard questions on the SATs.  The SATs are much, much longer and many kids have issues with fatigue, loss of concentration, and inability to sit for so many hours on the SATs.  The SATs have an essay to write.  The reading selections are longer on the SATs.  The math is one year harder on the SATs.  All told, many, if not most, students go down from the PSATs to the SATs — unless they’ve attended SAT review classes or had tutoring before or after the PSATs.

6.  Is my score high enough for me to be a National Merit winner?  It depends.  First of all, the National Merit people don’t let you know until the fall of senior year.  Secondly, the score you need to achieve to be a National Merit semifinalist changes from year to year and is different from state to state.  The score you need is a percentage of all test scores taken in each state.  So you have to score higher in New York and New Jersey and Connecticut than you do in Alabama, Mississippi, or Arkansas.  Most years, if you get a 200 combined score (out of a possible 240), you’ll be a National Merit Letter of Commendation winner.  Not bad!  Most years, in New York, if you score a 211, you’ll be a National Merit Semifinalist (but no guarantees – the score could be a point or two higher in any given year).  To go from being a semifinalist to a finalist, they have to review your grades (nothing lower than a C usually), you have to write a short essay (easy topic, like “Why do you want to go to college?”), and you have to take the SATs (by fall of senior year, nearly everyone has) and the scores need to be somewhat equivalent (you need to get in the high 90-something percentile overall).  The vast majority of all semifinalists do become finalists.  As a finalist, you may or may not get a scholarship to college (the scholarships tend to be small, often around $5,000 for one year only), but the real benefit is that it just makes your application seem more appealing to colleges, all of whom like to brag that they have a certain number of National Merit Finalists in their incoming freshman class.

7.  What can I do before the SATs to improve my score?  In part, it depends when you are planning on taking your first SAT.  For most students, it should be in March.  Some students prefer to take the SATs in January because they’ve been preparing diligently and want to strike while the iron is hot, or because they have another commitment in March.  NO JUNIOR should be taking the December SATs – those are for seniors who need one last chance to improve their scores.

If you plan to take the SATs soon, at a minimum you should be looking at your PSAT exam booklet or entering your code online to see exactly which questions you got wrong.  Now that you know the right answer, do you see where you went wrong – or is the question still a mystery?  Can you find a pattern in the questions you got wrong?  Were they mostly the difficult questions?  Were they a certain type of question?  Buy The Official SAT Study Guide by the College Board from your local bookstore or from Amazon.com and do a few tests.  The answers are in the book, so make sure you look carefully at the ones you got wrong.

If you have a bit of time, please get yourself to a competent tutor.  SAT prep classes are adequate for introducing you to the types of questions you’ll see, but you could buy a book to do the same thing.  Only a tutor can help you identify and polish up your strengths and can help you remediate your weaknesses.  You’ll learn when to guess and when to skip a question (which will be different for every student), you’ll learn techniques to handle the questions that are harder than the ones you can get correct now, and you’ll gain confidence before tackling the SATs.  Whether you work with me (and I hope you do) or someone else, there’s nothing like someone paying attention to your own test-taking skills to give you the best chance to score where you ought to score based on your grades and what the colleges expect which are a good match for you.

Do you have other questions?  Just send me a comment and ask!

Wendy Segal

The good news is you need to have an impressive vocabulary much less now than when your parents or teachers took the SATs.  The bad news is that if you’re a typical American teenager, your vocabulary is much, much worse than your parents’ or teachers’ vocabulary was at your age.

I’ve ranted elsewhere on my blog about my view of the causes of this decline, but you’ve come to this column to learn how to improve, so here are some suggestions.

1.  Use big words.  When you learn a new word, use it.  Use it with your friends.  Use it with your parents.  Use it in your next school assignment.  If you use it once, it’s yours.  You don’t have to memorize it any more; it’s part of your own vocabulary.

2.  Have fun with big words.  If you have a list of English vocabulary words to study, try to make a sentence using two or three of them.  Try to make a story using 10 or more words.  Try to make a sentence in which nothing but a synonym for your word would work.  For example, if I wrote, “I am ambivalent about my decision,” I might mean I am positive about my decision or I’m unsure about my decision or I’m depressed about my decision.  But if I said, “I’m ambivalent about my decision because both choices have so many pros and cons that I just can’t make up my mind,” you’re no longer ambivalent about what “ambivalent” means!

UPDATE:  I just learned about a program online in which you can make up your own flash cards, games, and quizzes to learn vocabulary – and pretty much anything else.  The good news is that there are already dozens of sets of SAT words available to learn, play with, and quiz yourself on.  Go to the quizlet link, look for SAT on the right, and have fun!

3.  Read big words.  Read books that are slightly harder for you than those you’d typically pick out.  If you like romance novels, read Vanity Fair by Thackeray.  If you like murder mysteries, read anything by Agatha Christie. Because each genre has its own vocabulary, read out of your usual area of interest.  If you like suspense novels, try a biography.  If you like chick-lit, read a play.  And if you just don’t like reading books, read a magazine with big words in it, like TIME magazine or Newsweek.  A subscription (check out prices online) is much cheaper than individual magazines, and once the magazine is floating around the house, most likely you’ll read articles here and there while you’re waiting for dinner to get done.

4.  Listen to big words.  Jon Stewart on the Daily Show (Comedy Central) has one of the best vocabularies on television.  His show keeps winning awards for writing because smart people write the show, and smart people watch the show.  If you watch the show, either on TV or online, you could just get smart, too.  A bonus is that the SATs are filled with political words, and Jon Stewart uses them correctly and with a wry sense of humor.  I love Stephen Colbert, but for vocab, Jon Stewart’s the man.  Sure, he’s a little ribald, but get your kid brother out of the room and tell your parents it’s homework.

5.  Play with big words.  Learning seems to be more palatable when it’s on the computer.  Sign up for the College Board question of the day.  Sign up for Merriam-Webster’s word of the day . Start playing on freerice.com, a site where you can learn vocabulary as you feed the world’s hungry. The words get harder as you get more correct.

6.  Work with big words.  Sometimes, you just have to do a little work.  If you’re serious about learning vocabulary, get a good vocab book.  Not all vocabulary books that say they’re good for the SATs are actually well thought out or effective.  For students with an average vocabulary who want to improve, the best book out there is SAT Vocabulary for Dummies.  I wish it were a bit less expensive and a bit smaller so it would fit in a backpack better, but it does an outstanding job at introducing and reinforcing just the right vocabulary words for the SATs without being too pedantic.  For those who already have a fairly accomplished vocabulary but still want to learn those tricky SAT words, I strongly recommend Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis.  How do you think I got my expansive vocabulary?  My teachers assigned chapters in this book way back in the olden days when I was in something we called “Junior High,” because my teachers were assigned that book when they were in Junior High.  It’s still packed with words you don’t know, presented with a sly wink and a dose of erudition that’s hard to come by these days.

It’s never too early to start improving your vocabulary.  That sounds pedantic, I know, but I can’t help it.  I am, after all, a teacher.

Tell me your favorite ways to learn new words.

Wendy Segal

Question: I’m not even in my junior year yet, but I want to get started early.  What should I do to prepare for the SATs?

Answer: One thing NOT to do is take the 10th grade PSATs.  What a waste of time and money!  There’s no value in taking that test, and it might do you harm, because if you don’t do well, you won’t be able to take the 11th grade PSATs with confidence.  Another thing NOT to do is take practice tests given by testing organizations, even free ones given in libraries or community centers.  I’ve found the difficulty of the tests is unreliable. Either the tests are too easy so they can build your confidence, or they’re too hard so the testing organization can get you to sign up for a course of prep sessions.  Don’t do it. The best thing you can do to prepare early is pay attention in math class, asking for extra help if there are concepts you don’t understand, and read.  Read.  READ.  It’s especially useful to read TIME magazine or Newsweek, especially the letters to the editor (“inbox” in TIME) and the back page essay.  The more you read essays, the better you’ll be at reading essays. Makes sense.  If you think your vocabulary is particularly weak, try SAT Vocabulary for Dummies.  I hate the name of that book, but it’s very useful.

Question: I’m a high school junior.  I know my PSAT scores will be available by around Christmas break.  But when should I take the SATs?

Answer: I recommend that most of my students take the March and May SATs in their junior year. If you have a commitment when the March or May test is scheduled (March 10, 2012 and May 5, 2012), you can take the January test (1/28/2012) or June test (6/2/2012), but the January test is often difficult and is too soon after the PSATs come back for you to use that info to prepare for the next test.  And the June test conflicts with finals and SAT Subject Tests (SATIIs).  So for most kids, March and May SATs are just right.

Question: What about SAT Subject Tests (SATIIs)?  When do I take them?

Answer: SAT Subject Tests are one-hour multiple choice tests that are given in a variety of subjects, like math, science, foreign language and history.  The most selective schools require two or more SAT Subject tests.  The fairly selective schools like to see two or more.  The less selective schools don’t much care.  You can take up to three in a day, but DON’T!  Don’t take more than two in a day.  You’ll be wiped out. Most kids take those either in June of junior year  or October or November of senior year. They’re given the same day as SATs (except no SAT Subject Tests are given in March), so you cannot take both SATs and SAT Subject tests on the same day.

Question: I’ve heard about the ACTs.  Do I have to take those, too?

Answer: The ACTs used to be popular only for kids attending school in the mid-west.  Now nearly 100% of my students take the ACTs.  Some kids do substantially better on the ACTs, some do better on the SATs, and some score pretty much the same on both.  The ACTs are shorter and less stressful, and that’s reason enough for some kids to take them.

Bonus: If you take the ACTs and score well, you may not have to take SAT Subject Tests — and if you score really well, you don’t even have to take the SATs.  I’d recommend juniors take the ACTs in April.  They also give the ACTs in June, but why not take them in April?  That way, you’ll have your scores back in time to decide whether you have to take June SAT Subject Tests.

Question: Do I really have to take the SATs more than once?  How many times can I/ should I take them?

Answer: Don’t stop at once, even with score choice, unless you get something spectacular the first time, like above 730 on each section.  This isn’t a good time to be lazy.  And don’t take them more than three times.  After three times, your score isn’t likely to improve so significantly that it would be worth the extra time and effort.  So, take the SATs twice or three times, usually twice in junior year and once in senior year.

Question: Should I send my scores to schools when I sign up for the SATs to take advantage of the four free score reports?

Answer: I used to insist that my students send their scores to different schools each time they took the test, but now that they’ve instituted score choice (you can hide entire seatings of SATs if you want), there’s not enough benefit to sending scores now.  Wait until ALL of your tests are done, which means the fall of senior year for most students, then decide which SATs, which SAT Subject tests, and/or which ACTs to send.  Don’t send anything anywhere until then.

Question:  They’re offering a course at my school/church/temple/community center.  Should I take it?

Answer:  For most students, the answer is a vigorous NO!  Whether you hire me to help you with your test prep (and I hope you do), or whether you find another tutor, almost no one gets anything from those courses.  I used to teach at one for the first two years I did SAT prep, and I stopped because it was a disappointing waste of time and money for nearly every student.  For those students who are bright but need a bit of test technique,  the course is a waste of time.  You’ll sit there texting while the teacher patiently explains things you already know.  If you really need some help, you’ll be lost.  The teacher has to move at a steady pace whether any particular student understands or not.  The first time the teacher asks if there’s anyone who doesn’t understand, you might raise your hand.  The second time, you might raise your hand.  By the third time, you’ll be embarrassed and lost.  If you want to get an overview of the test, buy a good SAT review book and read the introduction.  Save your time and money.  If you really want your score to improve, find yourself a tutor who not only knows math and/or grammar and reading, but really knows the SAT and/or ACT inside and out.  I hate to blow my own horn, but when a prep course teacher teaches the SATs, he or she teaches it once in the spring and once in the fall.  When I teach the SATs or ACTs, I teach it 20 – 30 times every spring and 20 – 30 times every fall, year after year.  I can help you correct your particular weaknesses and I can help you strengthen your own particular areas of accomplishment.  Can a course do that?

Question:  I hear there are colleges that don’t require SATs or ACTs at all.  Is that true?

Answer:  Yes, but.  Yes, there are colleges that don’t require SATs, including some less selective schools and some very prestigious selective schools.  But many of those schools require two or more SAT Subject Tests in lieu of the regular SAT Reasoning test, or they require you to submit a graded writing sample in lieu of a test score. SAT Subject Tests aren’t easy, and I’m embarrassed to say that in my school district, students don’t really have a graded writing sample to submit.  Furthermore, if you don’t take SATs or ACTs, you are drastically limiting the schools to which you can apply.  So presume you’ll have to submit your scores, and practice!

Do you have any other SAT/ACT or college application questions?  Just ask!

Wendy Segal

If you haven’t already done so, go out and buy tootsie rolls, change the batteries in your calculator, look up a few vocabulary words to bring with you to the test, and remind yourself of the father’s name in To Kill a Mockingbird.  (If you haven’t read To Kill A Mockingbird, at least review one or two of your favorite works of literature.)

Now you are nearly ready for the SATs.

Here are a few more things you can do:

1. The night before the test, get a good night’s sleep.  Don’t try to go to bed too early or you’ll be up half the night staring at the ceiling.  Just get a good amount of sleep after a restful evening.  NO STUDYING TODAY!  Not even for the SATs.

2.  Saturday morning, dress up a little.  When you’re wearing comfy, floppy clothes, your brain takes a rest, too.  When you dress up a little (whatever that means to you), you sit a little straighter and concentrate better.  Insider tip: several studies suggest that kids do worse on standardized tests if they see or wear the color red because they associate red with failure.  So, keep away from red.

3.  Have breakfast.  Even if you don’t usually have breakfast, have breakfast the morning of the SATs.  Make sure it’s mostly protein, not mostly carbohydrates like a bagel or muffin.  Carbs give you a quick burst but leave you feeling sleepy when they wear off.  You’re in it for the long haul!

4.  Get to the test site a bit early.  I’d recommend arriving between 7:30 and 7:45, especially if it’s not your own high school.  Get there early so you can settle in calmly.

5.  Choose your seat.  If they let you pick your seat, choose one away from distractors like the door or windows.  Some kids do better if they’re not near friends; others do better if they sit near friends.  Sit where you can concentrate.  You can socialize afterwards.

6.  Leave your cell phone home! If they catch you using it, even to check the time, they’ll take your SAT away from you and send you home.  It’s been done in Lakeland before.

7.  Bring the following:

• photo ID — driver’s license or permit or school photo ID.
• admit ticket — print out another from collegeboard.com if you lost it.
• vocab words — you need something to start your brain moving before they say “Clear your desk.”
• pencils – bring at least three or four #2 pencils with clean erasers.
• calculator — change the batteries this week and make sure it works.  Yes, a graphing calculator is fine.
• watch — many schools don’t have working wall clocks.  Even if the room you’re in has a working clock, it may be behind you or hard to see.  Don’t rely on the proctor to keep track of how much time you have left.  If you don’t want to wear a watch, put it on the desk in front of you.  Remember, you can’t use your phone to tell the time.
• snacks — the most important thing you can bring! Bring lots of little chewy things (like tootsie rolls) that you can pop in your mouth easily.  Also bring a more substantial snack for the 10-minute break in the middle.  A power bar or granola bar works nicely.
• drink — tea helps you concentrate.  The caffeine helps quite a bit, too.   Bring iced tea with sugar, not diet.  If you hate iced tea, bring soda with caffeine and sugar.  Gatorade has too much sodium, which ironically can make you more thirsty later.

Word of warning:  During the long break, if you need the restroom, go there BEFORE you eat your granola bar or drink your iced tea.  If a long line takes a while, they will start without you.  (This did happen to a few kids I know!)

The SAT is a stamina test.  The most important thing you can do is get some rest the day or two before.  Know that no matter how smart the other kids in the room may be, if you’ve been working with me, you’re as prepared as anyone there and you’ll do just fine.  Don’t forget to let me know your scores when they come back!

Wendy Segal

Kids aren’t even trying for private colleges in some cases.  They and their parents presume private colleges and universities will be just too expensive. (Read this article from a couple of years ago about SUNY schools.)

Don’t make that mistake.  Many – often most – students don’t pay full rate at private universities.  There are scholarships (need-based, meaning the school decided to help you pay, or merit-based, meaning they’ll give you money because your student is SUCH an attractive candidate that you make them look good).  There are loans. There are grants. There is work/study. There are organizations who are eager to give you advice about funding.

Many families pay less at a private school, despite the difference in stated tuition rates, than they would at a public school, especially in a state like New York where the state schools are fairly costly. But you won’t know for sure what the out of pocket cost would be if you don’t apply.

Another excellent choice for affordable education is someone else’s state school.  The University of Rhode Island, University of Delaware, University of Connecticut, Rutgers, George Mason — there are dozens and dozens of excellent schools, ranging from barely selective to world-class universities.

The bad news about applying to other states’ schools:  it can get expensive (here are the most expensive), but for many schools, it’s not much more than what you’d pay at a SUNY school.

The good news about applying to other states’ schools: they’re hungry for your money. Selective colleges that used to accept only limited numbers of out-of-state students are looking for qualified out-of-state students because they represent more tuition money for the school (see this Newsweek article with examples and figures).

BIG NEWS:  Apparently, there is a way to compare your likely out-of-pocket expenditure for colleges coming in October.  Read about Net Price Calculators here.  They’re bound to be confusing at first, but they should give you useful information.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions!

Wendy Segal

Grades 8 – 10:  Read.  Read.  Don’t stop – read some more.  Reading the back of the cereal box is better than reading nothing. Reading Sports Illustrated or Seventeen is better than the cereal box.  Reading TIME or Newsweek is WAY better than reading Sports Illustrated or Seventeen.  TIME and Newsweek are written on the college level unlike most other magazines.  The articles are varied and interesting, but the real value is in the letters to the editor (called “inbox” in TIME).  When they print a letter, they also print the writer’s name and home town.  No one wants to look like a dope in front of his neighbors, so the grammar and vocabulary in every letter are gorgeous.   The letters, and the back page essay which is a perfect length for SAT practice, are written with an agenda and a tone.  No one writes to Newsweek because there was nothing good on TV.  Letter writers write to a magazine editor because they have a viewpoint, a slant, an opinion; your job as a reader is to figure out why the writer is REALLY writing.  You’ll seldom be asked to read this type of writing in school – extended essay or persuasive opinion – so get comfortable with it on your own.  Go online and get a subscription.  It’s much less expensive than buying individual copies.

If you have finished your summer reading and want more, look for books outside your usual area of interest.  Each genre has a jargon.  Reading a mystery isn’t like reading a fantasy.  Reading science fiction isn’t like reading a romance or a biography.  Or if you’ve read a book before that you liked, read more by that same author.  Or read a harder book  that has more of what you liked about that other book.  If you like chick-lit or romances, read Vanity Fair by Thackery or Jane Eyre by Bronte.  If you like Dave Barry, read some Thurber or O. Henry short stories.  If you email me what you like, I’ll give you a few suggestions that will bump up your reading skills while you’re being entertained.

And keep reading this blog for an advance look on what you’ll need to do as you get closer to senior year in high school.

Grade 11:  Read and follow the advice above for 10th graders.  Incoming Juniors should also be thinking about the PSATs that are coming up in October.  Most students should just go in and take the test when it’s given.  (Don’t worry, your guidance counselor will sign you up and tell you where to go and when.)  There’s a free booklet in the guidance department in which the College Board gives you advice about taking the test and a few sample questions.  If, however, you’re the kind of student who panics before every test and gets ill before important tests, it may pay for you to find a tutor and have a few sessions to get ready.  (You can take a course, although they’re so seldom useful.  But I covered that already in another blog.)  The only other type of student who should get pre-PSAT tutoring is one who regularly scores very, very well on standardized tests.  The National Merit Scholarship is derived from PSAT scores, so if you’re likely to qualify, get tutoring before the PSATs to increase your chances of getting a scholarship.  The PSATs are a bit easier than the SATs, mostly because the PSATs are shorter, but the questions are identical, so PSAT tutoring will give you a head start on SAT preparation.

Grade 12:  Read and follow the advice for 10th graders – when you take a break from college applications.

By now, you should have a list of colleges that interest you.  If not, read my blog entry from last year on how to build a list of colleges based on online resources.  Go visit some.  You don’t have to visit all the schools you apply to, but you should have an idea if you like small or large schools, rural, suburban, or urban schools, religious schools or secular schools, and so on.

If you are going to visit, interview with an admissions officer if it’s offered.  (Read this blog post for suggestions on what you should be looking for during a college visit, and visit this blog post for thoughts on how to make a good impression when you’re on an interview.)

You should be writing your college essay this summer. Start now.  Don’t wait for your English teacher to mention it.  Take advantage of college early action programs by having your application and essay prepared before you start classes in September. (But please read this advice first.)

Lastly, don’t forget that you’ll be taking the SATs or ACTs again in a few months.  Decide which test to focus on, and get busy improving those areas in which you are weakest.  Let me know if you need some help.

You’ll have plenty of time to relax next year in science class (just kidding!), but right now you should GET BUSY!

Wendy Segal   www.wendysegaltutoring.com

I guess I’m not the only one discussing college majors.  Recently, I’ve read several articles listing top careers (where high-paying  jobs are available) and poor career choices (where there are no jobs available and they don’t pay well even if you could get one).

This article from TIME magazine lists 10 best- and worst-paid college majors.  If you click on each major, you will be brought to an article describing the major, common jobs with that major, and average salaries for new employees in that field.

This blog article, “The Most Useless College Majors” agrees.

Science wins.  Journalism loses.

But what about “undecided”?  Should you list a potential major on your college application if you’re not sure?

Sometimes, you have to list a major.  Some majors are housed in their own “schools.” Engineering, for example, often has a discrete faculty, carefully plotted courses, and a fixed number of students.  If you want to be an engineer, you have to let them know.  It’s nearly impossible to transfer into engineering even within the same university.  It’s easy – even common – to transfer out of engineering into math or physics or chemistry or even political science or philosophy, but you can’t go the other way.

If you are choosing an unusual major for that university, definitely list it on applications. If the college has a small physics department and you think you might want to study physics, that might give you the edge that you need to get into an otherwise extremely selective school.

Schools not only want to balance out the number of students in each major, they need to balance the gender in all majors.  Few girls want to go into a major where there are NO boys.  If you are a boy who wants to study English or women’s studies, list that major.  If you are a girl who wants to be an engineer or mathematician or sports therapist, list that major.

If, after reading the above articles warning against it, you still insist on majoring in journalism or psychology, don’t list that major.  Most schools have swollen communications and psychology departments.  If you list that as your major, you’ll be competing against more students than if you just checked off “undecided.”

But what if you have no idea what you want to major in?

Come talk to me.  I hope it doesn’t sound immodest, but I have a knack for suggesting majors to kids that they really like and perhaps hadn’t thought of.

Here are some questions I’ll ask if you want my help choosing a major:

• What do you and your friends do with free time?
• What does your bedroom look like?
• Do you like group projects in school or do you prefer to work alone?
• Would you rather write a paper or do a project?
• If you had to waste half an hour at a store while your mom shopped elsewhere, where would you tell her to take you?

Or you could read an article like this one that helps you to identify a college major and subsequent career based on your academic and social interests.

Most colleges don’t require you to confirm your major until the end of your sophomore year in college, so putting a major on your college application won’t prevent you from exploring.

The best advice I’ve ever read about finding a major, finding a career, finding a passion is this one .  It’s rather long, but I find myself nodding my head at every paragraph.

Now get started on those college applications.  Let me know if you need help.

UPDATE:  Take a look at this interesting article from Inside Higher Ed, a newletter for college teachers/professors about choosing a major, about the range of salaries and how “women’s” careers are still the lowest paying.

Wendy Segal

Don’t waste April!

If you don’t go to look at colleges in April, you won’t get to see them at their most typical until the fall.  March is too cold and snowy.  By May, exams have begun at most colleges so they don’t offer tours then.  You won’t see the students, anyway – they’ll be in the library.  By mid-May, everyone will be home for the summer.  You can indeed visit schools over the summer, but you won’t see them buzzing with activity and you won’t be able to have your pick of students to ask embarrassing but important questions.

So if you have to take a few three-day weekends in April, go ahead.  Most schools count college visits as excused absences similar to illness.  In other words, those visits are still absences but if you miss work, the teachers will let you make it up.

What if you don’ t know which colleges to look at?

• Go on www.princetonreview.com.  It’s better than the College Board search and much, much better than Naviance.  Look for “explore colleges,” then “best fit,” then Counselor-o-Matic.  (Yes, it’s a stupid title, but it’s a great program.)
• Complete all the pages of the survey and submit.  You’ll get a list of safety schools, a list of good match schools, and a list of reach schools.  WARNING:  those lists contains only schools who paid to be there.   Don’t stop there!
• In each category (reach, match, safety), click on “view all schools” and then you’ll get the GREAT list of schools that match your requirements.
• Review each school, view the video if there is one, and go on to the school’s website and fill in the “send me more information” form.  It’s a good way to let the school know you’re interested.

Once you have a list of schools, group them geographically. Most students in northern Westchester check out the Boston-area schools, the Pennsylvania schools (Lafayette, Bucknell, Muhlenburg, Lehigh, Penn State), the southern schools (UDelaware, UMaryland, Towson), the SUNY schools, and other categories.

Your goal is to start with a huge list that you can pare down to about 10 – 14 schools to which you will apply. You need to be sure there are at least two safety schools on your application list — schools that will accept you as long as you are still breathing by admissions time.

You should also apply to a school or two that you’re fairly certain you won’t get into, but OMG what if you did?  I believe that if you get into every school to which you apply, you didn’t aim high enough (as long as you’re not crushed if you don’t get in).

You don’t have to visit every school you apply to, but you should visit a few schools from different categories:  urban, suburban, rural, close, far, huge, tiny, medium, religious, secular, sports-oriented, academically-oriented, lots of fraternities, no fraternities, and so on.  Get a feel for what you like.

There are no right schools. There are only schools that fit your personality and intended major and preferences — or schools that just don’t feel like you could ever call them “home.”  A school that is right for you might be a terrible choice for your best friend.

Go, visit, and see what feels like a good fit for you!  (And click here for advice on making the most of a college interview.)

Wendy Segal

If you haven’t already done so, go out and buy tootsie rolls, change the batteries in your calculator, look up a few vocabulary words to bring with you to the test, and remind yourself of the father’s name in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Now you are nearly ready for the SATs.

Here are a few more things you can do:

1. The night before the test, get a good night’s sleep.  Don’t try to go to bed too early or you’ll be up half the night staring at the ceiling.  Just get a good amount of sleep after a restful evening.  NO STUDYING TODAY!  Not even for the SATs.

2.  Saturday morning, dress up a little.  When you’re wearing comfy, floppy clothes, your brain takes a rest, too.  When you dress up a little (whatever that means to you), you sit a little straighter and concentrate better.  Insider tip: several studies suggest that kids do worse on standardized tests if they see or wear the color red because they associate red with failure.  So, keep away from red.

3.  Have breakfast.  Even if you don’t usually have breakfast, have breakfast the morning of the SATs.  Make sure it’s mostly protein, not mostly carbohydrates like a bagel or muffin.  Carbs give you a quick burst but leave you feeling sleepy when they wear off.  You’re in it for the long haul!

4.  Get to the test site a bit early.  I’d recommend arriving between 7:30 and 7:45, especially if it’s not your own high school.  Get there early so you can settle in calmly.

5.  Choose your seat.  If they let you pick your seat, choose one away from distractors like the door or windows.  Some kids do better if they’re not near friends; others do better if they sit near friends.  Sit where you can concentrate.  You can socialize afterwards.

6.  Leave your cell phone home! If they catch you using it, even to check the time, they’ll take your SAT away from you and send you home.  It’s been done in Lakeland before.

7.  Bring the following:

• photo ID — driver’s license or permit or school photo ID.
• admit ticket — print out another from collegeboard.com if you lost it.
• vocab words — you need something to start your brain moving before they say “Clear your desk.”
• pencils – bring at least three or four #2 pencils with clean erasers.
• calculator — change the batteries this week and make sure it works.  Yes, a graphing calculator is fine.
• watch — many schools don’t have working wall clocks.  Even if the room you’re in has a working clock, it may be behind you or hard to see.  Don’t rely on the proctor to keep track of how much time you have left.  If you don’t want to wear a watch, put it on the desk in front of you.  Remember, you can’t use your phone to tell the time.
• snacks — the most important thing you can bring! Bring lots of little chewy things (like tootsie rolls) that you can pop in your mouth easily.  Also bring a more substantial snack for the 10-minute break in the middle.  A power bar or granola bar works nicely.
• drink — tea helps you concentrate.  The caffeine helps quite a bit, too.   Bring iced tea with sugar, not diet.  If you hate iced tea, bring soda with caffeine and sugar.  Gatorade has too much sodium, which ironically can make you more thirsty later.

Word of warning:  During the long break, if you need the restroom, go there BEFORE you eat your granola bar or drink your iced tea.  If a long line takes a while, they will start without you.  (This did happen to a few kids I know!)

Remember that each of you has the opportunity to take the test again either this year or next year if you don’t like the outcome, so there’s no need for test anxiety or panic.  If you do well, this test counts.  If you don’t do well, it doesn’t count.  You can’t get more low stress than that.  Just relax, remember some strategies, and stay alert!

Wendy Segal