The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

SAT and ACT
Featured image for “Is the ACT Harder? Another Expert Weighs In”
August 1, 2014

Is the ACT Harder? Another Expert Weighs In

I recently ran a post that Brian Eufinger, who is co-owner of Edison Prep in the Atlanta, wrote that suggests that the ACT has recently gotten harder. If you missed that post, here it is: Is the ACT Getting Harder? Today I’m sharing an email that I received from Jed Applerouth, the owner of Applerouth Tutoring Services, about the evolving...
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Featured image for “Who Is Benefiting From Test-Optional Admissions?”
July 27, 2014

Who Is Benefiting From Test-Optional Admissions?

Students who perform poorly on the SAT or the ACT enjoy the option of applying to test-optional colleges and universities. At schools that have embraced this policy, teenagers can typically apply to schools without having to submit their test scores, which can boost a teenager’s chances of getting into more prestigious schools. This might sound great for students who struggle...
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Featured image for “A Sneak Peak at Big SAT Changes”
April 22, 2014

A Sneak Peak at Big SAT Changes

In case you missed it, the College Board recently released many more details about its planned revision of the SAT test. You can see what’s in store at the College Board’s website dedicated to the SAT changes that are slated for the spring of 2016:  DeliveringOpportunity.org. I wrote a post for my college blog at CBS Moneywatch last week about...
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Featured image for “Big Changes In Store for the SAT”
March 6, 2014

Big Changes In Store for the SAT

Get ready. The SAT is going to change in significant ways. The new SAT will probably end up looking more like the ACT. The changes that David Coleman, the College Board’s president, announced today sure look like the College Board is moving the SAT away from being an aptitude test (the “A” in SAT used to stand for aptitude) and...
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Featured image for “Good News for Poor Test Takers”
February 18, 2014

Good News for Poor Test Takers

Research that’s being described as a landmark study was released today that shows that high school students with strong grades and lower standardized ACT and SAT scores do as well in college as those who perform better on the standardized tests. The ambitious study, which was conducted on behalf of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, compared the academic...
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Featured image for “Is There a Perfect Date to Take the ACT or SAT?”
February 18, 2013

Is There a Perfect Date to Take the ACT or SAT?

A couple of years ago I listened in on a webinar about SAT strategies that really impressed me. The guest speaker was Jeb Applerouth, who runs an eponymous test-prep firm that’s headquartered in Atlanta. Since the webinar, I occasionally visit Applerouth’s blog to see what he’s been writing about standardized testing. Jeb gave me permission to share the following blog...
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May 7, 2012

Answering Your College Questions

Last week people posted questions on The College Solution’s Facebook page that I promised to answer after visiting a regional college conference in Reno. I started chipping away at the questions last week with these two posts: Answering Your SAT and ACT Questions The Realities of Merit Scholarship Facebook Questions Today I am answering questions about admission requirements, SAT/ACT practices...
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February 8, 2010

4 SAT and ACT Testing Strategies

During the past few days, I’ve sharing ACT and SAT test prep strategies to boost your teenager’s SAT or ACT scores.  You’ll find my final ACT and SAT tips below, along with links to the previous ACT and SAT test prep posts. SAT Testing Strategy: Use SAT Score Choice Until last year, students who took the SAT had to turn...
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February 4, 2010

How to Survive Bad SAT or ACT Scores

This week I’m sharing SAT and ACT test prep strategies. You’ll find the links to all of them at the bottom of this post. Here goes my latest test prep tips: Strategy No. 6: Apply to SAT-Optional Schools If your teenager bombs on the SAT or the ACT test, don’t despair.  Plenty of schools don’t care if your child gets...
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September 26, 2009

A New ACT Strategy

I want to share an ACT strategy that I was excited to learn about at the education conference that I attended this week in Baltimore. I was fascinated to learn that an increasing number of colleges are cherry picking applicants’ ACT test scores. To understand what this means, here’s some background: Historically, colleges used a student’s composite ACT score that’s...
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