PSAT exam

“Let Go Of That Score”

If you are worried about your college entrance exam scores – namely the standardized tests – you should be…somewhat.  For those suffering from score-induced panic, know that your scores, while important, should never infiltrate your self-esteem, let alone be a measure of it.

Let the others worry about themselves; you’ll have enough to manage!  First up in your unique standardized testing path is taking the PSAT in October of 11^th grade.  A shortened version of the SAT, the 2 hour and 10 minute PSAT serves two main purposes: 1) to give you a rough (and ONLY ROUGH!) idea of your overall multiple choice questions performance, and 2) to qualify the top 1% scorers for National Merit Semi-finalist eligibility.  While prestigious, National Merit is a separate, later series of steps to take.  Right now, dismiss that concept altogether.  Take the PSAT with as much focus as possible.  The outside, overwhelming world only compromises your best efforts if you let it!

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NYC Middle School Student and SHSAT

Raising a NYC Middle School Student? Stay in the know about the SHSAT!

Raising kids in NYC is no easy task, and as all New Yorkers know, where your student goes to school makes all the difference. Thankfully, New York City has some of the country’s top public high schools, however it’s no easy game to get your student into one of them. These high schools are the city’s Specialized High Schools, and they have their own standardized test to rank students for admission: the SHSAT.

What is the SHSAT?

The SHSAT or Specialized High School Admissions Test is the test administered to eighth and ninth grade students in NYC to determine admission into 8 of the 9 city’s Specialized High Schools. Admission into the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is determined by an audition. The SHSAT is created and scored by the American Guidance Service. It is currently (legally) the ONLY determinant for admission into the Specialized High Schools.

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PSAT Logo

Preparing for the SAT can be daunting and confusing for parents and students, and we get all kinds of questions about how the test is scored, how to prepare for it, how much it counts, what a “good” SAT score is, etc. etc. The one thing we never get asked (at least not by students who have grown up in the United States) is “what is the SAT?”

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Which SAT II exam should I take?  When should I take it?

Of all the crazy making parts of the SAT Process that exist outside of the test itself, none can be more stress inducing that the decision making about the SAT II exams.

The SAT Subject Tests are a group of tests in different academic disciplines. The College Board currently administers exams in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics Chinese, Literature, U.S. History, World History, French, German, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin and Spanish.

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College Sat Exam

When is guessing a good idea on the SAT Test?

The SAT is a very tiring and lengthy exam. At times, when you take the SAT exam you will be unsure which answer choice to select or how to even approach a problem..  These are critical moments in your test taking and it integral to your success on the SAT test that you have a clear guessing strategy.

On the SAT exam you are awarded one point for each correct answer, deducted a quarter of a point for each incorrect answer, and neither awarded nor deducted points for leaving a question blank. So, basically, it really matters when you choose to answer questions on the SAT and how you come to that decisions. If you make wild guesses on questions on the SAT when you have no idea of the answer you seriously jeopardize your score.

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