Do you have $80,000 saved up for college? This price isn't even for a high-end college but actually the cost of a mid-range private university these days. Over fifty-percent of tuition is paid for by student loans; forty percent through grants and less than ten percent comes from scholarships. With colleges tightening their belts on school loans and grants only given to families that fall into a certain income bracket, parents are in desperate need to find college money. But take heart, standardized tests can be your ticket to incredible scholarships that could yield you free college.
The SAT and PSAT/NMSQT are tests that colleges use as a measuring point to give scholarship money -the higher the scores, the bigger the scholarships. Besides college entrance, some of the benefits could include full tuition, room and board, honors dorms, graduate money and stipends to study abroad.
Students could earn $500 an hour for college by making these tests a priority. By learning how to take the test and knowing how to find the recurring patterns, hidden strategies and test-taking techniques, students can take this information and use it to practice with. If they were to put in 150 hours on these tests and they received a $75,000 scholarship-it is like making $500 an hour for college. Instead of working hard at a low paying job, they could work smart by spending their time mastering a test that could pay off big when it comes to paying for college.
Don't wait until it is too late to realize the importance of these tests. By learning the keys of the PSAT/NMSQT and SAT as early as ninth grade, (7th if doing the DUKE TIP Letter) students will have time to spend practicing up to a couple of hours a week learning to find the relationship between the patterns on the test and identifying their weaknesses; this will make taking the test old hat when it really counts. They can also avoid cramming at the last minute and therefore lessening text anxiety.
The SAT is offered seven times a year and students can take it as many times as they want. Colleges do not care how many times they take it, but usually just want their highest scores. They don't average them and many colleges will take the highest score from each section from different tests to give the student their best score. It behooves students to keep taking the test until they receive their desired score.
The PSAT/NMSQT is only offered once a year in October and students can only take it three times: as a freshman, sophomore and a junior. (It only counts in the eleventh grade.) As a junior, they can qualify for National Merit status if they fall within a certain score. (Scores vary from year to year and depending in what state they live in.) If students reach semi-finalist range, they will have numerous colleges begging them to enroll in their school and they will gladly pay their way. It is a bragging right for many schools to have these students since they represent the top one percent of the nation.
There are also several myths about the SAT that need to be dispelled. Some of them can actually cause a student's score to go down if they don't know the truth. For example: The SAT tests a student's knowledge; The SAT should be taken as a senior; The PSAT is only a practice SAT; Test questions are in order of difficulty; Guess on the test if you don't know the answer; Only the “advantaged” kids get the high scores; All test prep books are created equal; The essay is graded by a computer; Perfect scores require perfect answers, etc.
Studies have proven that on average, a person with a college education makes twice the salary of an individual with only a high school diploma. A college education is a great way to help combat the current economic crisis that our nation is facing. It affords students more options as they reach adulthood and start their own journey out into the real world. In order to help ensure your student a future of financial success, you will want to make sure they have the opportunity to pursue a university degree.
Standardized tests are the gateway to college entrance as well as scholarships. With some knowledge and preparation, the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT are tests that can be figured out. The high scores can open up doors to numerous free college offers coming in your mailbox. Regardless of your economic situation, your only dilemma could be which college to choose from - not how are you going to pay for college.
Jean Burk is the author of College Prep Genius and has written numerous articles about the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT. She has been featured as an SAT expert on Good Day Dallas (Fox 4) and KXAS (NBC 5 Today). She currently travels and speaks about the importance of college preparation, how to get free college and teaches her “Master the SAT” Prep Class all over Texas as well as other states. Both her children received incredible scholarships because of their PSAT and SAT scores. Her teaching DVD was released in the summer of 2008. The first edition of her brand new VocabCafé Book Series, “The Summer of Saint Nick” is now out. These books are intended to help teenagers and younger children increase their knowledge of SAT-level vocabulary words.
Contact Jean at jean@collegeprepgenius.com or 81-SAT-2-PREP
