Interview with Mrs. Andersen

Wanna go to college?

The very first SAT of this school year is coming up.  If you haven’t signed up for this standardized college test on the 7th of October, you better hurry because the deadline is on the 8th of September! Have some questions about the SAT? Here’s some of the most commonly asked questions and answers provided by our lovely Junior and Senior counselor, Mrs. Anderson;

1.    What subjects will her or she be tested on the SAT? “There are 2 main parts to the SAT with a third part being the optional essay. The main parts are: 1) Evidence Based Reading and Writing, 2) Math.  The test results provide a score on each of these parts and also provides an Analysis in Science and an Analysis in History/Social science score ~ so there is science and social studies content woven into the EBRW and Math parts”

2.    How long is the standardized test going to be? “The SAT is a LONG test, it starts at 8 am and ends at 12:30 – 1pm depending on if you take the optional essay or not.”

3.    Why do you think students should take this test? “Students who plan to apply to 4-year colleges straight after high school graduation are required to submit a SAT score.  Students who will begin their studies at a community college should not take the SAT”

4.    What do you recommend to students to help prepare for the SAT? “The best thing to do to prepare is to learn as much as you can in your high school classes and continue to take Math and Science classes for all 4 years.  Practice is also important and a great way to practice is to use www.khanacademy.org its free and has been shown by research to help improve scores.  Also, juniors should take the Practice SAT or the PSAT which will be on October 14th.  Sophomores and freshman can take it too if there are still tests available after I let the juniors have first sign ups.”

5.    What does the SAT score mean?  “Colleges use the SAT to see how “ready for college” students are, so it tests for college readiness in reading, writing and math.  It shows colleges that you have benefitted from high school instruction and can handle college level work”

6.  When is the best time to take the SAT? “I recommend that Juniors take the PSAT in October and the full length SAT in the spring of junior year to get a base-line score.  Then take time over summer to practice and study for one more try at the SAT in the fall of senior year.”

7.    Is it important?  “The SAT is important because your scores show colleges that you can be successful at college, and that you already have a basic set of skills that you will bring to college.  I tell students that your SAT scores do 2 things: 1) get you into colleges by letting colleges know you are prepared and will be successful; 2) good scores also are used to win scholarships, scholarship providers who give “merit based” (which means you have strong grades and /or test scores) will look at gpa and test scores to decide to give students money to attend college.” 

If you have any other further questions about the SAT or any test questions, please go see Mrs. Anderson in the Guidance Office or email her at [email protected].

SAT, BUHS, bishop, questions, guidance