ACT's Validity Questioned

With the June results of the ACT coming out any moment (the site says they should be online June 27), the educational media is due for an article about whether or not the test serves a purpose. Parents and students often wonder why these tests exist. While it certainly is true the test is a a helpful way to compare students who attend different schools, colleges claims they use the test to predict how students will fare in a college environment.

According to a new study, The National Bureau of Economic Research has found that the Science and Reading sections on the ACT do not predict how well a student will do in college. The English and Math sections are better predictors, but colleges generally just look at the composite score, giving no more weight  to one section than another.

Of course, the ACT begs to differ, and one can be sure another study will be published soon to counter this one. Whether it's fair or not, in the end it is so entrenched in the admissions process, that it is highly doubtful it will be dismissed in the near future.

College Marketing Builds Expectations

Previously, this blog discussed how the acceptance rates at the top-tier schools have dwindled in recent years, making these schools seem more selective than ever. These low acceptance percentages enhance the stature of the top schools in every way possible, so it is in their best interest to have as many people apply as possible.

With this in mind, a recent article points out how the SAT and ACT are working hand in hand with these colleges to boost up the number of applicants. Colleges pay these testing companies for good leads, students who would be interested in attending these top-tier schools. By doing so, these colleges cast their nets a little wider and catch more fish with brochures as bait.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, and students should apply if they are truly interested in these schools. However, do not take a brochure in the mail to mean that a school has actively sought you out. You simply fall into a category of people whom the college feels would be likely to apply. In their minds, the more applicants, the better.

Sooner Than Later

College is always thought of as a four-year experience, but a quick glance at today's graduating class shows otherwise.

This doesn't necessarily come across when one goes on a college tour, but it is definitely something that prospective students need to think about before deciding what college to go to. After all, the cost of college continues to dramatically rise, making an extra year no small expense.

The U.S. News & World Report came out with a list of schools that have high success rates when it comes to getting people in and out of their classrooms in a four-year span of time.

Super Score that Test

Many colleges and universities allow students to cherry pick the best scores from each of the sections on the ACT and SAT to arrive at a Super Score.

How does this work. Let's say you have two composite scores, a 28 and a 31. On one the first of those tests you received a 31 in English. On the second, you got a 24. You'll use the 31 when putting together your Super Score, which will boost your composite by two points, making it a 33.

Yes, that is awesome. The following is a partial list of schools that allow you to create a Super Score.

Albion College
American University
Amherst College
Babson College
Beloit College
Birmingham Southern College
Boston College
Brandeis University
Brown University
Bryn Mawr College
Butler University
California Institute of Technology
California State University System
Carnegie Mellon University
Colby College
College of the Holy Cross
Connecticut College
DePauw University
Eckerd College
Elon University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida State University
Fordham University
Georgia Tech
Hamilton College
Hampden-Sydney College
Haverford College
Hawaii Pacific University
Hendrix College
Hollins University
Kalamazoo College
Kenyon College
Lawrence University
Loyola University in Maryland
Middlebury College
Millsaps College
NCAA Clearinghouse
New York University
Northeastern University
North Carolina State University
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Pennsylvania State University
Pepperdine University
Pitzer College
Pomona College
Regis University
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Spring Hill College
Stanford University
Towson University
Trinity College
Tufts University
United States Naval Academy
University of Arkansas – Fayetteville
University of Colorado – Boulder
University of Connecticut
University of Dayton
University of Delaware
University of Denver
University of Illinois
University of Louisiana – Lafayette
University of Miami
University of North Texas
University of Puget Sound
University of San Diego
University of South Florida
University of Tampa
University of Tennessee – Knoxville
Washington and Lee University
Washington State University
Washington University – St. Louis
Wesleyan University
Wheaton College
Xavier University

Managing Your Time

Time management is one of those all-encompassing life skills that people tend to embrace at an early age or never embrace at all. As sophomores find themselves rounding out the school year, they should take a good look at themselves and determine how much control they have over their schedules. Junior year is the toughest by far, so sophomores have a quick breath of fresh air before getting tossed into an academic avalanche.

In terms of college readiness and, consequently, life readiness, learning to schedule your life and stick to that schedule ensures success in every endeavor.

There are hundreds of online tips and tools for keeping yourself organized. Start sooner than later, and your life will be all the better for it.

Northwestern Number One For Some

As a Northwestern alum, I am always curious to know how NU ranks each year. For the most part it has hovered right outside the top 10 for over a decade. While that might seem like stagnation, recent admissions statistics prove that it has certainly become more competitive.

This year, Northwestern admitted only 18 percent of its 31,000 applicants, five percentage points lower than the previous year.

Northwestern is just another example of a top-tier school that has become more choosy as the applicant pool has increased each year. This natural evolution, which has been discussed here previously, makes me wonder if the previous graduating classes would have been accepted in today's world. Morton Schapiro, the current president of Northwestern says yes. In his mind, the people who got into these top-tier schools in the past were competitive on the level that was necessary back then. He assumes that those people would have risen to the occasion had the circumstances been more like they are today.

I like that answer.

Chicago Schools Get More School

Education reform is at the top of every newly elected official's agenda.

So it comes an no surprise that Chicago's Rahm Emanuel, who replaced the 20-year-plus tenure of Richard Daley, has stepped into his new role with a mission to fix Chicago's public schools.

Interestingly, he has chosen to do what educators have debated about for years: extending the length of the school day and year. As the argument goes, in more competitive countries, school is a year-round endeavor. So why not here?

Emanuel's latest legislative maneuver attempts to test this plan out with small steps, something that might influence how other metropolitan school systems handle their calendars down the road.

Of course, in an era where most education news involves the phrase "cost cutting," one wonders how this plan will play out amongst the unions and fiscal conservatives.

For the present, however, Chicago students could take comfort in knowing that more school is coming their way!