About once a decade College Board decides to revamp the SAT test, and change the way they do things. As the first two administrations of the new SAT have passed, College Board released concordance tables, comparing the new SAT to the old SAT, and the new SAT to the current ACT. Like Winnie the Pooh (pictured above), the current junior class is stuck in the middle of vast standardized test changes which no one completely understands the ramifications of yet. Colleges and universities across the country are trying to figure out what they are going to do with the essay and whether or not they even care about it. If parents utilize Naviance and look at the past data, it no longer holds relevant. So, how can one make sense of it all?
Let the guidance department help you get unstuck. There are concordance tables comparing the old SAT to the new. The link is below.
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/educators/higher-ed/scoring-changes/concordance
In general, it is important to note that new SAT scores are inflated in comparison to the old SAT scores. In other words, a higher score on the new SAT translates into a lower score on the old SAT. Understand that high scores on the new SAT actually reflect a lower percentage standing in comparison to years past. This translates into SAT averages for accepted students at colleges and universities to rise substantially next year. This rise fails to represent increased competitiveness for admission; it simply reflects the change in scoring by College Board.
Further, College Board failed to communicate with ACT when producing these concordance charts. Hence, do NOT use the concordance table to compare an ACT score with a new SAT score. Rather, use the ACT score and compare it to the profile of the average admitted student at the college of interest.
It is of utmost important that you reach out to your child's guidance counselor if you are having trouble figuring this all out. That is normal! Guidance counselors spend fourth term meeting with juniors individually to follow up on the group seminar work completed in term three. With so many changes, getting help makes sense.
With the Common Application already live for next year's senior class, students can get started on filling out the basic information. By being proactive, students can spend the summer months focused on essay writing. In addition, the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success released their version of the Common Application. See the website for details.
http://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/
Below are some important dates coming up.
Friday, May 20th: CHS Guidance Coffee at 7:30 am: Anxiety and Depression Awareness
Sunday, May 22nd: 2-5 pm and Monday, May 23rd: 8:30-12:30 pm NACAC College Fair in Boston, see NACAC website for details
Wednesday, June 22nd: Bus field trips to colleges for rising seniors and juniors: more information to come. Cost 10 dollars per student plus money for lunch.
