Mr. K's College Knowledge

For the first time in recent memory, College Board is changing the months that they offer the SATs. Through this year, they have always held the SAT during the months of October, November, December, January, March, May, and June. However, starting this summer, there will be an August 26th SAT for students to take. They will continue offering 7 SAT dates, and will be discontinuing the January SAT . I think this is a great decision by College Board for a couple of reasons. For one, it gives seniors another opportunity at the beginning of the school year to take the SAT before college applications. Also, more importantly, the August date will give seniors more time , and will eliminate the rushed feeling and the anxiety that comes with the fall test dates. Many early application deadlines for colleges are November 1st. For many students, this only leaves them with the early October SAT. While this test date is usually fine for early application deadlines, there is always the worry that...

We are quickly heading towards February, and the college application season has been long, and draining. You most likely have put hours upon hours of your life researching, visiting, contemplating, and applying to colleges. This is a huge decision, and all the hard work will pay off. However, if you are not satisfied with your college list, you do not just have to settle with what you have now. There is still time to search for and apply to colleges across the country. Yes, January 15th was a big day for regular decision deadlines, but there are still hundreds of great colleges and universities that are still accepting applications. If you are not satisfied with your college list, or you have been accepted into a few colleges, but the the financial aid award letter doesn't offer as much as you like, keep looking. There are still a ton of schools that have deadlines in February, March, April, and even some that are rolling admissions and go into the summer. Below I will list a s...

Hey Everyone, As November 1st nears, seniors (and counselors) are officially in the thick of it all...sending out applications, getting back the latest SAT and ACT scores, and finalizing the college lists. It is a very exciting time, but a little scary as well...take a breath though, we will all get through it! For juniors, you are just beginning to think about potential colleges, and starting to line up your own SAT and ACT schedule...the possibilities are endless right now, so enjoy this time! I think at times we imagine admissions counselors to be these mythological people that live in a far away play, deciding the fate of our youth. In reality, admissions counselors are real people, with similar lives to all of us...some even have their own children going through the college application process! The New York Times recently interviewed a few admissions counselors from colleges across the country to ask them the type of advice they are giving their own teenagers who are applying ...

Well, the new PSATs are finally here, and only about a month late...but they are here, so let's try to grasp how to see the scores and decipher what they actually mean! We all knew the PSATs were changing, as are the SATs, this March. In the past, the PSATs had four main scores: the critical reading section, math section, writing section, and a total score. The highest one could score on each section was an 80, with a highest total score of 240. That was simple enough...throw simple out the door, as everything is different now! As of yesterday, January 7th, sophomores and juniors who took the PSATs in October should have received an email from the College Board alerting them that their scores were available. If you missed this email or never received it, students can login to their College Board account . If you never created a College Board account, you can do so by going HERE . OK, so once you are in the system, select the PSAT/NMSQT scores (make sure it is for 2015) or if t...

Hey Everyone, For anyone involved in college admissions whether it be high school counselors, college admissions representatives, or the students applying, we have all been frustrated with the issues College Board has had with making their SAT and PSAT scores available. High schools have still not received scores of their students from the October test, and many students had issues with getting their scores sent to colleges on time. Now, we just found out that the PSAT scores will be delayed! Usually, the PSAT scores are sent to high schools and students in early December. However, this year, sophomores and juniors will need to wait until January 7th.  Hopefully, College Board gets their act together soon, because I know we are all tired of this waiting game. Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA