1. What about SAT & ACT Test Optional & Test Blind Colleges and Universities?
Test Optional Colleges and Universities still gather SAT and ACT data. Until these schools announce that they will no longer accept standardized test scores in any manner whatsoever, then test scores are among your options for strengthening your college admissions accessibility. What's more, most schools still use the SAT and ACT to determine substantial merit-based scholarships. We believe that "Test Optional" can be a clever play on words. If an admissions office declares itself Test Optional but knows full well that a majority of applicants will nonetheless submit strong SAT or ACT scores, then the school is still able to collect a valuable data point to aid in admissions decisions without presenting the score as a requirement. It really is your decision as to whether you believe your application is strong enough without submitting a test score, which may come down to: your high school being extremely well known, having participated in a summer program with your university of choice, or having a highly potent recommendation. On the other hand, SAT & ACT Test Blind Colleges and Universities do not accept standardized test scores whatsoever, but before you celebrate too much let's take a closer look. Thus far, Test Blind schools tend to be smaller, highly specialized schools. For example, Cal Tech (California Institute of Technology) is Test Blind; however, Cal Tech only admits around 200 highly qualified students, each year, who are typically interested in very specific science and engineering degrees. It's reasonable that a specialized university admitting so few students would gain little to no insight from SAT or ACT scores. No doubt, the vast majority of their applicants have perfect or near-perfect SAT and ACT scores to begin with, so the data point doesn't determine very much. When you start looking at the larger competitive universities (admitting 1000 students or more per year) a data point like standardized test scores becomes more valuable.
2. Is an Ivy League Plus (or Top 25 education) worth it, and is test prep worth it if I'm not aiming for a Top 25 College or University?
Data combined from U.S. News & World Report and Payscale.com shows that Top 25 college grads earn $21,000 more each year than grads of colleges ranked 50-100. Put it this way: a $1200 - $3500 investment now in improving your scores to qualify for a Top 25 College can be anywhere from a 6X - 18X return on investment in just ONE year of earnings. What's more, many colleges ranking within and far beyond the Top 25 offer substantial merit based scholarships based on SAT and ACT scores. Any way you slice it, a small investment now pays much larger dividends sooner or later.
3. How much is the SAT or ACT weighed in college admission decisions?
There is no specific weighting formula for the SAT and ACT that is consistent across all universities. That being said, SAT and ACT scores typically comprise one of three components to the admissions process: 1. Academics (GPA and difficulty of courses), 2. Testing (SAT or ACT, and SAT subject tests), and 3. Character (essays, interviews, activities, and recommendations). It is also important to keep in mind that many colleges (including "Test Optional" colleges and HBCU’s) have a sliding scale of awarding scholarship money that is directly linked to SAT and ACT standardized test scores.
4. What is a good SAT or SAT score and what is a good score increase on the SAT or ACT?
What is a good SAT or ACT score?
Ideally a student’s SAT or ACT score should pair well a student’s GPA, and that pairing is really the proper determination of a good score for an individual student. For example, a student with a 4.0 GPA would no doubt desire to improve a 1200 SAT (25 ACT) score, which is an under matching of that student's GPA. That being said, here is a rough (and unofficial) analysis of SAT scores: 1050-1190 SAT or 21-24 ACT is above average, 1200-1390 SAT or 25-29 ACT is advanced (approaching merit based scholarship territory), 1400-1490 SAT or 31-33 ACT is highly advanced (approaching admissibility to Top 25 Colleges), and 1500-1600 SAT or 34-36 ACT is elite (approaching admissibility to Top 10 Colleges).
What is a good score increase on the SAT or ACT?
The short answer:
A percentile to percentile comparison of the past 3 years of PSAT data to the entire past year of SAT data shows that, across the board, the typical point increase (even with multiple sittings for the SAT) is 50-60 points SAT or 1-2 points ACT, so anything beyond that would be good.
The long answer:
It depends on the student's starting point. When weighted by difficulty, the points beyond 1200 are literally twice as hard to earn as the points before 1200 are. Anyone reporting score increases, as if the increases are uniform across all student baselines, is potentially providing misleading information. The College Board's own study shows that Official SAT Practice yields significantly less than 100 points improvement in the upper ranges of scores. Cambridge Accelerated specializes in point improvement for students starting in the higher ranges of scores. Students with starting scores of 1250-1390 achieve: over 100 points improvement 83% of the time, over 150 points improvement 54% of the time, and over 200 points improvement 20% of the time. What's more the average Cambridge Accelerated score increase is 150 points, regardless of starting score.
5. How many times should I take the SAT or ACT?
With Cambridge Accelerated, substantial score improvements are typically observed within 1-4 test sittings, with the 2nd or 3rd sitting (and occasionally a 4th sitting) producing the highest results. Even when students experience vast score increases with their first sitting, their maximum score increases are still not typically attained until subsequent test sittings. As well, even when students experience modest score increases with their first sitting, subsequent test sittings tend to produce considerably larger gains as the Cambridge Accelerated SAT approach becomes more consistently instinctual to the student (and as they likely learn to shake off any test day jitters).
The difference between taking the SAT multiple times with the Cambridge Accelerated SAT approach vs. other test prep options is that Cambridge Accelerated students are provided a concrete procedure whereby they know exactly wherein to concentrate their efforts of improvement, as opposed to taking the test several times and “seeing how it goes”. Cambridge Accelerated replaces the instinct of “getting it over with” with the appreciation for getting it right. *Note: The first test sitting may be the PSAT, if the student is preparing for that test. The 1-4 sitting model still applies. Of course the student must still take the SAT or ACT to report an official score to colleges, but the journey towards improvement will have already began.
6. What is the time & financial commitment required for SAT or ACT test prep, and do I need to review (prep more than once)?
Private tutoring with Cambridge Accelerated is $150 per hour for 2-hour lessons ($300 total per lesson) for SAT, ACT, and PSAT prep. Comparable options will cost as much as $200-$350 per hour ($400-$700 total per individual lesson). If a student is studying for all sections of the SAT or ACT, they can expect to see significant improvement after approximately 10-12 lessons. If the student is studying for only one subject of either test or studying for an SAT II subject test, then lessons tend to be fewer. We recommend anywhere from 6-12 lessons before taking an actual test. Six lessons would be under the premise of installing some knowledge, taking a test, receiving those results, and then continuing studies to reach the ideal 10-12 lesson threshold and ultimate score improvement. Ten to Twelve continuous lessons before taking a test may still warrant some review before taking a subsequent test; however, all knowledge has been installed by then. Any review beyond 10-12 lessons is tantamount to fine tuning and reaching for score increases ranging in the hundreds of points.
You should consider meeting either once or twice per week, depending on the student's (or students') schedule and time remaining until test day. Be sure to leave enough runway for the lessons to take place.
Master (Honors) Classes for students starting with scores of 1200+ cost $1200 for 12-14 sessions, including 3 practice tests. Comparable (but far less effective) classes can cost more than $2000, with some private tutoring costing upwards of $7000. A (optional) review course is offered for $900.
7. Is prepping online for the SAT or ACT (virtual/remote/distance learning) effective?
8. Is Cambridge Accelerated only for students starting out with high scores?
There is no qualifying score necessary to prepare with Cambridge Accelerated through either private individual tutoring or small group sessions. Only Master (Honors) Classes have minimum score requirements. The average Cambridge Accelerated score increase is 150 points, regardless of starting score. The Cambridge Accelerated statistics highlight higher scoring students because dramatic score improvement from within that group is something unique to our services, a fact we believe is noteworthy.
9. I've read in various news outlets that Students Of Color, especially African American (Black) and Latinx (Brown, Latino/Latina, Hispanic), tend to score lower on the SAT and ACT than other students do. Does Cambridge Accelerated do anything to address this inequity/disparity/achievement gap?
10. Is private tutoring more effective than classes?
No. Most test prep companies tout their private tutoring as a premium (and expensive) service that is more effective than their generalized SAT classes. That may very well be true for those companies; however, this is not the case with Cambridge Accelerated. Cambridge Accelerated students have consistently achieved dramatic score improvement and high-percentile results on the SAT and ACT, whether they learn as an ensemble or in a one-on-one situation. That being said, sometimes scheduling or other unique traits about the student make one-on-one tutoring the most feasible option, but tutoring is not, in and of itself, automatically a superior option to a class. As of now, Cambridge Accelerated only offers one class: the Masters (Honors) Classes for students with starting scores of 1200+. However, any student of any level can participate in Small Group Sessions.
11. Should I take the ACT too, and what is the difference between the SAT and ACT?
Students sometimes find that they prefer one test format over another, but there is no need for a student to take both tests. Most colleges will accept scores from either the SAT or the ACT. It's really a matter of personal preference. That said, there are advantages and disadvantages to both test formats: For instance, math on the ACT is generally simpler than math on the SAT; however, the ACT covers more math material and thus requires the student to learn more background material. The reading on the ACT is often more straightforward than the reading on the SAT is, but the ACT reading is far more time-constricted (33% less time per passage) than the SAT reading is. Also, the ACT reading has a greater tendency to present questions that do not point you to the area of the passage relevant to the question, whereas the SAT almost always presents questions that target an area of the passage documented within the question. There are a few other subtle differences as well: The ACT contains a science section (which does not require any prior expertise of the science in question, but is rather an exercise in breaking down tables, charts, graphs, and figures in a very time-constricted manner) whereas the SAT does not have any such exercise. If the instructor notices that it might be advantageous for a student to switch test formats, the student (and the parents) will be promptly informed. An example of such a suggestion would if a student is extremely strong verbally yet disproportionately struggles in math. In such a case a switch from SAT to ACT might be suggested to take advantage of the simpler math.
12. Should I study for the PSAT?
It makes a lot of sense for some students to study for the junior PSAT under the duel premise that they are at once ultimately preparing for the SAT while striving for the distinctions of National Merit Semi-Finalist (99th percentile) or Commended Student (96-97th percentile), recognitions unique to the junior PSAT. National Merit Semi-Finalists automatically qualify for consideration to become National Merit Scholars, a highly prestigious distinction that comes with substantial academic and corporate scholarship reward. Scoring within the top 50,000 in the nation will secure a student recognition as a Commended Student, and scoring within the top 16,000 will typically secure a student recognition as a National Merit Semi-Finalist. Colleges do not see PSAT scores, only the distinctions of National Merit Semi-Finalist and Commended Student. Cambridge Accelerated students have scored within the top 50,000 on the junior PSAT (as National Merit Semi-Finalists or Commended Students) 68% of the time. Thus, for these students, the junior PSAT serves both as SAT preparation (without the stress of colleges seeing their scores) and as a legitimate opportunity for distinction for outstanding performance on the PSAT.
For all students (including lower scoring students), the PSAT serves as an excellent opportunity to get started on score improvement. It is a great advantage to get started with prep early. During the summer between your sophomore and junior year, spring and fall of your junior year seem so far away. However, this time arrives before you know it, as do college applications! Preparing for the SAT and ACT before the spring and fall of junior year can go a long way towards maximizing both your scores and your time management during junior year, when classes become more robust.
13. How do I register for the SAT or ACT?
14. What is Score Choice (Super Scoring)?
Many (if not most) colleges allow students to combine their highest math and verbal scores from multiple SAT or ACT sittings to create a single "super score".
15. Does Cambridge Accelerated offer help for other standardized tests like the Graduate School GRE, Catholic High School Entrance Exams like the HSPT (and COOP & TACHS), and Independent High School Entrance Exams like the SSAT & ISEE?
YES. The Cambridge Accelerated SAT/ACT techniques and background material have a lot of overlap with the GRE, HSTP, and SSAT. To enquire about studying for any of these tests please click on Contact and leave a message describing your situation, and let us know how we can help!
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