It is amazing how many students don’t take the SAT/ACT test serious or have the misconception that you “can’t” study for either one.  Based on your budget, there are a ton of different options to prepare for the SAT/ACT. You can use free online resources for both the SAT and ACT, you can purchase books on Amazon starting at $5, or if your willing to spend a little more, you can take SAT courses online or ACT course online at your pace starting at $200 or work directly with a tutor 1-on-1 this summer for around $700.  As boring as studying for these tests can be, many of these resources cite significant improvement with a bit of studying and the online or 1-on-1 services often offer money back guarantees and/or free-trials if you do not see the desired results!

With this in mind, it is important to choose the best study method for you.  As you make this decision there are three things you should think about:  what is your goal, choosing the right study method, and staying focused and committed.

What is my goal?  This is a pretty basic question, but it’s also one that is pretty significant too because the goal of your studying is going to have an impact on what type of study method you go with.  Do you want general exposure to the SAT/ACT?  Do you want to identify your strengths or weaknesses?  Do you need all around studying assistance? 

Collegeboard.com offers a great Study Plan tool to help you define your goals and identify a study plan for the SAT. While this is an SAT-specific tool, it is easy to utilize the information it provides as a guide for the ACT too and to create a personalized plan just for you.  Additionally, you can utilize the step-by-step recommendations to identify the best course of action for you – books, online resources, tutoring services, and test prep centers.

Choosing the Right Study Method.  The next important thing to think about is the best study method for you.  Do you prefer self-paced studying, tutoring, or test prep courses?  Do you learn better reading something on your own, doing something interactive, or having a dialogue with others? 

While some of these questions are self-reflective, you can also use a learning style inventory to figure out the way you learn.  You can find a basic inventory online at About.com or you can find a more detailed inventory online at Edutopia.org. These inventories will give you a basic understanding of your learning style and provide tips for the easiest ways you learn.  Using this information, you can choose the best study plan for you – for example, if you’re tactile and social, buying a book to study for the SAT/ACT won’t be as productive as getting something more interactive like online tutoring or a test prep.

Staying Focused and Committed.  The last piece of the puzzle to remember is to stay focused and committed to studying for the SAT/ACT.  This can be easier with some resources that others.  For example, if you are paying for a test prep course or tutoring, you’ve already committed your time and funding to your end-goal of improving your SAT/ACT scores so you’ll stay focused and committed.  Conversely, it can be easier to get distracted or not stay committed with other resources like the free online “questions of the day” or with books that require an internal motivation or drive to stay focused.

As you are studying (and probably getting bored with analogies, math problems, and essays), keep in mind that the purpose is to improve your test scores – and you’re your hard work *will* pay off.

This weeks guest blog comes from John Baylor of John Baylor Test Prep. John Baylor Test Prep is the in-person and on-line ACT® Prep course that boosts ACT scores an average of more than two points following your first JBTP ACT® Prep course- more on subsequent ACT® tests. The on-line partner for the college-focused school and student, JBTP is not only ACT® Prep, but also College Counseling, to ensure that higher scores get leveraged into the Best College at the Lowest Cost and actually have fun preparing for the ACT® - and more fun when you see your new score: John Baylor Test Prep.

ACT scores are directly correlated with GPA in core classes.  So a student grounded in rigorous core classes with no semester break in math, science, English, or history should score well if sufficiently prepared.  Students who quit science or math for a year, especially senior year, often compromise their ACT score in that section.

Trigonometry is helpful as well as Advanced Algebra.  The math section has 2 function questions, 1 logarithm question, and 4 trigonometry questions.  There is no Calculus on the test. Science passages can cover any science area.  Physics passages can at times seem a little tricky for someone with no physics- same for chemistry.  But at least 5 in 7 science passages will fully explain what is needed to answer the questions.

Finally, I encourage students to take subjects that they care about and enjoy, especially if it’s a core class.  And, to me, since the quality of the teacher determines at least 80% of the quality of the course, choose all the courses that the best teachers teach- a lesson to take into college.  The content is secondary to the teacher.

You can follow John on twitter @jbtestprep or connect with John on Facebook.

What stands in the way of you getting that last spot at Harvard or winning a scholarship? It might be the student sitting to you in class says high school counselors in a recent survey. A survey of 740 high school counselors conducted by Arizona State University MBA graduates asked counselors, "“What do you feel is a senior’s biggest obstacle to getting into top college programs or obtaining a scholarship?” and one of the top responses was a "competition amongst classmates". While ”Lack of initiative or starting too late in the process” and “Poor SAT/ACT testing or GPA” were the top two recorded responses, competition among classmates was recorded more than responses like, "Money" or "Family situations".

Collegeboard.com writes, "The majority of colleges indicate that they are looking for well-rounded students." Which essentially means, colleges prefer applicants who can demonstrate balance among academics, extracurricular activities, and their personal lives; however, Collegeboard.com does warn against attempting to pad your resume by joining multiple organizations or activities, "When admissions officers look at resumes, they are attempting to assess leadership, commitment, and integrity… [but] If you're an overachiever, beware. More is not necessarily better.”

So what can students do to stand out in a crowd of their peers?  Below you’ll find three suggestions from the WhatisAverage team.

• Get Involved – In Something *YOU* Like:  FastWeb.com states that “winning scholarships isn’t about having the longest list of extracurriculars. It’s about communicating who you are and what you care about through the activities you participate in and enjoy.”  While this comment is geared towards scholarships, the same holds true for college admission too. 
  
  So, what does this mean for you as a student (or as the parent of a student)?  Well, it means that it is important to get involved in extracurricular activities, volunteer work, church stuff – whatever is interesting to you, will capture your attention, and is something you’re passionate about.  The key is not to be just be involved to put it on your resume, but to enjoy it enough to talk about it in essays, in interviews, and in general.  Typically admissions officers and scholarship committees can tell if you’re just padding your resume versus being involved in something you love. 
  
  
• Update Your Resume:  Now that you’ve been involved in activities that are meaningful to you, it’s important to update your resume to reflect this involvement… and to choose those individuals who will write references for you too.  There are a ton of different resources online that give tips to writing a resume, like “Resume Writing 101” on CollegeBoard. While these tips are typically geared towards job or internship placements, they give some general ideas that can be really helpful as you prepare your individual resume for college applications and scholarships.
  
  Your resume should highlight who you are as a student and as a person, focusing on your school activities and extracurriculars – and it should also be geared towards whatever you’re using it for.  This means that your college-admissions resume may look different than the resume for one of your scholarships… and tailoring your resume to meet the needs of each application can only help you!
  
  
• Choose Your References:  One of the last pieces of advice to stand out among your peers and the competitiveness of your graduating class is to carefully and purposefully choose the individuals who will write your letters of reference or recommendations.  While FastWeb.com gives an indepth review of choosing individuals for your letter of reference, ACTstudent.org gives some brief recommendations on making the most of personal references. 

• Ask people who know you and can support the recommendation well.
• Prepare a neat and legible reference form.
• Give your references plenty of time—a school counselor isn't likely to write glowing recommendations for last-minute requests! Allow at least two weeks before application deadlines. [At WhatIsAverage.com we recommend asking early – some counselors require a timeline of at least a month for a letter of recommendation!]

Your letters of recommendation should give your application more context on why you’re so great, explaining why colleges should choose you, and why you should be given scholarship money.  With this in mind, you want to choose people who can offer a well-rounded view of who you are as a student.  We’d recommend choosing someone who knows you academically and can speak to your academic merits… then choose someone who can speak to your personality and other involvements: maybe a coach, your supervisor at work, someone you volunteer with, or your leader in whatever extracurricular activity you’re involved in. 

With all of this talk of standing out among your peers and competition among classmates, it’s important to understand that you can’t just focus on extracurriculars, that your GPA and SAT/ACT scores still matter!  It doesn’t matter how purposefully involved you’ve been, if your grades are too low to be considered competitive for admission into the school of your choice, you won’t get far in the application process.  With this in mind, stay focused on the numbers too!

Suzanne Shaffer is the creator of Parents Countdown to College Coach where her vision is to help parents navigate the college maze by providing the right tools for organization and success.We’re featuring Suzanne this week in our Guest Blog segment to discuss the top 10 questions she’s been asked by parents over the past years serving as an expert in the college admissions process.

Over the years, parents have cornered me and asked me questions about the college admissions process and their college-bound teens. While those questions are varied, and sometimes specific as they relate to their own circumstances, here is my list of the Top 10 most asked questions:

1. What can I do to help my “average” student stand out and get accepted to college?–The good news is that the admissions application is not all about grades. They look at the overall picture: grades, SAT scores, essay, student resume, and interviews. There will always be a college that recognizes value and potential. Grades are important, but they aren’t the ONLY way to sell yourself.
2. Should I fill out the FAFSA even though I think we make too much money to qualify for financial aid?–YES. YES. YES. The FAFSA is what colleges use to determine your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) which is used to determine the financial aid package. This package is NOT just federal aid. It’s composed of grants, scholarships and loans (much of which is merit-aid directly from the colleges themselves). If you don’t fill it out, your teen can’t get ANY of that money.
3. My teen isn’t motivated to make good grades, how can I motivate him/her to try harder?–They need to be invested in the process. If they want to go to college, grades are part of the process. Encourage them to talk with current college students (they can do this online) or consider finding them a mentor–someone who can motivate them to do their best. Nagging won’t work. Punishment won’t work. Reward and encouragement from you and others will produce much better results.
4. Is it really worth spending hours and hours of time looking for scholarships?–Yes and no. A large portion of scholarships/grants come from the colleges themselves. But, there are also thousands of other scholarships available to college-bound teens. It’s worth registering on some scholarship sites and applying to those that are a good fit. You can also use the College Potential Calculator for some help. Don’t neglect LOCAL scholarships–these are often the easiest to win.
5. We can’t afford to pay for college, does that mean our teen won’t be able to go?–There are all kinds of ways to finance a college education: student loans, work-study, college grants and scholarships. Everyone qualifies for parent and student loans. But be wise about your borrowing and consider the best options. Paul Hemphill with Pre College Prep has come up with a GREAT way to attend college on the cheap!
6. How many colleges do you think my teen should apply to?–Here’s a good formula: 2 reach colleges (colleges that might be a reach but still attainable), 3 good fit colleges (colleges that are a good match for the student), 2 safety colleges (colleges that the student will be at the top of the applicant pool). Having choices also means the colleges are in competition, which translates into negotiation for you with the financial aid package.
7. What’s the most important tip you could give me about the college admissions process?–Find those “perfect fit” colleges. Do the research and evaluate choices based on student body, academic programs, college visits, location and financial aid awards. If the college is a good fit, they will value the student for his/her contribution to the student body. Those are the colleges you want in your application pool.
8. My son/daughter has just been wait-listed; what should we do?–Be proactive. Send a letter to the college and let them know how much you want to attend. If there is more information you can provide that didn’t make the application, send that as well. Let them know that, if given the chance, you WILL attend.
9. My teen’s SAT scores aren’t that great; will it affect their admissions chances?–The bottom line is that most colleges do look at those SAT scores. But, it’s just part of the overall picture. The best advice I can give is MAKE CONTACT with an admissions representative from EVERY college your teen is applying to. This PERSONAL contact can and will make a difference when the admissions application is reviewed. Do this by visiting and making an appointment to speak with them. Then hang on to their card and stay in contact until acceptance letters arrive.
10. My teen is so scatter-brained and we keep missing deadlines–how can I help them get organized?–Set up a landing zone for college material. Use a desk, a file cabinet, a bulletin board, and a wall calendar to keep track of deadlines. Start this freshman year and remind them that their floor is NOT the landing zone. Once they get used to bringing everything to that one spot, it will be easier to find, file and locate all the college related materials.

Suzanne has comprised a myriad of helpful information on the college admissions process in her Parents Countdown to College Toolkit. This toolkit includes information on where and how to begin the application process, deadlines, how to help teens make the right decisions on courses, colleges, and testing, and even help on where to begin looking for scholarships.

You can follow Suzanne on Twitter @suzanneshaffer, connect with her on Facebook, and even connect with her on LinkedIn.

Everyone knows that the SAT/ACT can play a role in a student’s chances of getting into college, but how much importance should we put on these tests? According to a recent study of 740 high school counselors by Arizona State University MBA graduates, it is the second most important factor for a high school student looking to get into a top college behind preparing early and not waiting till it’s too late to apply or bring up their GPA.

The survey asked the question, “What do you feel is a senior’s biggest obstacle to getting into top college programs or obtaining a scholarship?” and the number one answer (22% of counselors’ response) was”Lack of initiative or starting too late in the process” and the second highest response (15% of counselors’ response) was “Poor standardized testing or GPA,” spotlighting the importance of these tests. In fact, John Baylor, President/Founder of John Baylor Test Prep, commented, “studies show that cost is the number one reason that students drop out of college, and the best way to decrease the cost of college is with higher test scores.”

So what can a high school student do this summer to keep from falling behind and be successful on the SAT or ACT? 

• Study, Prepare, and Take the SAT/ACT Seriously:  It is amazing how many students don’t take the SAT/ACT test serious enough or have the misconception that you “can’t” study for either one.  Based on your budget, there are a ton of different options to prepare for the SAT/ACT. You can purchase books on Amazon starting at $5, or if your willing to spend a little more, you can take SAT courses online or ACT course online at your pace starting at $200 or work directly with a tutor 1-on-1 this summer for around $700.  As boring as studying for these tests can be, many of these resources cite significant improvement with a bit of studying and the online or 1-on-1 services often offer money back guarantees and/or free-trials if you do not see the desired results!
• Know the Numbers:  Research the colleges you are thinking of applying to and see the average score from their previously admitted classes. Many colleges publish this information online and will give you a realistic picture of the standardized test scores and GPA you will need to be able to be accepted to the college. If you’re looking to save time, visit the College Potential Calculator which is a database of admission statistics for over 3,600 Universities and approximately 2,000 scholarships. It calculates not only your potential to get into a University, but also let’s you know how much you will need to improve your GPA, SAT or ACT score over the summer to have greater than an 80% chance of being accepted.
• Your Cumulative GPA Matters:  Many colleges will make admissions decisions based on your coursework through junior year, but many other colleges will also admit students contingent on the successful completion of your senior year.  Additionally some colleges will recalculate GPA’s to see your “core” classes on a 4.0 scale.  You can find a list of high school core classes online here: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/33.html.  This means that you need to take your high school classes serious – freshmen year through senior year – and don’t just take fluff coursework like office assistant and bowling!  

The College Potential Calculator at WhatisAverage.com gives both students and their families the opportunity to understand where they stand based on their GPA and SAT/ACT scores, shedding light on what students should improve to be considered competitive for the institution of their choice.  Additionally, it provides an opportunity to understand if a school is out of their reach and provides alternatives that are within their reach.  In fact, you can allow the calculator to find your potential to get into up to 20 colleges at a time based on the cost of the college, location of the college, national rank of the college, or your best chances.

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Since 2003 the John Baylor Test Prep has gone into Schools during the school day to increase an entire high school’s average ACT® score from 1 to 3 points. John Baylor Test Prep is the online version of this entertaining, proven ACT® Prep course: a means to reach more schools and students so as to help even more achieve their college goals. You can follow John on twitter @jbtestprep and on facebook. 

What is a high school graduate’s biggest deterrent to getting into a top college or obtaining a scholarship? According to a recent survey of high school counselors, it is a student’s “lack of initiative or simply starting too late in the process.” In fact, 22% of the counselors surveyed reported that high school seniors are either too overwhelmed or simply don’t make the time to sit down and apply for scholarships. They think their grades either aren’t high enough or they can’t write a compelling enough story about themselves, so why waste the time?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) at the US Department of Education, only about 10.6% of students, or about 1 in 10, received scholarships worth an average of $2,815 in 2007-08. This leads to tight competition and let’s face it, $2,800 isn’t going to go vary far when the average annual prices for undergraduate tuition, room, and board were estimated to be $11,578 at public institutions and $29,915 at private institutions for the 2007-08 school year.

So what can you do to stay competitive and attempt to reduce wasting time on scholarships that won’t pay that much? Dan Coomes, one of the surveyors and creator of The College Potential Calculator, has a few non-traditional tips for students and parents looking for an extra edge this summer:

• Know what your intended field of study is going to be: Most students, parents, and counselors I’ve talked to believe that minority status or being able to demonstrate financial need is the biggest factor in obtaining a scholarship. While being able to demonstrate need is an important factor, a student’s minority status is only applicable to approximately 9% of the scholarships listed in our Calculator. That means there’s 1,800 other scholarships out there that don’t have a minority status requirement. Selecting a field of study and being able to write about it is far more important than minority status, representing approximately 48% of the scholarships in the College Potential Calculator. Engineering and engineering technology is one of the most represented intended fields of study, capturing about 33% of scholarships that require an intended field of study to be eligible to apply. A few others that had good representation were biological and physical sciences, business/management/administration, and trade and industry. Conversely, liberal arts and interdisciplinary studies, English and literature, foreign languages, and area and ethnic studies were all intended fields of study that were not widely represented with available scholarships.
• Join an organization: Approximately 11% of scholarships require that you are apart of some organization to be eligible to apply. The American Legion is the most widely represented organization, representing over 25% of the scholarships that require an affiliation with an organization. The American Legion is for current or past active duty military personnel, but there eligibility can be extended within divisions of the Legion for sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, wives, and other family members.
• Look at what your current state of residence or the state where you are looking to attend college has to offer: Fifty percent of the Scholarships listed in the College Potential Calculator are based on the state you currently reside in or the state you intend to attend College in. You can cut the time down on your scholarship search by simply looking at scholarships registered in your state. For instance, Googling, “Scholarships in Texas,” will yield an alphabetical list of all scholarships for Texas residents.

A fun feature of the College Potential Calculator is the ability to look at more than just one college. In fact, you can allow the calculator to find your potential to get into up to 20 colleges at a time based on the cost of the college, location of the college, national rank of the college, or your best chances. For instance, let’s look at a high school student who lives on the east coast but wants to go to school on the west coast. All she has to do is simply enter in the city and state on the west coast she wants to be near, her SAT or ACT scores and GPA, and then click calculate. Based on her preference, she can sort the results of the 20 colleges by the least expensive colleges near the area, the closest colleges to the area, the colleges with the highest national rank in the area, or by the colleges she has the best chances of getting accepted to near the area.

The College Potential Calculator is designed for students, parents, and counselors who want to gauge a student’s potential to get into any one college or obtain a scholarship based on their GPA, SAT or ACT score. The tool looks at the past 1 – 5 years of admission statistics for 3,600 universities and approximately 2,000 scholarships. You can watch a quick demo of the College Potential Calculator on WhatisAverage.com.

If you are single and looking to get married, head to the East and West coast. These are the States where there is the highest percentage of Men and Women who have never been married. Conversely, if you’re married and looking for play dates, you will want to find yourself somewhere near the Mississippi river with West Virginia once again finding itself in the top 5 results.

It appears that Courtney Cox should take her character Jules Cobb from Florida to New York! With the State taking #1 for both unmarried men and women, New York should be the new home of Cougar Town. I will say that Florida does have the advantage of having more unmarried men ages 15-44 as a ratio to females (a rate of 15.8 unmarried men to 1 female) and perhaps that’s more important for the single ladies.

Percent of Men 15 Years and Over Who Were Never Married (Average is 34.1%)
1. New York 39.1%
2. Massachusetts 37.9%
3. California 38.3%
4. Alaska 37.5%
5. Hawaii 36.4%

Lowest
1. Idaho 27.4%
2. Arkansas 28.1%
3. West Virginia 28.3%
4. Maine 29.3%
5. Oklahoma 29.3%

Percent of Women 15 Years and Over Who Were Never Married (Average was 27.6%)
1. New York 33.4%
2. Massachusetts 32.2%
3. Maryland 31.1%
4. California 30.8%
5. Illinois 30%

Lowest
1. Idaho 21.1%
2. West Virginia 21.5%
3. Wyoming 21.6%
4. Arkansas 21.7%
5. Oklahoma 22%

Texas was 33.1% for unmarried men and 26.3% for women.

I had always thought Florida was supposed to be the State where all the old people went to retire, but Florida barely made the top 5 of the eldest populations? They say with age, comes wisdom, so I'll be generous and report the top 5 "wisest" States (average age of the population):

1. Maine 41.5
2. Vermont 40.9
3. West Virginia 40.5
4. Florida 40.1
5. New Hampshire 39.8

If you are looking to get out and join the young people, here are the top 5 youngest States:

1. Utah 28.5
2. Texas 33.2
3. Alaska 33.4
4. Idaho 34.4
5. California 34.7

As we saw yesterday, the northeastern United States dominates native population residing in their State, and today we discover they have a commanding hold on median income as well with 3 of the top 5 and 5 of the top 10 overall. West Virginia makes another appearance in the top five, but this time it's of states with the lowest median income. As a matter of fact, there is a pretty good correlation between the States who's residents do not speak a language other English and low median income. Four out of the five states from Monday's blog made the lowest median income blog today.

The overall median income was $52,175 and Texas was $49,078. NOTE: These are 2008 inflation adjusted numbers. See the WhatisAverage.com Fan Page on Facebook for where your State stood in comparison.

The Top 5 States with the highest Median Income was:
1.Maryland: $70,005
2.New Jersey: $69,674
3.Connecticut: $68,411
4.Alaska: $66,293
5.Hawaii: $66,034

The Top 5 States with the lowest Median Income was:
1.Mississippi: $37,404
2.West Virginia: $37,870
3.Arkansas: $39,127
4.Kentucky: $41,763
5.Alabama: $42,131

The U.S. Average was $52,175

There are now four days to mail it back. Did you know that New York and Louisiana had the highest percentage of Native born living in their State (82.1%)? Meaning, once people are born in New York and Louisiana, they don't leave. Conversely, Nevada comes in with the least amount of Native born living in their State at 28.6%. It seems that Nevada is truly the State to "visit" but not make a home. Alaskans feel more at home then people of Nevada (they were the next lowest at 41.7%). If you look at the chart from the 2000 Census on the WhatisAverage Facebook fan page, you'll notice that the Eastern part of the US tends to be more favorable to Native born residents and the western part of the US seems to be the States that all the residents leave just as soon as they can. Here are the other States that rounded out the top and bottom five:

Top 5 States with the highest percent of the Native Population Born in their State of Residence:

1. New York: 82.1%

2. Louisiana: 82.1%

3. Michigan: 80.8%

4. Pennsylvania: 79.3%

5. Ohio: 77.8%

Top 5 States with the lowest percent of the Native Population Born in their State of Residence:

1. Nevada: 28.6%

2. Alaska: 41.7%

3. Florida: 41.8%

4. Arizona: 42.2%

5. Wyoming: 43.5%

Texas comes in around 17th with 72.2% (for those who only cared about Texas)