When it comes to college admissions, numbers aren’t everything—but how much do they count? In this post, we’ll discuss the holistic college admissions evaluation process and the relative weights of various parts of your application. We’ll also give you access to our latest publication, The Frontier 49, which features average GPAs and SAT/ACT scores, along with admission rates, for the 49 most popular colleges where Alaska students apply.
Read MoreTopics: College Admissions: Explore Early, 9th Grade - Freshmen, College Admissions: Excel Academically, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage
Earlier this week, the College Board released scores from the March 5 SAT—the first administration of the redesigned SAT—as well as long-awaited new concordance tables, which allow students to understand how their scores from the redesigned SAT, ACT, and old SAT compare in common terms. Shortly after the College Board's announcement, the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education announced the Alaska Performance Scholarship score requirements for redesigned SAT. What does the new scoring system of the redesigned SAT mean for you?
Topics: ACT, SAT, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, College Admissions: Test Well, PSAT
Did you know that it’s possible to go to college while you’re still in high school? Many well-known colleges and universities offer pre-college summer programs to provide motivated high school students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in life as a college student for several weeks over the summer. Why might you consider a pre-college summer program, what do they offer, and what are the application requirements and deadlines? Read on to find out. We'll also highlight some example programs you can explore.
Read MoreTopics: College Admissions: Explore Early, 9th Grade - Freshmen, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, Anchorage
For nearly the last 18 months, the College Board has dominated the conversation about standardized testing changes with news about the Redesigned SAT launching in March 2016. But did you know that ACT, Inc. has been phasing in changes of its own? While some of these changes are for the benefit of data collection and are fairly insignificant from a test-taking perspective, one major change is the essay—it has been completely overhauled and will debut in its new format during the September 12, 2015 test administration.
Let’s take look at these changes and talk about what you need to know if you're preparing for the ACT. We’ll examine these changes in order of significance, first discussing the biggest change (the essay) and ending our post by touching on the newly formatted score report.
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Topics: ACT, Mat-Su Valley, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage
NOTE: This blog post contains guidance that was valid only though December 2015. Now that your test options are either the redesigned SAT or the ACT, check out our newly updated post, Redesigned SAT vs. ACT: How 11th Graders Should Choose, for the latest guidance on what to do next.
You’ve probably heard a lot of talk regarding the Redesigned SAT (a.k.a. the “New SAT”), which launches in March 2016. But how, exactly, does the new test affect you? In this post, we’ll break down what’s changing, compare the Redesigned SAT to the Existing SAT and ACT—and explain what 11th graders need to do ASAP to determine which test is right for them.
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Topics: ACT, Redesigned SAT, SAT, Mat-Su Valley, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage
You probably know that getting into the college of your choice involves more than just good grades and test scores. In fact, according to NACAC's 2014 "State of College Admission" report, over 50% of colleges attribute at least "moderate importance" to extracurricular activities in their admission decisions, and over 1 in 5 highly competitive colleges regard extracurriculars as an area of "considerable importance" when evaluating applicants.
Read MoreTopics: Extracurriculars, Mat-Su Valley, 9th Grade - Freshmen, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, Anchorage
