Articles and information on all things SAT, ACT, and college admissions.
Students in the high school class of 2025 will have three testing options during their junior year:
The ACT
The current Paper SAT (last offered December 2023)
The new Digital SAT (first offered March 2024)
How are students and parents to navigate these 3 options?
Read More“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
-Norman Vincent Peale
When it comes to college applications, we agree with Mr. Peale—shoot for the moon! However, to ensure you still land among the stars in the case that your dream college doesn’t work out, it’s essential your college list has a good mix of reach schools, target schools, and safety schools.
This article will break down what reach schools, target schools, and safety schools are, help you figure out which schools are reaches, targets, and safeties for you, and direct you to some excellent resources for college research.
A reach school is one you’re unlikely to get into. This might be because you fall a bit short of their expectations when it comes to SAT/ACT scores, high school GPA and transcripts, or extracurriculars.
However, it also could be because the school just has an extremely low acceptance rate, even for highly qualified students. Any school with an acceptance rate of below 20% is always a reach, for everyone. Straight As and near-perfect test scores are no guarantee, as almost all applicants to these schools share those qualifications.
For emphasis: a reach school is one where you fall just a little short. Schools where your test scores, grades, and experiences are nowhere near their standards are not proper reach schools for your college list. For example, a student who gets As and Bs in mostly non-advanced classes probably shouldn’t be applying to Princeton.
But what’s the harm in just taking a shot? You never know.
When applying to colleges, you need to consider not just whether or not you’ll get in, but whether or not you’ll succeed there. If a school is extremely rigorous and its students are on an entirely different level academically, will you be able to keep up there? And just as importantly, will you be happy?
A target school is one you’d love to go to and you’ve got a real shot at getting in. This is a school where your SAT/ACT scores, GPA and high school transcript, and other credentials match or (ideally) exceed those of students who have been accepted in the past.
Keep in mind that just matching a school’s academic averages won’t guarantee your acceptance. The admissions process at most colleges is holistic, meaning they consider far more than just academics. You’ll be evaluated on your passions, hobbies, activities, leadership, community service, intellectual devotion, essays, letters of recommendation, selected academic program, demonstrated interest, and more.
As you assess your likelihood of acceptance, it’s important to stay realistic. If you don’t have any flags on your application (i.e. you’re a recruited athlete, legacy, or underrepresented minority) and if you don’t have excellent extracurriculars, essays, and recommendations, then meeting the average test scores and grades likely won’t cut it-- you’ll need to be above average.
A safety school is one you have a very good chance of getting into. Your GPA is well above their average and your test scores are at or above the 75th percentile for that school.
We prefer to call these schools “likely schools,” as “safety” implies that it’s only on your list as a backup plan or last resort. When choosing a likely school, imagine that it’s the only college you end up getting into. Would you go? Would you be happy about it? If the answer to either of those questions is no, save yourself the effort and don’t add that school to your list!
To repeat, a likely school is NOT just a backup plan. There are many benefits to going to a likely:
Financial benefits. Less selective schools sometimes offer merit aid to overqualified students, which can reduce the financial burden of college. Likelies are also more likely to be state schools, which offer excellent education at a lower price. Even if you’re not as thrilled about the name on the t-shirt, you may be more thrilled to graduate with tens of thousands less in debt.
Social and academic benefits. At a reach school, there is a chance you could find yourself struggling with the rigorous coursework and feeling out of place among students that are more advanced academically. On the other hand, a likely school might be a place where you can not just keep up but excel. Being towards the top of your class could lead to many exciting opportunities, like research with professors and intercollegiate competitions.
Overall, students that graduate from likelies often do so with less debt, a higher GPA, and the feeling of confidence that comes with spending 4 years thriving academically. That’s definitely worth considering!
Our team can evaluate you holistically, as your colleges will, and help you put together a strategic college list with a good blend of reaches, targets, and safeties/likelies.
When searching for average SAT/ACT scores, you’ll typically get a range. For example, Temple University’s SAT range listed on their 2019 Common Data Set report is 1140 to 1310.
Temple University Common Data Set (2019)
The lower end of the range is the 25th percentile, meaning that 25% of students admitted to Temple scored at 1140 or below. The upper end of the range is the 75th percentile, meaning that 25% of students scored at 1310 or above. The remaining 50% of students scored between 1140 and 1310. Take the average of these two numbers to find the exact 50th percentile, which in this case is 1225.
If you’re at the 25th percentile or below, that school is likely a reach.
If you’re at the 50th percentile, that school is likely a target, as long as the other aspects of your application are also in line with or above the school’s expectations.
If you’re at the 75th percentile or above, that school is likely a safety/likely.
One way to do this would be to look at the average high school GPA and/or class rank of accepted students.
On a school’s Common Data Set, you’ll find information about class rank, GPA, or both (examples below from Temple University’s 2019 Common Data Set).
With this information, you can figure out where your GPA and class rank stand compared to accepted students. If you’re far below the average GPA, the school might be a reach. If you’re above or at the average, the school may be a target or safety/likely, as long as your other credentials meet or exceed the school’s standards.
You shouldn’t focus entirely on GPA, though, for a few reasons.
Some GPAs are reported on a scale of 4, some 5, some 6. Each school gives different weight to honors and AP classes. Some schools use pluses and minuses and some don’t. Some use class rank and some don’t. This inconsistency makes GPA an unreliable way to compare students’ academic performance. Similarly, class rank can be misleading, as an average student at a lower-performing school might be in the top 10% of their class, whereas an excellent student at a stronger school might only make it into the top 50%.
College admissions officers are aware of all of this and will be focusing more on your grades and the difficulty of your courses. They want to see students that are pushing themselves academically, taking advantage of the most rigorous curriculum available at their school, and succeeding.
Are you taking honors/APs? If they aren’t available at your school, are you taking any interesting or challenging electives? Are your grades excellent, strong, average, below average? Now think about the schools you’re applying to. What kind of student goes there?
In college admissions, the GPA is a number without context and therefore, without much meaning. Instead of fixating on GPA, try to evaluate your courseload and grades holistically, as an admissions officer would.
Do your activities and honors show you’ve been actively pursuing your passions? Do your letters of recommendation give the school a sense that you’ll be a valuable contributor in class and around campus? Is your personal statement vulnerable, personal, and interesting?
Any weaknesses in these areas, while not as easily measured, have the potential to drag down the value of your test scores and grades. So make sure these other elements of your application are as strong as possible—they might make the difference between getting in and not getting in, if the school is a reach or a competitive target.
You want to give colleges something to root for beyond raw academic data. Read more about how we can help with your essays and applications here!
On CollegeData. They’re mostly reliable when it comes to this sort of data, but it’s always good to be thorough and cross reference any data you get from CollegeData elsewhere too.
On the school’s Common Data Set report. Search the school name along with “Common Data Set” and you should be able to find a PDF of their report for the most recent academic year. Scroll until you find the Freshman Profile section, which will have the school’s average SAT/ACT scores, class rank, high school GPA, and more. This is the best way to be certain of a school’s expectations, and this report will also likely give you other valuable information about the school that might be hard to find elsewhere.
The consensus among college counselors seems to be that most students would do well to apply to 6-10 schools. That being said, every student’s situation is different. Students that are determined to go to a highly selective college may want to apply to more schools to increase their odds of acceptance. Students that have specific needs (uncommon major, recruited athlete, etc) may end up applying to fewer schools.
However many schools you apply to, strive for an even balance between reaches, targets, and safeties/likelies. You want the majority of the schools on your list to be ones you have a good chance of actually getting into.
In addition to in-person and official virtual tours, YouVisit and CampusReel provide excellent campus tour videos. These can be great for taking a peek at schools you’re interested in but not ready to visit.
Corsava is an excellent free resource that can help you identify, through strategic questioning, the college features that matter most to you.
CollegeXpress is great for finding new colleges you might be interested in. You can search schools by location, keywords, interests, and ranking. You can also find further detail about colleges on your radar, such as enrollment and admissions data, cost, financial aid, and more.
Get the insider scoop on colleges at Unigo and Niche, where you’ll find reviews of various schools, written by students who actually went there.
The college admissions process can be complex, and at times, mystifying. Many parents aren’t aware when their child should be working on their applications or preparing for the SAT/ACT. They call in during 8th, 9th, and 10th grade, hoping a head start will ensure their child doesn’t fall behind in this process.
Starting to plan for college applications sooner rather than later is a good thing, but when it comes to SAT or ACT prep, there is such a thing as too early!
Students nationwide are often advised to try the SAT or ACT for the first time in the spring of their junior year (usually in February or March).
This may feel too late to get started, but it’s absolutely not! There is still plenty of time after the March SAT or February ACT to do test prep and try the tests again. For the SAT, there are four more opportunities to test (May, June, August, and October) before the earliest college application deadlines in the fall. For the ACT, there are five opportunities: April, June, July, September, and October.
While most students test in the spring of junior year, there is no single correct timeline to take the SAT and ACT. Some students prep earlier, but many start even later, in the summer after junior year or even as late as the fall of senior year. The ideal timeline very much depends on the individual student.
Recruited Athletes. Students trying to play sports in college are often in touch with college coaches after their season in 10th grade. Coaches want to know where their recruits stand academically as soon as possible, so having test scores to send sooner rather than later may increase a recruit’s chances of making the team. For this reason, some student athletes prefer to prep for and take the SAT/ACT in 10th grade, so they can send their scores along with their game stats and film.
Students who, due to a busy schedule or scheduling conflict, cannot do test prep during junior year. Students looking at both an extremely demanding junior year courseload full of honors/AP/IB classes and intensive time commitments outside of school (sports, activities, work, etc.) may want to prep for the SAT or ACT during 10th grade or the summer before 11th instead. Similarly, students who are going abroad during junior year or will for any other reason be unavailable for prep and testing during that time may prefer to get test prep out of the way sooner.
That’s about it. If you’re not a recruited athlete and your junior year will be no busier than your sophomore year, there’s usually little benefit to prepping and testing sooner. There are, however, plenty of downsides.
Most students haven’t covered all the material on the SAT/ACT by 10th grade. This is particularly true for the math sections. Both the SAT and the ACT include a lot of Algebra 2 and Geometry concepts, and students on typical math tracks (Geometry in 10th and Algebra 2 in 11th) won’t have seen all of these concepts by 10th grade.
Students on this standard math track who want to prep as sophomores would need to pay for their SAT/ACT tutors to teach them the math they’d learn in school eventually anyway, which we never recommend doing. It’s costly, time-consuming, and shifts the focus away from the verbal sections of these tests that also need attention. Whenever possible, it’s best to wait until the student has gotten this math under their belt.
Realistically, the only sophomores who should be taking the SAT/ACT should be on such an advanced math track that they’re taking at least Pre-Calculus in 10th grade.
COVID-19 note: it’s also important to consider how disruptions brought on by the pandemic have affected students’ math education. In the past, if a sophomore had already taken Geometry and was 3/4ths of the way through Algebra 2, they would have most of what they’d need for the SAT/ACT. However, with COVID-19 disruptions, many math classes are significantly behind, and even accelerated math students in Pre-Calc are spending time reviewing core Algebra 2 concepts. So now more than ever, it’s important for students to get more time in math class before approaching these tests.
More time in school improves performance on every section of the SAT and ACT. Strong reading comprehension is essential for doing well on these tests. Not just in the passage-based Reading and Science sections, but also in the Math sections, where understanding what the problem is asking for is just as important as recognizing the concepts and making careful calculations.
Can’t we work on weak reading comprehension with test prep? Of course! But it’s not often that students dramatically improve their reading comprehension in the short timeframe of a test prep program. This is because reading comprehension is something you build up over the course of your entire life. It (unsurprisingly) gets better from reading! So the more time you spend reading before you attempt the SAT or ACT, the better!
Many sophomores aren’t ready to do their best yet. What we’re talking about here is academic maturity. Between spring of 10th grade (when students would realistically first attempt the SAT or ACT) and December of 12th grade (the last opportunity to take the SAT or ACT before typical application deadlines), students learn and grow so much. That’s nearly two years of opportunity for further intellectual development. In the context of a 15, 16, or 17-year-old, those two years might as well be an eternity.
Some rare students are so advanced that they’re prepared to do their best on the test as sophomores. But for most, the longer they can delay taking the SAT or ACT, the more they can benefit from natural academic growth.
We’re glad you asked!
Read, read, read! As we’ve said, strong reading comprehension is a must for these tests. Start building yours now by reading for fun! This could mean classics, dystopian trilogies, or forbidden vampire romances. It could mean quicker reads, like news articles, short stories, or personal essays. Read what you enjoy reading! Higher level content will force you to grow more than lower level content, but whatever you choose, you’ll be encountering new words, unconsciously solidifying your understanding of grammar rules, and strengthening your reading comprehension, all of which will help you on the SAT and ACT.
Stay sharp with math practice. Spend some time on Khan Academy. It’s free and you can practice as much or as little as you want. Use it to refresh old concepts you may have forgotten and stay on top of what you’re learning now. A strong foundation in math will set you up for success when you are ready to take the SAT and ACT.
Start your college research. It’s never too soon to start browsing and thinking about what you want from your college experience.
Free resources we love:
Corsava is an excellent free resource that can help you identify, through strategic questioning, the college features that matter most to you.
CollegeXpress is great for finding new colleges you might be interested in. You can search schools by location, keywords, interests, and ranking. Use the ‘List’ feature to help you find colleges that fit what you’re looking for, especially ones you may not have been considering before. You can also find further detail about colleges on your radar, such as enrollment and admissions data, cost, financial aid, and more.
Get the insider scoop on colleges at Unigo andNiche, where you’ll find reviews of various schools, written by students who went there.
Prepare for college applications in other ways. SAT/ACT test scores matter, but so does your transcript, GPA, and activities! So do your best on your homework. Get extra help and build relationships with your teachers-- you may end up asking them for letters of recommendation later down the line. Get involved in clubs, sports, internships, etc, that will show colleges what you’re passionate about. All of this will ensure you have a strong application outside of test scores!
Read more about how we can help with every step of the application process here!
We’d be happy to help you figure out the right test prep and testing timeline for you or your child. Give us a call at (215) 884-5789 for a free consultation!
As businesses across the country begin to reopen, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about whether it makes sense for us to resume in-person tutoring sessions. At this time, we’ve decided to continue holding all tutoring sessions online. We always aim for transparency, so here are our reasons for sticking with online sessions:
Read MoreAs of March 8th, it’ll be so long to Premier Edge Prep and hello to Premier College Prep!
The rationale behind our original name was simple:
“Premier” because we always strive to be the best
“Edge” because we give students an edge on tests
PremierEdgePrep.com because the domain was available!
Our new name swaps out “Edge” for “College.” While seemingly small, this shift is about more than just a fresh logo.
Since the beginning, in addition to test prep, we’ve helped students navigate all aspects of the college admissions process. We’ve developed our expertise in college admissions the same way we did for test prep: by researching, analyzing, and assessing all the information out there, to make ourselves experts so that you don’t have to be.
To better support our students through their college applications, we’ve expanded our essay coaching and admissions consulting services, and made our packages more flexible and customizable than ever.
We’ve also upgraded our website into a hub for college resources. Some of our recent articles and guides that we hope families will find helpful:
And useful college research…
Application Deadlines and Early Decision/Early Action Policies
Score Choice: Which Colleges Require You to Submit all Test Scores?
It shouldn’t!
Once we make the change, our website will be www.PremierCollegePrep.com, and our emails will be our first name @PremierCollegePrep.com. However, visiting www.PremierEdgePrep.com will automatically route you to our new site, and any emails sent to our Premier Edge Prep addresses will still reach us.
You’ll be able to log into your Teachworks account at www.PremierCollegePrep.Teachworks.com.
If you’d like to connect with us on social media, we can be found on Facebook and Instagram @PremierCollegePrep and on Twitter @PrepPremier.
Give us a call at (215) 884-5789, or email us at info@PremierCollegePrep.com.
Over the last few months, a ton has changed with regard to testing and college admissions. In case you’ve been far too preoccupied with everything going on in the world to follow every new development with colleges going test optional and how that might affect you, we’re here to help with a brief rundown of what you need to know about test optional admissions.
Read MoreIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several colleges have made their admissions process test optional. If the June SAT and ACT are cancelled, we expect that many more colleges will also switch to test optional admissions. This article goes over what test optional means for different types of students, and how they should approach applying to test optional colleges.
Read MoreIn their recent update, the College Board announced that they will be discontinuing SAT Subject Tests and the optional SAT Essay, as well as investing in digital testing, in an effort to “reduce and simplify demand on students.” What will these changes mean for you or your child? We’re here to answer your questions!
Years ago, many highly selective colleges required SAT subject tests. However, in recent years, the majority of those colleges have shifted from requiring subject tests to simply recommending them. Some schools, such as Carnegie Mellon and Yale, have even gone as far to say that they will not look at nor consider subject tests if submitted.
As subject tests declined, the College Board’s AP exams became more popular. Given that subject tests and AP exams both test in-depth understanding of a single subject area, one might conclude that the College Board decided to eliminate the redundant and less successful subject tests to make things simpler for students.
Alternatively, if you’d like to take the cynical view that the College Board is a greedy corporation masquerading as an education non-profit, you might point to the fact that an SAT subject test costs $22 to take, while an AP exam costs $95. And because most AP exams are school day tests, the College Board doesn’t need to pay AP proctors. But again, that’s only if you favor the cynical perspective.
It means you don’t need to. Look into taking a corresponding AP exam instead, or just breathe a little easier knowing that there’s less testing in your life.
If you are already registered, you will automatically receive a refund. International students will still be able to take subject tests this spring, after which point the subject test program will be completely closed.
Maybe. Colleges that currently require or recommend subject tests will each make their own determination on whether to accept subject tests. It will take time for these colleges to adjust their standardized testing policies, so students in the class of 2022 and later should not be surprised if they find outdated language regarding subject tests on college websites for the next few months.
With subject tests gone, the College Board will have more room for SAT testers, and there is the possibility that they will add more test dates in the fall. This is great news for student access amid the still-raging pandemic, especially given that vaccine rollout is off to a slow start.
With the elimination of subject tests, AP exams will likely take on increased importance in the college admissions process over time. The class of 2022 might not be affected by this, as colleges take time to adjust their standardized testing policies.
It won’t. The optional essay had already been phased out by colleges over the last few years, so this update just makes it official.
Students can still take the SAT with the optional essay through June 2021. Students who want to switch from the SAT with essay to the SAT without should contact the College Board to adjust their registration.
Since the ACT essay is also optional across the country, we expect ACT to eventually follow the College Board’s lead and discontinue their essay section as well. We advise all students against registering for either the SAT or ACT optional essays at this time.
The College Board has stated that they’re investing in “a more flexible SAT—a streamlined, digitally delivered test that meets the evolving needs of students and higher education.” No details or timeline for this digital testing were given, with the College Board opting instead for a vague promise to share more information in the spring.
Furthermore, it is unclear exactly what the College Board means by “digital testing.” In the spring of 2020, they tried administering in-home digital testing for the AP exams, resulting in widespread technical and security issues. Previous plans to provide an in-home digital SAT test were shut down due to equity concerns. If this announcement is the College Board’s second attempt to provide an in-home digital SAT test, there are so many security and equity concerns that students should not expect it to be available anytime soon.
There is also another possible interpretation of “digital testing” in this context. ACT has been offering “digital testing” in select locations for years, but these are not in-home tests. Students go to a testing center, much like they would for graduate-level and certification exams like the GRE or the Praxis tests, and take the test on a computer. While there are benefits to this sort of digital testing, avoiding contact during the pandemic is not one of them.
This is all to say, the class of 2022 should not expect in-home digital tests to be an option for them before they apply to colleges in the fall and winter.
The discontinuation of subject tests and the optional essay will make things simpler for the majority of test-takers. Look into AP exams, and keep in mind that you can still register for an exam even if you’re not in the corresponding AP class. Don’t adjust your testing plans based on this digital SAT speculation until we have more conclusive information.
Coaches want to fill out their teams as far in advance as possible, so getting in touch as early as 10th grade is the prudent move. However, this may not be possible for all students. Your recruiting timeline will depend on a few different factors.
First, your season. If you play a fall sport, you could reach out to coaches as late as 11th grade after the season is over and still have enough time to make a connection. However, if you play a spring sport, waiting until after your season in 11th puts you nearly at the start of 12th, when many coaches have already put together their rosters. So students playing spring sports may do better to contact coaches after their 10th grade season.
Then, the athletic environment you’re looking for. Are you applying to hyper-competitive D1 schools? Those coaches tend to recruit and finalize their rosters earlier, so starting communication in 10th grade would get you on their radar when it counts. If you’re applying to less competitive D3 schools, you may find coaches to be more flexible and open to later contact.
Most importantly, your experience. Keep in mind that coaches can only evaluate players once they’ve seen game film, workout film, or performances at athletic camps and showcases. If you played Varsity in 9th or 10th grade, you likely already have film and/or stats that will allow you to reach out to coaches sooner. If you are playing on an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team instead of your high school team, that’s okay—coaches are usually familiar with AAU teams and will find your film/stats relating to that useful. You can also gain experience by attending camps and showcases, where in addition to coaches from the hosting college, there are often coaches from other colleges in attendance. This is all to say, you need a track record as a strong athlete prior to being considered by coaches. As soon as that happens, be proactive and reach out!
If you’re not sure how to get in touch with college coaches or which coaches would be good to approach, ask your current high school or AAU coach for guidance. Make sure they’re aware that you plan to continue your athletic career at the collegiate level. Oftentimes high school coaches have connections and they may be able to help you get started.
Coaches are typically busy coaching during their season, so always reach out during their off seasons. There are sometimes restrictions on coaches reaching out to students unprompted, but there are no restrictions on students reaching out to coaches, so don’t be shy! Be sure to showcase your accomplishments and academics in your message. If you have strong grades or test scores, let them know! Coaches prefer to know where their recruits are academically sooner rather than later.
Don’t panic if you are behind according to this advice. Each athlete’s process is different. Keep reaching out, even at the start of senior year. Check in with coaches you’ve previously contacted and ask them if you can send anything that will help you earn a spot on the team. Do the same with any coaches that have contacted you. Introduce yourself to new coaches and open the door with as many schools as possible.
The recruiting process is complex, but we have tutors with extensive knowledge of and personal experience with college athletics. We’d be happy to advise you on your specific situation and help you maximize your chances of making the team. If you’re interested in learning more, check out our College Admissions Consulting Package here!
A 500-650 word personal essay required or recommended by most colleges. This essay should give a sense of who you are as a person by showing the reader how you’ve struggled, how you’ve evolved, how you think, what you’re passionate about, etc.
Your grades, test scores, and letters of recommendation show your academic prowess. Your activities and honors show your commitments, passions, and accomplishments. But your essay is the only place where you can open up and share your unique voice and personality. You want to give the admissions officer something to connect to and advocate for beyond just a set of numbers and activities.
In the past, on-campus interviews were standard and presented an opportunity to make a personal connection at a university. Now, they’re less common, often conducted by graduate students, and mostly for informational purposes rather than assessment. According to College Essay Coach Alan Gelb, “Your essay, in essence, is [now] your interview. It’s your chance to shine in the eyes of the admissions officer who reads it.”
✓ Something they don’t already know about you.
✓ Your unique voice and personality.
✓ Your values and what matters most to you.
✓ An uncommon topic with uncommon connections.
✓ Modesty, self-awareness, insight, honesty, and vulnerability.
✓ Creativity and vivid writing.
DON’T: Turn the personal statement into an extension of your activities or honors section.
Expanding upon multiple accomplishments in a short space can make your personal statement read more like a resume than an essay.
Instead, DO: Tell the admissions committee something they don’t already know about you.
From your application, they know you’re on the football team and in the yearbook club. But what else?
Have any specific experiences, ones you haven’t talked about elsewhere in your application, really shaped or challenged you? Have you changed over the years? How so? Do you have any unique hobbies or interests? What’s important to you? What excites you?
DON’T: Use the personal statement as an opportunity to brag or “sell yourself.”
The activities and honors sections, along with your transcript, will display your accomplishments and academic prowess. Despite most parents’ instincts, the personal statement is not the place for showing off.
Instead, DO: Show modesty, self-awareness, and honesty.
A “sell yourself” personal statement can sometimes make a student seem dishonest or lacking in self-awareness. If you want to write about a situation in which you did well or succeeded, some small adjustments can keep your essay from feeling braggy.
Avoid exaggeration and hyperbole. Stick to the truth. No one is expecting a superhero story.
Communicate praise through other people, if possible. Instead of “I did amazing in the game,” consider something like, “After the game, the coach pulled me aside and said he was proud of me.”
Connect the accomplishment to your personality, values, and growth. Was the journey toward the accomplishment challenging or interesting? Did the experience change you? What did it mean to you? How does the accomplishment connect to your values? How have you continued down this path? How do you want to continue? Rather than simply summarizing the accomplishment and focusing on how good you are at football/piano/etc, use the accomplishment to show who you are and what’s important to you.
DON’T: Choose a common topic and make common connections.
Common topics: sports, eye-opening travels, death of a grandparent.
Common connections:
“When I started on the football team, I wasn’t very good. But with hard work and perseverance, I improved and we ended up winning the big game.”
“It wasn’t until my service trip to Haiti that I realized the importance of helping others.”
“If my grandmother’s death taught me anything, it’s that life is short and family is precious.”
Instead, DO: Strive for a unique topic and uncommon connections. Write the essay that only you could write.
Students often think they need to write about a big accomplishment or obstacle, and since many high schoolers have had similar experiences, everyone ends up writing about the same things.
It’s important to remember that there are so many other directions to go in with your personal statement.
We’ve read beautiful essays about…
Habits and quirks
Spinning in circles without getting dizzy
Having an unusually deep voice
Unique passions
An enduring love of Moe’s Southwest Grill
Being a Cowboys fan in Philadelphia Eagles territory
And changes in how a student thinks
Learning to appreciate different kinds of art
Interrogating if you can like Barbies and still be a feminist
Going from hating your name to loving your name
But I can’t think of anything unique! That’s okay. If you’ve brainstormed and a common topic is still the best you’ve come up with, move forward and try to make uncommon connections!
Say your common topic is football. What connections would you expect an essay about football to make? Football has taught me perseverance? Football has taught me teamwork? Then avoid those cliche connections!
What if football was just the springboard to get into a feeling or experience that is more specific to you?
We’ve read excellent sports essays that…
Used football as a jumping off point to talk about what it was like for the student to be bigger than their peers
Used challenging experiences in field hockey to explore the student’s fear of failure
Used childhood basketball games to illustrate the student’s early acceptance of criticism
Even if your topic is common, that doesn’t mean your whole essay has to be!
DON’T: Write in an academic way with a thesis statement and 5 paragraph structure.
Starting with something like, “Playing soccer has taught me x, y, and z,” and then spending a paragraph each on x, y, and z may work fine for high school persuasive essays, but it’s less useful for the personal statement. Here, you’re telling a story, and stories (at least the good ones) don’t usually fit into such a rigid format.
Instead, DO: Free yourself from the constraints of high school writing!
You don’t need a thesis statement, an argumentative structure, and an “In conclusion” conclusion. You could start off with a joke, a question, an interesting anecdote. You could end with a bit of dialogue, an interesting diversion, a vivid image. In creative writing, you can do whatever you want, as long as you know what you’re doing!
If you feel like you need a structure to organize your thoughts, consider a storytelling structure instead of an argumentative one. Freytag’s Pyramid can be a helpful structure for personal narrative. Once you familiarize yourself with it, you’ll realize it’s the underlying structure to most of the popular movies we watch and books we read.
Exposition
Setting, characters, and the status quo are introduced.
Rising Action
An inciting event sets the conflict in motion. The conflict is further complicated by obstacles and the stakes are raised.
Climax
The conflict reaches its peak and characters are forced to respond. After this turning point, things will change, for better or for worse.
Falling Action
The conflict begins to resolve.
Resolution
The conflict is resolved, lessons are learned, and we settle into the new status quo.
DON’T: Speak in platitudes and generalities.
Does your essay have a lot of phrases like “I learned” and “this taught me the value of”? Does it use a lot of words like “hard work,” “perseverance,” and “overcoming”? If so, it might sound a lot like everyone else’s essay.
Instead, DO: It’s okay if your first draft has some cliche language. But once you’re in the editing phase, go back through and seek opportunities to replace wording that any typical high school student might use with wording that is authentic to you and unique to your experiences.
DON’T: Use overly formal or complicated language just to impress.
“A student’s scholastic experience encompasses a multitude of endeavors.”
A lot of big words there. But what does the above sentence actually say? It tells us that a student’s experience in school involves a lot of different activities. But does that really need to be said? Readers can always tell when a writer is using complicated prose to mask weak content.
Instead, DO: Keep it simple and be yourself.
Colleges want to hear YOUR voice—not what you think will impress them. Write how you’d speak and then elevate it just a little!
And as George Orwell said in his Six Rules for Writing:
“Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.”
“Never use a long word where a short one will do.”
“If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.”
We’re here to help with your personal statement and supplemental essays, from the earliest brainstorming stage to the finishing touches. We offer a variety of essay coaching packages that students can customize to suit their needs. Click here to learn more!
With the college application process, there is so much to consider: essays, school visits, letters of recommendation, and more. To avoid falling behind, it’s essential to get organized and have a plan. Where should you start? When should you start? We’re here to help!
Keep in mind that the following recommendations are just that—recommendations. Each student’s situation is different, and students who begin this work later than recommended can absolutely still catch up with dedicated effort.
In 10th grade, you should start browsing and getting a sense of what’s out there. Think about the things that feel important to you. Do you have an idea of what you’d like to study? Would you prefer a huge university or a close-knit liberal arts college? Do you want to be in the heart of a city or on a grassy campus? It’s okay if you don’t have answers to these questions yet. But you should be looking around and familiarizing yourself with your options.
Corsava is an excellent free resource that can help you identify, through strategic questioning, the college features that matter most to you.
Early in 11th grade, you should start putting together a preliminary college list of the schools that most interested you in your research. Write it down! It’s good to have something concrete, even though it will almost certainly change over time.
Other useful, free resources that might aid you in this process:
CollegeXpress is great for finding new colleges you might be interested in. You can search schools by location, keywords, interests, and ranking. Use the ‘List’ feature to help you find colleges that fit what you’re looking for, especially ones you may not have been considering before. You can also find further detail about colleges on your radar, such as enrollment and admissions data, cost, financial aid, and more.
Get the insider scoop on colleges at Unigo and Niche, where you’ll find reviews of various schools, written by students who went there.
Early in 11th grade, once you have your preliminary list of schools settled, you should begin planning visits. Try to schedule visits over holidays and breaks throughout 11th grade. College visits can give you a better sense of campus culture and surroundings, aspects that you may not know much about from your data-driven research. For these reasons, it’s best to get your college visits started sooner rather than later, to make sure you have all the information and there will be no unpleasant surprises later on! If you’re unable to arrange college visits in 11th grade, the summer before 12th grade can also be a good time, especially in August when some colleges are in session.
Remember: virtual tours are always an option. With the pandemic, many schools have begun offering more virtual tours and information sessions. When in-person visits are not possible, try to connect with your schools online. Some schools make a note of whether or not an applicant has visited or attempted to visit, as a way of gauging interest. The more you can communicate to a college that you’re serious about potentially going there, the better!
In addition to in-person and official virtual tours, YouVisit and CampusReel provide excellent campus tour videos. These can be great for taking a peek at schools you’re interested in but not ready to visit.
Coaches want to fill out their teams as far in advance as possible, so getting in touch as early as 10th grade is the prudent move. However, this may not be possible for all students. Your recruiting timeline will depend on a few different factors. Click here to learn more!
Every student is unique, which is why we work with our students to develop customized plans that best fit their individual needs.
However, it can be helpful to provide some general timelines, so we’ve provided an ideal testing timeline for three different categories of students. Click to find out what category you fit into and when it makes the most sense to start the ACT/SAT testing process.
Start thinking about this early in 11th grade. Do you have any teachers from 10th grade you’d like to ask? If so, be sure to maintain your relationship with that teacher throughout 11th grade.
If you don’t have a teacher in mind after 10th grade, that’s fine: 11th grade teachers write most recommendations. Just focus on going above and beyond in your classes and actively try to connect with your 11th grade teachers. Ask for a recommendation in the last month or two of 11th grade.
Students tend to gravitate toward teachers whose classes they’ve gotten strong grades in, rather than teachers they have a strong relationship with. Letters of recommendation from teachers who don’t know much about you beyond grades tend to be generic and dull. To avoid this, ask yourself which teachers can best speak to your personality, work ethic, and character. This may mean asking for a recommendation from the teacher of a subject you’ve struggled with, as they can attest to your hard work!
The most important aspect of preparing college applications is writing the personal statement, an open-ended 650-word essay that is part of the Common App and required by most U.S. colleges. The personal statement is a student’s primary opportunity to show colleges their personality, to share their passions and interests, to relay seminal life developments, and to demonstrate their writing ability.
You should start thinking about this during the summer before 12th grade. What experiences have shaped you? What people? What challenges have you faced? How have you changed? What’s important to you? What excites you?
The Common App prompts can be found here. Don’t worry too much about the specific guiding questions, though. You can choose to answer one of the specific guiding questions, or you have the option to write an essay on any topic of your choice.
Ideally, you’d have this personal statement drafted by the start of senior year, so you have time to have others read your essay and give you notes for revision. Getting this mostly out of the way by the start of senior year will also allow you to focus on other aspects of your application that need your attention, like supplemental essays and the activities and honors sections.
Now you know when to start. But if you’re still lost on how to start, we can help, from the early brainstorming stages all the way through to the polished finished product.
In addition to the Personal Statement, many colleges require applicants to submit supplemental essays. These supplemental essays ask students to respond to a wide variety of topics: their most meaningful activity, their interest in a particular college or major, an important community they belong to, etc. Essays range in length from just a few sentences to 650 words.
You should start working on these the summer before 12th grade. Some colleges change their supplemental prompts from year to year, so make sure the prompts you find are the most updated ones. Most new prompts are released by August 1st, and you’ll want to start soon after that date, in the interest of getting as much done as possible before the school year starts.
Learn more about how we can help with your supplemental essays here!
Late summer before 12th grade. Even if you’re not yet sure what activities you’ll be doing in 12th grade, you can at least start filling out the information for 9th, 10th, and 11th at that time. Then, just fill in any missing information for 12th grade before you apply!
Under no circumstances should you wing it with this section and fill it out casually as you submit your applications. You should be strategic in choosing what activities to include, describing your role, and calculating your time commitment for each activity.
Aim to have a solid college list early in 12th grade. This is important, as you’ll need to know where you’re applying far enough in advance to send all materials (test scores, letters of recommendation, etc) and write the required supplemental essays. Of course, if you end up cutting or adding schools later down the line as you do further research, that’s okay.
The college admissions process is complex and there’s no one right way to do things. But starting sooner rather than later never hurts.
We’re here to help with any and all aspects of your college applications. At Premier College Prep, nothing is one-size-fits-all. We offer a variety of essay coaching and admissions consulting packages that students can customize to suit their needs. Click here to learn more!
See also: What’s a Good ACT Score?
The SAT is scored on a 1600 point scale. The test is divided into two sections: Evidence-Based Reading/Writing and Math. Each section is scored on a scale of 200-800, making for a total score of 400-1600.
According to data from 2019, the average SAT score nationwide is 1059, broken down into an Evidence-Based Reading/Writing score of 531 and a Math score of 528. You can quickly determine whether your score is above or below average by comparing it to this nationwide standard.
For a more precise understanding of where you rank among other students, refer to your percentile ranking.
Your percentile ranking reflects how many test-takers you outscored. If you rank in the 75th percentile, this doesn’t mean you got 75% of the questions correct. Rather, it means you scored the same as or higher than 75% of test-takers. For more info about SAT percentiles, click here.
The frustrating but true answer is that it’s all relative. The value of your SAT score depends on your grades and your goals.
In the admissions process, both your high school grades and your SAT score matter. You want your score to be consistent with or stronger than your grades. You also want your score to be in line with the scores of applicants accepted to the colleges you plan to apply to.
Because GPA calculations vary so much from one high school to another, identifying the strength of your test scores in relation to your grades can be difficult to do. Naviance charts and college median data can be helpful. Here are some general guidelines:
Students who receive nearly all A’s in all honors/AP/IB classes typically score above 1300.
Students who receive A’s and B’s in some honors classes typically score in the 1100-1300 range.
Students who receive B’s and C’s in regular classes typically score below 1100.
If your SAT score is stronger than your grades, it’s a good score for you, as it will definitely strengthen your application.
If your SAT score is equivalent to your grades, it’s still a good score. Scores in line with your grades provide colleges further evidence that you have the rapid reasoning ability to handle college-level work.
But suppose your SAT score is weaker than your grades. Perhaps you’re a diligent student who struggles with test anxiety. Perhaps you’re a brilliant artist or athlete whose greatest talents aren’t on display in an academic setting. That’s okay. You can always do test prep to improve your scores and try again!
Another option is to seek out test optional colleges, where your chances of admission will increase. However, if you go test-optional, you will be judged more on your grades, your accomplishments, and your essays, which makes it all the more important that you put a lot of time and energy into those other aspects of your application.
Use Google or Collegedata to find each college’s 25th and 75th percentile test scores. Take the average of those two numbers to approximate the 50th percentile.
If your score is above the 75th percentile, that is an excellent score for that school.
If your score is above the 50th percentile, that is a solid score for that school.
If your score is between the 25th and 50th percentile, your high school grades, accomplishments, and essays will take on increased importance.
If your score is below the 25th percentile, that school is a reach. However, with stellar grades and accomplishments, you may still get an acceptance!
Do your best on the SAT, but try to avoid obsession, competition, and comparisons. What makes an SAT score “good” or “bad” depends entirely on your grades and goals. Prep for the test, but remember to keep your grades up too, and be sure to give plenty of time and attention to other aspects of your application.
See also: What’s a Good SAT Score?
The ACT is scored on a scale from 1-36. According to data from 2020, the average ACT score nationwide is 20.8. You can quickly determine whether your score is above or below average by comparing it to this nationwide standard.
For a more precise understanding of where you rank among other students, refer to your percentile ranking.
Your percentile ranking reflects how many test-takers you outscored. If you rank in the 75th percentile, this doesn’t mean you got 75% of the questions correct. Rather, it means you scored the same as or higher than 75% of test-takers. For more info about ACT percentiles, click here.
The frustrating but true answer is that it’s all relative. The value of your ACT score depends on your grades and your goals.
In the admissions process, both your high school grades and your ACT score matter. You want your score to be consistent with or stronger than your grades. You also want your score to be in line with the scores of applicants accepted to the colleges you plan to apply to.
Because GPA calculations vary so much from one high school to another, identifying the strength of your test scores in relation to your grades can be difficult to do. Naviance charts and college median data can be helpful. Here are some general guidelines:
Students who receive nearly all A’s in all honors/AP/IB classes typically score above 28.
Students who receive A’s and B’s in some honors classes typically score in the 22-28 range.
Students who receive B’s and C’s in regular classes typically score below 22.
If your ACT score is stronger than your grades, it’s a good score for you, as it will definitely strengthen your application.
If your ACT score is equivalent to your grades, it’s still a good score. Scores in line with your grades provide colleges further evidence that you have the rapid reasoning ability to handle college-level work.
But suppose your ACT score is weaker than your grades. Perhaps you’re a diligent student who struggles with test anxiety. Perhaps you’re a brilliant artist or athlete whose greatest talents aren’t on display in an academic setting. That’s okay. You can always do test prep to improve your scores and try again!
Another option is to seek out test optional colleges, where your chances of admission will increase. However, if you go test-optional, you will be judged more on your grades, your accomplishments, and your essays, which makes it all the more important that you put a lot of time and energy into those other aspects of your application.
Use Google or Collegedata to find each college’s 25th and 75th percentile test scores. Take the average of those two numbers to approximate the 50th percentile.
If your score is above the 75th percentile, that is an excellent score for that school.
If your score is above the 50th percentile, that is a solid score for that school.
If your score is between the 25th and 50th percentile, your high school grades, accomplishments, and essays will take on increased importance.
If your score is below the 25th percentile, that school is a reach. However, with stellar grades and accomplishments, you may still get an acceptance!
Do your best on the ACT, but try to avoid obsession, competition, and comparisons. What makes an ACT score “good” or “bad” depends entirely on your grades and goals. Prep for the test, but remember to keep your grades up too, and be sure to give plenty of time and attention to other aspects of your application.
We’ll keep this post regularly updated with the latest SAT and ACT news and our testing recommendations for students in the high school class of 2021.
Read MoreHigh school students applying to colleges over the next few years might not have a full transcript of grades to submit. They might not have as many SAT or ACT scores. They won’t have consistent participation in extracurriculars. What they will have—like everyone living in these unusual times—is stories. Stories of what they did during the COVID-19 pandemic. And colleges will evaluate students on these stories.
Read MoreThere’s a lot of uncertainty for high school juniors right now. Will they go back to school before the end of the year? When will they get to take the SAT/ACT? When will they be able to visit colleges?
Our hope is that things get back to normal sooner than expected, the June SAT and ACT proceed as planned, and students maybe even get to finish their junior year in school.
But it’s important to prepare for all possibilities. And one possibility is that the pandemic continues through the spring and into the summer, leading to the cancellation of the remainder of the school year, all extracurricular activities, and the June SAT and ACT.
Instead of stressing about uncertainty, juniors should focus on what is certain:
Read MoreThis two-part article explores two sides of the same issue: 1) Why test prep requires a serious commitment, and 2) Why it’s important to minimize the time and energy that goes into test prep.
Read MoreThe most misunderstood section of any major standardized test is the ACT’s science section. Most people assume the ACT science section tests students on what they’ve learned in biology, chemistry, physics, etc. However, that is NOT the case. This article explains what students will find on the ACT science section.
Read MoreLet’s start by answering a common question: Do all colleges accept the ACT? YES, ALL COLLEGES ACCEPT EITHER TEST. All 4-year colleges in the U.S. will accept either the SAT or the ACT. COLLEGES HAVE NO PREFERENCE FOR ONE TEST OVER THE OTHER. The popularity of one test over the other is purely geographic. If you grew up only knowing about the SAT and think the ACT is some new trend, try talking to someone from the middle of the country. I guarantee they grew up only knowing about the ACT and think the SAT is the new trend.
Read MoreThe latest episode of SNL poked fun at Lori Loughlin for bribing her daughter’s way into the University of Southern California. But the sketch also took a jab at USC: “Hold up, you paid 500 grand for USC?!?” Kenan Thompson’s character asks incredulously, placing a skeptical emphasis on “for USC??”
For those of us raised on stereotypes of USC as the “university of spoiled children,” home to little more than frat parties and football games, it’s time to rethink. USC is now an extremely selective college. The acceptance rate at USC in the most recent admissions cycle was 11%. To show how drastically admissions has changed, it was easier to get into Yale (11.3%), Princeton (12.7%), and Stanford (13.0%) fifteen years ago than it is to get into USC today.
Read More
