SAT & ACT Improvement

By Dr. Wayne Adams

FALL EXAM DATES: SAT: August 28, October 2, December 4; ACT: September 11, October 23, December 11.

Summer vacation went by too fast! Now that school has restarted (or is about to), everyone gets to refocus and get ready for the fall. Happily, most Covid 19 concerns are behind us, college campuses are reopening, and life is moving on.

For Seniors, it’s a combination of doing well academically, activities, and preparing the best college applications. From my prior articles, you know that more and more and more colleges are admitting up to half their classes or more with early admissions and the chances of admissions are about three times higher than with applying at the normal time. Check out these dates and requirements on the college websites, or call the admissions office. If your SAT and/or ACT scores are not where you want for admissions and/or Bright Futures, give me a call.

For Juniors, it’s the middledistance lap in high school balancing academics and activities with doing well on the PSAT in October and building a resume for college applications. If you are aiming high, for a “top 25 school”, know that the best way to really “stand out” is to build a distinctive strength, to become outstanding in some field that you enjoy. There is a myth around that colleges are looking for “well rounded” students. Top colleges want “lopsided” students, those who have something outstanding (other than grades and SAT/ACT scores) and can change the world. They equate “well-rounded” with mediocre!

For Sophomores, it’s the next lap in a longer-distance run with academics, activities, and longer term planning for college applications. On occasion, schools will give an SAT or an ACT exam for “placement”, which means determining which academic level courses that student can take. If you are aiming high for colleges it is not too early to start preparing for the SAT and/or ACT exams.

I continue to innovate with new approaches to all areas of exam prep. For example, Reverse Engineering and interactively taking the Writing and Language section of the SAT and English section of the ACT produce major improvements; “6 strategies” on the ‘yellow brick road” is a smash hit for Reading on the SAT, and “Reading for what you need” on the ACT do the same on the ACT Reading giving most students an additional 4-5 minutes to find the answers on this exam; special preparation for “Curve Balls” in math jump a student’s score while greatly improving self-confidence on both exams; and “Bottomup Reading” and “Five key strategies” are making a great difference on the Science part of the ACT.

My guide Achieve and Maintain Your Peak Mental Performance Zone On The SAT, ACT, And In Life has proven to be very helpful to all students in handling “test anxiety”, maintaining focus, and reestablishing control during these exams.

A surprising finding about the staggering level of student debt at $1.7 trillion (with a “T”) recently exploded with a Wall Street Journel expose article about how elite and other universities are heavily marketing master’s degrees that they know will never pay back enough to justify the education. For example, a Master’s in Fine Arts from Columbia in NYC puts many students $300k in debt for jobs that maybe pay $50k a year. Another article showed that an MBA from Harvard Business School produced a 1.8 multiple from the average debt to the average first year compensation including hiring bonus. UF ranked second on this relationship with almost a 6:1 multiple. Plus, UF grads usually work in lower cost areas, so their money goes farther. The point is that, when considering an undergraduate major, take a close look at options for a masters degree in that field including costs, possible debt, and starting salaries.

Never forget that universities are a business, and many make a 70% cash flow profit on their masters degrees, get paid up front, and saddle many students with debt for the rest of their lives without blinking an eye. See https://www.wsj.com/articles/ financially-hobbled-for-life-theelite-masters-degrees-that-dontpay-off-11625752773. You can find many more articles about this on-line.

As you know, my goal for my students and their families is that they have their best possible futures – which includes doing their best on the SAT and/or ACT Exams. This is part of the college admissions counseling and planning we also do during our course. If You Would Like To Talk More With Dr. Adams About Your Student … Please contact him at 727-253-0639 or send an email to wwa0811@mykolab.com.

Dr. Wayne Adams is one of the leading SAT and ACT tutors in the country. His students normally improve 200 – 300 points on the Writing, Reading, and Math, and 4 – 7 points on the ACT composite. They have been admitted to 5 OF THE “Topo 5”, 9 of the “Top 10”, and 18 of the “Top 25” universities, and many more schools in Florida and around the country. These schools include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, U Chicago, Duke, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Notre Dame, Emory, UC Berkley, UCLA, USC, UNC (Chapel Hill), University of Virginia, NYU, Northeastern (Boston), Boston College, Georgia Tech, Air Force - Naval, a- Merchant Marine Service Academies, Penn State, Purdue, Ohio State, LSU, Auburn, UF, U Miami, FSU, USF, UCF, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, FIU, New College of Florida, Stetson, and Julliard – Manhattan - New England - and Berkley Conservatories of Music. Many have received academic, athletic, or music scholarships. He has also tutored three juniors who became national merit finalists with their scores on the PSAT. He is a former Dean of a Graduate School of Business and Full Professor, and began college teaching at the University of Maryland in 1968. He has degrees and advanced studies at Harvard, Yale, Vanderbilt, Columbia International, and Luther Rice.