Blog Spot

Plan ahead for math skills.
04/20/2008

When your student prepares for college, be aware that he or she will be taking one of the college entrance exams - the SAT or ACT. They both will test your student's math skills. And high scores in math will go a long way in boosting your student's ability to get into the college of his choosing.

Close on the heels of getting accepted is getting the scholarship monies. High SAT and ACT scores are often the foot in the door to those coveted scholarship competitions and the big money that follows. As a result, it behooves us to plan ahead to get those math skills ready for the big tests.

What math skills are required?

an excellent understanding of Algebra
ability to read charts and graphs
problem solving in Geometry
quick and accurate computational skills
ability to use a graphing or scientific calculator
ability to quickly eliminate obviously wrong answers

Preparing specifically for the SAT or ACT is very helpful. But if your student has not yet learned the concepts of higher level math before taking these tests, then any amount of honing up on these concepts won't help. He's got to be taught them first.

Plan to get in as much math as possible before your student takes these tests! Sitting for the tests usually takes place during the student's junior year.

For specific planning in the high school years, be sure to examine Scholarship Prep's Workshop C on Preparing Academic Merit. This workshop details the many skills needed for scoring well on the college entrance tests and how to get your student those skills before he sits for the test.

Although our daughter (who did very well on these tests) did indeed have most of the higher level math skills she needed, there were still two problems she missed entirely simply because she hadn't yet learned the concepts. In fact, in both cases she was introduced to the concepts only days after taking the test! Quite a disappointment, since the problems were simple and easy, once she received the proper math instruction.

Exclusively for Members of Scholarship Prep:

What those two problems covered, and how to prepare your student to sail through those specific questions on the ACT. (Log in and look for Members' Eyes Only.)

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